tadasborne's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
A beautiful portrait of grief and meditation on memory, the past, and how we live on after our loved ones have passed.
orchid8's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
ellsoquent's review against another edition
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
moonshake's review against another edition
5.0
Eudora Welty rocks my world. I think everyone who ever lived would appreciate this book for how it rolls from plain yet beautiful observation into profound and lyrical abstraction
rissaleighs's review against another edition
4.0
This book could bear thinking about for a long time.
I had the hardest time hearing the words of this book in a southern accent, so I looked up some YouTube recordings of Welty being interviewed and reading her own work--after that, I felt better equipped to ease into the tone of the book. As a midwesterner living in the south who has seen southern funeral preparations, this book was particularly recognizable to me. The gathering of neighbors, the extraordinary amount of offered food, the flurry of activity. One character exclaimed, "great day in the morning!" which phrase I thought was unique to my husband's family!
I think this book would resonate with anyone who has witnessed someone age and sink down into death. If it wasn't a library book, I would have underlined all sorts of wise passages. It was very poignant and insightful. And such a relief when everyone left after the funeral and we got to sit alone with Laurel and her own thoughts.
Wow. Everything about this book was just so well crafted. Trying to explain it in a review seems to unfairly reduce it.
I had the hardest time hearing the words of this book in a southern accent, so I looked up some YouTube recordings of Welty being interviewed and reading her own work--after that, I felt better equipped to ease into the tone of the book. As a midwesterner living in the south who has seen southern funeral preparations, this book was particularly recognizable to me. The gathering of neighbors, the extraordinary amount of offered food, the flurry of activity. One character exclaimed, "great day in the morning!" which phrase I thought was unique to my husband's family!
I think this book would resonate with anyone who has witnessed someone age and sink down into death. If it wasn't a library book, I would have underlined all sorts of wise passages. It was very poignant and insightful. And such a relief when everyone left after the funeral and we got to sit alone with Laurel and her own thoughts.
Wow. Everything about this book was just so well crafted. Trying to explain it in a review seems to unfairly reduce it.
juliana_aldous's review against another edition
4.0
“The mystery in how little we know of other people is no greater than the mystery of how much, Laurel thought.”
Eudora Welty captures life, loss, and memory in this beautifully written Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of 1973.
Eudora Welty captures life, loss, and memory in this beautifully written Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of 1973.
sarahv555's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
whyhello's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
anapologetic's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
aprestia310's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't really get this book at first and the beginning frustrated me so much that I had to put it down for a month and start again later. Laurel just seemed like a really dull main character, it wasn't until the very end when the point of that dullness really hit home. She's had such a difficult life, with all of her loved ones dying. This book is a bittersweet exploration of nostalgia with the final conclusion that the only value in things and places are people and memories.