Lee Smith
Paperback | Pages: 286 pages Rating: 4.07 | 3639 Users | 191 Reviews
Particularize Regarding Books Oral History
| Title | : | Oral History |
| Author | : | Lee Smith |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 286 pages |
| Published | : | August 27th 1996 by Ballantine Books (first published June 15th 1983) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. American. Southern. Historical. Historical Fiction |
Narration During Books Oral History
This is a story about five generations of the Cantrell family. They live in Hoot Owl Holler in West Virginia. Southern life in the mountains of Appalachia is the book's story. The first Cantrell came from Ireland. The patriarch fought in the Civil War for the Union, lost a leg and when the remaining stump putrefied he died, leaving to his wife and three sons lots of land in the holler and up the sides of the three surrounding mountains. We follow these sons, their wives and offspring through the 20th century.The author knows Southern life intimately. Her writing captures well the dialect, the songs that are sung, the landscape with its mists, sparkling creeks birds and flora, the farming, the logging and the mining of coal. The traditions and beliefs of the inhabitants -- mystical, supernatural and religious. How babies are ‘caught’ by midwives, which herbs heal and those which poison. Corn can be sold in the market, but distilling it into liquor is more profitable. With so many hungry children to feed, that distilling is chosen is self-evident. All of the above is drawn in this story. We see the Prohibition, the Depression and the coming of roads, electricity and mining. More importantly we see the effects on the region’s people. This is the backdrop for the family drama of witches and hauntings, birth and death, feuds, passion and love affairs.
What is drawn is based on knowledge of these people’s traditions and beliefs. The telling is drawn with taste. The sex is sensuous, not vulgar. I am not religious and I am skeptical of the supernatural, but this book shows why these people are religious and do believe in the supernatural. You see their world through their eyes. Only in this way can one properly learn about others’ lifestyles.
Many small details fill this story, such as a particular pair of earrings, an apron or a chair. You see them once and then twenty-five years later. They pass down from one generation to another; they are no longer just any old thing. The objects take on meaning; each bears a particular significance. These details weave a story of lives over time. I was terribly impressed by the author’s ability to so cleverly intertwine the personal stories of five generations of a family. Without a hitch, all the details fit.
The story progresses from one narrator to another as the years pass. This feels very natural as the focus shifts from one generation to the next. The book starts with Jennifer, a college student of our times who has taken a tape recorder home to talk to her relatives and catch the spirits of a haunted house for a school project. Then the story flips back in time and continues up to the present, where we first began.
I was on the verge of giving the book five stars, but the end goes on too long. It loses its impact. I wish it had been shortened or tied up in another way. Jennifer and her mother’s life story are told too quickly, by a family member who does not really seem to care. How the concluding part of the story is told does fit she who is telling the story at this point and it does have amusing parts, but it still lost my interest. This is why I have given the book four rather than five stars.
The audiobook has a full cast narration. The narrators are Christine McMurdo-Wallis, Sally Darling, Ruth Ann Phinister, Jeff Woodman, Tom Stechschulte and C. J. Critt. The persons telling the different portions of the story are well matched to the six narrators of the audiobook. The production of the audiobook is done with a flair—songs are sung, the narrators change not according to chapter divisions, but instead when most appropriate, usually when the person speaking changes. I have given the narration four stars. While I did prefer some of the narrators more than others, they all fit their respective character roles well. It was an advantage that a full cast performance was used.
Do I recommend the book? Definitely. I also recommend listening to it with the full cast narration.
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Oral History 4 stars
Fair and Tender Ladies 4 stars
Dimestore: A Writer's Life 2 stars
Describe Books Toward Oral History
| Original Title: | Oral History |
| ISBN: | 0345410289 (ISBN13: 9780345410283) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Regarding Books Oral History
Ratings: 4.07 From 3639 Users | 191 ReviewsColumn Regarding Books Oral History
Lovely book. Think Smith's "Fair and Tender Ladies," mixed with Catherine Marshall's "Christie." The changing voices were jarring at first, but I have to admire her ability to actually speak in different characters' voices. I could really believe all these characters were telling their own stories. (She does the same thing so well in "The Christmas Letters.") It is a sad story, but beautifully told--full of "if onlies--!". (So much in "Histories" is reminiscent of my early days (1970s) in theThis was my first Lee Smith novel, and I will definitely be reading more. She apparently writes mostly regional fiction about the Appalachians in general and far western Virginia in particular. In this novel, several generations of the Cantrell family take turns narrating their family history while living it. The physical aspects of life in the mountains changes as the times move forward from roughly 1870 to the mid 20th century, but the values and traits that give shape and character to
While Lee Smith has become a favorite writer, I have to say this book was not. Told in various voices over a hundred or so year span of life in Western Virginia, each time the narrator changed it felt like a disruption...a jarring of the story that took a momentary readjustment on my part which was quite off-putting.Too, the beginning and ending of the novel seemed fragmentary...pieces and bits tacked on to introduce Jennifer yet never quite managing to leave the reader with an understanding of
This story takes place in the mountains of Virginia, where my life story bones lie. It was close to my heart to read. Lee Smith is a wonderful writer! But I love this book because of the familiarity of it -- it was like reading my journal or my grandmother's journal. Sigh . . .
I wanted so much to love this book since it was a recommendation from a friend whose literary taste seems to be in synch with mine. I like the beginning stories. I liked Almarine and Pricey Jane. The book did feel like an oral history. But along the way I lost the need to finish. When that happens, I know the rest will be difficult to stay with, and it was.
this book is so beautifully written, it's like a movie where the cinematography is so gorgeous you want to rewind and watch certain parts again - i kept re-reading certain sentences. one of my all time favorite books.
This is a story about five generations of the Cantrell family. They live in Hoot Owl Holler in West Virginia. Southern life in the mountains of Appalachia is the book's story. The first Cantrell came from Ireland. The patriarch fought in the Civil War for the Union, lost a leg and when the remaining stump putrefied he died, leaving to his wife and three sons lots of land in the holler and up the sides of the three surrounding mountains. We follow these sons, their wives and offspring through the
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