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A review by gruezelda_reads
The Ballad of Tom Dooley by Sharyn McCrumb
2.0
This is not Sharyn McCrumb's finest work. I have been a fan of her ballad novels for several years, but I can't rate this one very favorably.
The good: McCrumb is gifted to understand and convey the history of Appalachia, its people and ways and landscape. This novel does not belie these strengths.
The bad: There is hardly a likable character in this book, except maybe poor long-suffering James Melton and the honorable (and likely undervalued) Harriett Vance. The primary narrator is selfish and manipulative to the point of being sociopathic. The secondary narrator is vain and pompous, far more concerned about his own comfort and legacy than anyone around him.
The ugly: The fact that the book is full of unlikeable characters is not, for me, the worst part of this story. I don't think I could ever have gotten any more excited about these people than I did over the characters in Wuthering Heights (a comparison which is made by the author herself with good reason). But what really frustrated me about this story is the dreary repetition of these narrators' inner monologues. Vance in particular just keeps going on and on about the same things - how hard it was to make a living after the war, how he went from soldier to governor to (poor baby!) laborer in the law before going on to the senate. And how Ann is selfish and lazy, and Tom is selfish and lazy, and how they are both lazy and selfish, and isn't life just one weary and dreary cycle of want and worry?
If you've read through this entire review, you know enough about this book. You don't need to actually read it. Any curiosity you might have about the origins and truth of the Ballad of Tom Dooley can likely be answered by the internet, and any number of books will give you an equally grim (and likely more sympathetic) story of the south after the War. And pretty much any of Sharyn McCrumb's other ballad novels (though I have read most, I've not yet read them all) will be a more satisfying and transporting look at the history and culture of Appalachia. (In case you were wondering, it's my affection for those other novels that gave this review its second star.)
The good: McCrumb is gifted to understand and convey the history of Appalachia, its people and ways and landscape. This novel does not belie these strengths.
The bad: There is hardly a likable character in this book, except maybe poor long-suffering James Melton and the honorable (and likely undervalued) Harriett Vance. The primary narrator is selfish and manipulative to the point of being sociopathic. The secondary narrator is vain and pompous, far more concerned about his own comfort and legacy than anyone around him.
The ugly: The fact that the book is full of unlikeable characters is not, for me, the worst part of this story. I don't think I could ever have gotten any more excited about these people than I did over the characters in Wuthering Heights (a comparison which is made by the author herself with good reason). But what really frustrated me about this story is the dreary repetition of these narrators' inner monologues. Vance in particular just keeps going on and on about the same things - how hard it was to make a living after the war, how he went from soldier to governor to (poor baby!) laborer in the law before going on to the senate. And how Ann is selfish and lazy, and Tom is selfish and lazy, and how they are both lazy and selfish, and isn't life just one weary and dreary cycle of want and worry?
If you've read through this entire review, you know enough about this book. You don't need to actually read it. Any curiosity you might have about the origins and truth of the Ballad of Tom Dooley can likely be answered by the internet, and any number of books will give you an equally grim (and likely more sympathetic) story of the south after the War. And pretty much any of Sharyn McCrumb's other ballad novels (though I have read most, I've not yet read them all) will be a more satisfying and transporting look at the history and culture of Appalachia. (In case you were wondering, it's my affection for those other novels that gave this review its second star.)