42. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (1/4/2011 - 1/11/2011)
This is a classic murder mystery by Agatha Christie. I've read it before and read it this time because I'm teaching it to my English III class during my student teacher. This is actually one of the most popular murder mysteries of all time -- and it is virtually unsolvable without the epilogue at the end.
Ten individuals are drawn to Indian Island through a series of complicated ruses. Once there, an unseen host accuses each of being a murderer; each crime is one that is basically not punishable by law because they can't be proven, such as governess who eggs the child in her care to swim out too far into the ocean. The child drowns, but the governess almost dies trying to 'save' him, so she is absolved from punishment. The other murders are equally unsolvable and unpunished. The individuals on the island gradually begin dying off until, at last, all of them are dead.
Christie has done something amazing with this book -- it is unsolvable without inside information or the epilogue, yet she never has her characters lie in their own thoughts. The story is extremely entertaining because it is so suspenseful -- when the characters start dying, the reader is just as confused as every other character. As characters make accusations and try to solve the mystery, I as the reader am doing the same thing. I am hoping that my students will be just as involved in the story as we keep reading -- we're only around Ch 4 right now, so we still have some work!
Update 2/10: My students just finished this book, and they HATED it. I actually can't believe how much they hated it. Of course, they all looked up who the killer was on the Internet as soon as we started reading, and frankly in a book like this, if you remove that suspense, it probably would be ruined. But still. I'm frustrated that this will probably turn them off both Agatha Christie (who has many, many great mystery novels) and possibly mystery novels themselves.
I truly do worry about the future of the American education system. And the future of the American public, frankly.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
41. Mockingjay
41. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (12/22/2011 - 12/23/2011)
The final book in the Hunger Games series provides a strong and satisfying ending to the trilogy and I really enjoyed it.
Again, if you are just starting with this post for some reason, Mockingjay is the third book in The Hunger Games series, and I will definitely have spoilers in this post. So: Spoiler Alert! If you have not read this book, don't keep reading this post. Go to your library or bookstore, get a copy of the series, and get started reading.
After reuniting with her family in District 13, Katniss must undertake the rebellion's mission of placing her as the figurehead. She goes through a lot of inner turmoil; parts of this book perfectly illustrate the idea of "internal conflict." But when she eventually joins the rebellion officially, she insists that she be part of the on-the-ground work. The Capitol obviously wants her dead, badly, and so she is always a target -- it seems like every mission she's on undergoes some sort of battle or siege in an attempt to kill her. While this is going on, Peeta is being rescued from the Capital, where he was left behind when the rebellion saved Katniss. He has been tortured in a unique way: all of his good memories of Katniss have been destroyed or mutilated. Anytime he sees her, he is instantly driven into a murderous rage. Needless to say, this does not go over well. Throughout the book, Katniss is constantly drawn back and forth between Peeta and Gale still, even after Peeta tries to kill her. There is so much going on in this book!
Between the constant battles, murderous plots, romance, and an amazing Capitol-centered finale, I could not put this book down. Frankly, even though I like Catching Fire better, this is an incredible end to the Hunger Games trilogy. I would recommend it to almost any reader.
The final book in the Hunger Games series provides a strong and satisfying ending to the trilogy and I really enjoyed it.
Again, if you are just starting with this post for some reason, Mockingjay is the third book in The Hunger Games series, and I will definitely have spoilers in this post. So: Spoiler Alert! If you have not read this book, don't keep reading this post. Go to your library or bookstore, get a copy of the series, and get started reading.
After reuniting with her family in District 13, Katniss must undertake the rebellion's mission of placing her as the figurehead. She goes through a lot of inner turmoil; parts of this book perfectly illustrate the idea of "internal conflict." But when she eventually joins the rebellion officially, she insists that she be part of the on-the-ground work. The Capitol obviously wants her dead, badly, and so she is always a target -- it seems like every mission she's on undergoes some sort of battle or siege in an attempt to kill her. While this is going on, Peeta is being rescued from the Capital, where he was left behind when the rebellion saved Katniss. He has been tortured in a unique way: all of his good memories of Katniss have been destroyed or mutilated. Anytime he sees her, he is instantly driven into a murderous rage. Needless to say, this does not go over well. Throughout the book, Katniss is constantly drawn back and forth between Peeta and Gale still, even after Peeta tries to kill her. There is so much going on in this book!
Between the constant battles, murderous plots, romance, and an amazing Capitol-centered finale, I could not put this book down. Frankly, even though I like Catching Fire better, this is an incredible end to the Hunger Games trilogy. I would recommend it to almost any reader.
40. Catching Fire
40. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (12/20/2011 - 12/21/2011)
This is by far my favorite book of the Hunger Games series. So much happened in this book that I never, ever predicted, and I just loved the adventure of reading it.
Once again, if you are just starting with this post for some reason, Catching Fire is the second book in The Hunger Games series, and I will definitely have spoilers in this post. So: Spoiler Alert! If you have not read this book, don't keep reading this post. Go to your library or bookstore, get a copy of the series, and get started reading.
The book starts where The Hunger Games left off. Katniss and Peeta have won the Games and are living their daily lives about 6 months later back in their home of District 12. But the Games have changed everything about their lives (this is an unfortunate but totally necessary cliche, and one of few in this book) -- Katniss and Gale are not the same kind of friends they were before the games, Peeta is in love with Katniss but she doesn't really return the feeling or know how to interact with him, and they now live in relative wealth and the District is kept further from starvation thanks to the prizes and food that the winners of the Games bring to their homes.
What they don't know is that, thanks to their proposed suicide plan in the arena, some of the districts have begun to rebel against the Capitol; Katniss has become the symbol of the rebellion without even realizing it. She is directly threatened by the President of the country that she must stop the uprising -- during a tour of the country, she and Peeta act like they are insane with love, with Peeta even proposing to her on TV, in an effort to stop the districts. But, of course, this doesn't work. Most of the story to this point is pretty predictable; I wasn't really surprised by much. The next part, though, was genius: the tributes for the next Hunger Games have to come from the still-living former winners -- meaning that, guaranteed, Katniss is going back into the arena and Peeta ends up going as well.
I won't give away what happens this time around in the arena, but it is really incredible -- the second time in the arena is so different from the first time that I'm not really sure how to describe it without sharing too many details. But the arena is incredible -- this is my favorite book in the series!
This is by far my favorite book of the Hunger Games series. So much happened in this book that I never, ever predicted, and I just loved the adventure of reading it.
Once again, if you are just starting with this post for some reason, Catching Fire is the second book in The Hunger Games series, and I will definitely have spoilers in this post. So: Spoiler Alert! If you have not read this book, don't keep reading this post. Go to your library or bookstore, get a copy of the series, and get started reading.
The book starts where The Hunger Games left off. Katniss and Peeta have won the Games and are living their daily lives about 6 months later back in their home of District 12. But the Games have changed everything about their lives (this is an unfortunate but totally necessary cliche, and one of few in this book) -- Katniss and Gale are not the same kind of friends they were before the games, Peeta is in love with Katniss but she doesn't really return the feeling or know how to interact with him, and they now live in relative wealth and the District is kept further from starvation thanks to the prizes and food that the winners of the Games bring to their homes.
What they don't know is that, thanks to their proposed suicide plan in the arena, some of the districts have begun to rebel against the Capitol; Katniss has become the symbol of the rebellion without even realizing it. She is directly threatened by the President of the country that she must stop the uprising -- during a tour of the country, she and Peeta act like they are insane with love, with Peeta even proposing to her on TV, in an effort to stop the districts. But, of course, this doesn't work. Most of the story to this point is pretty predictable; I wasn't really surprised by much. The next part, though, was genius: the tributes for the next Hunger Games have to come from the still-living former winners -- meaning that, guaranteed, Katniss is going back into the arena and Peeta ends up going as well.
