James (novel) explained

James is a novel by author Percival Everett published by Doubleday in 2024. The novel is a re-imagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain but told from the perspective of Huckleberry's friend on his travels, Jim, who is an escaped slave. The novel won the 2024 Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction.

Story

James is loosely based on Mark Twain's classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Some of the early scenes of Everett's novel closely follow Huckleberry Finn, but as the two separate and Jim goes off on his own picaresque "adventures", the tone turns more serious as it explores issues of rape, murder, beatings, and racism.

Reception

According to Book Marks, the book received "rave" reviews based on nineteen critic reviews with seventeen being "rave" and one being "positive" and one being "pan".^[2] On Bookmarks May/June 2024 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (4.00 out of 5) based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "Critics quibbled a little over the novel's ending, but, as the New York Times concludes, "James is the rarest of exceptions. It should come bundled with Twain's novel".^[3]

Writing for The New York Times, Dwight Garner praised the novel as more successful than many re-imaginings of famous classics, stating, "What sets 'James' above Everett's previous novels, as casually and caustically funny as many are, is that here the humanity is turned up — way up. This is Everett's most thrilling novel, but also his most soulful."^[4] Writing for The Guardian, Anthony Cummins stated: "James offers page-turning excitement but also off-kilter philosophical picaresque".^[5]

A finalist for the 2024 Booker Prize,^[6] James won the 2024 Kirkus Prize for Fiction,^[7] as well as the 2024 National Book Award for Fiction.^[8]

Film adaptation

Feature film rights in the novel were acquired in 2024 by Universal Pictures, with Amblin Entertainment for production, and Steven Spielberg as executive producer. Taika Waititi was in early talks as director.^[9]

Notes and References

1. Web site: James by Percival Everett . PenguinRandomhouse.com.
2. Web site: James. 16 January 2024 . Book Marks.
3. Web site: James. 14 January 2023 . Bookmarks.
4. Web site: Garner . Dwight . ‘Huck Finn’ Is a Masterpiece. This Retelling Just Might Be, Too. . The New York Times . 11 March 2024.
5. Web site: Cummins . Anthony . James by Percival Everett review – a gripping reimagining of Huckleberry Finn . The Guardian . 8 April 2024.
6. Web site: James Written by Percival Everett . TheBookerprizes.com.
7. Web site: Michael. Schaub. Winners of the 2024 Kirkus Prize Revealed . October 16, 2024 . November 23, 2024 . Kirkus Reviews . en.
8. News: Alter . Alexandra . Percival Everett, Author of 'James,' Wins National Book Award for Fiction . 21 November 2024 . The New York Times . 20 November 2024.
9. Web site: Lang . Brent . Saperstein . Pat . June 20, 2024 . Steven Spielberg’s Amblin to Produce Adaptation of Percival Everett’s Bestseller ‘James’ for Universal, Taika Waititi in Early Talks to Direct (EXCLUSIVE) .