I got a wonderful surprise in the mail the other day. A package of goodies from a recent trip my parents took to Charleston, SC. Now I've never been to Charleston, but within the first two chapters of the book, "Mrs. Whaley and Her Charleston Garden," it is now an official destination on my list.
I didn't realize how much I love southern literature until this book. In William Baldwin's introduction, he describes Emily as a "grand Southern matron" with "an opinion on everything." And that in her tales he would find the same elements that are in her garden: "a seemingly leisurely delivery would lull me into a complacent enjoyment and then suddenly I'd be faced with a moral. Emily is not just a poet and a gardener. I suspect she would have made a good trial lawyer." I just love sassy storytellers, and tales dripping in families and histories and the seemingly mundane attaining mythical proportions.
That is why I was so ecstatic to find a copy of the Ya Ya Sisterhood (for a quarter!) at a little book sale. Another sassy southern sally.
The funny thing is, I went to one of the great writing schools of the south, and I have never read Lee Smith. Nor have I read Annie Dillard's "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek." Though it is quite probable that I have copies of both somewhere... They will be there for one of those great days when you approach your library and look for nothing in particular, just a rainy day date with a book you forgot you had.
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The other great thing about the South, is "the Porch." When I was a kid and visited our family friends in France my parents gave me a fantastic book to give them as a Thank You Gift. The book was called Out On The Porch and had beautiful pictures of porches throughout the South and wonderful excerpts from Southern Literature. The book was a great gift to share a piece of home with our French friends. Here is the link on amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0945575939/sr=1-3/qid=1154609064/ref=sr_1_3/103-5634644-0828604?ie=UTF8&s=books
I actually haven't read a lot of southern literature--amazing since I spent two years at Hollins studying English. The attributes you describe for the genre are ones I enjoy; what books would you recommed to start?
Ooh, gosh, recommendations. I can't say I'm the definitive resource. The ones I mentioned in the post would be the starters for me. Hmmm...
My personal favorite is To Kill A Mockingbird. My dad and I reread it (separately) all the time. The writing and the story is just wonderful and the characters are ones I love to revisit.
Some great authors:
Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor. I really like their short stories.
Truman Copote's A Christmas Memory is absolutely endearing.
I think Pat Conroy is an amazing writer...AND he's from my home state, south carolina! He really does have a storytelling talent...beyond The Prince of Tides.
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