I recently read both Huckleberry Finn and its re-imagining, a book called James by Percival Everett. James is the best book I’ve read in a while.

At the beginning, James follows the story line of Huckleberry Finn pretty closely, but it’s narrated by the slave in the original, Jim, who thinks of himself as James. Despite being set in 1860, the lives of the slaves very much resemble those of Black people today. They practice code switching when interacting with white people. They explicitly train their children how to do that, and also to behave differently around white people, in an attempt to avoid egregious results. They live with the possibility of being a victim of violence, or of encountering someone who expects them to do as they are told, continually.

Modern Blacks have a chance to live normal lives, though the normality is fragile. For slaves, egregious results were impossible to avoid. Violent acts occurred almost daily, and subservience and obedience were expected by every white person encountered, regardless of age or social status. Even their homes are not safe, with no chance of locking their doors and no possibility of preventing any white person from entering and committing any act with impunity from either the law or the community.

At some point in both books, Huck and Jim/James are separated, and after this the stories diverge quite markedly. James is very exposed by himself, as without a white “owner” nearby he is presumed to be a “runaway,” which he is by that society’s reasoning. He manages to find and carry some books for a while, and his inner dialogue as he ruminates over his readings and imaginatively interacts with the authors, mostly enlightenment philosophers, reveals his intellect and his despair. Hanging onto these books proves impossible; even harder is his attempt to obtain pencil and paper so he can write his own life story. We learn that a white person regards stealing a small pencil stub as a capital offense.

For much of the book, James himself is not living under the thumb of a master, yet occasionally he experiences and observes evil actions when he interfaces with white adults. There aren’t “just” beatings, but lengthy, vicious beatings that strip deep layers of skin and break limbs. There aren’t “just” rapes, but repeated rapes, rapes of children, even rapes of Black women by Black man forced to do so in order to “breed.” People are chained and caged like animals. Every slave is chronically underfed, often near starvation, yet expected to do hard labor for 10 or 12 hours a day. A slave can be hung for an unintended lack of deference, or for knowing how to read or write.

It’s an impossibly fraught way to live.

My husband did not read this book, but we spent some time thinking about how we might be different if we have been born then. Not every white person was a beater or a rapist, but every white person felt free to ignore any Black person, or to tell that person to do something for them and expect them to obey immediately. Every white person thought that “niggers” were inferior, and stupid, and ownable. Even most abolitionists of the time would not assert that Black people were equal to white people. My husband and I agreed there was no certainty we wouldn’t feel the same way if raised in those conditions.

The tension in Huckleberry Finn comes not only from our modern knowledge that these things were never true, but also from the very smart and humane actions taken by the slave Jim. The tension in James comes from us being inside his head and experiencing just how brilliant, honorable, and charitable he is, and how agonizing his life is as a result. This is much more intense.

Huckleberry Finn ends with Jim a free man, though even a casual reader will realize his black skin will ensure he continues to live in fear. James has a more hopeful ending, simply because James has more agency, and perhaps even a slim chance of escaping the evil society of the antebellum US.

A less hopeful takeaway: One hundred and eighty years later, much evil not only remains, but also thrives.