Review of Percival Everett's novel “James”

American writer Percival Everett turns Mark Twain's novel “Huckleberry Finn” upside down: turning naive Jim in the classic novel into a master of sarcasm. It turns out that the author of the novel “James” is as well.

HIt was only a few days ago that a row erupted over Jim Knopf's portrayal of Michael Ende's children's books, after the publisher changed characteristics of the character that it interpreted as racist – in words and images. Sensitivities in public conversations, especially regarding questions of identity, have increased dramatically, and growing pride among members of social groups previously seen as marginal goes hand in hand with their categorical rejection of any form of attribution from others that is not compatible with it. To their own image. This division is exacerbated by the insistence on exclusivity in the use of certain terms – on the right and on the left. How will this be conveyed?

It is through artistic ingenuity that it succeeds in defusing sensitive controversy in an enthusiastic way, and one of the best ways to do this is through satire. As Percival Everett proved in his novel “James.” How much this author, born in Georgia in 1956 and who has taught literature at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles for more than a quarter century, is an important champion of the new black self-confidence, as the book shows. The fact that “James” was written in German a few days before it appeared in American publication. Hanser Verlag knows that the enlightened audience for whom Everett is writing is multilingual and will turn to the original English version to read how he got to the heart of the discussion.