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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
Years ago I watched the movie, I don't remember much but I do remember that I enjoyed it. I thought i would love the book as I usually enjoy them more than the movie but it was not the case.
I loved Evelyn and Ninnys relationship and learning about the Threadgoodes but that was about all I loved.
I found the jumping around years very confusing as you were never sure were in the timeline it fitted it. I didn't find the point of Dot Weems because she was essentially repeating what either Evelyn and Ninny were talking about and then you were taken back into the timeline to when it did happen. A lot of repetition.
I loved Evelyn and Ninnys relationship and learning about the Threadgoodes but that was about all I loved.
I found the jumping around years very confusing as you were never sure were in the timeline it fitted it. I didn't find the point of Dot Weems because she was essentially repeating what either Evelyn and Ninny were talking about and then you were taken back into the timeline to when it did happen. A lot of repetition.
For the nostalgia lovers out there... The structure of this being like listening to someone tell their life stories in little bits and pieces, all of it building out this world in your head and feeling almost like you could reach out and touch it was really quite something. It is very readable and light in the small chapters and vignette storytelling, but also lends itself to these almost shocking stings of melancholy — chapters end as abruptly and without song as lives do.
Thought Evelyn having this rebirth by being exposed to the bravery, humour and love of people she had never even met was moving, and it's understandable because the characters (Ruth and Sipsey in particular, imo) are incredibly endearing even though you really don't get to dig into them or spend too much time with them.
I had watched the movie which I remember being quite different but I did like its approach to more Ruth and Idgie focus (even if it avoided explicit romance), but this book is a bit more honest. The matter of fact-ness was quite refreshing.
I think we all live our lives quite scared of time's passing and the fact these big moments in them can ultimately be blink and it's gone. Fried Green Tomatoes doesn't deny the dark humour, sadness, and mourning of memory that naturally occurs as the best moments of our lives pass us by, but it also approaches these things with an appreciation and positive response that didn't make the whole outing a downer
Thought Evelyn having this rebirth by being exposed to the bravery, humour and love of people she had never even met was moving, and it's understandable because the characters (Ruth and Sipsey in particular, imo) are incredibly endearing even though you really don't get to dig into them or spend too much time with them.
I had watched the movie which I remember being quite different but I did like its approach to more Ruth and Idgie focus (even if it avoided explicit romance), but this book is a bit more honest. The matter of fact-ness was quite refreshing.
I think we all live our lives quite scared of time's passing and the fact these big moments in them can ultimately be blink and it's gone. Fried Green Tomatoes doesn't deny the dark humour, sadness, and mourning of memory that naturally occurs as the best moments of our lives pass us by, but it also approaches these things with an appreciation and positive response that didn't make the whole outing a downer
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
The pacing was kinda...bleh.
I liked the movie better
I liked the movie better
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I read this book for book club after having managed to avoid it all my life due to thinking it sounded dull at some point in my life and never recovering from that. I was wrong, and thank you to the club for making me read it. On to the book:
I love so many of the characters, the generation bridges and the way it gives life to a bygone era. I loved that it had a diverse cast, not only for race, but also for sexual orientation, abilities and culture. All in all I found it to be amusing, candid and a great read.
I enjoyed that the author expects the reader to read between the lines and doesn't spell everything out, that some events were not how I expected them to end, the way the past and the present is sown together. I also find it frustrating that 30 years have gone, and the patriarchy observations made by Evelyn are still valid today, because it feels valid for Evelyn at the end of the eighties.
So, ride the train down to Alabama and stop at the Whistle Stop Cafe.
I love so many of the characters, the generation bridges and the way it gives life to a bygone era. I loved that it had a diverse cast, not only for race, but also for sexual orientation, abilities and culture. All in all I found it to be amusing, candid and a great read.
I enjoyed that the author expects the reader to read between the lines and doesn't spell everything out, that some events were not how I expected them to end, the way the past and the present is sown together. I also find it frustrating that 30 years have gone, and the patriarchy observations made by Evelyn are still valid today, because it feels valid for Evelyn at the end of the eighties.
So, ride the train down to Alabama and stop at the Whistle Stop Cafe.
Fanny Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes is an interesting meditation on nostalgia and change. Mostly told from the perspective of an older woman remembering life in her small Alabama home town in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, the novel tackles complicated issues of racism, the Depression, and homelessness. It even explores what it was like for a lesbian couple to live in such a challenging era (much more blatantly than the film, I should add). I appreciate that Flagg does not sugar-coat the South. She is open about the racism and segregation present within the culture, and she shows how that plays out in this one small community. The novel has an inspiring through-line that brings it to a satisfying conclusion--the past is complicated, messy, and full or heartache and mistakes, but by reflecting on our history, we can often better understand ourselves in the present. That's a message we all should hear.