David Fuller (1) (1953–)

I live in the south. Every day, I see relics of days that to some symbolize the glory of the south, to others, a time of great shame for humankind. I was not born into southern culture (indeed, my own family fled from persecution elsewhere to settle in the United States in the days before World War I), but I still feel the scars that the enslavement of African Americans left on our world. When a friend from another country had trouble enjoying a visit to Charleston, saying he could feel the show more pain of slavery as he walked the streets of the city, it was a knife to my heart. It is not the way we live now, at least not in this part of the world, and while we are not perfect, I wonder how long those who inhabit this land will bear the responsibility of scars of the past.

Many people have a romanticized vision of slavery, due in part to its depiction in novels and movies. But even the kindest rendition in print or screen cannot deny that at its core, slavery involves ownership of one person over another. Sweetsmoke presents the reader with a huge array of relationships between between people of the south in that time of our history. The brutality is unflinching, the loyalties complex, the relationships tangled. It is a glimpse into the darkness of our past, exploring diverse aspects of the human psyche. It's a retelling of that wound in our national history called the Civil War. It's a character study of a man of passions and principles, despite his enslavement. It's a reminder that our greatest downfall is man's inhumanity to man, and our greatest strength is our ability to open our hearts to other people, and strive for what is right. I thought the author's technique of using quotation marks around the speech of free people, black or white, and none around the speech of the enslaved was a powerful tool to keep the reader reminded of the degradation of the human spirit when we succumb to the evils of saying we own another individual.

This is a book that is complex, and I may reread, because there are certainly nuances I missed. There were some moments in it that opened my eyes, not so much about the institution of slavery, but more regarding how the world was in that time-- figuring out how to pass a message, cross a river, make a rendezvous. I even found myself looking up some of the herbs and medicinal plants mentioned, as that's an interest of mine.

Many thanks to my friend Maggie, who recommended this book to me. I will pass it on thoughtfully.

Tags: advanced-reader-copy, didn-t-want-to-put-it-down, made-me-look-something-up, made-me-sad, made-me-think, places-i-have-been, read, read-in-2015, read-on-recommendation, set-in-the-south, taught-me-something, uncomfortable-reading-but-good show less

Okay, wow.

Sweetsmoke is a novel told through the eyes of a slave in Virginia, during the Civil War. Cassius is, luckily for him, different from other slaves. As the plantation carpenter, he doesn’t have to work in the field under the slave driver; neither does he work in the ‘big house’ under the watchful eye of his master. Cassius is relatively free, as slaves go - he is also very intelligent, which is a tremendous help to him when he finds a friend murdered and sets out to avenge her show more death.

This book was simply fabulous. Cassius was a strong and expressive character. Actually, he was the master of hiding his thoughts and feelings to his masters, but David Fuller wrote him in a way that made his very being shine through the pages. Never once did I feel that I was reading about a fictional character, I felt more that I was following Cassius on his quest.

One of the most interesting choices that Fuller made in this book was a stylistic choice. Whenever a slave was speaking, Fuller left out the quotation marks. He did not omit quotation marks throughout the book, when white men and women, and even free blacks spoke they were granted quotation marks, but not the words of slaves. I was sure this was going to annoy me, and yet it did not. In fact, it helped me feel even more the dehumanizing effects of slavery. I wondered sometimes if the white men and women were really hearing Cassius when he spoke, with the inequities of the quotation marks.

This book was, in a word, fantastic.

For the full review:
http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2008/08/sweetsmoke-book-review/ show less

This novel, written by screenwriter David Fuller, tells the story of Cassius Howard, the carpenter slave owned by Hoke Howard, a Virginia tobacco farmer. A series of tragic events transformed Cassius from his place Hoke’s favorite and it cost him dearly. The only bright light in the entire situation was the time that Cassius was allowed to recuperate with Emoline Justice, a free black woman. Although Cassius learns a lot from Emoline, her example does not stop him from hardening himself to show more life and others when he returns back to the plantation. As time goes on, however, he becomes less able to avoid stepping in and helping others when he senses trouble. He even finds himself opening his heart to another slave. When he learns that Emoline was viciously murdered and that there were no plans for the local officials to even investigate it, he cannot and no longer wants to simply sit back and allow this injustice to continue. He vows to find her killer and bring that person to justice no matter what it cost him.

This is a novel that took me by surprise. I can’t say that it started out slow, because that would do it a disservice. What is true is that the first 100 pages built toward something that took me and held my imagination captive until the end. As a reader, I felt that I understood fully what it meant to be a slave. I felt I understood why Cassius had no hope for freedom in his life. Yet, as this same reader, I held out hope for him. In that way, Cassius was much more prepared for what he faced than I was. Much more prepared. When Cassius is forced to watch a female slave be sold in town, I could barely breathe. It was not an unfamiliar scene, but the added details shook me inside. Despite his distaste, Cassius swallowed him emotions as he was expected. In fact, Hoke appeared more tore up about what happened.

Fuller brings the world of slavery to light in a fresh and unique way. The most notable and thought provoking way that Sweetsmoke conveys the dehumanization of slaves was stylistic. When a free person spoke, be they black or white, rich or poor, their words were encased by quotation marks. Not so for the enslaved. When Cassius, Mam Rosie, Big Gus, and the others like them spoke, there were no quotation marks. This tripped me up fairly often at the beginning of the novel. I would read a paragraph and in my confusion realize that I was reading dialog, not prose. My reading quickly improved, but even at the end I stumbled from time to time. Still, I appreciated this choice on the part of the author. It brought home how insignificant slaves were to their owners. The fact that they might have hopes and dreams was wholly ignored and brushed aside. This was something they embodied every day. They didn’t have a last name of their own, so why would they think that their words should be heard or set apart? The lack of quotation marks makes perfect sense.

Sweetsmoke is a compelling and relevant historical novel about the lives of slaves and plantation owners. In Fuller’s world there are good and bad people on both sides of the front door of the big house. No one is idolized or demonized. Like reality, characters simply are who they are. They are not stereotyped. If you want to read challenging historical fiction, you should read this book.

http://literatehousewife.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/90-sweetsmoke/ show less

One of my favorite films as a teenager was "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." I watched it so many times that I still have large sections of the dialogue memorized, so I was drawn to David Fuller's novel like the proverbial moth. Once I began reading, I fell headlong into the story. Watching Longbaugh make his first halting acquaintance to the new world around him felt true to his character and true to the period. As he tries to find Etta in the land he knows so well, he has time to show more ponder many things. Has he truly paid for all the crimes he's committed? What about the men in the gang who were never caught-- do they still have a debt to pay, or are they the better men for having not been imprisoned? He's also surprised that Etta has gone off to live her own life; in his mind she's like a fly suspended in amber, waiting for his return.

New York City intensifies the feeling of being displaced in time. Here crowds protest working conditions, and women are fighting for the vote, and it doesn't take him long to realize how much danger he's in while he searches for his wife because strong-minded Etta has made some enemies.

Sundance is a novel that satisfies on many levels. Although it's nowhere close to being an imitation of William Goldman's screenplay, Longbaugh will feel familiar to anyone who knows the 1969 film. It succeeds as a Western, particularly in the beginning just after Longbaugh is released from prison. It certainly succeeds in the mystery and adventure departments as he searches for Etta, and it is also quite the love story. Moreover, Sundance succeeds as the story of a man who finds that-- although he has so much life experience-- he still needs to seek his place in the world. David Fuller immersed me so completely in Harry Longbaugh's world, that it was a wrench for me to leave it. show less