Fantastic

Thought this was a well done reimagining of the Huckleberry Finn story.
Loved the two main characters and took away lots to discuss at my bookclub..

Looking forward to Percival Everett’s next book.

I have never read Huck Finn and thought I would read it before this. However I really couldn't get into it and thought I would find James the same. I was wrong.
This re-imagined look at the story through the slave's eyes is extremely well done. There is humour and some very poignant moments as well as the expected shocks.
I can see why so many people rave about the author's books. This won't be my last Percival Everett.

I loved this new novel from Percival Everett, author of The Trees. In a clever retelling of the classic American tale of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Everett brings the slave character Jim to life in a very different way.

In this version, Jim and Huck escape from the farm of Ms Watson in a journey down the Mississippi River. While Jim speaks “slave talk” with the “white Folk”, unbeknownst to them, Jim can also read and speak English fluently. It’s all an act. In private Jim uses language as a weapon in not conforming to the expectations of society.

While there’s lots of sly humour, there’s also stark moments of intense brutality and violence. Notwithstanding, I really enjoyed this clever, subversive book and would recommend it to any readers who enjoyed The Trees. 4 stars for me.

With many thanks to @netgalley and @panmcmillanuk for the advance copy in return for my review.

This reimagining of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tells the story from the perspective of Jim/James, an escaped slave who ran away in order to avoid being sold by his owner and separated from his family. This was an enjoyable read which had all of the warmth, humour and sadness of the original.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy to read and review.

A retelling of the adventures of Huckleberry Finn . I am clearly an outlier here. I didn’t enjoy the book. I knew I was in trouble at the start with the language that was being used. It made me recall that I didn’t enjoy Huckleberry Finn either when I had to read it at school. I felt that this book didn’t have enough structure for me and it was really a rapid series of different adventures. It was also far from subtle as someone else has said “all white people are evil and all black people are PhD level orators who dream in French.”

Not the book for me, but many people seem to have loved it

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC .

Percival Everett is an extraordinary writer- funny, insightful, tender, tough at the same time. This latest work doesn’t dissapoint.

So, I tried to read Huckleberry Finn before reading this, for comparison purposes, but I just couldn't get through it. If you're the same, I can highly recommend this summary blog post: <a href="https://fictionmatters.substack.com/p/reading-in-public-no-32-seven-things">FictionMatters - Reading in Public No. 32: Six things to know about Huck Finn before you read James</a> (and I'm sure there are others).

As others have said, I didn't find this to be a funny book and whilst linguistically it's an easy read, it's not a subject matter that is easy to read. It's simultaneously horrifying and gripping, and I couldn't put it down. I thoroughly enjoyed the ending and <i>James</i> is simply a must read.

This is the first Percival Everett book I've read but won't be the last.

It is a long time since I read about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberrry Finn but this remaking was nevertheless very interesting and cleverly done.
To have the story told by James (not Jim) was fascinating and gave such an interesting twist being told from the viewpoint of an educated negro who had to speak as if ignorant and hide his education and intelligence.
Wittily told.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Percival Everett/Pan Macmillan for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a reimagined sequel to Huckleberry Finn that focuses on James, the enslaved man who escapes. I don’t know HF well enough to know how true to the original story it is but this is the adventure that James goes on after leaving Huck. His plan is to earn money to buy his wife and child back. It’s an epic novel with twists and turns at every point. I really enjoyed it.

A brutal but brilliant read. Bonnie Garmus had recommended this book in a talk she did for the Society of Authors and I can see why - I'll be recommending it to everyone too. James (Jim) is an excellent main character and his shifting relationship with Huck works really well. This is a powerful retelling that stays with you long after the last page.

I'm afraid this book led me into a bit of a reading slump and I had to dnf at 50%. I don't really know what all the hype is about this book. I enjoyed The Trees and felt it was innovative and interesting. However, this just felt superficial and lacked depth for me. I felt the insights into the lives of the slaves were a bit trite and not really nuanced or inventive. The prose style was too simplistic and read like a children's book which I know is what this book is based on but it's surely for an adult audience - so write for adults!
This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and Pan Macmillan | Mantle in exchange for a free and honest review.

I really liked this book. This book is narrated by Jim/ James who runs after finding out that his slave owner plans to sell him. The story follows James and Huck's adventures. I liked that this book centres Jim and gives his character more depth. Overall, an enjoyable read with some hard hitting themes. I would highly recommend.

This is my first Percival Everett but after the hype of this I added more of his books to my list.

I wasn’t excited about this but it felt like a book everyone was going to be talking about and I wanted to be part of the conversation.

I don’t have a relationship with Huck Finn. I’ve got a joint honours American Lit degree so I’ve read it, but 15 years ago and it didn’t gel with me then.

I really liked the approach here and I liked the set up. I loved the switch up of the classic story and the voice of Jim and his reality.

But I think not knowing the original well meant a lot of this was lost on me.

I’m really interested to read more Percival Everett, I just don’t think this one was for me.

3.5 stars

"James" by Percival Everett offers a fresh and compelling take on the classic story of Huck Finn, while also providing a deeply insightful look into the inner lives of enslaved people. Everett's masterful use of language to characterise James, the protagonist, adds another layer of richness to this already captivating narrative.

