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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
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
challenging
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
This was written by a white woman from the south in the 1980s and it shows ! I think it should be put out to pasture 🙏
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-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
funny
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Surprisingly racist. There’s a major “good” side character in the KKK, one som is fated to be a “devil” because he’s darker skinned than his brother, and all the “good” black folks are the ones that are polite to white folks. The main narrator character’s arc is learning to lose weight.
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved the film adaptation of this book and have a great amount of nostalgic goodwill for it, which I can only imagine extends to the readers of the novel who have given positive reviews to this mess of a book.
As a twenty-first century reader, Fanny Flagg's attempts to write about race relations in the 1930s-1980s American South are almost physically painful. It is a hard sell to tell us that Idgie is the most kind and good hearted character ever who is friends with all the black people in town, while also being friends with the local KKK chapter and freely using the n-word in conversation with other white people.
I think fans of the book may try to argue that this depiction of race is a "product of its time", but I find that silly. It was written in the 1980s, not the 1880s.
I would also shoot down any arguments about historical realism for the way racism is portrayed by pointing at Ruth and Idgie, and how their relationship and family is accepted by the community. It seems that there is a suspension of disbelief around the prejudices a town in the South would hold against a queer couple, but this fantasy is not extended to the depiction of race relations.
On top of this, the structure of this book is awful. I found the arbitrary time jumps annoying and disorienting, and the entire 1980s plotline plodding and infuriating. Ninnie is obnoxious and unlikeable, and while I think Evelyn was the most well-developed and realistic character in the entire novel, without Kathy Bates's charisma I found her totally charmless. The culmination of her plotline was also extraordinary bleak - I don't consider a character shipping herself off to a fat-farm or finding success in the upper echelons of an MLM, exploiting other women for financial gain, to be any kind of empowered happy ending.
I can understand why so many people loved and cherished this book back in the days where the queer community had to sift through scraps to find self-representation. In this day and age, when there is so much more and better literature out there, I would advise other readers to give this one a miss.
As a twenty-first century reader, Fanny Flagg's attempts to write about race relations in the 1930s-1980s American South are almost physically painful. It is a hard sell to tell us that Idgie is the most kind and good hearted character ever who is friends with all the black people in town, while also being friends with the local KKK chapter and freely using the n-word in conversation with other white people.
I think fans of the book may try to argue that this depiction of race is a "product of its time", but I find that silly. It was written in the 1980s, not the 1880s.
I would also shoot down any arguments about historical realism for the way racism is portrayed by pointing at Ruth and Idgie, and how their relationship and family is accepted by the community. It seems that there is a suspension of disbelief around the prejudices a town in the South would hold against a queer couple, but this fantasy is not extended to the depiction of race relations.
On top of this, the structure of this book is awful. I found the arbitrary time jumps annoying and disorienting, and the entire 1980s plotline plodding and infuriating. Ninnie is obnoxious and unlikeable, and while I think Evelyn was the most well-developed and realistic character in the entire novel, without Kathy Bates's charisma I found her totally charmless. The culmination of her plotline was also extraordinary bleak -
I can understand why so many people loved and cherished this book back in the days where the queer community had to sift through scraps to find self-representation. In this day and age, when there is so much more and better literature out there, I would advise other readers to give this one a miss.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism