I suspect the main question asked about James by Percival Everett is whether you need to have already read Huckleberry Finn, since the novel is a retelling of the famous American classic. I would say not, as I think James stands on its own as an entertaining and thought-provoking piece of literature.
If anything, it might be easier not to have read the original Mark Twain novel. Everett has introduced some quite different elements, and from what I remembered of Huckleberry Finn, Jim’s story continued for longer and ended quite differently in James. So I found myself going back to cross-reference the two.
I guess another question is why Everett decided to retell such a famous tale and take some liberties with it. The answer is perspective. James tells the story through the eyes of Jim, the slave who accompanies Huck on his journeys on and around the Mississippi River. And Jim sees and experiences life in a very different way from the white child he travels with.
For example, two original characters, the King and the Duke, also appear in James. However, while the pair of con artists provides good entertainment value in Huckleberry Finn, they take on a more sinister tone in Everett’s book due to the total power they hold over Jim. His fear of what white people might do to him is palpable throughout the book.
But James is also often a funny read. In Everett’s version, Jim and his fellow slaves are continually putting on a ‘show’ for their white owners, one that hides their real selves. For example, Jim doesn’t talk the way Huck thinks he does. Among other black people, he speaks and writes in correct, formal English. But once a white person is within earshot, he and his fellow black characters slip into dialect and ‘perform’ in a way that makes them appear non-threatening. Huck becomes increasingly confused as Jim slips up under pressure and speaks in a way that Huck doesn’t recognise.
Also, while many of the same key incidents take place in James, there are various times in Huckleberry Finn when Jim and Huck become separated. So in James, we learn what happened to the slave during these interludes. One involves him getting recruited to perform as a tenor in a touring black-and-white minstrel show, where he ironically has to pretend he’s a white man pretending to be black.
Despite these moments of lightness, the reality of being a runaway slave is clear. We are regularly reminded that while Huck might get in trouble for running away, for Jim, the stakes are much higher. It’s a matter of life and death, and even though some states have already given slaves their freedom, Jim knows that state borders don’t guarantee safety.
All of this makes James a beautifully written, gripping adventure filled with twists and turns, and a lead character you’ll root for until the end.
I bought my copy of James from the Oxfam bookshop in Kingston upon Thames. The charity is the biggest retailer of secondhand books in Europe and has a number of dedicated bookshops. All of the regular Oxfam stores also sell books, including the one where I work as a book volunteer. You might also find it in your local library, or you could try Oxfam’s online store.
For more book reviews, visit the Books section of my blog.