Tag: Historical

I gluttonously inhaled James in a single day through both print and audio formats.  I was completely lost in a story offering such an exceptional reading experience that when it ended I immediately began to worry how I could possibly do it justice through a review.  I won’t be able to, but let’s try to organize my thoughts into something at least marginally coherent anyway.

James is Percival Everett’s reimagining of the American classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a story about, Huck, a boy and, Jim, an enslaved man who happen to become travel companions as they run away by floating down the antebellum Mississippi River on a raft.  Told entirely from 13-year-old Huck’s point of view the story is, on its surface at least, a straightforward coming-of-age adventure novel, but lurking barely beneath is a satire on racism and slavery and the morals of America, quite subversive for 1885 when it originally published. 

In its nearly century and a half of existence Huckleberry Finn has often been the focus of book challenges, in fact, it was first removed from a library the same year it published, and controversy, most recently regarding its relevance in the modern classroom and whether Twain is the best voice to center on the topic of slavery.  I’d say a novel approaching 150 years old that still has scholars arguing is doing its job very well. 

Percival Everett certainly has something to say on the issue, though I don’t think he’s necessarily interested in answering many of these outstanding questions, I think he’s more interested in telling an outstanding story.  In James Everett reimagines this early American story through the eyes of Jim, now revealed to be James.  Everett’s James is no longer just Huck’s foil, he is instead, fully realized, richly developed, and intentionally humanized in a way that is incredibly impactful and subversive in a way The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn can’t touch. 

I think Huckleberry Finn and James can and should be compared and contrasted, they’re very much in conversation, but for purposes of this review I’ll keep it brief and say Percival Everett is once again brilliant with James.  The story is smart and entertaining and challenging and absurd and profound and somehow seemingly effortlessly crafted all at the same time.  It has the pacing of a plotty page turner, but the depth of a literary novel.  James can absolutely be enjoyed as a stand alone, though I do think it’s worth it to at least have a basic understanding of Huck Finn, searching for a brief summary should be sufficient. 

I loved this in both print and audio and I’m thrilled to see Percival Everett receiving just attention with his latest release.

In 2003, an unsigned postcard arrives at the Berest home addressed to author Anne Berest’s recently deceased maternal grandmother, Myriam, with no message, just four names listed: Ephraim, Emma, Noemie and Jacques, her grandmother’s parents and siblings, all killed in Auschwitz during the Holocaust.  This true event as well as the unraveling of the mystery of the postcard, which inextricably involves the unraveling of her family history, becomes The Postcard, a work of auto-fiction. 

The Postcard is one of the most moving, impactful stories of the Holocaust I’ve ever read.  Tracing the experiences of Ephraim, Emma, Noemie, Jacques, and Myriam in the lead up to, during, and following WWII is gripping, harrowing, and all too real.  There are many WWII stories in existence (too many), plenty focusing on Jewish families, this one is exceptional. What makes The Postcard a truly brilliant, peerless work is the nuanced portrayal of Jewish identity in all its complexities both then and now, as well as the impact of our experiences then on our identity now.

A must read.

Centuries of history as told by the various inhabitants of a single house standing in the remote north woods of Massachusetts from its 17th century construction by young Puritan lovers absconding from their settlement right up to near present day. Not only does the story inhabit a range of characters and their stories, it’s also supplemented with additional media such as journals, letters, songs, and even case notes at one point.

Author Daniel Mason penned North Woods in twelve installments, one per month, over the course of a single year and the novel follows a similar structure with the interconnected stories spanning hundreds of years told across twelve months. The lush description of the natural world surrounding the cabin is just as important to the story as the characters and cabin itself.

This was something of a sneaky read for me. It was one of my last reads of 2023 and ended up a favorite. I liked it right from the start, but my impression grew and grew as the story unfolded and I became so impressed by the layers and echos, the interconnected stories knit so well together and had so much to say about time, succession, history, the cycle of seasons, humanity, and nature.

Plus, oddly enough, reading North Woods recalled both Black River Orchard and The Vaster Wilds, also 2023 favorites and wildly different books! Random and appreciated.