I won't give away what happens this time around in the arena, but it is really incredible -- the second time in the arena is so different from the first time that I'm not really sure how to describe it without sharing too many details. But the arena is incredible -- this is my favorite book in the series!
39. The Hunger Games
39. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (12/19/2011 - 12/20/2011)
I surprised myself by how much I ended up liking this book. When I first started reading it, I did not enjoy it. The general set-up of the book was riddled with cliches -- Katniss volunteering as tribute in place of her sister, her friendship with Gale, the death of her father and her subsequent taking over providing for her family, her relationship with Peeta, her fellow tribute, etc. Even the games I frankly did not find to be very original -- it just seems like a device that's been used before. I tried to get past it, though, because reading The Hunger Games was an assignment from my future students -- I spent a day in my student-teaching classroom prior to the start of my semester teaching and my students said that, since I hadn't read this book, I absolutely had to before the start of the next semester. So when I started reading this book, I had to remind myself that this is meant as a book for young adults -- younger readers don't have the same reading experiences that I've had, so they probably don't see the same cliches there that I do.
But by the time I actually got into the meat of the book, I was pretty impressed with the content. I'm still not fully convinced that this plot is 100% original, but I did manage to get past it. Katniss lives in a society ruled by the Capitol, a controlling and completely self-indulgent government that created the Hunger Games as a reminder of the power they hold over the 12 Districts that make up the rest of the country. Each district must present one boy and one girl as tribute for the Games, which means that they get entered into a competition wherein only one person can or will survive -- that person must outlive or kill all the others in the Games in order to win. Katniss's sister Prim's name gets pulled from their district's pool and Katniss volunteers in order to protect Prim's life. Katniss and her fellow tribute, Peeta, are of course the underdogs of the Games, and they slowly rise to national attention as the preparation for the Games heats up.
All of these things I found to be pretty cliche-ridden, but the rest of the book is pretty awesome. I don't want to give anything away, but I did read the rest of the series, so here is the Spoiler Alert: I will give away what happens. If you as a reader of this blog do not want to know what happens next, stop reading RIGHT NOW and skip the next TWO POSTS, as they are about the next two books in the Hunger Games' series.
Katniss and Peeta of course manage to win The Hunger Games through a complicated time in the arena (I won't spoil the entire book); there is supposed to be only one winner of the Games, but it comes down to just Katniss and Peeta. Katniss knows that, in a choice between having two winners of the Games to celebrate and entertain the Capitol and in having no winner, the Capitol will choose the two. So Katniss proposes that she and Peeta eat poisonous berries and commit suicide; once the Capitol sees this choice (the Games are entirely televised, of course), they elect to have two winners. The book ends in the crazy aftermath of their winning, which includes food and prizes for the entire District.
This ending was a dark turn that I was not expecting in a young adult novel. The idea of manipulating the status quo happens in a lot of books, but from my experience, it seems to be a theme that young adult authors strongly avoid. But this book took that challenge and went way beyond those cliches that filled the beginning of the novel. So by the end, I was extremely impressed. I would recommend this book, and the entire Hunger Games series, to any readers looking for something exciting that pushes the reader to think a little more deeply about what kind of life they really want and what they can accomplish. Of course, to fully understand this idea, you have the read the entire series :)
I surprised myself by how much I ended up liking this book. When I first started reading it, I did not enjoy it. The general set-up of the book was riddled with cliches -- Katniss volunteering as tribute in place of her sister, her friendship with Gale, the death of her father and her subsequent taking over providing for her family, her relationship with Peeta, her fellow tribute, etc. Even the games I frankly did not find to be very original -- it just seems like a device that's been used before. I tried to get past it, though, because reading The Hunger Games was an assignment from my future students -- I spent a day in my student-teaching classroom prior to the start of my semester teaching and my students said that, since I hadn't read this book, I absolutely had to before the start of the next semester. So when I started reading this book, I had to remind myself that this is meant as a book for young adults -- younger readers don't have the same reading experiences that I've had, so they probably don't see the same cliches there that I do.
