Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
This story is racist as hell.
Just in case you were wondering.
I'd never been interested in this book or the movie. This wasn't at all my cup of tea when it came out; I was in the middle of my high school career and only reading classics or fantasy and some science fiction. Domestic fiction, especially Southern, was an anathema.
I'm not sure why I had this on my Overdrive wish list. Maybe it showed up on its own? Or maybe I've just expanded my reading interests (now I'll read anything that isn't full of romance because: GROSS!) far enough that this fell into my net at some point. Whatever the case, I finally listened to this book that was all the rage for years during my more youthful times.
And it's racist as hell.
So probably it should be one star, right?
Probably.
But I can't honestly say I didn't enjoy large parts of this book.
Actually, this was a weird read, sort of two versions that happened simultaneously. Putting the story in the context of 1987, it was pretty open-minded and possibly even progressive, at least for white people, specifically middle-class white women. Any non-white American readers at the time would have seen just how shittily this story treats its black characters.
Still, it evokes that nostalgia for the years between World Wars, of gritty, bootstrap-pulling characters in a tiny town who get along just fine, where the sheriff is a member of the KKK but runs out another group of KKKers because the fine people of Whistlestop take care of their own, including their coloreds. Pie is served for a nickel, wife-abusers go missing and no one's interested in looking any deeper into their whereabouts, a band of hobos and prostitutes live down by a river (not in a van) but don't bother the townsfolk none. Kids die or lose body parts on the railroad tracks and it's sad but everyone comes out ok in the end because that's just how things were back then. There's a golden glow over the town and not just in Ninnie Threadgoode's rosy, sentimental memories.
30 years later, the racism is blatant and loud, covered with that "I'm not a racist" veneer that bigoted white people, specifically middle-class white women, love to use. There's lots of "I have black friends!"...(so I've been given license to say shit and believe shit I want to say and believe even though I know it's shit) going on. It's cringeworthy and it sucked. And it's sappy, overly nostalgic for something that has never actually existed.
But then there's this strong current of feminism running throughout the book. Not third wave feminism, but that coming-out-of-the-dark ages feminism that just seemed to have occurred naturally after the 60's, a sort of after-shock from the first wave. Also, there's a lesbian couple that isn't presented as "OMG, look how forward this book is by featuring a lesbian couple!" but, rather, is just another couple among many in the story. I think that, more than anything, shocked me because I don't remember 1987 being a terribly inclusive time for gay folk. Hell, contemporary media still can't treat a lesbian couple as just another couple.
I'm sure this book was hotly contested in churchy circles but Flagg introduced Ninnie Threadgoode, octogenarian and devout Christian who loves Oral Roberts but doesn't like Tammy Faye, as an even-minded (racist as hell) moderate conservative, white, former-housewife who is now in a nursing home. How was she received? I don't know because I didn't care about this book when it came out but I think if this were the big blockbuster novel of the summer now, there'd be plenty of bitching about its portrayal of moral decline on Facebook despite the Ninnie avatar.
Actually, Ninnie's stories of old Whistlestop reminded me so much of the stories in [b:Big Fish|129984|Big Fish|Daniel Wallace|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348134701s/129984.jpg|855961], seemingly tall tales that have been gilded with the patina of remembered better times that were never actually any better at all. There was a strong sense of "Even though things were hard, people and life were more wholesome back then" throughout the story; sentimentality at its finest. But that sort of narrative is appealing on several levels; it's nice to think there was a better time, even if we know there really wasn't.
I did appreciate the still-relevant topics of aging and the fear of not being young anymore, of first friendships and first endings, of finding oneself, of dying towns and forgotten people. I was also amused that Sipsey's recipes are my family's recipes, I grew up with that cooking. Is it Southern or is that just how people across the nation cooked? I don't know, I just know that that's how I make chicken and dumplings, too.
All in all, this is a story well-told with strong characters and an interesting, meandering plot but it really is racist as hell.
Just in case you were wondering.
I'd never been interested in this book or the movie. This wasn't at all my cup of tea when it came out; I was in the middle of my high school career and only reading classics or fantasy and some science fiction. Domestic fiction, especially Southern, was an anathema.
I'm not sure why I had this on my Overdrive wish list. Maybe it showed up on its own? Or maybe I've just expanded my reading interests (now I'll read anything that isn't full of romance because: GROSS!) far enough that this fell into my net at some point. Whatever the case, I finally listened to this book that was all the rage for years during my more youthful times.
And it's racist as hell.
So probably it should be one star, right?
Probably.
But I can't honestly say I didn't enjoy large parts of this book.
Actually, this was a weird read, sort of two versions that happened simultaneously. Putting the story in the context of 1987, it was pretty open-minded and possibly even progressive, at least for white people, specifically middle-class white women. Any non-white American readers at the time would have seen just how shittily this story treats its black characters.
