A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of viewWhen the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.While many narrative set pieces of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river’s banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin…), Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.Brimming with electrifying humor and lacerating observations, James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature.
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James
von Percival Everett
A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of viewWhen the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.While many narrative set pieces of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river’s banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin…), Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.Brimming with electrifying humor and lacerating observations, James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature.
Aktuelle Rezensionen(3)
Rezension von RaymondJames did not fully work for me as a companion to Twain’s original. Some of the alterations felt less like a natural reinterpretation and more like an attempt to reshape the story into something entirely different. One of the biggest examples is the decision to connect Huck and James in a deeper personal way. In my opinion that revelation felt unnecessary. Huck and James already had a simple but powerful relationship in Huckleberry Finn. Their bond never needed a larger twist attached to it to matter. And I feel this weakened their friendship. Jim is my favorite character in Huckleberry Finn and I felt they both brought their different worlds together and exposed the injustices and inhumane treatment slaves experienced. The novel’s portrayal of enslaved characters also became difficult to believe at times. The idea that the slaves were all secretly highly educated and communicating through a hidden “slave code language” to disguise their intelligence felt more symbolic than realistic. There are many levels of intelligence and in my opinion it doesn’t weaken a group if there are less educated individuals. It would mirror real life. While this idea clearly serves Everett’s themes about survival and performance, it sometimes pulled the story away from emotional authenticity and into something closer to allegory. The ending was another weak point for me. After much of the novel carefully builds James’ character and the tension and philosophical depth, the conclusion feels rushed and overly dramatic, the story feels like it suddenly accelerates toward a cinematic finale. Also the ending didn’t line up with the Huckleberry Finn ending. I know James is supposed to be from the perspective of Jim and so wouldn’t have everything exactly the same but surely there wouldn’t be such a wild tangent from the original. Another point I felt let the story down was that several side characters also deserved more attention and development. Some appear briefly with interesting potential only to disappear before their backstories or motivations are fully explored. Even with those flaws, James remains thought-provoking and memorable. It certainly challenges readers to reconsider a literary classic and the way race and intelligence are portrayed within it. I admire the book’s ambition more than I enjoy every creative decision, but I feel it is still a novel that sparks discussion long after finishing it.
Rezension von pechseeGroßartiges Buch! So, so mitreißend und schmerzhaft. Es hittet überall, wo es hitten soll und benennt gnadenlos die schmerzhaften Wahrheiten, die für Schwarze Menschen damals Alltag waren
Rezension von Rojda4.5 Sterne. Wow, das war wirklich fesselnd und so stark, so traurig... 💔