Excellent video. I've spent a lot of time thinking about the story arc of that pencil, and also the conversations and choices regarding "passing." This video is making me want to embark on a reread soon.
That was an excellent analysis. I think you're probably spot on. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn were not just a romp down the river, it was a coming of age story, only Huck sadly didn't develop as much as I wanted him to. James is, not exactly a coming of age story, but it is still a bildungsroman where we see James coming into his own. He converses with all sorts of people, including dead philosophers. While I was reading I was focused on the relationship between James and Huck, and how it differed from Twain's book, but also on the concept of passing and how diffuse "blackness" was. The absurdity of the system and how anyone could defend it was shown in stark relief. It didn't occur to me that Young George was the personification of enslaved hope. But that makes so much sense. Especially considering there's a line in the book later where someone mentions what happened to him later.
Thank you for the kind words. There is a lot going on in James and the relationship between Jim and Huck is one of the most interesting aspects of the book. I tried to avoid it in the video because I wanted to avoid spoiling that aspect of the story, but Everett's depiction of and definition of their relationship is very subversive and wonderful. I think I saw Everett describe Young George as representing hope so that idea is not original with me. Thanks again for your great comment.
That was an excellent summary Brian and I can completely agree with you. Everett also sets us up to be interested in following how the book intersects with Twains novel which is another distraction. I can see now that the arc of James’s experience is amazingly well put together. The slave experience is just beyond words or the imagination very often - Toni Morrison brings that home in Beloved too.
Hiya - I haven't read James yet, so not going to watch this quite yet. But I did just finish a book called Big Fiction by Dan Sinykin about how conglomeration has impacted American fiction. And there was an ENTIRE section about Percival Everett that suggested, yes, most of us read him wrong.
The last line took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes…it seems like it’s always the kind white person who saves the slave…I felt James’s empowerment and dominion over his own life…great summary… it’s my favorite book of the year!
Thank you, I loved hearing your thoughts on this. I finished the book last night and this helped organize my own thoughts after such an intense journey. I found the ending powerful, poignant and satisfying and it left me in tears. If you haven't heard the audiobook please try and seek it out (my library had it on the Libby app), it is a work of art in itself! The narrator is incredible and brought James to life so vividly. Take care and thanks again!
@@lightlightpink Thank you for recommending the audiobook. I will try to find it. I made another video recently “Are we reading James Wrong” in which I reassess the ending and the focus of the book if you are interested.
This is excellent, Brian. I haven’t read many reviews or even watched many videos about Everett’s book (since I really do intend to make a video about it eventually)-but I’m surprised by your suggestion that many reviewers don’t point out James’s insistence of his own selfhood and independence. What theme do they focus on instead? The links to Twain’s novel? The evils of racism?
@@HannahsBooks I think they get that James asserts his selfhood and independence but they don’t always seem to see why or they think it’s because of the evils of racism/slavery which it is only indirectly. It’s when Jim sees the effects of that evil through his encounters with other Black people that he changes. I think many readers see his interactions with white people as the catalyst for his change. But Jim’s knowledge of white people and the reality of slavery doesn’t change. It is his growing understanding of what those evils do to Black people, how they force Black people to cower and conform, deny that they are Black, or die that convinces him that asserting his humanity and his right to that humanity is the only way forward. This is why I think sone readers have issues with the ending, they didn’t really understand the journey. I think marketing it as a retelling of Huckleberry Finn and tying it to Twain’s adventure story distracts from what really is as powerful an argument for Black people asserting themselves as Malcom X or Fred Hampton ever made. Not to mention the statement about America I think Everett is making through his explanation of the relationship between Jim and Huck.
This is a brilliant video, Brian. Thank you for this. I have shared your video with my book group as we read and discussed JAMES a couple months ago, and I've shared it with a bunch of other friends, too, who are talking about this novel. This is a novel I will re-read many times, I suspect. You have made me want to re-read it today. Thank you.
Thank you Pat. That means a great deal to me. In doing this video I reread much of the novel and was struck by how much is Everett has going on in what on its surface appears to be a simple narrative.
@@BookishTexan oh I think you are exactly right about what Everett is doing here. I’ve just now shared your video with about 15 people who have read the novel-my group and a few other friends as well. Just brilliant.
Brian this was extraordinarily helpful to me. I had not considered how limited an experience of the world James had before the start of the story and how much the events were a series of revelations for him.
