Let's hope we are entertained and enjoy this adventure.
Thursday, 7 July 2016
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
by Nancy,
Folksy and fresh, endearing and affecting, Fried Green Tomatoes at the
Whistle Stop Cafe is the now-classic novel of two women in the 1980s: of
gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode telling her life story to Evelyn, who is
in the sad slump of middle age. The tale she tells is also of two
women--of the irrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend
Ruth--who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop,
Alabama, a Southern kind of Cafe Wobegon offering good barbecue and good
coffee and all kinds of love and laughter, even an occasional murder.
And as the past unfolds, the present--for Evelyn and for us--will never
be quite the same again. . . .
Let's hope we are entertained and enjoy this adventure.
Let's hope we are entertained and enjoy this adventure.
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I think we are really getting the hang of this!!! My copy of Unless is due in at the library next week so I will have some summer reading t...
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by Katie, The brother of a dear friend of mine witnessed the suicide of a friend/classmate inside his school during normal school hours. ...
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Hello Ladies, How is the weather where you are? We have had the most gloriously clear autumn days here followed by a few days of soaking ...
Hello Ladies,
ReplyDeleteI've noticed our book list is getting a little skinny, let me know what you think of these suggestions.
A Brief History Of Seven Killings by Marlon James
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal
The Bone Setters Daughter by Amy Tan
Hope all is well xx
Very interesting choices, Nancy. Look forward to reading them.
ReplyDeleteCould I add three more?
Elena Ferrante: My Brilliant Friend
Mary Lawson: The Other Side of the Bridge
Paula Hawkins: The Girl on the Train
A new more right wing government inflicted on us - otherwise all is well.
Love to you both
Sue
Hello Ladies
ReplyDeleteHope it’s summery there Katie, and that you are not too cold, Nancy. Glorious morning here, sun streaming through the window. However, I’m living in a society run by an unelected right wing dictatorship formed by a cabal of ruthlessly self-interested idiots. I can only hope that some shoot themselves in the foot before more damage is done. We would benefit from Ninny Threadgoode’s generosity of spirit and acquired wisdom.
Stereotypical as I found these characters to be, and shocking as the accepted mores of the society were, I can’t tell you what a relief it was to escape from 2016 Britain into 1930s Alabama. Reminded me that the better aspects of humanity will survive, come what may. (May being a particularly appropriate word here.) So, thank you for this choice at this particular time, Katie.
The structure of the novel was interesting: I enjoyed the way the timeline of the narrative allowed for both suspense and clarification of the storyline; and appreciated the perspectives of the newspapers, the characters and the “omniscient narrator”.
I had a few problems with Evelyn Crouch, who seemed to me a feminist viewpoint rather than a character. Fully approved the viewpoint, of course, so I shouldn’t grumble.
In fact, someone should write a similarly entertaining novel based on my own country at this time. It could include family feuds, local community ‘hate crimes’, the impact of recession (sure to come, we’re told) and a nation “going to hell in a handcart”.
You will gather I haven’t got over it yet.
Thank you, Katie, for providing some wonderful, timely relaxation.
Love to your families and lots to you both.
Hello to you both!
ReplyDeleteThings here are going well. We are enjoying our summer very much. The credit for this month’s novel goes to Nancy. I had never even heard of this book, although it is apparently a movie. Sue, I’m sorry for all your political woes. Things are not looking too good for the U.S. either. There are many jokes about third options that are increasingly more ludicrous than the last but still seem more appealing than our current options. Nancy, I’m enjoying all your travel photos! Trying to live vicariously through you.
Sue, you mention your shock which I assume is in regard to Ruth and Idgie’s relationship. I, too, couldn’t get over the level of acceptance over their love in the 1930s, let alone its acceptance in the south! I have to say it distracted me greatly. There were many things in this novel that I felt had not relevance to the story. For example Idgie’s bee magic, it really had no impact in the story. Or the fried green tomatoes in our novel’s title. They were served at the café but had no other point in the novel. They weren’t bad things, just very random to me.
And while I adored her, I didn’t find any point in Mrs. Threadgoode’s character to this story. It was mostly Idgie and Ruth’s story. Ninny just floated on its periphery. Yes she tied Evelyn to the Whistle Stop’s past but it was not Mrs. Threadgoode’s life story she was telling.
It sounds like I’m complaining, I swear I did enjoy this novel! I found it entertaining. My favorite character was a character we never saw: Dot Weems. I LOVED HER! Haha. I loved her little tid bits in the weekly newsletters. She had me chuckling!
This was a very enjoyable summer read. I will add my book picks a little later.
-Much love from the Chong crew!
ReplyDeleteHello Ladies,
So very sorry for being late with this months comment. We’ve just returned from Bangkok and I must say I’m a little jet-lagged. Had a really fun time though and really enjoyed spending time with Sam.
I enjoyed ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ and found it entertaining and light, oddly as some of the subject matter was anything but. Ninny’s retelling of her life at a time when racial tensions were at boiling point, seemed simplistic and naive. Considering the current tensions in the southern US states at the moment I wonder what a contemporary story like this would be portraying.
The author seemed to try and cover as many social, economic and health issues as possible in one story. Racism, feminism, poverty and Evelyn’s struggle through menopause. I hate to say it but this story did feel very ’80’s, perhaps that’s why I enjoyed it.
Sue, I am sorry the political situation in the UK is so upsetting for you. It is so difficult to feel helpless in the face of such draconian behaviour. I feel we as a species are starting to allow ourselves to be ruled by fear and this in turn allows the bigoted scaremongers to push their agendas. It is starting to be seen in all major political fields. In Australia, we managed to elect a few racist idiots into our senate and now seem focused on them instead of solving some real problems. Katie, I’m sure you see this trends in the USA as well.
will talk soon,
love Nancy