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bookwormcat's review
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Alcohol
siennasan's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
carliedikes's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
annacabrespina's review against another edition
4.0
el llibre té molts fils diferents i x tant n'hi ha que m'agraden més que d'altres. en general però, ha sigut un llibre que m'ha agradat molt, és com molt <3 i està super bé, és llarg però es llegeix super fàcil
glick's review against another edition
emotional
funny
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
michaelpdonley's review against another edition
3.0
I cared for the characters, but often found myself bored by the rambling monologues of old Mrs.Threadgood. Some massive subjects - racism, spousal abuse, lesbian love, depression - are given lightweight attention, or barely an acknowledgment.
nberklas's review against another edition
4.5
Lovely book, great story and very interesting way it was told
restless's review against another edition
A queer, activist, feel good (for white people) story that manages to hurt some of the very people it is trying to help.
What it is about: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe charts the ups and downs of a small mixed-race community in the American South. The story begins in the 1980's, when Evelyn, a white middle class woman struggling with her life and marriage, meets Mrs Threadgoode at a nursing home.
Over the course of the novel, Mrs Threadgoode shares her experiences of growing up white in the American South (1920s onwards) and of the kindness of community within an inherently unkind and changeable world.
What I thought: this is a hard book to review. On the one hand, it offers an unflinching and positive depiction of queerness, found family, female agency, and sexual freedom - at a time when none of these were the norm. In addition, it manages to highlight many of the painful realities of racial segregation in the kind of feel-good wrapper that will ensure wide readership.
However, in trying to be authentic, the book is also filled with:
• harmful colorist language
• painful racial stereotypes
and - I think most painfully of all - a deeply white saviorist plot. The black characters in this story have very little agency of their own - and when they do, they exercise that agency in support of a white cast. As a result, there is a form of unintentional erasure here, a smoothing-over of things that aren't OK by portraying an idyllic town where individual white people can somehow mitigate the vicissitudes of racial injustice through personal kindness alone - and where black people are somehow left feeling grateful for this. As Dr. King once wrote:
When I first read this quote, I really struggled with it and I won't pretend I fully understand it now. But having read this book - and slept on it - I think I understand it a little better.
This book is a celebration of the kind of negative peace that Dr. King describes, peace and communal harmony in the absence of broader racial justice. It is a book that celebrates the painkiller, rather than the cure - and one that doesn't do enough to centre those in pain and give them individual agency.
TL;DR: a badly-dated, wonderfully written, feel-good story that tackles heavy themes and broke my heart in five different places. Caution advised.
What it is about: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe charts the ups and downs of a small mixed-race community in the American South. The story begins in the 1980's, when Evelyn, a white middle class woman struggling with her life and marriage, meets Mrs Threadgoode at a nursing home.
Over the course of the novel, Mrs Threadgoode shares her experiences of growing up white in the American South (1920s onwards) and of the kindness of community within an inherently unkind and changeable world.
What I thought: this is a hard book to review. On the one hand, it offers an unflinching and positive depiction of queerness, found family, female agency, and sexual freedom - at a time when none of these were the norm. In addition, it manages to highlight many of the painful realities of racial segregation in the kind of feel-good wrapper that will ensure wide readership.
However, in trying to be authentic, the book is also filled with:
• harmful colorist language
• painful racial stereotypes
and - I think most painfully of all - a deeply white saviorist plot. The black characters in this story have very little agency of their own - and when they do, they exercise that agency in support of a white cast. As a result, there is a form of unintentional erasure here, a smoothing-over of things that aren't OK by portraying an idyllic town where individual white people can somehow mitigate the vicissitudes of racial injustice through personal kindness alone - and where black people are somehow left feeling grateful for this. As Dr. King once wrote:
"I must confess that over the past few years, I have been gravely disappointed in the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice; who prefers a negative peace in which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice."
When I first read this quote, I really struggled with it and I won't pretend I fully understand it now. But having read this book - and slept on it - I think I understand it a little better.
This book is a celebration of the kind of negative peace that Dr. King describes, peace and communal harmony in the absence of broader racial justice. It is a book that celebrates the painkiller, rather than the cure - and one that doesn't do enough to centre those in pain and give them individual agency.
TL;DR: a badly-dated, wonderfully written, feel-good story that tackles heavy themes and broke my heart in five different places. Caution advised.
daicongrrl's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0