Excellent, impassioned video, Brian . I did have the same feeling of surprise that @HannahsBooks experienced. And didn’t 100% grasp your full meaning. It’s a ME thing, not a YOU thing. As always thank you for giving us your all! xotk
@@BookishTexan No one else had trouble grasping the main idea. Now that I’m in my 70th year, my brain cells seem to be deteriorating at a rapid pace! It’s def me!
This was great, Brian. I think at the end of the book a powerful, subtle. Independence is declared by the , “Just James”. Free slaves were usually burdened or shackled by the surname of their previous enslaver. Not here, James is free.
@@tompagnillo Very True. James’ claiming of his own name reminded me of the move in the 50s and 60s of Black people rejecting their slave names and choosing their own.
I also noticed the purpose to have James meet black people with different stances/points of view and how it informed his intellectual journey. I appreciated that choice and I didn't have a problem with the ending, but overall, I feel like the story itself might've flourished more by not being constrained to follow the narrative of Huck Finn to begin with.
@@karlalikestoread I can see that. In fact I think the burden of the book being marketed as a retelling confused Jim/James character arc. That said I think Everett chose the Huck Finn frame work to make a point about pov and the progress or lack of progress of the US.
_First!_ Thanks for this. I just finished _James,_ now Im on to _The Trees._ (Hell of a _SPOILER!_ ah?!!?) I enjoyed the sectiins w the minstrial composer, Daniel Everett. James' quest for freedom & money to free his wife and daughter are heartbreaking.
I found the story from beginning to end to be about James. It's a direct rejection of the idea that this story has anything to do with Huck. In fact the number of times Jim explicitly states he doesn't bother listening to Huck is a reminder of who the person with the voice and story here is James. He goes from fearful with no options to empowered, stoking his own anger until it boils over (much like the steamboat) and he exerts choice, to run and be his own man. Great review.
@@noteworthyfiction Thanks for the brilliant comment. I agree completely. The idea that this is a retelling of Huck Finn I think distracts a lot of readers from the real story. They look for the connections between the two novels and miss the story of Jim’s transition to James. I had not thought about the connection between the steamboat and James’ anger that is an excellent observation. Everett is such a genius that I can’t help but think that he used the “retelling” as cover for a powerful statement about race relations in the US past, present, and future. James decision to claim his name and to fight back against oppression seem to parallel and show the logic behind the ideas of people Malcolm X , the Black Power movement, and the Black Lives Matter movement.. I do think Everett is saying something with his description of the relationship between James and Huck. If Huck is a representative of America in its adolescence (something I’ve heard Everett say in interviews I think) and James is Huck’s fatgrr then I believe Everett is saying something about the bond between the Black and White in the US.
@@BookishTexan thanks for the kind words. I also think it's interesting that the books is marketed as a reimagining and not a retelling. The former speaks to things changing where the latter implies the possibility of the same story and events from a slightly different angle. James is definitely a reimagining. We are forced to reimagine this world as it truly was and not as a youthful adventure novel would make it out to be.
@@noteworthyfiction Very true. I made this video because I got so frustrated with interviewers and audience members talking about it as simply a retelling with a clever thing about language thrown in. It is so much more.
Good stuff! I know you don’t like the term literary fiction, but books like this one aren’t really intended to make perfect sense in the real world. They have messages to tell, and this one does it powerfully.
@@alldbooks9165 That is true of a lot of lit fic. I get the feeling that Everett doesn’t so much have a message, but that he is telling more than one story and which one each reader pays the most attention to may depend on the reader.
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
Excellent video. I've spent a lot of time thinking about the story arc of that pencil, and also the conversations and choices regarding "passing." This video is making me want to embark on a reread soon.
@@readandre-read There so many themes and storylines running through this book. I will definitely be rereading it.
That was an excellent analysis. I think you're probably spot on. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn were not just a romp down the river, it was a coming of age story, only Huck sadly didn't develop as much as I wanted him to. James is, not exactly a coming of age story, but it is still a bildungsroman where we see James coming into his own. He converses with all sorts of people, including dead philosophers. While I was reading I was focused on the relationship between James and Huck, and how it differed from Twain's book, but also on the concept of passing and how diffuse "blackness" was. The absurdity of the system and how anyone could defend it was shown in stark relief. It didn't occur to me that Young George was the personification of enslaved hope. But that makes so much sense. Especially considering there's a line in the book later where someone mentions what happened to him later.
