JAMES by Percival Everett: Review

“With my pencil, I wrote myself into being.”

‘James’ is a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, an enslaved man. The story follows Jim’s escape and journey down the Mississippi River with fellow runaway Huck Finn.

What I loved most about this book was the writing, which, for me, was the biggest surprise. After watching and really enjoying American Fiction, I immediately decided to buy the book (‘Erasure’), expecting to like it as much as I did the film. Instead, I found it to be boring, dense in its style, and I didn’t like the main character. For those reasons, I was hesitant to read ‘James’, fearing that it would be similar… thankfully, it wasn’t.

‘James’ was an incredibly refreshing read stylistically and is probably one of the most accessible of Everett’s 30+ books. The writing overall was thoughtful at times, even beautiful, and I really liked this somewhat philosophical interpretation of James. I was completely drawn into the story from the beginning, and eagerly wondered where Everett would take this retelling, and my-oh-my, were there surprises!

Despite how much I loved the writing, this book is fundamentally about the barbarity of slavery. It explore the dynamics between black and white people during this period, but also, and most importantly, about reclaiming your voice. Having previously read books set during this era in America, nothing of what I read was surprising, just incredibly sad, hard to read at times, and uncomfortable, as I believe readers should feel. I think Everett’s decision to write this book using more accessible language, in a strange way, added to how connected I felt towards James and his journey throughout the story.

I really wanted to give this book 5 stars, but it does fall short of expanding on certain characters, particularly the women throughout. Another 100 pages would have definitely benefited the story, especially in regards to the protagonist – I feel like there was so much more to be told about his life before the events of the main plot, as well as after. Though upon reflection, I do simply like that this is a story about a man, despite every single thing you can imagine being against him, just wanting to live and be free with his wife and daughter.