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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Not as engaging as Between, Georgia, and I had some problems with the quick resolution of the inherent conflict as well as with Jackson's flashback structure of storytelling; this book doesn't deal with race as well as I wish it had, but Jackson's prose still shines and Arlene and Burr are engaging, beautifully flawed characters. Their relationship -- not Arlene's relationship with her family -- was at the center of this novel for me, and while I enjoyed it, I wish the family relationships had been drawn in a stronger way. Worth reading for Jackson's style.
Read this while on a beach vacation in coastal AL, a fitting selection, and easily read it in one afternoon lying in the sun.
While I didn't really like the main character very much, I loved all the peripheral players in the story. Ending - not really a surprise if you thought much about it, but like a lot of great reads, getting there is half the fun. An ok book to quickly read in an afternoon, but not one I'd shelve to read over and over.
While I didn't really like the main character very much, I loved all the peripheral players in the story. Ending - not really a surprise if you thought much about it, but like a lot of great reads, getting there is half the fun. An ok book to quickly read in an afternoon, but not one I'd shelve to read over and over.
I 'read' this book through audio means. A story that looks at a woman's strong-willed nature and dedication to those close to her. The story alternates between Arlene (Lena) recounting her childhood in Alabama and current time, which are colliding as she and her boyfriend head to Alabama. Lena has been gone for 10 years, after a life-changing event in her life made her vow never to return. The backstory unfolds in reverse, adding to the intrigue of the plot line.
Our book club read Joshilyn Jackson's gods in Alabama. Unfortunately, I had to miss the meeting, but I did read the book. So instead of a book club recap, we'll just have a review.
gods is a fast-paced, humorous, Southern-flavored romp. It has a killer opening line: "There are gods in Alabama: Jack Daniel's, high school quarterbacks, trucks, big tits, and also Jesus." The titular gods are lower case in the title for a reason. In Alabama, other things take precedence over bona fide religious deities. The book club members were disappointed I wasn't in attendance because they had a few questions for me, the sole Southerner of the group. Well, the gods aren't capitalized in Mississippi either. People will say they're religious and identify themselves as Baptist, Methodist, what have you, as though their religious affiliation is of paramount importance, but they clearly have other priorities.
The one thing that clearly reminded me of Southern living was main character Arlene's encounter with a cockroach.
"I fled shrieking down the hall, and that was my introduction to the Alabama roach, also known as a palmetto bug. Ever since that moment I have hated them with a black passion. The thought that one might touch me while I was sleeping, or run over my foot as I walked upstairs, haunted my summers.
...
"In Chicago, when someone says, "Eeek, a roach!" they mean a prim little buglet is mincing its way up the wainscoting. In Alabama those same words mean something completely different.
...
"I ran back into the den with [Dead Roach bug spray] and sprayed up, coating the monster. He shivered and clung and then fell to the floor. I kept spraying him as he ran in ever decreasing circles... but still he kept crawling, around and a round, his movements disjointed, like the lurching of a cheaply made windup toy. ... I took off my shoe, intending to finish the job manually, but I couldn't seem to bring myself to smash him."
Whew, thanks for the reminder of these mega-monstrous creepy-crawlies. Being raised in the jungle-like humidity of the south does wonders for the cockroach's size. My best friend's baby brother was taken from his crib by just one cockroach... and never seen again.
For the stability of my stomach, I'm glad Arlene doesn't shoe-smash him. She hesitates because she draws a painful metaphor between the dying-of-poison roach and her own torturous teenage existence. This clearly is her first cockroach encounter. If she had smashed one before, the only reason she would be hesitant about it would be fear of it splattering all over her good shoes. Those things can pop, I tell you what.
So, Jackson can describe cockroaches pretty well. What else is there? Arlene's Aunt Flo is a perfectly detailed domineering Southern matriarch. Manipulative, brassy, and not afraid to get her hands dirty. Unfortunately, Jackson never really confronts the relationship between she and Arlene. And she never fully explores the hypocrisy set up by the novel's initial line either. She gets too wrapped up in the least compelling plot element of the book: the did-she-or-didn't-she murder mystery of Arlene and high school golden boy Jim Beverly. And even the mystery gets tied up in a neat little boy, but only after a predictable twist.
Jackson's writing is capable enough, although it's not necessary to use words like "cloying" three times. Repetition is distracting. Also, Jackson's unnecessary naming of specific drink brands (Fruitopia) and Internet search engines (AltaVista) make the book unnecessarily dated. It takes me out of the book and makes me wonder, "Do those things still exist?" Fruitopia was phased out in 2003 (two years before gods's publication!) and Yahoo! will put the dying AltaVista out to pasture this year.
But the book does present something you don't often see in popular fiction: an unreliable narrator. Arlene/Lena has a complicated relationship with the truth. She's able to lie without actually lying to her relatives, her boyfriend, and even the reader. Not everything you read is true. Even on the Internet!
gods is a fast-paced, humorous, Southern-flavored romp. It has a killer opening line: "There are gods in Alabama: Jack Daniel's, high school quarterbacks, trucks, big tits, and also Jesus." The titular gods are lower case in the title for a reason. In Alabama, other things take precedence over bona fide religious deities. The book club members were disappointed I wasn't in attendance because they had a few questions for me, the sole Southerner of the group. Well, the gods aren't capitalized in Mississippi either. People will say they're religious and identify themselves as Baptist, Methodist, what have you, as though their religious affiliation is of paramount importance, but they clearly have other priorities.
