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BOOK OF THE MONTH
James: A Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view - From the "literary icon" (Oprah Daily) and Pulitzer Prize Finalist whose novel Erasure is the basis for Cord Jefferson's critically acclaimed film American Fiction
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Community Reviews
Greetings,
Did you know James by Percival Everett has won 2025 Pulitzer Prize- Fiction winner? Here’s a NPR coverage on this: https://npr.org/2025/05/05/nx-s1-5381150/pulitzer-prizes-2025
Here is a recap of February’s book discussion questions: https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/g2t5eHTUiuHmysyYYaSxeu7wi7ZDUR3V7lt9W-Bd7cNi0TmVOsS3cQD379aLPRF9.9RV9wltAakb0uEAG
A beautifully written and woven Picaresque story detailing the experiences and multiple ills of slavery, with its constant fears, from a black perspective. It is very well researched and gives us a good sense of the atmosphere of the Missisippi and life around it.
So much happens, however, that there is little room for emotional depth, contrast, or character development, making this, to my mind, more a tale than a fully immersing account.
A disturbing read portraying the cruelty and hopelessness of slavery. I can’t say I enjoyed this book. I am not a fan of reading works written in dialect and some of the story was so shallow as to be unbelievable. Descriptive passages of the Mississippi River and surrounding countryside allowed visualisation of the vastness of that landscape but other things in the book seemed to be brushed lightly over. I sometimes felt that some parts of the story felt like less care had been taken in the writing than others. The praise the book has received seems somehow unearned. It was suggested by some members of our book club that it may be better to listen to the audio book. This would help with the language used by the slaves but would not help the somewhat shallow, storyline.
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