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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
I usually hate historical fiction because it tries to hard to be educational. Sorry, if I want to be educated, I'll read non-fiction. But this was not like typical historical fiction. This definitely falls in a literary fiction category--and not a it-so-literary-it-unintelligible-and-unenjoyable--an awesome story in spite of a few pretensions. The little anecdotes about small town life and the antics of young teenage boys pre-video-games that really carried the day. Makes me want to youtube the opera. The ending was perfectly satisfying, without being saccharine.
Awesome. Funny, sweet with good moral lessons. Absolutely loved it!
This was a fun one that I won’t soon forget! The people of Cold Sassy wiggled their way in my heart, and imagination. The narration of the audiobook was excellent. I laughed, cried and “oh my’d” throughout this entertaining gem.
This is Olive Ann Burns is to GA, as Wendell Berry is to KY.
This was such a great book. If you like Jack Gantos's book Deadend to Norvelt then you will love Cold Sassy. It is told from the perspective of a 14 year old boy living in the south in the early 1900s. The book has scandal after scandal each funny in their own way. It's also a great peek into how times were in the south. Such a great book and must read.
2nd reading
This is a great book. Glad I decided to reread it.
3rd reading
Apparently it takes 8-10 years to forget everything in this book. I just finished it for the third time and hardly remembered what was coming next. But it is still a great book. Maybe I will manage to remember the plot next time.
One thing I will try to not forget, because I am writing it down here to remember, is Grandpa Blakeslees' thoughts on ast God as explained by his grandson, Will Tweedy:
“‘Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.’ We have the same message in the Book of Saint John,” I said, sounding for all the world like a preacher. “‘If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. . . . Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.’”
“Grandpa didn’t think Jesus meant, by that, that we should ast God for things, or for special favors. He said we could trust that in the nature of things, without astin’, we’ll get lots of blessin’s and happy surprises and maybe a miracle or two. When Jesus said ast and you’ll get it, He meant things of the spirit, not the flesh. Right now, for instance, I could ast, ‘Lord, please raise Grandpa from the dead,’ but it wouldn’t happen. But I can say, ‘Please, God, comfort me,’ and I’ll get heart’s ease. Grandpa said Jesus meant us to ast for hope, forgiveness, and all like that. Ast, ‘Hep us not be scared, hep us not be greedy, give us courage to try.’”
This is a great book. Glad I decided to reread it.
3rd reading
Apparently it takes 8-10 years to forget everything in this book. I just finished it for the third time and hardly remembered what was coming next. But it is still a great book. Maybe I will manage to remember the plot next time.
One thing I will try to not forget, because I am writing it down here to remember, is Grandpa Blakeslees' thoughts on ast God as explained by his grandson, Will Tweedy:
“‘Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.’ We have the same message in the Book of Saint John,” I said, sounding for all the world like a preacher. “‘If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. . . . Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.’”
“Grandpa didn’t think Jesus meant, by that, that we should ast God for things, or for special favors. He said we could trust that in the nature of things, without astin’, we’ll get lots of blessin’s and happy surprises and maybe a miracle or two. When Jesus said ast and you’ll get it, He meant things of the spirit, not the flesh. Right now, for instance, I could ast, ‘Lord, please raise Grandpa from the dead,’ but it wouldn’t happen. But I can say, ‘Please, God, comfort me,’ and I’ll get heart’s ease. Grandpa said Jesus meant us to ast for hope, forgiveness, and all like that. Ast, ‘Hep us not be scared, hep us not be greedy, give us courage to try.’”
I really liked this one. Scandal rocks the town of Cold Sassy when a man who was recently widowed remarries within a few weeks. Told from the perspective of his grandson, it's so astounding in how it resonates and how the grandson is the only one to see the relationship evolve besides the grandfather and his new wife. It's a seemingly small story in a small town (about 1/3 of the way through I was thinking how we're "still" on this "scandal" so it can plod along at times; I didn't know the whole novel was about this "scandal"). However, I think it's a much bigger story.
One point of confusion - I read this book for my library's reading challenge as an alternate history book. This was on the list for that. This is definitely set close after the end of the Civil War, so I presume the alternate history part is that the South won the Civil War ... although I didn't grasp that from this book, and that definitely isn't the main thrust of the book.
One point of confusion - I read this book for my library's reading challenge as an alternate history book. This was on the list for that. This is definitely set close after the end of the Civil War, so I presume the alternate history part is that the South won the Civil War ... although I didn't grasp that from this book, and that definitely isn't the main thrust of the book.
I absolutely loved this book! It took some time to get through the thick southern language that was used in parts of the book, but being raised in the south, I was familiar with most of the sayings. This book took me through a range of emotions and I really related well to the characters. I think this may be a book that I pick up to read again and again.
