Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

I did really enjoy this book, but the very excessive usage of the N-slur was a bit jarring and off-putting, and how race was addressed in general. I know it’s just realistically depicting the times (I guess?) but it was still difficult to read. Otherwise, I liked the story itself, and especially loved Ruth and Idgie’s relationship.

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mbahruth's review against another edition

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funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

I love this movie so decided to read the book, and I did enjoy the book but was very uncomfortable with the racism and racial slurs used. The friendship between Evelyn and ninny is wholesome and of course I will always love the love between Idgie and Ruth but it’s very hard to get past the racist depictions of other characters. Overall I actually enjoyed the movie more.

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ymziegler's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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cozyteareads's review against another edition

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This book is really intense, and I’m just not in a place to handle that right now. I don’t even know where to start with content warnings. It also uses a lot of racial slurs over and over, especially the n-word. I recognize that part of it is set in the 1920s in the southern United States, but it just felt like a lot at times.

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leahb88's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I have always loved the movie and was excited to read its inspiration. I would say I continue to love them both, but in different ways. The movie jumps between past and present (80s), yes, but in the book the past timeline that takes place in Whistle Stop is not chronological and jumps around a lot. I liked this because the focus was less on the murder mystery aspect (in fact it really wasn’t an incredibly relevant plot) and instead we were mostly just experiencing life in Whistle Stop. Enough comparisons and a review of the text itself… I enjoyed being in Evelyn’s head and going through her feminist transformation with her. The feminist ideas in this were a bit outdated (it was written in the 80s after all, only a few years after it became a crime for a husband to abuse his wife), but this is definitely a queer feminist text nonetheless. Again, the way race was talked about at times didn’t really jive with me, but it still challenged systemic racial injustices. Overall, this book just gives me a warm, fuzzy nostalgia.

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nannahnannah's review against another edition

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2.0

Yeah . . . maybe this book just isn't for me. With such a good overall rating and with actual lesbians in historical fiction, it feels like I should like this more, but . . . I guess I just couldn't connect.

Evelyn visits her mother-in-law in a nursing home, basically feeling depressed and numb in middle age, and somehow becomes friends with another lady there, Mrs. Ninny Threadgoode. Soon, Evelyn eagerly anticipates her visits. Mrs. Threadgoode talks about her memories in Whistle Stop, Alabama, and Evelyn listens.

This is definitely one of those "atmospheric" books. You're here for the painting of Whistle Stop and its plethora of characters, not for any plot. Especially because the book doesn't stick to one coherent timeline (besides Evelyn and Mrs. Threadgoode's, that is). The retelling of the goings on in Whistle Stop can jump anywhere from back in the 30s to the 60s.

I'm not sure when the book started making me uncomfortable, but it crept up on me and gradually gained momentum, until by the end I just wanted to finish it to finish it.

I first rented this for the wlw rep and diverse characters, but I am really disappointed with how those characters are represented here. Ruth and Idgie, the lesbian/bi women, aren't well developed outside of their youth, and have a relationship borderline unhealthy (plus, it's not even "defined" whether or not they're actually in a relationship--goodread's official description for them is "friends" . . . incredible). I understand it's Ruth and "Aunt Idgie" to avoid the lesbophobia that was a lot more prevalent during that time, but nobody--not even from Idgie's family--found Idgie being a lesbian the slightest bit strange? When the book didn't shirk from the any of the racism of the 1930s-60s, I didn't like how it softened the homophobia. That may seem strange, especially coming from a wlw, but you can't "get rid" of one form of oppression magically and say you're being progressive when you're still depicting the lack of rights in another form. I don't know . . .

Moving on, Idgie is pretty damn manipulative. It's apparent she cheats on Ruth (telling Stump "don't tell your mother"--therefore she knows it's wrong, too), but her view on it is never challenged. Ruth and Idgie never even have a conversation about it; Ruth just seems a bit passive aggressive. Plus, she's stalked Ruth when Ruth was married to a man. It's not romantic . . . it's creepy.

There's also some things that made me uncomfortable in regards to race . . . now, I'm a white reviewer so take what I say with a grain of salt. There are two twins, Jasper and Artis. One is light-skinned (Jasper), and one is dark-skinned (Artis). So who is the "good" twin, and who is the "evil" twin? Yeah, just guess. Artis ends up in jail often, and he stabs Jasper one time and ends up "liking it" and etc., etc., etc. There was a chapter or two that talked about this difference in skin color among black people, but it kind of feels beside the point when she made Artis violent and Jasper do no wrong.

There's also a point where Evelyn (the main PoV character) wishes she were black--and has some pretty fetishist views of black people. She and Mrs. Threadgoode talk about how black people are just "so different", especially when it comes to feeling things. (However, she's also afraid of black men, a view which doesn't shift. Because eeeeeeveryone knows black men are scary, violent people. /sarcasm) There's also an inner monologue where Evelyn is angry and thinks how all these marginalized groups have already had their protests and protections granted (HA! as if), but when will that time come for women?! (basically affirming the White Feminist thought of even today that Woman = White Woman [only])

. . . This is the moment I knew without a doubt the book was written by a white woman. I verified it on the back of the book and shook my head.

At least I'll stop wondering about what this was about when I see it on all the lgbt/lesbian goodreads lists.

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gretag's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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saintyeehaw's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Kind of a nice book about

lesbians

but reeks of white savior tropes and is overall extremely racist--even the "good" characters seem to think of black people as lesser than in some way and never address their own racism. The older white characters actually think black people are meaner in the present... because they are mad... about racism. The charm of this book has definitely aged like milk unfortunately.

Also, the main character finds her self worth by

joining an mlm instead of learning to love her body and unlearn her fatphobia?

Come on.

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