agree with you on the subject of retellings/reworkings. i've been thinking a fair amount about this recently for a video i'll put out soon (? or in 6 months? who knows), and you explain what i'm generally interested in well

It's so refreshing to see some critical thinking on a book everyone is talking about, but without really reflecting upon. I miss this around here, so thanks for sharing your ideas and thoughts.

A quality rant, MAN. If you want another good laugh from ludicrously unbelievable dialogue, then can I recommend Cormac McCarthy's The Counselor? Mexico and Texas must have surprisingly great education programs because every criminal in the film apparently possesses PHDs in Philosophy, Ancient History, and English. I love McCarthy (Blood Meridian's one of my favourites), and some of the dialogue is actually quite interesting, but it's just so self-serious and unrealistic. I think another director could have made it kind of work by making it more surreal and darkly comic, but Ridley Scott just plays it straight for most of the runtime.

This is the book that is going to win, isn't it? That's just what happens. 😆 Last year I watched your Prophet Song review and thought "I really don't want to read this book, so I hope it doesn't win".

LOL. Enlightenment is my favorite book of the year so I had kind of high hopes for the rest of the longlist but then i read Held and Orbital back to back and now i'm like alright tf is going on here

what i've come to realise about the booker longlist is that i mostly like watching people's pan videos

😂😂😂 excellent, I’ll put this is the bin of pretentious bollocks I’ll never read

like a white woman's pinterist! Had to rewatch.

YES. 😂

This sounds like my experience reading Orbital, only Orbital sounds less pretentious. I'm only a few books in and haven't read Held yet, but I'm starting to fear I'll just be able to post the same review for every long-list book

But tell us how you REALLY feel… hilarious

The best retelling that I've ever come across is the Iliad by Dan Simmons - Ilium (book 1) and Olympos (book2) - but it's a space opera set in and around the planet Mars. Absolute genius 😂 Also, please ignore the people telling you to read The Trees, it is literally one of the worst books I've ever read lol

Hilarious

I've been waiting for this review! ☕

I tried a sample of this and wasn’t grabbed by it and I trust what you say about the rest of it 😐

Just finished it-agree completely.

This book made me long for a lobotomy

KING CONGRATS!!!! I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE 2K DANCE ✨🕺🏻

Are you kidding me...this is ALL we get now? At least give us some intermezzo with chili eating review of something interesting, proper highbrow literature, like Book lovers or Love hypothesis or don't make me google for more options. Please. Here's a heart ❤

Fellow curmudgeons unite ✊🏼

I'm with you 100%. I think it ran off the rails the last quarter of the book. I'm not some raging feminist and not every book needs to pass the Bechtel test for me to like it, but having his motive turn so quickly at the end seemed to take away from the other clever things that he built. SPOILER CHAT BELOW Don't read further unless you want to hear me rant about the end... The ending honestly wasn't the main problem. It was avaenging the rape. There were so many indignities heaped upon James and Huck, why turn this into a revenge over the bodies of women .. I didn't like it. Reaching his wife and killing all the overseers, that is just good cinematic Django style fun. Why include the cabin rape scene and then killing Hopkins on the island? Unnecessary ick factor for me. Still a great book but can't shake off the ending.

Exactly what I thought, and exactly what I felt about "The Trees" as well. I've been told the earlier novels go beyond the irreverent use of language and original, funny gimmicks. This might be him trying to be lighter, going for the prizes.

It’s definitely harder to read something after the hype train has passed through the station. I adored it though. I thought it was really smart in what it was saying about language and power. I thought the slave language had really interesting intersections with the language of the white people too and didn’t feel like a gimmick to me (but could have). And you didn’t mention the part where James is dressed up as a white man dressed up as a black man??? I was cracking up. So funny but also extremely tense - I think navigating that humour/threat balance successfully is so hard to do.

having read two other of everett's books, and LOVING them, i feel like the re-telling approach and the reverence for the source material diluted the sheer acid of his usual style. his satire sometimes borders on morbid, so this felt like he was being watered-down a bit which made me lukewarm on it as well. also I've never read Huck, so 🤷

I am really not interested in reading this, regardless of the praise being heaped upon it.

Brave to step outside the pack with your own unique opinion

You should read The Trees, it's my favorite Everett.

you mean you didn't like a book almost everybody else loved? How dare you! But I really wanted to hear your imitation of illiterate 19th century slaves.⚛

I like that it's lean, might read it if my library ever gets a copy. Great Review.

headshot really worked for me, the audio performance was fantastic. after seeing your GR review of held i'm so excited for your video. i read it this weekend too and I was like, "i think this sucks????"

i also did not like the ending lol

You're the only person who could make me interested in reading a book like this.

This guy is on it! 🔥

Longlist looks mid

Hahaha love it 🎉

Hahahaha😂😂😂 This is fantastic!

I had no idea Nigel Farage was so into booktube. Had him all wrong.

Congrats!!

Iconic

Woohoo!!!! 🎉💃🏻🪩

AHAHAAHAHAHHAHAAH WHAT HAVE YOU DONE

Love it. white boy summer

The content we didn't know we needed.

Congratulations- I love your videos and somewhat twisted insig😊ht. I’m reading Praiseworthy on your recommendation, and loving it! Also love the dance, don’t love Farage, but I really look forward to your videos- I never know what to expect!!

I have no words I legitimately HOWLED

Congrats 🎉! Your dance is on par with KDBooks' "Dancthing'😅!! Love your promise at the end👏!!!

Excellent work

Congrats!! 🎊🎊🎆🎇

i think you're my most favorite booktuber in youtube