First off I need to say that I enjoyed the The Trees much more than I did James but reading other reviews I feel like I missed something in this book that others got. Also, whether it makes a difference or not I have never read Huckleberry Finn, nor did I actually know the story so I’m in no position to say how any characters in James differ from those in Mark Twain’s version.

Some things that I really loved about this novel are the character of James himself and the fact that the slaves speak two languages. One in front of white people and one amongst themselves, with the latter often being more educated that than of the white people. I particularly enjoyed the scene near the start where James is giving the children a lesson on slave speak and quizzing the kids on how they should respond in certain situations, the key points being to never speak first, never look a white person in the eye, never make a white person feel like you know more than them etc etc.

What I was less keen on was that I found it quite difficult to get in to this book. Then once in to it I’d be hooked for a while and then it would seem to meander off again for a bit.

For me, this book lacked the sardonic humour that The Trees had. That in itself isn’t a negative but I loved The Tree so much that my expectations/hopes for James were possibly a little too high.

I’ve been debating for quite some time whether this is a 3 or 4 star book and I’m setting with 4 as if I compare it to other books that I’d rate as 3 then I would be doing this novel a disservice. Percival Everett is definitely a clever man with plenty to say and I look forward to reading his other books in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

"James" is the reimagining story of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, now told from the enslaved Jim's point of view.

This story begins at the same point as was Huckleberry Finn. Jim heard about Miss Watson's intention to sell him, while Huck was apprehensive following news that his abusive Pap is coming home. Both slave and boy ran away that night. First to the Jackson island, then along the Mississippi river, with a lot of adventures - misadventures is more appropriate; more dangerous than fun - and revelations.

Through James we were reminded of the extend of cruelty in slavery. Not only physical - the punishment, the lynching - but also the belittling of innocent human being. This novel is daubed as "both harrowing and ferociously funny". I personally think it's more thought provoking, though there are sprinkles of hilarity here and there, and of course, it's packed with the youthful adventures we are familiar with from Huckleberry Finn.

Needless to say, I am so impressed by this book, something I didn't expect. It deserves one day to be a classic of its own, which I believe Mark Twain would have approve had he read it himself. It's harrowing, but also hopeful.

A masterful retelling of the classic American tale that was due a little historical revision. As in his Booker-winning The Trees, Everett's voice is as powerful as it is unique. Definitely recommended.

This is a scary read, but Percival Everett is a master, and always in control.

I think Everett's female characters are a weak spot for him, especially here, and that's one bum note in an otherwise fantastic read: it's clever and funny and tender and furious and cold. The writing is great, obviously. The satire is savage. I'm uncomfortable and awe-filled.

My thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the ARC.

4.5. I hate rewrites and reimaginings and after Kingsolver's rubbish Demon Copperhead, I was skeptical to read Everett's James (which is due to be published in March next year), but I adore The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and couldn't resist starting immediately when this advance copy was sent to me. Safe to say, pretty early on, this was going to be a different story.

The beginning follows the plot of the original. Many events that happen are exactly as Twain invented them, but of course, everything feels different: Jim is the narrator, and Everett has crafted him into something better. For starters: the way Jim speaks in Twain's novel is merely, we learn, a 'language' that all slaves speak, and put on, for white people. As soon as any white people leave a scene, Jim drops the act. And, at times it's clear Everett wants us to laugh, however uncomfortably, as soon as a white person reappears, Jim picks it up again, Lawdy, Lawdy! He can read, he can write. He harbours nihilistic tendencies. He is not Jim, but James.

And Huck. There is no shortage of reviews damning Twain's novel as being racist. There's no shortage of people thinking it should be banned, even now. I won't lie, I was unsure about how Everett would deal with it, because there's no hiding the fact that the original novel has had a controversial and problematic history. He nails it, though. Huck feels exactly like he felt in the original. It felt like reading Twain. Huckleberry Finn is a problematic person, as history often created; he is a child born into a world of slaves and racism, with a deadbeat and abusive father. And despite the horrible ending of the original novel, Huck, I believe, even in Twain, loved Jim. And Everett blossoms that.

