cascadianriot's review against another edition
4.0
Couldn't put this book down... it certainly makes you thankful for what you have in life.
guinness74's review against another edition
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Surprisingly, I was extremely disappointed in this book. It was redundant in its writing, the characters were miserable and unlikeable, and even though I find this period of history interesting, this take on it was boring. It only became decent about 10 pages from the end, and I’d say if you read the first chapter and the last, you’d probably get just as much out of the book as if you’d read the entirety of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Infidelity, Medical trauma, and Racial slurs
Minor: Car accident, Emotional abuse, and Cursing
cajunliterarybelle's review against another edition
4.0
Originally published in 1932, this book is a caricature of the poor Southern family in post-Civil War U.S. Not only that, the story plops you right in the middle of the Great Depression with plenty of humor thrown in. For anyone from the American South, this book could easily be offensive, if taken too seriously. For those readers not from the American South, please do not buy into all the little stereotypes Caldwell wrote of and poked fun at.
I read this for a college course that centered on the "New South", the post-Civil War American South. We had the opportunity to dissect its themes as a group, including all the examples of the poor, stupid, violent southerner. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and laughing (while rolling my eyes) at the Lester family. This is one novel I will never part with, even though it does not land in my top 5. The experience of reading it is unforgettable, as I can still picture some of the ludicrous events that happened to (or were caused by) the characters. Anyone who enjoys political / historical fiction and appreciates an ABUNDANCE of crass humor should check out Tobacco Road. At under 200 pages for most editions, this book is a quick read. Disclaimer: an at least flimsy knowledge of the conditions the South was left in post-Civil War and of the worsened conditions wrought by the Great Depression would be beneficial to best understanding the satirical writing.
I read this for a college course that centered on the "New South", the post-Civil War American South. We had the opportunity to dissect its themes as a group, including all the examples of the poor, stupid, violent southerner. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and laughing (while rolling my eyes) at the Lester family. This is one novel I will never part with, even though it does not land in my top 5. The experience of reading it is unforgettable, as I can still picture some of the ludicrous events that happened to (or were caused by) the characters. Anyone who enjoys political / historical fiction and appreciates an ABUNDANCE of crass humor should check out Tobacco Road. At under 200 pages for most editions, this book is a quick read. Disclaimer: an at least flimsy knowledge of the conditions the South was left in post-Civil War and of the worsened conditions wrought by the Great Depression would be beneficial to best understanding the satirical writing.
moonpiegeorge's review against another edition
5.0
Wonderful, I must read other books by this author. Is this his best book?
zb1113's review against another edition
2.0
4/10
Strange book. Maybe with more context I would've enjoyed it more, but the writing style was often dry and repetitive (could've been to immerse us more in the world of the Lesters, but either way it wasn't interesting or more engaging to read - didn't feel it added). Also strange transitions into omniscient narration, which had authorial voice, weird.
Topics: most of these relate to southern depression era - relationship between rich and poor (land ownership, wealth moving to cities, rich storing their wealth instead of investing, poor = judgment?, deceit and cheating the poor), inability to make progress (escape one's conditions either by your own ineptitude or societal influence), role of man and woman (religious definition, practical definition, 'sinful' definition), religion (control of poor, explanation for disparity/luck), beauty and ugliness (related to wealth, clothing, facial features)
Strange book. Maybe with more context I would've enjoyed it more, but the writing style was often dry and repetitive (could've been to immerse us more in the world of the Lesters, but either way it wasn't interesting or more engaging to read - didn't feel it added). Also strange transitions into omniscient narration, which had authorial voice, weird.
Topics: most of these relate to southern depression era - relationship between rich and poor (land ownership, wealth moving to cities, rich storing their wealth instead of investing, poor = judgment?, deceit and cheating the poor), inability to make progress (escape one's conditions either by your own ineptitude or societal influence), role of man and woman (religious definition, practical definition, 'sinful' definition), religion (control of poor, explanation for disparity/luck), beauty and ugliness (related to wealth, clothing, facial features)
amittaizero's review against another edition
5.0
Well damn, I haven't read a book that fast in a long time. Literally hard to put down. Cover photo by Walker Evans, which makes sense given his work with James Agee on "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men."
The characters could easily have been aspects of my ancestors: illiterate tobacco farmers in NC and cotton mill workers in SC after leaving farming.
I don't know. It's not southern Gothic, really, though it feels like it sometimes. The exposition gets a bit clunky a few times but never overbearing.
Just people. Just suffering.
The characters could easily have been aspects of my ancestors: illiterate tobacco farmers in NC and cotton mill workers in SC after leaving farming.
I don't know. It's not southern Gothic, really, though it feels like it sometimes. The exposition gets a bit clunky a few times but never overbearing.
Just people. Just suffering.
spinnerroweok's review against another edition
4.0
At first, I thought this was a book making fun of southerners because everyone is so stupid in the book. But then I was discussing it with a colleague and she told me that hook work infections in the south led to this dulling of the mental faculties thus making it somewhat plausible to my mind. A very strange book indeed.
dctigue's review against another edition
3.0
I actually liked the book. I did find that the characters often repeated themselves. I guess Caldwell was making some kind of point.
I guess little to no education, no sense, and no money can make people act like the Lesters.
I guess little to no education, no sense, and no money can make people act like the Lesters.
ominouspolymath's review against another edition
4.0
Something curious happened to me with this book. I started reading it just after having finished Stoner, by John Williams. Tobacco Road felt like returning to the place from which Stoner escaped to go to college, an abandoned rural area where men and women struggle to survive; a part of the country left behind by a new world for which they are not yet prepared. Perhaps one of the most relevant achievements by Caldwell in this book is how he depicts the broken spirit of these countrymen amid occasionally hilarious circumstances. Starving and dreaming with a far-gone past, the Lester family live their lives while waiting for a miracle that will never happen. There is always naivety and indolence in their behaviour, maybe as the outcome of their faith and despair. Amid their poverty, there is only place for basic instincts like sex and anger and hunger. Even death is for them a meaningless contingency and maybe their only relief.