James by Percival Everett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“But the real source of our rage had to go without address, swallowed, repressed.”
“With my pencil, I wrote myself into being. I wrote myself to here.”
“Dey takes the lies dey want and throws away the truths dat scares ‘em.”
James is the story of Jim from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn but told from his perspective. We follow him through his journey from being separated from his wife and child, traversing the mighty Mississippi, encounters with many helpful people, run ins with people who want to do him harm, and all along his desire to get back to his family fueling his resolve. Throughout this story, Huck Finn is along for the ride, popping in and out of the narrative. It is told in a very rustic, local, and realistic way in the tradition of Mark Twain. Will Jim meet back up with his family or forever be on the run?
Percival Everett wrote a masterpiece here. I could not find one fault with it. The writing style was perfection and he allowed the readers to dive into the story. I felt like I was right there besides James and Huck while they were on the river, running from the white men, or eating catfish that they stole from a trotline. He has a gift with sardonic humor, keen observations, and humanistic writing. Right from the get-go I laughed out loud with “those boys couldn’t sneak up on a blind and deaf man while a band was playing.” You could just picture those boys trying to sneak. The spoken language used throughout added such depth to the narrative. On page 28, throwing in types of irony made me smile as it tickled my linguistic interests and just because I love language. Some words I ran across that I loved were Labyrinthine, Daedalean, perfidy, and sonorous. Page 103 had a great back and forth which was witty and funny. This book had an intellectual side to it as well. There were dreams of Jims, portraying historical figures and discussing equality, slavery, liberties, and whether humans are inherently evil. It added another layer of historical context based on centuries old thoughts of highly regarded writers like Volatire. It highlighted the fact that people who think they are enlightened might not be as much as they/we think. It generated many interesting possible debates. “Was it evil to kill evil?” There are so many topics and discussions I want to showcase here but I should leave things for other readers to discover on their own. The depiction of the horrific nature of slavery was palpable. The imagery that conjured in my brain with scenes describing whippings and the fear while running or hiding was vivid. It was harrowing and that was just me reading about it. Percival showcased the inhumanity it and the struggle of black people. This is exactly the type of book that I would recommend to anyone and everyone. It is quintessential.
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