The one thing that clearly reminded me of Southern living was main character Arlene's encounter with a cockroach.
"I fled shrieking down the hall, and that was my introduction to the Alabama roach, also known as a palmetto bug. Ever since that moment I have hated them with a black passion. The thought that one might touch me while I was sleeping, or run over my foot as I walked upstairs, haunted my summers.
...
"In Chicago, when someone says, "Eeek, a roach!" they mean a prim little buglet is mincing its way up the wainscoting. In Alabama those same words mean something completely different.
...
"I ran back into the den with [Dead Roach bug spray] and sprayed up, coating the monster. He shivered and clung and then fell to the floor. I kept spraying him as he ran in ever decreasing circles... but still he kept crawling, around and a round, his movements disjointed, like the lurching of a cheaply made windup toy. ... I took off my shoe, intending to finish the job manually, but I couldn't seem to bring myself to smash him."
Whew, thanks for the reminder of these mega-monstrous creepy-crawlies. Being raised in the jungle-like humidity of the south does wonders for the cockroach's size. My best friend's baby brother was taken from his crib by just one cockroach... and never seen again.
For the stability of my stomach, I'm glad Arlene doesn't shoe-smash him. She hesitates because she draws a painful metaphor between the dying-of-poison roach and her own torturous teenage existence. This clearly is her first cockroach encounter. If she had smashed one before, the only reason she would be hesitant about it would be fear of it splattering all over her good shoes. Those things can pop, I tell you what.
So, Jackson can describe cockroaches pretty well. What else is there? Arlene's Aunt Flo is a perfectly detailed domineering Southern matriarch. Manipulative, brassy, and not afraid to get her hands dirty. Unfortunately, Jackson never really confronts the relationship between she and Arlene. And she never fully explores the hypocrisy set up by the novel's initial line either. She gets too wrapped up in the least compelling plot element of the book: the did-she-or-didn't-she murder mystery of Arlene and high school golden boy Jim Beverly. And even the mystery gets tied up in a neat little boy, but only after a predictable twist.
Jackson's writing is capable enough, although it's not necessary to use words like "cloying" three times. Repetition is distracting. Also, Jackson's unnecessary naming of specific drink brands (Fruitopia) and Internet search engines (AltaVista) make the book unnecessarily dated. It takes me out of the book and makes me wonder, "Do those things still exist?" Fruitopia was phased out in 2003 (two years before gods's publication!) and Yahoo! will put the dying AltaVista out to pasture this year.
But the book does present something you don't often see in popular fiction: an unreliable narrator. Arlene/Lena has a complicated relationship with the truth. She's able to lie without actually lying to her relatives, her boyfriend, and even the reader. Not everything you read is true. Even on the Internet!
I listened to the audio book. Good narration. The story kept me listening...
The less you know about this book, the better. I thought I knew what this story was near the halfway point, and then everything changed.
I found this book sweet, yet thrilling. Being from the south and a small town to boot, I felt like so much of this setting resonated with me. That and the crazy, but fiercely loyal family. This isn't the type of book I would have picked for myself but since my book club decided on it, I had too. Then I realized I was flying through it, which meant it was doing something right. I felt for Arlene, but my favorite character was Burr. He just seemed to good for everyone else. I thought the making the race relations in the south a secondary or even tertiary, topic of the book was an interesting call. It was there, but not enough to even warrant it being there. It seemed like it was jus there to be like: look I'm not racist. Which is fine: and I like diversity in books. It just seemed like an interesting aside. I've been feeling this way about a lot of books recently though, so maybe it's just me. This is a great , light summer read, and I completely see why it's a recommended book club read.
Fun, snarky beach read with a thread of mystery that will keep you guessing
It was fine. Didn’t love it, but liked it enough to finish.
Pros: Had a couple of surprise twists and turns, especially in the last 1/3 of the book.
Cons: I’m a native Alabamian and I have never ever heard kudzu called “heaps.” I also thought some of the family drama regarding a white woman marrying a Black man wrapped up a little too neatly after all of the buildup. I hate when books explicitly explain the title versus letting the reading figure it out. This book explained the title about 5 times and it got tiresome.
Pros: Had a couple of surprise twists and turns, especially in the last 1/3 of the book.
Cons: I’m a native Alabamian and I have never ever heard kudzu called “heaps.” I also thought some of the family drama regarding a white woman marrying a Black man wrapped up a little too neatly after all of the buildup. I hate when books explicitly explain the title versus letting the reading figure it out. This book explained the title about 5 times and it got tiresome.
I love Joshilyn Jackson. No matter what she writes.
You can tell this was one her first ones as there were some issues, but overall, great book.
You can tell this was one her first ones as there were some issues, but overall, great book.