Still, it evokes that nostalgia for the years between World Wars, of gritty, bootstrap-pulling characters in a tiny town who get along just fine, where the sheriff is a member of the KKK but runs out another group of KKKers because the fine people of Whistlestop take care of their own, including their coloreds. Pie is served for a nickel, wife-abusers go missing and no one's interested in looking any deeper into their whereabouts, a band of hobos and prostitutes live down by a river (not in a van) but don't bother the townsfolk none. Kids die or lose body parts on the railroad tracks and it's sad but everyone comes out ok in the end because that's just how things were back then. There's a golden glow over the town and not just in Ninnie Threadgoode's rosy, sentimental memories.
30 years later, the racism is blatant and loud, covered with that "I'm not a racist" veneer that bigoted white people, specifically middle-class white women, love to use. There's lots of "I have black friends!"...(so I've been given license to say shit and believe shit I want to say and believe even though I know it's shit) going on. It's cringeworthy and it sucked. And it's sappy, overly nostalgic for something that has never actually existed.
But then there's this strong current of feminism running throughout the book. Not third wave feminism, but that coming-out-of-the-dark ages feminism that just seemed to have occurred naturally after the 60's, a sort of after-shock from the first wave. Also, there's a lesbian couple that isn't presented as "OMG, look how forward this book is by featuring a lesbian couple!" but, rather, is just another couple among many in the story. I think that, more than anything, shocked me because I don't remember 1987 being a terribly inclusive time for gay folk. Hell, contemporary media still can't treat a lesbian couple as just another couple.
I'm sure this book was hotly contested in churchy circles but Flagg introduced Ninnie Threadgoode, octogenarian and devout Christian who loves Oral Roberts but doesn't like Tammy Faye, as an even-minded (racist as hell) moderate conservative, white, former-housewife who is now in a nursing home. How was she received? I don't know because I didn't care about this book when it came out but I think if this were the big blockbuster novel of the summer now, there'd be plenty of bitching about its portrayal of moral decline on Facebook despite the Ninnie avatar.
Actually, Ninnie's stories of old Whistlestop reminded me so much of the stories in [b:Big Fish|129984|Big Fish|Daniel Wallace|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348134701s/129984.jpg|855961], seemingly tall tales that have been gilded with the patina of remembered better times that were never actually any better at all. There was a strong sense of "Even though things were hard, people and life were more wholesome back then" throughout the story; sentimentality at its finest. But that sort of narrative is appealing on several levels; it's nice to think there was a better time, even if we know there really wasn't.
I did appreciate the still-relevant topics of aging and the fear of not being young anymore, of first friendships and first endings, of finding oneself, of dying towns and forgotten people. I was also amused that Sipsey's recipes are my family's recipes, I grew up with that cooking. Is it Southern or is that just how people across the nation cooked? I don't know, I just know that that's how I make chicken and dumplings, too.
All in all, this is a story well-told with strong characters and an interesting, meandering plot but it really is racist as hell.
Loved this book and it’s characters so much. It tackles a lot of really, really tough topics where you almost don’t realize the book is kind of heavy because it maintains a balance of sweet Southern charm. Idgie Threadgoode and Sipsey are my heroes.
Mixed feelings!
I don’t know why but I struggled to get into this for like the first half of the book, but then did warm up to the characters and the whole story towards the end. I watched the movie years and years back and can’t say I remembered the first thing about it at this point, so the story felt all new to me.
This was a good book. Heartwarming, as promised.
I’m not sure what to think of the depiction of half of the characters and some other things, as quite a lot of it felt intensely stereotyped > racist, but then again, much of the issues can surely be chalked up to being essentially part of the portrayal of the time period and US history..
The narrative flowed smoothly despite the time periods skipping from the 1920s and 30s to 80s and back, and to whatever decades in between those the events took place. It was confusing at first, along with all the dozens of characters and their names which never stick with me in the beginning, but when I got the hang of it, got used to the style and started to remember who was who, I didn’t mind anymore. There was a certain mellowness that pierced even the most brutal events and occurrences, and the lingering feeling was just.. softness. Good intentions. People making mistakes. People.. being people. Meaningfulness. Family, friendships, generations of them. Life. Love.
So yes, it was a book worth reading.
I don’t know why but I struggled to get into this for like the first half of the book, but then did warm up to the characters and the whole story towards the end. I watched the movie years and years back and can’t say I remembered the first thing about it at this point, so the story felt all new to me.
This was a good book. Heartwarming, as promised.
I’m not sure what to think of the depiction of half of the characters and some other things, as quite a lot of it felt intensely stereotyped > racist, but then again, much of the issues can surely be chalked up to being essentially part of the portrayal of the time period and US history..
