{"id":2269,"date":"2024-05-16T09:13:24","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T16:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2269"},"modified":"2024-05-16T09:13:27","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T16:13:27","slug":"bookshelf-james-percival-everett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2269","title":{"rendered":"Bookshelf: James, Percival Everett"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Some books are so good \u2013 and so widely praised \u2013 that not much needs to be said about them. James<\/em> is such a book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A reimagining of Mark Twain\u2019s \u201cAdventures of Huckleberry Finn\u201d that puts Jim, the runaway slave, at the center of the story instead of Huck, James<\/em> is a fast-paced, compelling, and moving novel. It is also, because of its clear, descriptive writing and its forceful, focused narration, a rarity, a gem that glistens amid the slag heap of mediocrity that holds most current popular fiction (sequel-driven dross churned out by publishing houses that believe no story can be told too often as long as it turns a buck. End rant.)<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I read James<\/em> in two sittings and had I not needed to sleep (or drink whiskey) I could have finished it in one. The story had me from get-go when Jim code-switches from the shuffling, submissive, yes-suh-ing enslaved man he presents to white folks to, when with other Blacks, an erudite, educated husband and father who reads Voltaire and instructs children in linguistic survival skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During one lesson, for example, Jim asks: What do you say if you see a white women\u2019s house on fire:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cFire, fire,\u201d said one child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDirect. And that\u2019s almost correct,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The youngest of them, lean and tall five-year-old Rachel, said, \u201cLawdy, missum! Looky dere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPerfect,\u201d I said. \u201cWhy is that correct?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lizzie raised her hand. \u201cBecause we must let the whites be the ones who name the trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd why is that,\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

February said, \u201cBecause they need to know everything before us. Because they need to name everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

More than anything, Jim continues, we need to make sure white people feel good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cAnd the better they feel, the safer we are,\u201d says a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFebruary, translate that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDa mo\u2019 betta dey feel, da mo\u2019 safer we be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This mechanism of portraying the intellectually free inner being held in chains by the need of his owned outer self to survive is a more powerful and impactful depiction of slavery\u2019s horror than any description of a lashing or a lynching. The latter kills, the former erases a life while it is still in progress \u2013 a living death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is plenty more to read about James<\/em> online, and I encourage you to do so. I suggest also you read about Twain and the original book, both its acclaim and its criticism. Of course, I urge you to read \u201cJames\u201d itself because more than anything it does what all special books do: it educates while it entertains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some books are so good \u2013 and so widely praised \u2013 that not much needs to be said about them. James is such a book. A reimagining of Mark Twain\u2019s \u201cAdventures of Huckleberry Finn\u201d that puts Jim, the runaway slave, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[784],"tags":[809,770,876,877],"class_list":["post-2269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-book","tag-book-review","tag-james","tag-percival-everett"],"yoast_head":"\nBookshelf: James, Percival Everett - Tim Porter's Second Draft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some books are so good \u2013 and so widely praised \u2013 that not much needs to be said about them. 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