But by the time I actually got into the meat of the book, I was pretty impressed with the content. I'm still not fully convinced that this plot is 100% original, but I did manage to get past it. Katniss lives in a society ruled by the Capitol, a controlling and completely self-indulgent government that created the Hunger Games as a reminder of the power they hold over the 12 Districts that make up the rest of the country. Each district must present one boy and one girl as tribute for the Games, which means that they get entered into a competition wherein only one person can or will survive -- that person must outlive or kill all the others in the Games in order to win. Katniss's sister Prim's name gets pulled from their district's pool and Katniss volunteers in order to protect Prim's life. Katniss and her fellow tribute, Peeta, are of course the underdogs of the Games, and they slowly rise to national attention as the preparation for the Games heats up.
All of these things I found to be pretty cliche-ridden, but the rest of the book is pretty awesome. I don't want to give anything away, but I did read the rest of the series, so here is the Spoiler Alert: I will give away what happens. If you as a reader of this blog do not want to know what happens next, stop reading RIGHT NOW and skip the next TWO POSTS, as they are about the next two books in the Hunger Games' series.
Katniss and Peeta of course manage to win The Hunger Games through a complicated time in the arena (I won't spoil the entire book); there is supposed to be only one winner of the Games, but it comes down to just Katniss and Peeta. Katniss knows that, in a choice between having two winners of the Games to celebrate and entertain the Capitol and in having no winner, the Capitol will choose the two. So Katniss proposes that she and Peeta eat poisonous berries and commit suicide; once the Capitol sees this choice (the Games are entirely televised, of course), they elect to have two winners. The book ends in the crazy aftermath of their winning, which includes food and prizes for the entire District.
This ending was a dark turn that I was not expecting in a young adult novel. The idea of manipulating the status quo happens in a lot of books, but from my experience, it seems to be a theme that young adult authors strongly avoid. But this book took that challenge and went way beyond those cliches that filled the beginning of the novel. So by the end, I was extremely impressed. I would recommend this book, and the entire Hunger Games series, to any readers looking for something exciting that pushes the reader to think a little more deeply about what kind of life they really want and what they can accomplish. Of course, to fully understand this idea, you have the read the entire series :)
38. Dreamcatcher
38. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King (12/10/2011 - 12/18/2011)
I love Stephen King but man, this book is disgusting. There are so many freaky/disturbing and really disgusting things that happen early in the book that I don't know if I can actually recommend it to anyone. Once the first 150 pages or so are over, though, the book gets quite good.
The actual plot is that of an alien invasion; aliens are attempting to make the Earth into their personal breeding ground by basically eating everything in their path -- people, dogs, buildings, etc. But the aliens land in northern Maine, an area that, thanks to the weather plus the people they encounter, proves inhospitable. Those people include four childhood friends -- Beaver, Pete, Jonesy, and Henry. Two of these men die early on in horrible ways, but the other two prove essential to saving the Earth from the alien beings who have moved in. Then there is an entire sub-plot about a man with Down's syndrome that these four guys saved when they were all kids, and this turns out to be crucial to these men solving the problem that now faces the planet. It's weird -- the plot doesn't sound that interesting when I describe it, but it's a tough book to put down. I got so engrossed, I spent a lot of my week sitting on my couch reading.
Stephen King continues to surprise me, and I think that's why I like his work. I am quite familiar with his propensity for gratuitous violence or gore, but even so, my stomach was turning and reeling reading this book in a way that few other books have ever been able to inspire. I suppose that's not exactly a pleasant surprise, of course, but nonetheless -- it helps me understand why King is one of my favorite writers. This may not be a favorite of his books, but his abilities with pen and paper astound me.
