Friday, April 11, 2008

"Cold Sassy Tree" - a Little Humor with alot of Bite!


I'm always looking for good fiction to read. It seems I sew in the fall and winter and read in the spring and summer. "Good fiction" to me can be just about anything...romance, mystery, pseudo-memoirs...but I especially love something that can make me laugh (I might be addicted to laughter).

Cold Sassy Tree did that, but I think I liked it most for it's irreverence toward societal rules in the turn of the century deep South. Now, I'm not a southern girl so I admit that I can't be sure if Miss Olive Ann Branch's view of Cold Sassy, Georgia is a true representation of southern folk in general,but if it is...ya'll are a HOOT!

This would make a good rainy spring day read, after the first 40 or so pages. I give every book I read a 10% chance. Meaning I read through the first 10% of it and if it hasn't captured my fancy by then, I give myself permission to put it down (any less than that seems disrespectful to an author, don't you agree?). Cold Sassy Tree barely made it, but the remainder of the book more than made up for it's slow start.

The dialogue was captivating, with all the southern vernacular and backwater phrases leaping into my mind and sometimes out of my lips. I found myself saying things like, "if'n you want", "cept'n this time", and "'thout havin' to". When I didn't say it, I was thinking it...like translating a foreign language before speaking it out. It's addictive I tell ya!

One reviewer compared the main character, young Will Tweedy to Huck Finn and the story itself to Gone with the Wind and To Kill a Mockingbird. When I read that I do believe I rolled my eyes. Talk about over-selling. But, post-read, I have to say they weren't THAT far off. The chacracters names alone are worth the read - Love Simpson, Aunt Loma, Cousin Lottie, Cudn Hopewell Stump, Bluford Jackson, Miss Effie Belle, Loomis, Lightfoot McLendon. How CAN you go wrong with a cast of characters like THAT?!

I recommend it to anyone who's not afraid of a little Presbyterian/Baptist doctrine twistin', unexpected bitin' humor or splashes of non-gratuitous swearin'. Give it 15% and you'll be glad you did.

Thanks Shalee for pointing it out to me.

3 comments:

Christina said...

This sounds good. I read all the time and I am going to try to get this one. Right now I have a 10 page wish list at Amazon but whenever someone recommends a book like this I place it at the top. It appeals to me on many levels. It's funny, it has a Southern theme (my favorite) and I like the cover. Don't ask what thats all about, but I usually buy books that have covers I like. I also like books that have a little religion added in.

dixymiss said...

Sounds like a fun read! ThanX for the recommendation.

Gumbo Lily said...

It sounds really fun. I like your 15% rule. That's exactly how I feel about books. If you haven't hooked me within the first 50 pages, sorry!

Jody