The narrative flowed smoothly despite the time periods skipping from the 1920s and 30s to 80s and back, and to whatever decades in between those the events took place. It was confusing at first, along with all the dozens of characters and their names which never stick with me in the beginning, but when I got the hang of it, got used to the style and started to remember who was who, I didn’t mind anymore. There was a certain mellowness that pierced even the most brutal events and occurrences, and the lingering feeling was just.. softness. Good intentions. People making mistakes. People.. being people. Meaningfulness. Family, friendships, generations of them. Life. Love.
So yes, it was a book worth reading.
I couldn't help thinking the entire time that this was the cleaned up white lady version of the Color Purple. The entire book also felt like one long "look I'm not racist, I know a black person" statement. I had to make myself finish it, I kept getting mad at it and wanting to not pick it back up. So many bones to pick including the biggest elephant in the room: how was everyone in the 1930s just like oh, yeah we're totally cool with this same sex couple raising a child and owning a business in our small town?
Incredibly racist. Embarrassingly tone-deaf. Fatphobic. Evelyn, Mrs. Threadgoode, and Idgie are impossible to be sympathetic to with their casual racism and self-importance. I listened to this audiobook on 1.5x speed because I wanted to get through it so badly. Yikes.
I don't even know where to start! As Truvy would say, "Laughing through tears is my favorite emotion." I really wanted a book set in my new southern home, so this Alabama story, fit the bill. It's a touching and hilarious story of various characters in a small railroad town spanning from the depression to the 1980s. The story flips back and forth in time, giving you bits and pieces of each character's story, drawing you in and propelling you forward. It touches on some really tough subjects like loss, abuse, and most unnerving, race relations in the south (news flash: they weren't awesome). I listened to this on audiobook, and every time they said the N word (like hundreds of times) I cringed. I get it in context, but man it was tough to get through. I appreciate that the author didn't just focus on the white characters' arc, but brought the black characters out of their stereotypes will full dimension. I definitely recommend this book, but only to a mature audience.
Pues este libro ha llegado a mis manos por pura casualidad (gracias a Libreando). Puedo decir que conocía el título porque sabía de la existencia de la película, aunque nunca llegué a verla (ahora solo pienso en buscarla).
Se trata de una historia de sororidad, amistad, amor entre mujeres, aceptación, lealtad... pero que también trata temas muy controvertidos, si recordamos que se publicó a finales de los 80 o principio de los 90. Hay racismo, violencia, machismo, homosexualidad...
Y con todo, el libro tiene un tono y una forma de contar estas historias en las que no se pierde el optimismo o el tono alegre de la narración.
La forma de narrarlo a través de anécdotas o pequeñas escenas donde veíamos a los personajes en acción y les conocíamos algo más allá de la experiencia de Ninny, es muy amena y ayuda a que te mantengas enganchado.
Por ponerle una pega, la estructura de saltos en el tiempo resulta a veces caótica, dado que si no recuerdas la fecha tienes que pensar si ha pasado antes o después de otro hecho anterior y así. Pero aún con eso, no deja de ser disfrutable.
Destacar especialmente la amistad que se forja entre Evelyn y Ninny, y como la segunda ayuda a la primera a ver su vida de otra forma y progresar a pesar de lo que puedan haberle enseñado. Pero sobre todo el amor de Idgie y Ruth, esa dulzura con la que está narrada su relación, altibajos incluidos, ha sido preciosa.
Se trata de una historia de sororidad, amistad, amor entre mujeres, aceptación, lealtad... pero que también trata temas muy controvertidos, si recordamos que se publicó a finales de los 80 o principio de los 90. Hay racismo, violencia, machismo, homosexualidad...
Y con todo, el libro tiene un tono y una forma de contar estas historias en las que no se pierde el optimismo o el tono alegre de la narración.
La forma de narrarlo a través de anécdotas o pequeñas escenas donde veíamos a los personajes en acción y les conocíamos algo más allá de la experiencia de Ninny, es muy amena y ayuda a que te mantengas enganchado.
Por ponerle una pega, la estructura de saltos en el tiempo resulta a veces caótica, dado que si no recuerdas la fecha tienes que pensar si ha pasado antes o después de otro hecho anterior y así. Pero aún con eso, no deja de ser disfrutable.
Destacar especialmente la amistad que se forja entre Evelyn y Ninny, y como la segunda ayuda a la primera a ver su vida de otra forma y progresar a pesar de lo que puedan haberle enseñado. Pero sobre todo el amor de Idgie y Ruth, esa dulzura con la que está narrada su relación, altibajos incluidos, ha sido preciosa.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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:
N/A
La Whistle Stop del Caffè di Idgie e Ruth è il posto in cui chiunque vorrebbe vivere.
Просто восхитительно!
"Если и есть на свете такая штука, как абсолютное счастье, то это ощущение, что ты – в правильном месте."
"Если и есть на свете такая штука, как абсолютное счастье, то это ощущение, что ты – в правильном месте."