I love Stephen King but man, this book is disgusting. There are so many freaky/disturbing and really disgusting things that happen early in the book that I don't know if I can actually recommend it to anyone. Once the first 150 pages or so are over, though, the book gets quite good.
The actual plot is that of an alien invasion; aliens are attempting to make the Earth into their personal breeding ground by basically eating everything in their path -- people, dogs, buildings, etc. But the aliens land in northern Maine, an area that, thanks to the weather plus the people they encounter, proves inhospitable. Those people include four childhood friends -- Beaver, Pete, Jonesy, and Henry. Two of these men die early on in horrible ways, but the other two prove essential to saving the Earth from the alien beings who have moved in. Then there is an entire sub-plot about a man with Down's syndrome that these four guys saved when they were all kids, and this turns out to be crucial to these men solving the problem that now faces the planet. It's weird -- the plot doesn't sound that interesting when I describe it, but it's a tough book to put down. I got so engrossed, I spent a lot of my week sitting on my couch reading.
Stephen King continues to surprise me, and I think that's why I like his work. I am quite familiar with his propensity for gratuitous violence or gore, but even so, my stomach was turning and reeling reading this book in a way that few other books have ever been able to inspire. I suppose that's not exactly a pleasant surprise, of course, but nonetheless -- it helps me understand why King is one of my favorite writers. This may not be a favorite of his books, but his abilities with pen and paper astound me.
37. The Sound and the Fury
37. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (12/7/2011 - 12/15/2011)
This was also one of the strangest books I've ever read, mainly due to the narration styles of the text. Faulkner split this book into four sections, each told from the perspective of a different member of the Compson family. The problem is that Benjy, the youngest son, is intellectually disabled/mentally retarded (depending on how politically correct you want to be), Quentin, the eldest son, is gradually descending into insanity, Jason, the middle son, is a heartless, mean person who is obsessed with blaming his sister for his misfortune, and the final section is told from no real perspective at all.
Each of the first three sections are written from a first person point of view, which creates even more problems. For example, Benjy has no concept of the passage of time; his narration skips from his present (wherein he is 33) to his childhood (around age 5) to his adolescence (around age 15) without warning or explanation, sometimes right in the middle of a sentence. It was nearly impossible to decipher on my own, so I used a variety of guides (including, to my shame, SparkNotes) to help me understand what the heck was going on. Quentin is gradually going insane -- he kills himself, which I know seems like a spoiler, but it definitely isn't in the context of this novel -- and so his section gradually loses punctuation, grammar, and total comprehensibility by the end of his section. This is also really hard to understand, almost harder than Benjy's section, so this gave me a lot of trouble as well. In general, the book prompts the necessity for multiple readings.
All three brothers are obsessed with their sister, Caddie. Caddie is between Jason and Benjy in age, and her actions have repercussions on all members of the family. She loses her virginity to a man she doesn't want to marry, gets married very soon after, and then is kicked out of her family when her new husband realizes her child is not his. This baby is dumped onto the Compson family, who raise her as Caddie leaves for a life in Paris. Benjy recognizes that Caddie is the only member of the family that really loves and cares about him, and since he cannot understand the passage of time, he does not know how to deal with Caddie's growing up. Quentin sees Caddie's pregnancy as shameful for the family and so offers to help take the fall by claiming that they had sex and the baby is his (somehow, to Quentin, incest is a better choice than wedlock, which I don't understand). Jason blames Caddie for losing him an opportunity for a life and a job with her ex-husband, so he steals from the money she sends her daughter for her expenses. The family is so absorbed with Caddie that the rest of their lives don't really function outside her context.
