SEPT 26, 2024 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | By Greta Patterson
Hello readers, and welcome back to a new school year that is sure to be full of good books. To start this year’s “Book of the Block” series, I choose a winner — a book that is not only better than everything else I’ve read during my first Block but also better than many popular books of the moment. With all this in mind, the book I chose for Block 1 is “James” by Percival Everett.
Everett is an American author and current professor of English at the University of Southern California. He has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from American University and master’s degree in fiction from Brown University. Everett’s novels span many genres including mystery, fiction, satire, retellings and even children’s books.
“James,” a re-imagined version of Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn,” was published in 2024 and follows the perspective of James — or “Jim”— an escaped slave. After overhearing Miss Watson’s plans to sell him and separate him from his wife and daughter, James runs away to an island with the plan to find enough money to buy his wife and daughter out of slavery. On this island, he runs into Huckleberry Finn who has just staged his death in an attempt to escape his abusive father. The novel follows the same events that occur in “Huckleberry Finn” through James’ lens, as well as what happens when James and Huck are separated.
Language and voice are integral to the plot, as James has taught himself to read and write by taking advantage of Judge Thatcher’s library. A distinction is made between the way James and other enslaved people talk around each other versus around white people, which adds enormous depth to the story. James uses “Jim” as a persona to navigate and conform to what white people expect of him. I highly recommend experiencing “James” as an audiobook as the narrator is exceptional.
It has been a long time since I’ve read “Huckleberry Finn,” but Everett did a remarkable job of staying true to the voice that Twain infused into the original novel. This did not feel like a contemporary retelling but rather a book that could have been published alongside “Huckleberry Finn.”
While the original Jim that Twain wrote lacked agency, Everett’s James has more dimension. Many tragedies occur in the novel, such as his wife and daughter being sold, abuse, thievery and more, so don’t go into this novel thinking it will be a lighthearted re-imagining. Everett approaches these dark moments in a direct way with no attempt to sugar-coat, forcing us as readers to confront the experiences of slavery through the first-person perspective, which James gives.
There is a major plot twist at the end of the novel that does not occur in the original tale. I don’t want to spoil it, but instead will say that Everett took some creative liberties with his retelling, straying from the original story in a way that adds depth and reasoning.
I do believe there is value in reading “Huckleberry Finn” before reading “James” to center yourself in the novel and understand all the unique changes Everett made but it is ultimately not necessary. While this is a retelling, it is also a novel capable of standing on its own with as much value and emotional impact.
This is truly a remarkable story of legacy, agency and love. It is no surprise that it had been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and I’m sure more awards will follow. “James” gives us a refreshing way to approach literary classics while still feeling like there is something new to learn and take away.