First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim’s agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature.

Happy Friday everyone! Finally, another work week is done. I know, everyone is looking forward to the weekend. Luckily, here in the Philippines, the weekend starts today because Ninoy Aquino Day celebrated every August 21 was moved to today. This is to give the Philippine workforce and students a very long weekend; August 26, the incoming Monday, is also a holiday here in the Philippines. Most took advantage of this long weekend by traveling. Meanwhile, there is me. I opted to take this respite as an opportunity to catch up on my writeups, particularly my book reviews. I just hope I get to make a dent over the weekend as I currently have over 100 book reviews pending.

Anyway, for those who still have to report to the office, I hope you are ending the work week on a high note. I hope that the work ween went into your favor and that you were able to accomplish all the tasks you set to achieve at the start of the week. I hope that we are all diving into the weekend with a carefree spirit. Over the past two weeks, the heat has once again picked up here. Nevertheless, I hope everyone is having a comfortable end to the week wherever you may be. It is now time to ditch those corporate attires and don more comfortable clothing articles. I hope the weekend will provide everyone a brief respite. Apart from resting and recuperating, I hope we spend the weekend catching up with our loved ones and pursuing things we are passionate about.

To cap another blogging week is a fresh First Impression Friday update. This weekly meme-cum-update has certainly helped me figure out how I feel about the book that I am currently reading. It is also a good starting point for my book reviews. Reading-wise, I have commenced a new journey after spending over three months reading exclusively the works of European writers. I have since started reading novels that have been published in the past two years. These are books that I have been particularly looking forward to. Among these books were James McBride’s The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store and Abraham Verghese’s The Covenant of Water. Both published in 2023, they are titles that I have been looking forward to for quite some time but was only able to obtain a copy recently; the latter was even part of my 2023 Top 10 Books I Look Forward To List.

Speaking of the Top Ten Books I Look Forward To List, my current read, Percival Everett’s James is part of my 2024 most anticipated releases list. I believe it was in 2022 when I first came across Everett when his novel Telephone was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His novel The Trees was also shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize. There are plenty of reasons for me to dip my fingers into his oeuvre. The opportunity came earlier this year when I learned that he was publishing a new work, James. It was a no-brainer for me to add it to my own most anticipated releases list; several similar lists also named the book as one of the literary feats this year. My anticipation for the book tripled when it was announced as part of the 2024 Booker Prize longlist.

So what is the book about? Even before I started reading the book, I already heard several things about it. For one, it is a literary retelling of a beloved classic, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885) by Mark Twain. Unfortunately, I have not read the book yet although I have some iota about what it was about. This did not hamper me from reading the book which is my 1,200th novel. This is my first American century read in a while; the last was Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, my 700th novel. Anyway, I guess retellings have the same formula. They examine the classics from a different vantage point. Take the case of Nghi Vo’s The Chosen and the Beautiful which is a twist of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and narrated from Jordan Baker’s perspective.

Anyway, James is narrated by the eponymous James or Jim, the other half of the protagonists of Huckleberry Finn. The story is set in the antebellum Southern United States. Upon learning that he was about to be sold by his owner, Miss Watson, and be separated from his family, Jim made a dash for it. He became a runaway slave and those who are familiar with this landscape, whether through literary works, memoirs, or documentaries, would know what this entailed. As a runaway slave, Jim has become a hunted; slave and plantation owners often commission slave hunters to retrieve the runaways. Along the way, Jim encountered Huck (Huckleberry Finn), a young boy who tagged along with him. We learn that Huck, like Jim, was an escapee. He escaped from his abusive father by faking his own death.

Together, the two protagonists journey down the Mississippi River. This is interesting because to reach the Free State, they have to travel in the opposite direction, as one character voiced out. The characters were also cognizant that the opposite direction was the most rational path that slave hunters would take. Nevertheless, while in a raft and a boat, Jim and Huck traveled at night and rested in daylight. The darkness served as a blanket of protection from any slave hunter who might spot them. Despite this, they encountered different people along their journey. It was their cleverness that saved them. For instance, when they encountered a group of white men, Huck told them that Jim, who was hiding under a tarp, was his uncle and that he was afflicted with smallpox.

Huck and Jim also encountered a group of slaves who managed to steal a pencil for Jim. Jim, we learn, can write. The next group they encountered was a pair of conmen, an old but tall man and a young but stout man. The old man declared himself to be descended from French royalty and that he was the rightful descendant to the throne. Meanwhile, his younger man masqueraded as a British Duke, the Duke of Bridgewater. Jim, being older and wiser, immediately recognized what was going on. Huck was also cognizant of their plot. However, they cannot shake the conmen off. This was where the first part ends; apparently, the book is divided into three parts. I have just started reading the second part and a new cast of characters was introduced. The character’s intersection with the Virginia minstrels somehow changed the landscape of the story.

I have a hundred pages more to go and I can’t wait to read the fate of the two main characters. Jim and Huck are equally compelling characters. It does remind me of some of the books that highlighted slavery and the antebellum South. This makes me look forward to reading Huckleberry Finn as well. How about you fellow reader? What book or books have you read over the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy whatever you are reading right now. Happy weekend!