I don't know if I liked this book. I probably won't read it again, if only because the time requirement of it is immense and I know I won't have the time to devote to it again for a long time. Plus I'm not sure I could handle the craziness of the book again, which probably means I didn't really like it. If you greatly enjoy stream of consciousness writing, then this is probably a good book to read -- I've read James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which is highly stream of consciousness, and this seems like a strong American equivalent.
This was also one of the strangest books I've ever read, mainly due to the narration styles of the text. Faulkner split this book into four sections, each told from the perspective of a different member of the Compson family. The problem is that Benjy, the youngest son, is intellectually disabled/mentally retarded (depending on how politically correct you want to be), Quentin, the eldest son, is gradually descending into insanity, Jason, the middle son, is a heartless, mean person who is obsessed with blaming his sister for his misfortune, and the final section is told from no real perspective at all.
Each of the first three sections are written from a first person point of view, which creates even more problems. For example, Benjy has no concept of the passage of time; his narration skips from his present (wherein he is 33) to his childhood (around age 5) to his adolescence (around age 15) without warning or explanation, sometimes right in the middle of a sentence. It was nearly impossible to decipher on my own, so I used a variety of guides (including, to my shame, SparkNotes) to help me understand what the heck was going on. Quentin is gradually going insane -- he kills himself, which I know seems like a spoiler, but it definitely isn't in the context of this novel -- and so his section gradually loses punctuation, grammar, and total comprehensibility by the end of his section. This is also really hard to understand, almost harder than Benjy's section, so this gave me a lot of trouble as well. In general, the book prompts the necessity for multiple readings.
All three brothers are obsessed with their sister, Caddie. Caddie is between Jason and Benjy in age, and her actions have repercussions on all members of the family. She loses her virginity to a man she doesn't want to marry, gets married very soon after, and then is kicked out of her family when her new husband realizes her child is not his. This baby is dumped onto the Compson family, who raise her as Caddie leaves for a life in Paris. Benjy recognizes that Caddie is the only member of the family that really loves and cares about him, and since he cannot understand the passage of time, he does not know how to deal with Caddie's growing up. Quentin sees Caddie's pregnancy as shameful for the family and so offers to help take the fall by claiming that they had sex and the baby is his (somehow, to Quentin, incest is a better choice than wedlock, which I don't understand). Jason blames Caddie for losing him an opportunity for a life and a job with her ex-husband, so he steals from the money she sends her daughter for her expenses. The family is so absorbed with Caddie that the rest of their lives don't really function outside her context.
I don't know if I liked this book. I probably won't read it again, if only because the time requirement of it is immense and I know I won't have the time to devote to it again for a long time. Plus I'm not sure I could handle the craziness of the book again, which probably means I didn't really like it. If you greatly enjoy stream of consciousness writing, then this is probably a good book to read -- I've read James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which is highly stream of consciousness, and this seems like a strong American equivalent.
36. Wise Blood
36. Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor (11/16/2011 - 11/24/2011)
This may possibly be one of the strangest books I’ve ever read. Even now, I'm not sure I like it. This is yet another book I read for grad school, so that's why it's included.
O’Connor’s use of character development in this story was really amazing. Most of the characters – possibly all – are pretty much slimebags; they are all constantly doing things that are mean or swindling or downright creepy. But they are still incredibly compelling. I found myself on their side(s) in a lot of events. Of course, a lot of events in this book are also extremely creepy, but that's just how O'Connor played everything out. And the discrepancies between how the characters see their own actions vs. how the outside world sees their actions was interesting, especially since O’Connor showed this is such a subtle way. There is something darkly humorous about this novel, something that amuses me for the very reason that I don’t think I’m supposed to be laughing.
This may possibly be one of the strangest books I’ve ever read. Even now, I'm not sure I like it. This is yet another book I read for grad school, so that's why it's included.
O’Connor’s use of character development in this story was really amazing. Most of the characters – possibly all – are pretty much slimebags; they are all constantly doing things that are mean or swindling or downright creepy. But they are still incredibly compelling. I found myself on their side(s) in a lot of events. Of course, a lot of events in this book are also extremely creepy, but that's just how O'Connor played everything out. And the discrepancies between how the characters see their own actions vs. how the outside world sees their actions was interesting, especially since O’Connor showed this is such a subtle way. There is something darkly humorous about this novel, something that amuses me for the very reason that I don’t think I’m supposed to be laughing.
There is a lot of material for that mix of humor and contradiction in the character of Hazel Motes. I will frankly admit that I do not like this character but somehow, that did not stop me from becoming absorbed in his story (which is surprising – normally, if I don’t like the main character, I have a really hard time finishing the book). I'm not really sure how to explain this book. Hazel is a war veteran who, upon returning home and finding that his family is gone, tries to re-start his life by founding a church -- except that his church is The Church Without Christ, which creates a bizarre contradiction of sensibilities in this novel. Hazel is also fascinated with/stalking a street preacher and his daughter, so the Church Without Christ becomes even stranger.
Hazel doesn't get any lesson confusing as the story goes on; by the end, he is wrapping his chest with barbed wire and filling his shoes with broken glass as some sort of self-punishment -- even though he has been obsessed with his own "purity" for much of the early part of the book (and despite his own insanely judgmental personality). I'm not really sure why he does this and it never really gets explained. The book overall is something more like a descent into madness.
I don't think I would recommend this book to anyone unless I knew that they were specifically looking for something very strange and... well, I'm not really sure what else they would be looking for. Maybe if they were having some kind of religious crisis. Maybe. I don't have an answer to this book, or to its potential audience. I think any readers have to make up their own minds.
35. Delta Wedding
35. Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty (11/2/2011 - 11/15/2011)
This was an assignment from an American Southern Authors Independent Study I took as part of my grad school studies, so this wasn't a book that I was reading on my own. But since I did read the whole thing, and since I read it instead of reading other books that I wanted to read, I'm including it here.
This is a good novel to read if you like family sketches and family issues. But if you tend to like stories that are more plot-driven, I probably wouldn't recommend it. Nonetheless though, I do see why Eudora Welty is one of the more famous American Southern writers.
This was an assignment from an American Southern Authors Independent Study I took as part of my grad school studies, so this wasn't a book that I was reading on my own. But since I did read the whole thing, and since I read it instead of reading other books that I wanted to read, I'm including it here.
The whole book is one big snapshot of the Fairchild family; there is only the barest of plots, which is that the family is coming together for Dabney’s wedding, and the rest of the book is just the family’s interactions with each other. Each person plays a role in this enormous family. The entire book is also just few days in this giant family's life together; the wedding itself takes maybe 2 pages after more than 100 pages of build up and like I said, there's not much to the book, plot-wise.
There are a lot of controversies in this family. George, one of the uncles/brothers of the family, is seen almost as a hero; he has moved out of the family's hometown (which is named after them) and made something of a name for himself. But he has also married a woman that the rest of the family believes is beneath him, which causes a lot of problems. Dabney, the young bride of this story, is marrying the family's plantation overseer, another person that the family believes is beneath them (and, to be fair, Troy is not a very nice guy). The family is not quiet at all about their judgments either, which creates quite a lot of conflict.
I like that Welty chose to tell the story from the point of view of several of the main women. I don’t know if that appeals to me just because I’m also a woman or if, as it seems, the women of this family really do have more insight into their and others’ lives and I find that interesting, but either way, I enjoy the narration style. The main women, Ellen especially, seem to understand how the family fits together, how they fit into that family scheme, and how each member of the family relates to the others. The perspective changes also help tell the family's story from lots of different points of view, which really change as the characters do.
This is a good novel to read if you like family sketches and family issues. But if you tend to like stories that are more plot-driven, I probably wouldn't recommend it. Nonetheless though, I do see why Eudora Welty is one of the more famous American Southern writers.
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