The spirit of this clever novel is twofold: it serves as a revolt against Twain’s stereotypes and a celebration of his honest depictions of life along the great Missouri. Harsher than a love letter but not a complete denigration of the work, “James” by Percival Everett manages to both criticize and compliment the original text. Everett writes fearlessly, welcoming anachronisms and parody to his fantasy.
James’ speech amongst white folk is extremely vernacular, rich in “yessum”s and “suh”s. The tone he takes inside his shack is educated. There, amongst his stump, he educates his wise children in distinctly postmodern concepts.
When James dreams, after receiving a near-fatal snake bite, it is not of the “magic glass” he would like Huck to think of, but of Voltaire.
Thus begins our first glimpse at the complex tradition of code-switching which James relies on throughout the novel. Suppressing his intelligence and literacy, skills gained by secret studying in a white judge’s library, “Jim,” as he is known to all white folk, frantically returns to crude, stereotypical displays of subservience.
Everett’s humor is biting and raw; each joke belies the intense pain of racial hatred and injustice.
While the novel is keen on utilizing Twain’s rich characters for their jokes – Huck Finn is still up to his usual tricks – it delves even deeper into the darkness lurking behind. Each laugh is echoed by the whipping of a disobedient slave.
The overall effect of this story set in a warm, Midwestern clime, then, is chilling.
“James” has been termed a “masterpiece” by the Chicago Tribune, among other praiseful terms. Among its numerous awards are the National Book Award and Barnes and Noble’s Book of the Year.
I find myself hard pressed to believe that it is the book of the year.
Though the text is highly readable, clear, and precise, it lacks the passion of a true masterpiece. What should be shouted is only whispered.
The greatest details of slavery’s horrors become only short mentions. Perhaps that is what gives it its frightening quality: the normalization of violence in American society. It is eerily redolent of today’s socio-political climate. Perhaps Everett purposefully understates James’ fears for dramatic effect. Regardless, it may put off some readers.
It is certainly not the gallant adventure of Huck and “Jim,” but a moving condemnation of the world in which they existed, a world which, in certain aspects, remains strangely familiar to Americans once enraptured by Twain’s work. Without some knowledge of his work, reader’s will not be nearly as interested.
