"What’s a recent contemporary novel that stayed with you long after reading?"
Name of Book: James
Author: Percival Everett
Publisher: Mantle
Publication Time: 21 March 2024
No. of Pages: 312
Format: Digital
An enthralling and ferociously funny reimagining of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, told from the perspective of the enslaved Jim. Written by Booker Prize-shortlisted Percival Everett, his novel Erasure is now released as the critically acclaimed and Oscar-winning film American Fiction. The Mississippi River, 1861. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a new owner in New Orleans and separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson’s Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father who recently returned to town. Thus begins a dangerous and transcendent journey by raft along the Mississippi River, towards the elusive promise of the free states and beyond. As James and Huck begin to navigate the treacherous waters, each bend in the river holds the promise of both salvation and demise. With rumours of a brewing war, James must face the burden he carries: the family he is desperate to protect and the constant lie he must live. And together, the unlikely pair must face the most dangerous odyssey of them all . . . From the shadows of Huck Finn’s mischievous spirit, Jim emerges to reclaim his voice, defying the conventions that have consigned him to the margins.
Percival Everett is the author of over thirty published works, including Zulus, Erasure, I Am Not Sidney Poitier, Assumption, Percival Everett by Virgil Russell, Telephone, The Trees, Dr. No and James. A Guggenheim Fellow and Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Everett has won the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award, the Academy Award in Literature, the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction, and the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize for Fiction. In 2022, The Trees was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Percival Everett lives in Los Angeles, CA, where he is Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California.
My Opinion
James by Percival Everett is a powerful and thought-provoking work of contemporary fiction that reimagines the life of a slave with emotional depth and compelling storytelling. The novel begins with an adventurous pace, following James, a slave, through a series of gripping and dangerous encounters that immediately draw the reader in. As the story unfolds, it gradually reveals the brutal realities of slavery—where human beings are treated as property, bought and sold like cattle, and stripped of their dignity.
What stands out is Everett's skillful narration, which captures both the emotional and physical suffering of the enslaved, as well as their courage, intelligence, and will to survive. Through James’s perspective, readers are forced to confront the inhumanity of the system while also witnessing moments of quiet rebellion, unity, and endurance among the oppressed. The emotional weight of the narrative intensifies as the plot moves toward a climax that is both unexpected and deeply impactful.
Rather than following a predictable trajectory, the story highlights the strength it takes to stand against injustice, even when the odds are impossible. James is not just a historical narrative—it’s a bold and necessary reflection on resistance, identity, and the enduring spirit of freedom.
- Characters ------------------ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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- Intrigue -------------------- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Logic ---------------------- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Enjoyment ---------------- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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