If I ever read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn it was probably at school and, if I did, I remember next to nothing about the story. If you’re in the same position, I’d recommend reading a summary of Mark Twain’s book so you can appreciate the ways in which Percival Everett has reimagined the story, especially in the first part of the book. This follows broadly the events in Huckleberry Finn but told from the point of view of the enslaved Jim. He prefers the name James but, of course, as a slave he’s used to being addressed in far more abusive terms.

James is not the person his owner thinks he is. He’s intelligent, knowledgeable, can read and write, and possesses an extensive vocabulary. At one point he debates with another slave whether something is ‘proleptic irony’ or ‘dramatic irony’. There’s sly humour in the fact the slaves use eloquent language when conversing amongst themselves but adopt a way of speaking they believe their masters expect when in their presence. “White folks expect us to sound a certain way and it can only help if we don’t disappoint them.” It’s as if their only power is to hide their true selves.

Escaping with Huck on a flimsy raft, the pair have many adventures on their voyage along the Mississippi. There are narrow escapes from death and they encounter many colourful, but not necessarily commendable, characters. Each saves the other from potential death at some point but, of course, it’s James who risks certain death if he is recaptured. Although Huck and James form a bond, there are still things James keeps from him, such as hiding the fact he can read. Other things as well.

In later sections of the book, the pair are separated for a time and it’s just James’s experiences we witness. This includes the bizarre episode when James is recruited into a minstrel show and finds himself a black man disguised as a white man entertaining white people by pretending to be a black man. They even perform a cakewalk, something actually intended to mock white people but which their audience doesn’t realise. A double irony, notes James.

The book doesn’t shy away from describing the brutality endured by enslaved people: the grotesquely harsh punishments for minor offences, the sexual abuse of women and young girls. And for all James’s intelligence, he’s still the possession of another person, and so are his wife and children. His desperation to be reunited with them is inspiring but also heart-breaking as we witness just what it’s like to have no power over your own future.

James is a brilliantly inventive, subversive retelling of an American classic that touches on issues of inequality that persist today. I can see it winning many literary prizes.

Meg Stacey <meg.stacey12@gmail.com>
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Wed, May 8, 11:46 AM (2 days ago)
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OOFT. Where to start. Bold, and equal parts gripping & moving, I might even go so far as agreeing with the New York Times in calling Percival Everett's latest novel James a "masterpiece".

The novel is a reboot of Mark Twain's 1884 novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and is narrated by Jim, a Black slave, who is forced to flee his family when he overhears that he is to be sold. Everett flips the perspective of the events in Huckleberry Finn, in which the boy narrator, Huck, flees his home only to run into Jim, his guardian's slave. Whilst many of the hallmark Huckleberry Finn tropes remain (floods, and storms, and a dangerous journey along the vast Mississippi river), Everett masterfully paints a new Jim. This Jim is intelligent, independent and compassionate, casting his character in a whole new light, which I loved.

Everett's Jim is a warrior, of the reluctant sort. He is literate and stows away a notebook that was stolen for him by a fellow slave, who was subsequently lynched for the act. After becoming a runaway, Jim runs into Huck, who has recently fled his own family in an attempt to escape his violent father. And so begins their adventure, down the Mississippi River towards the elusive promise of the Free States beyond.

We are pretty sure James will become a classic and Everett a "literary icon", quote Oprah (and if Oprah says so...). Like Twain, Everett masterfully weaves a story that is funny, thrilling and soulful - I was captivated by the storyline, and on the edge of my seat reading some parts. From a wised-up slave's point of view, Everett explores the failings of society's past and futility of it all.

Not a bad thing to say about this one - loved it!

I have read a number of Percival Everett books, the most recent being The Trees and find his novels excellent. I think James, a retelling of the Huckleberry Finn stories with a contemporary twist is perhaps his best yet.
Part comic novel, part thriller and in parts truly horrifying, James is a modern classic. A magnificent read.

All the stars. I've been a fan of Percival Everetts work for some time now and this did not disappoint. A Masterpiece.

James is a retelling of the American Classic Huckleberry Finn . It's told from the perspective of Jim a slave who escapes his Master when he overhears he is about to be sold and separated from his family.

This is one of my favourite books from 2024 and I'm sure it will hit many bestseller lists. A gripping Historical Modern Masterpiece that will capitative any audience. Loved it.

Thank you in advance for an ARC

A powerful reimagining of Huckleberry Finn
But this time we’re seeing it from Jim’s perspective
Slavery is placed at the centre of the story, with beatings, lynchings and rapes
Through Jim we learn more about enslaved people
You’re left wanting to know more about Jim’s back story - it’s shocking and brutal
You don’t have to have read Huckleberry Finn to understand this book
This certainly isn’t as idyllic as Huckleberry Finn, but it will be a classic in its own right
Thanks @percivaleverett @panmacmillan & @netgalley for the thought provoking read

I had read that it would be action packed and funny; I'm not sure it was exactly funny although it had humour at times, but it was definitely action packed and really well-written. I can't remember the original story of Huckleberry Finn and I don't think it mattered too much, I loved following James (Jim) as he escapes and then plots his return to free his wife and daughter, and the characters he meets. I think Percival Everett did something really clever in using historical fiction to weave so many current (sadly) themes in a way that didn't feel forced, and I really enjoyed reading this.