Paranoid Fish reviewed James by Percival L. Everett
The Mississippi River, 1861. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be …
Not just another version of Huckleberry Finn...
4 stars
...though it follows its storyline. It's told from runaway slave Jim's point of view - with some little alterations in the first half, but drifting more and more off into its own story. We learn that Jim - or James as he calls himself - isn't as simpleminded as he seemed to be, or as Huck thought he was. This is funny at times on one hand, but on the other hand it tells us some bitter truths about racism. I didn't like the end that much - to me it seemed too hasty, as if the author was a bit in a hurry, and I found it very unexpected how the story developed. Nevertheless very worth reading.
...though it follows its storyline. It's told from runaway slave Jim's point of view - with some little alterations in the first half, but drifting more and more off into its own story. We learn that Jim - or James as he calls himself - isn't as simpleminded as he seemed to be, or as Huck thought he was. This is funny at times on one hand, but on the other hand it tells us some bitter truths about racism. I didn't like the end that much - to me it seemed too hasty, as if the author was a bit in a hurry, and I found it very unexpected how the story developed. Nevertheless very worth reading.