By perhaps the midway point, Everett begins to steer the story. The plot changes. There are some twists and inventions. There are some Django Unchained moments of revenge and retribution. The book is riddled with satire, action, pain and suffering. I've only read The Trees but this already feels like the book Everett was here to write. This is a theory from Swann, my old professor: that every writer spends their life trying to write only one book, and everything else, all their other books, are merely tests, byproducts. Vonnegut's, for example, was Slaughterhouse-Five. This, I think, with my limited knowledge, was Everett's. It just feels like it. It feels like all his power and energy collected here.

If you haven't read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, read it. It's one of the Great American Novels. Then, in March, when this hits the bookshops, buy it.

A thousand thanks to Pan Macmillan for the advance copy.

Percival Everett’s James is a reimagining of Mark Twain’s American classic, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which I read as a child, oblivious to the fact that Twain meant it as a satire. Everett’s novel turns the narrative around, unfolding the story from the point of view of Jim, the slave Huck grew up with.

Everett’s novel sticks to much of the original plot, narrated by Jim at a page-turning pace, including Twain’s set pieces while adding some of his own. As you would expect, there’s a great deal of satirical humour: Jim’s recruitment by travelling minstrels who insist he black up his light skin, pokes fun at the sheer ludicrousness of white men performing as happy singing slaves. Jim is literate and erudite, visited in dreams by various philosophers eager to explain why they’re against slavery but not abolitionists. The slaves have one style of language for public consumption, dropping it for conversations amongst themselves, puzzling Huck whose eventual understanding that Jim is not unlike him is hastened by a revelation that discombobulates him. The ending is immensely satisfying, and entirely Evertt’s own. A characteristically smart, funny, thought-provoking novel.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC and an even bigger thanks to Percival Everett for writing! This was sincerely one of the best books I've read recently.
First off I have to admit that I never read Huckleberry Finn, and after "James" I think I don't need to anymore.

Percival Everett's is a very unique literary voice, as I already found out with "The Trees" and "Telephone". In "James" he tells the adventurous journey of Jim the slave and Huckleberry Finn. (I don't want to spoil, so I'll leave it at that.) The two of them are in for a a wild ride along the Mississippi and racism. For or despite that matter it is disturbingly funny while it is also brutal by times in a very dry sense.

Only pitty is that I have to wait months now to buy myself a hard copy and read it again!

James is a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the viewpoint of the runaway slave known then as Jim. It’s a long time since I read Huckleberry Finn but from what I remember, James sticks quite closely to the incidents of the original and it’s a really interesting take to see it from the other point of view. Things we had seen from Huck’s point of view look altogether different now and there are some interesting plot twists too.

The writing is absolutely beautiful and there is real life breathed into James and the other slaves, as we see how far they have to hide their true selves from the whites they encounter and how trapped they are by the whims of those around them. My only issue is that I would have loved to have known what happens next!

4.5 stars, an amazing read. It’s the first book I’ve read by Percival Everett but I’ll definitely be looking out the others.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

#James #NetGalley

This novel is the re-telling of the Adventures of huckleberry Finn story from the point of view of the slave James.
It’s been some years since I read the American classic Huckleberry Finn being a fan of this authors, previous work The trees I was interested to see how he could rework the classic. This novel is told from the point of view of a highly intelligent black slave who has spent his life pretending to speaking with a strong dumb down language dialect in order to misrepresent their intelligence ,denying he could read and write, or to make his owners feel that he was no threat to them .
The book starts with the lyrics from a number of well-known songs of the era. There is no comment made on these words, but as you read to me realise quite how racist and dreadful they were. Because of this the section where Jim disguises himself as a black-and-white, minstrel performer was particularly poignant
The novel is an easy read, and I enjoyed the hours that I spent reading the novel very much .
The story has a journey element which flows along nicely. I personally felt that it ended rather suddenly and would have liked to know more about what happens next. Since it’s been a long time is that I read Huckleberryfin itself it may be that this ending tied up with the original novel and constrained the modern author
The novel is published in the UK on the 11th of April 2024 by Pan McMillan, mantle.
This review will appear on NetGalley, UK, good reads, and my book blog, bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com. After publication review will also appear on Amazon, UK.