📚 James 👍👍
My mom usually gives me an interesting book to read for Christmas and this year it was James, Percival Everett's retelling of The Adventure's of Huckleberry Finn from the slave Jim's perspective. I read way more genre fiction than literary fiction, but I was immediately grabbed by the concept. It was clear from the first chapter that the execution was spot-on and had a sense of levity and introspection that appealed to me. Needless to say, I devoured all of the 303 pages in a couple of days and was not disappointed.
Jim is a compelling character, particularly when viewed through the creative lens of Percival Everett. Everett immediately hangs a lantern on the ridiculous characterization of slaves in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and American media for decades after its publication. The novel itself hews pretty closely to the source material early but eventually starts to diverge more significantly after the first 75 pages. Once Jim and Huck start getting separated for meaningful lengths of time the story really comes into its own. Despite this, the pair's bond remains strong and there's an inevitability to their continual reunions that I love.
The book is not always a pleasant read with numerous heart-breaking moments of physical abuse, death, and bad things happening to undeserving and deserving people alike. Everett doesn't pull any punches on the constant jeopardy and daily trauma that Jim and his fellow slaves live with. The stakes are so much higher for Jim than they ever were for Huck. Jim wants to get back to free his wife and daughter, but for most of the book, this seems like an impossible dream, as he's swept along in a series of misadventures largely outside his control like a raft on the Mississippi. But Jim is not just surviving, he's finding allies, renewed purpose, and a drive to carry on and see this thing through despite everything and that's both powerful and poignant.
Eventually like the river he spends so much time navigating, the narrative spits Jim out exactly where he needs to be, and to a satisfying and fairly cinematic ending. I recently read that Steven Spielberg's company has optioned the book and Taiko Waititi is involved. I absolutely could see this story becoming an Oscar contender in their hands and would love to see it on the big screen.