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A review by poisonenvy
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
2.5*
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe gives a snapshot into the life of a small railway town in the American south during the depression and beyond, mostly following the lives of the Threadgoode family (in particular Idgie and Ruth) and the black family that worked for them. About half the story takes place in the 30s and 40s, told through short scenes, and experts from the delightful Weems Weekly and the Birmingham News. The other half of the story takes place in the 80s, following Evelyn Couch, a middle-aged woman struggling with menopause and a general dissatisfaction in a life lived as a woman who tried very hard not to make waves, and her weekly visits with the aging Ninny Threadgoode in an old folks home.
When I first started this book, I was delighted. I was not expecting this to be a queer novel at all, and yet the romantic relationship between Idgie and Ruth is very clear. There is, in fact, a lot about this book that I enjoyed quite a bit. Most of the characters are entertaining and fun, and the story was told in a unique but interesting way.
Where it loses a ton of stars for me is in the egregious and blatant racism that begins to crop up, not just in how characters are treated -- which can be expected in a book set in Alabama in the 1930s -- but also in how their depicted. Like the dark skinned twin who stabbed his light-skinned twin brother in the arm 5 times when he was 5 years old and then became a nogoodnik to his light-skinned brothers exemplary life as a well-respected train porter. Or the Good Guy KKK member. At times it was blatant enough that I probably would have put this book down and not picked it up again if I hadn't been reading it for Book Club.
Also, sad, middle-aged woman pulls herself up by her bootstraps by joining a pyramid scheme was certainly something to behold.
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe gives a snapshot into the life of a small railway town in the American south during the depression and beyond, mostly following the lives of the Threadgoode family (in particular Idgie and Ruth) and the black family that worked for them. About half the story takes place in the 30s and 40s, told through short scenes, and experts from the delightful Weems Weekly and the Birmingham News. The other half of the story takes place in the 80s, following Evelyn Couch, a middle-aged woman struggling with menopause and a general dissatisfaction in a life lived as a woman who tried very hard not to make waves, and her weekly visits with the aging Ninny Threadgoode in an old folks home.
When I first started this book, I was delighted. I was not expecting this to be a queer novel at all, and yet the romantic relationship between Idgie and Ruth is very clear. There is, in fact, a lot about this book that I enjoyed quite a bit. Most of the characters are entertaining and fun, and the story was told in a unique but interesting way.
Where it loses a ton of stars for me is in the egregious and blatant racism that begins to crop up, not just in how characters are treated -- which can be expected in a book set in Alabama in the 1930s -- but also in how their depicted. Like the dark skinned twin who stabbed his light-skinned twin brother in the arm 5 times when he was 5 years old and then became a nogoodnik to his light-skinned brothers exemplary life as a well-respected train porter. Or the Good Guy KKK member. At times it was blatant enough that I probably would have put this book down and not picked it up again if I hadn't been reading it for Book Club.
Also, sad, middle-aged woman pulls herself up by her bootstraps by joining a pyramid scheme was certainly something to behold.