I enjoyed the last book I read by Percival Everett, so much, that I just finished reading (in two days), James. The book Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain has just been reinvented by Everett. James is the main character, who is Jim, from Huckleberry Finn. The story is what could have happened if Jim escaped and his adventures, with Huck.
The history, emotional turnstile, and dialogue, kept me turning pages. We hear Jim expound on his views of slavery and religion. Jim is a well-read slave. He can also write and does start to write his autobiography. Jim pontificates about the morality and unfairness of slavery. His religion is simple, or rather, not existence. Thomas Aquinas would "answer that," God is not deus machina. Man has free will and is free to choose evil. Jim believes that if there were a God, there would be no slavery.
The two adventurers have little time to philosophize. They get captured, blown up, sold again, Jim becomes a blacksmith, a tenor singer, and other assorted misadventures. They also learn that the Civil War has started over slavery.
Jim heads back South to his family. Huck goes home, also and helps Jim locate his wife and daughter, who were sold. Jim does find and helps them escape to the north. Finally, free Jim becomes James.