Thank you for the kind words. There is a lot going on in James and the relationship between Jim and Huck is one of the most interesting aspects of the book. I tried to avoid it in the video because I wanted to avoid spoiling that aspect of the story, but Everett's depiction of and definition of their relationship is very subversive and wonderful. I think I saw Everett describe Young George as representing hope so that idea is not original with me. Thanks again for your great comment.
That was an excellent summary Brian and I can completely agree with you. Everett also sets us up to be interested in following how the book intersects with Twains novel which is another distraction. I can see now that the arc of James’s experience is amazingly well put together. The slave experience is just beyond words or the imagination very often - Toni Morrison brings that home in Beloved too.
The intersection with Huckleberry Finn definitely distracts as does the relationship between Jim and Huck. Thanks for watching and for the kind words.
Hiya - I haven't read James yet, so not going to watch this quite yet. But I did just finish a book called Big Fiction by Dan Sinykin about how conglomeration has impacted American fiction. And there was an ENTIRE section about Percival Everett that suggested, yes, most of us read him wrong.
P.S. I'm letting it play on mute to give you the full view! LOL - and I promise to come back later once I've finished the book!!!
@@eyesonindie I will look for a copy of Big Fiction. It sounds like a book I would be interested in. Thanks for the recommendation.
@@eyesonindie Thank you.
@@BookishTexan It's a little all over the place in terms of the writing, but it is full of fascinating publishing history.
The last line took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes…it seems like it’s always the kind white person who saves the slave…I felt James’s empowerment and dominion over his own life…great summary… it’s my favorite book of the year!
Thank you. James is my book of the year as well.
Thank you, I loved hearing your thoughts on this. I finished the book last night and this helped organize my own thoughts after such an intense journey. I found the ending powerful, poignant and satisfying and it left me in tears. If you haven't heard the audiobook please try and seek it out (my library had it on the Libby app), it is a work of art in itself! The narrator is incredible and brought James to life so vividly. Take care and thanks again!
@@lightlightpink Thank you for recommending the audiobook. I will try to find it. I made another video recently “Are we reading James Wrong” in which I reassess the ending and the focus of the book if you are interested.
This is excellent, Brian. I haven’t read many reviews or even watched many videos about Everett’s book (since I really do intend to make a video about it eventually)-but I’m surprised by your suggestion that many reviewers don’t point out James’s insistence of his own selfhood and independence. What theme do they focus on instead? The links to Twain’s novel? The evils of racism?
@@HannahsBooks I think they get that James asserts his selfhood and independence but they don’t always seem to see why or they think it’s because of the evils of racism/slavery which it is only indirectly. It’s when Jim sees the effects of that evil through his encounters with other Black people that he changes. I think many readers see his interactions with white people as the catalyst for his change. But Jim’s knowledge of white people and the reality of slavery doesn’t change. It is his growing understanding of what those evils do to Black people, how they force Black people to cower and conform, deny that they are Black, or die that convinces him that asserting his humanity and his right to that humanity is the only way forward. This is why I think sone readers have issues with the ending, they didn’t really understand the journey.
I think marketing it as a retelling of Huckleberry Finn and tying it to Twain’s adventure story distracts from what really is as powerful an argument for Black people asserting themselves as Malcom X or Fred Hampton ever made.
Not to mention the statement about America I think Everett is making through his explanation of the relationship between Jim and Huck.
This is a brilliant video, Brian. Thank you for this. I have shared your video with my book group as we read and discussed JAMES a couple months ago, and I've shared it with a bunch of other friends, too, who are talking about this novel. This is a novel I will re-read many times, I suspect. You have made me want to re-read it today. Thank you.
Thank you Pat. That means a great deal to me. In doing this video I reread much of the novel and was struck by how much is Everett has going on in what on its surface appears to be a simple narrative.
@@BookishTexan oh I think you are exactly right about what Everett is doing here. I’ve just now shared your video with about 15 people who have read the novel-my group and a few other friends as well. Just brilliant.
Brian this was extraordinarily helpful to me. I had not considered how limited an experience of the world James had before the start of the story and how much the events were a series of revelations for him.
Thank you Roz.
