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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Like Evelyn, I began to look forward to uncovering more of the story.
*3.5 Stars*
The movie is one of my very favorites of all time so I had high hopes for the book! And a lot went well in general. The atmosphere of Whistle Stop throughout different times was captured so nicely. So many little bits and pieces made me smile. You get to know and love the different people of Whistle Stop, Alabama.
BUT I feel like so much potential was lost! The back and forth jumping between characters, places and times got so confusing. I liked hearing about different people but many less interesting characters had way too much appearance. I was there for Idgie and Ruth! For their family and drama and development. I was also there for Evelyn’s and Ninny’s friendship. The rest was often a distraction and a bit too much. I was missing the emotions of Idgie and Ruth that were portrayed SO well in the movie. Sometimes an extremely important part of the story (like Ruth becoming sick) was only described in a short chapter. I could give plenty more examples here but I guess that sums it up well.
The movie is one of my very favorites of all time so I had high hopes for the book! And a lot went well in general. The atmosphere of Whistle Stop throughout different times was captured so nicely. So many little bits and pieces made me smile. You get to know and love the different people of Whistle Stop, Alabama.
BUT I feel like so much potential was lost! The back and forth jumping between characters, places and times got so confusing. I liked hearing about different people but many less interesting characters had way too much appearance. I was there for Idgie and Ruth! For their family and drama and development. I was also there for Evelyn’s and Ninny’s friendship. The rest was often a distraction and a bit too much. I was missing the emotions of Idgie and Ruth that were portrayed SO well in the movie. Sometimes an extremely important part of the story (like Ruth becoming sick) was only described in a short chapter. I could give plenty more examples here but I guess that sums it up well.
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
(Read via audiobook) this seemed like such a sweet book, and while there were sweet parts, how difficult it was to follow made all messages lost on me. There was so much bouncing around between narrators, timelines, and locations, I have whiplash. And the sheer number of characters and the fact that the story spanned 60+ years had me lost. Did I love some of the characters? Yes - they were brave, dynamic, and interesting. Did I not remember who was related or friends with who? Definitely. Were there cute southern phrases and nuggets of wisdom? Yes, of course. And was I able to get story lines straight? Besides for Iggy, no way. Maybe it would have been easier for me if it had been a hardback book (I might be more visual). So the low score wasn’t due to bad content, but rather in that I couldn’t grasp the true depth of the content because I was too preoccupied with who was being talked about.
emotional
funny
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:
Yes
“I got that pink Cadillac for us, Mrs. Threadgoode. I thought it would make me happy, but you know, it didn’t mean half as much without you to go for a ride in it with me. I’ve often wished I could come and pick you up and we could go on a Sunday drive, or over to Ollie’s for some barbecue.”
It's fine, I'm not crying, it's fine.
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fried Green Tomatoes is one of my all time favorite movies and I have been wanting to read the book for it for a long time.
I can say this is maybe the first instance where the movie is better than the book.
I don’t know how someone read this book and saw the potential for a movie to be made out of it…
This book was all over the place and hard to keep up with. We went back and forth through so many time periods and have way too many POVs and storylines that were unnecessary and added nothing to the plot or story.
We would bring up a plot line randomly and then totally forget about it until 20 chapters later where we focused on it more.
I had a problem with the character of Ninny and the language she used and thoughts that she had which seemed to emulate the authors own thoughts. Still using the word colored and n word for the 1980’s portion of the book? That seems like outdated language for the 80’s. Also actually saying the slurs for Japanese and Chinese people and using the derogatory term for little people and how she always wanted a little person to come and sit on her lap and play with him (wtf?). Saying how weird it is that “colored” people come in so many different shades. The author using the R word to describe Ninny’s mentally challenged son.
The character of Evelyn says that her alter ego, Towanda, wants to blow up the Middle East. Compares sexism to racism which should not be compared to each other as being the same at all. Saying she wished she was black and Ninny saying “oh, god why would you want to be black be glad the good lord made you white.”….:.
This whole book also seemed like Christian/Religious propaganda especially when it came to the character of Ninny and it got very old very quickly.
The writing at times seemed bad and not very well thought out or written. We often had the read things over twice. Ninny would tell part of the story to Evelyn and then we would have to hear that same part of the story again as it had happened in the next chapter. Often times the author rushed through big plot points of the story such as the trial of Big George and Idgie and Ruth, one of the main characters being diagnosed with cancer and dying. I also felt Ruth and Idgie’s relationship wasn’t explored as much as it should have been and I wish there was more scenes with them.
I wished I had liked this better but there were things I just couldn’t look away from.
I can say this is maybe the first instance where the movie is better than the book.
I don’t know how someone read this book and saw the potential for a movie to be made out of it…
This book was all over the place and hard to keep up with. We went back and forth through so many time periods and have way too many POVs and storylines that were unnecessary and added nothing to the plot or story.
We would bring up a plot line randomly and then totally forget about it until 20 chapters later where we focused on it more.
I had a problem with the character of Ninny and the language she used and thoughts that she had which seemed to emulate the authors own thoughts. Still using the word colored and n word for the 1980’s portion of the book? That seems like outdated language for the 80’s. Also actually saying the slurs for Japanese and Chinese people and using the derogatory term for little people and how she always wanted a little person to come and sit on her lap and play with him (wtf?). Saying how weird it is that “colored” people come in so many different shades. The author using the R word to describe Ninny’s mentally challenged son.
The character of Evelyn says that her alter ego, Towanda, wants to blow up the Middle East. Compares sexism to racism which should not be compared to each other as being the same at all. Saying she wished she was black and Ninny saying “oh, god why would you want to be black be glad the good lord made you white.”….:.
This whole book also seemed like Christian/Religious propaganda especially when it came to the character of Ninny and it got very old very quickly.
The writing at times seemed bad and not very well thought out or written. We often had the read things over twice. Ninny would tell part of the story to Evelyn and then we would have to hear that same part of the story again as it had happened in the next chapter. Often times the author rushed through big plot points of the story such as the trial of Big George and Idgie and Ruth, one of the main characters being diagnosed with cancer and dying. I also felt Ruth and Idgie’s relationship wasn’t explored as much as it should have been and I wish there was more scenes with them.
I wished I had liked this better but there were things I just couldn’t look away from.
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
If you're looking for this to be like the movie, it's much more than that.
As much as I absolutely loved the movie (one of my all time favorites since I was a child), I loved the book even more. The author makes the characters come alive with her descriptive penmanship. This will definitely be one on my To Be Re-Read list.
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated