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Bezig met laden... Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All (origineel 1989; editie 1990)door Allan Gurganus
Informatie over het werkOldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All door Allan Gurganus (1989)
Southern Fiction (40) A Novel Cure (572) Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. (43) Yikes. This was quite a long book and took me forever to read. As one who loves literature from the Civil War period and who calls central North Carolina home; even knows some of the same people the author does - by all accounts, I should have loved this. But it was just so incredibly rambling. Lucy Marsden married a 55 year old veteran of the Civil War (he joined as a 13 year old bugle boy) when she was 14 - and now at almost 100 years old she carries her husband's eyewitness accounts of the War with her - in all its absurdities and tragedies. She and her husband are from a Mayberry type of small town peopled with characters, including her best friend Castalia Marsden, a former slave of the family. Castalia remembers Africa and her crossing on a slave ship, and Sherman's march through the Marsden's plantation burning all. Over 700 pages of small print of detailed stories from Lucy, Cap Marsden, and Castalia's lives - all in a frame of the 100 year old Lucy in a nursing home telling some young author. The chronology jumps around and many stories become - well - tedious. Lucy is a fascinating and hilarious character - evoking pathos and admiration, and she is indeed a good story-teller. At times, I will say, I loved the book and certain images haunt - Ned shot from the tree; Lady Marsden playing with the slave children in The Lilacs; Baby Archie's story. But Gawd - some things just dragged - the Africa part, the Shirley interlude, the last weird War story with the Lieutenant that preened in the mirror - WTF. I have such mixed feelings - I feel that 3 stars is both a stingy and a generous rating for this novel depending on which part I reflect on. Unlike some other books that have been a big time investment where I haven't felt rewarded, (I am thinking of Helprin's 'A Winter's Tale,' and 'Ulysses' to name a few. . .) I am glad I read this and don't begrudge the time. But I really do feel that at times, you can have too much of a good thing. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
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Allan Gurganus's Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All became an instant classic upon its publication. Critics and readers alike fell in love with the voice of ninety-nine-year-old Confederate widow Lucy Marsden, one of the most entertaining and loquacious heroines in American literature. Lucy married at the turn of the twentieth century, when she was fifteen and her husband was fifty. If Colonel William Marsden was a veteran of the "War for Southern Independence," Lucy became a "veteran of the veteran" with a unique perspective on Southern history and Southern manhood. Lucy's story encompasses everything from the tragic death of a Confederate boy soldier to the feisty narrator's daily battles in the Home--complete with visits from a mohawk-coiffed candy striper. Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All is a marvel of narrative showmanship and proof that brilliant, emotional storytelling remains at the heart of great fiction. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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Lucy herself is a treat. Married at a mere fifteen years old, she saw the world with a sensitivity and sweetness. She cared about where people came from (Castalia from Africa) or how displaced a foreigner can feel (Wong Chow from China). Even though her husband was in his fifties when they married, Lucy became a baby factory having nine children in eleven years. Her marriage was painful as her husband could be very abusive. Sleeping with a hatchet was not out of the question for Lucy. But I digress. Take your time with Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All. Know that every character serves a purpose at the moment of introduction but may not need remembering a hundred pages later. ( )