I haven't read James yet, but I watched this anyway because I wanted to know what to look for in the story. Thank you for this explanation.
Thank you. I hope you enjoy the book.
Excellent, impassioned video, Brian .
I did have the same feeling of surprise that @HannahsBooks experienced.
And didn’t 100% grasp your full meaning. It’s a ME thing, not a YOU thing.
As always thank you for giving us your all!
xotk
I’m sure it’s a me thing, but thank you Tess.
@@BookishTexan No one else had trouble grasping the main idea. Now that I’m in my 70th year, my brain cells seem to be deteriorating at a rapid pace! It’s def me!
This was great, Brian. I think at the end of the book a powerful, subtle. Independence is declared by the , “Just James”. Free slaves were usually burdened or shackled by the surname of their previous enslaver. Not here, James is free.
@@tompagnillo Very True. James’ claiming of his own name reminded me of the move in the 50s and 60s of Black people rejecting their slave names and choosing their own.
I also noticed the purpose to have James meet black people with different stances/points of view and how it informed his intellectual journey. I appreciated that choice and I didn't have a problem with the ending, but overall, I feel like the story itself might've flourished more by not being constrained to follow the narrative of Huck Finn to begin with.
@@karlalikestoread I can see that. In fact I think the burden of the book being marketed as a retelling confused Jim/James character arc. That said I think Everett chose the Huck Finn frame work to make a point about pov and the progress or lack of progress of the US.
Fingers in my ears, may come back to this video when I've read it!
Totally fair.
_First!_ Thanks for this. I just finished _James,_ now Im on to _The Trees._ (Hell of a _SPOILER!_ ah?!!?) I enjoyed the sectiins w the minstrial composer, Daniel Everett. James' quest for freedom & money to free his wife and daughter are heartbreaking.
Hope you like The Trees. It blew me away.
Cunégonde is a character in Voltaire's satire Candide.
Great video. Thnx
Edit: You already know that.
😆 😅
@@Barklord ah, thank you. I hadn’t put that together though I did read Candice long ago.
I have to come back later once I’ve read the book, but I’m intrigued!
@@bookofdust Hope that you do. Would love to see your thoughts.
I found the story from beginning to end to be about James. It's a direct rejection of the idea that this story has anything to do with Huck. In fact the number of times Jim explicitly states he doesn't bother listening to Huck is a reminder of who the person with the voice and story here is James. He goes from fearful with no options to empowered, stoking his own anger until it boils over (much like the steamboat) and he exerts choice, to run and be his own man. Great review.
@@noteworthyfiction Thanks for the brilliant comment. I agree completely. The idea that this is a retelling of Huck Finn I think distracts a lot of readers from the real story. They look for the connections between the two novels and miss the story of Jim’s transition to James. I had not thought about the connection between the steamboat and James’ anger that is an excellent observation.
Everett is such a genius that I can’t help but think that he used the “retelling” as cover for a powerful statement about race relations in the US past, present, and future. James decision to claim his name and to fight back against oppression seem to parallel and show the logic behind the ideas of people Malcolm X , the Black Power movement, and the Black Lives Matter movement..
I do think Everett is saying something with his description of the relationship between James and Huck. If Huck is a representative of America in its adolescence (something I’ve heard Everett say in interviews I think) and James is Huck’s fatgrr then I believe Everett is saying something about the bond between the Black and White in the US.
@@BookishTexan thanks for the kind words. I also think it's interesting that the books is marketed as a reimagining and not a retelling. The former speaks to things changing where the latter implies the possibility of the same story and events from a slightly different angle. James is definitely a reimagining. We are forced to reimagine this world as it truly was and not as a youthful adventure novel would make it out to be.
@@noteworthyfiction Very true. I made this video because I got so frustrated with interviewers and audience members talking about it as simply a retelling with a clever thing about language thrown in. It is so much more.
@@BookishTexan Very true! Great video.
Good stuff! I know you don’t like the term literary fiction, but books like this one aren’t really intended to make perfect sense in the real world. They have messages to tell, and this one does it powerfully.
@@alldbooks9165 That is true of a lot of lit fic. I get the feeling that Everett doesn’t so much have a message, but that he is telling more than one story and which one each reader pays the most attention to may depend on the reader.
haven't read it yet so don't know what the controversy about the ending is⚛
Not sure I’d call it a controversy so much as mild disappointment on the part of some.