August 2015: Fannie Flagg

Up in August: Fannie Flagg! What's on your wishlist?

I have one unread book by Fannie Flagg on my bookshelf--The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion. I might look for something else as well.

I have that one sitting on my shelf as well, so hopefully I'll get to it! :)

I have never read any Fannie Flagg but I got a copy of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café at the library book sale a few months ago. I am excited to finally read it after hearing so much about it. Then I will probably watch the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.

>4 Tara1Reads: I read Fried Green Tomatoes many years ago. I can barely remember what it's about, but I remember that I loved it. I should read it again if I can find a copy and I have time.

>4 Tara1Reads:, >5 JackieCarroll: I loved Fried Green Tomatoes - both the movie and the book, although they have some notable differences. I read the book in print many years ago and then borrowed the audiobook version from my library when I decided I wanted to re-read it. Both were good. :)

I'm going later this week to see what my library carries by Fannie Flagg. I haven't read anything by her before. I'm leaning toward Fried Green Tomatoes, since it is so famous, but it'll depend on availability.

I've got a little time this afternoon, and I'm hoping to sit down with The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion. I've got lots of MD appointments and some radiological and lab visits, so I'll probably have lots of "waiting time." It shouldn't take long to read this little book.

I'm excited for everyone reading Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café for the first time as I loved it so much. I hope you all do also! :)

I also have The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion unread on my shelves, but that I spotted further back in my bookshelf I Still Dream About You, so I decided to start with that one. I just began it today. The blurbs from reviewers talk about it as southern fiction, humor, mystery, and a whole host of other things that don't seem exactly homogenous (although they aren't mutually exclusive either) so I'm looking forward to unpacking this one and seeing what it's really all about.

I started Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe last night and stayed up late reading it because I didn't want to put it down. It's so good so far!

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café



no spoilers

I am so glad I finally decided to give this book a try. This book may very well take a place among my favorites.

Flagg is a fantastic writer. The town of Whistle Stop, Alabama is based on the town Flagg grew up in in Alabama so she was able to create a very strong sense of place. The book is very Southern from the food to the characters' accents: "cain't" instead of "can't" and "polker" instead of "poker." She made me love all the characters of Whistle Stop no matter how minor they were to the overall story.

Despite this book receiving accolades for being a lesbian novel, that wasn't the relationship that came to the forefront for me. I really enjoyed the conversations and friendship between Evelyn and Ninny, the main narrator of the story I guess you could say, and the relationship between Idgie and Stump. I was struck by this line on Page 131 of my copy when Idgie is talking to Stump: "There are magnificent beings on this Earth, son, that are walking around posing as humans."

The chapters alternate between Evelyn and Ninny in the 1980's and the characters of Whistle Stop beginning in the 1920's and progressing. I really like that the book spans decades so the reader gets a sense of how broader societal and cultural changes affect the town and the people (black and white) of Whistle Stop.

The book is both humorous and dark at the same time further proving Flagg's writing ability. I did laugh aloud a couple times and then other times was saddened or disturbed. Overall the book isn't sad or depressing to me. It became more of a pick-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps book as the story line of Evelyn becomes the focus towards the end and how she takes action to change some things in her life.

I am wavering between 4.5 and 5 stars for my rating on LT but I can't really think of anything to complain about.

Moving the movie to the top of my Netflix queue...

I hope you aren't disappointed in the movie. There are significant differences, but I loved the both.

>12 JackieCarroll: I hope I am not disappointed either. I already read about how they changed Ruth's relationship with Idgie and made Ruth be in love with Buddy for the movie. I love Kathy Bates though; I think she's a perfect fit for Evelyn.

I have Fanny Flagg's Can't Wait To Get to Heaven here from the library. It will be a re-read for me. I loved the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" but have never read the book.

I finished Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe this evening. Thanks to this group, once again -- I would never have picked this up on my own but I'm very glad I read such a well known Southern book.

I enjoyed the book; it's well written, easy to read, and portrays women's relationships with each other in a simultaneously very positive and very real way. Not many novels do such a good job with women's friendships. The female characters aren't perfect but they are all striving to be good people, written to be so likable. I wanted to see what happened to them as the years stretched on.

But I feel a little conflicted about the book's portrayal of issues like homophobia and racism. This book is pretty sunny about these serious topics. They aren't ignored; they get noted, and they have consequences, and the women fighting against oppression of women understand that oppression stretches to lesbians and people of color (which is not common in books set in these years, so I appreciate that). But they are whitewashed in a strange way that sometimes made me uncomfortable. Here's an example: the ladies have a conversation with the sheriff (I think? some law enforcement officer) about how he wants them to stop serving black people out of the back of the restaurant. They are shrewd and throw everything back at him, noting they know who is participating in KKK rallies (by the shoes -- so clever) and intellectually outpacing him until he essentially leaves with his tail between his legs. It's a great, satisfying scene. But there's no mention of the fact that there's no real threat to them as white people, and they haven't actually done anything meaningful. Meanwhile the KKK is regularly murdering black people throughout this time period.

I try not to measure books against the 2015 stick when they were written earlier, but it did fall flat to me as a modern reader.

I'm sorry to hear that Ruth and Idgie were just friends in the film and Ruth was in love with Buddy. What a shame.

>11 Tara1Reads: I recall reading somewhere, but now I don't remember where that Flagg said she thought of the book as being centered around a town rather than being about a specific character, so I think your observations are spot on.

>15 sparemethecensor: Yes, I remember thinking the same thing about the book seeming to deal too neatly with complex issues. I wrote in my review a couple of years back that it "seemed a little too fairy tale-like to me that in a town with a KKK presence (so, clearly closed-minded about anyone considered "other") that everyone would be so accepting of the lesbian couple, to the point of referring to Stump as "Ruth and Idgie's son."

re: the movie glossing over Ruth and Idgie's relationship ... I don't think the early 90s mainstream was quite ready to handle that yet, but I still get the feeling in the movie that Idgie is in love with Ruth, and that feeling may eventually be somewhat reciprocated, even if that's understated. I recall reading/hearing somewhere along the way (and Wikipedia backs me up on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried_Green_Tomatoes) that the film's director noted the food fight scene in the movie is meant to be rather sensual & sexual, representing the feelings these two women have for each other.

On another note, the one change in the movie that was more bizarre to me is the ending in which Idgie is still alive and quite possibly is the same person as Mrs. Threadgoode, which changes a lot of things, I think. And for no good reason.

>15 sparemethecensor: and >16 sweetiegherkin: The movie: I was wondering why the film won a GLAAD award but if the lesbian relationship is still detectable than I guess that makes sense that it won because something was better than nothing for the early 90s.

>16 sweetiegherkin: That's crazy that they would change that in the movie! That would change a lot of things... And you're right; there's no reason to do that except to make it confusing.

>17 Tara1Reads: Yes, it is confusing. I read one theory suggesting they made that change to get people to keep talking about the movie long after they saw it, which if that was the case, it did work.

>18 sweetiegherkin: I watched the movie today. There were actually a lot more changes besides the ones we discussed here but they were minor. Making Ninny actually be Idgie and still alive wasn't confusing in the context of the movie since they didn't mention Cleo, Ninny's husband, or any of the other family members at all really. (They didn't even include Big George & Sipsey's family who were in the book a lot more.) So without all the family context making Idgie still be alive and pretending to be Ninny Threadgoode actually made sense.

It was a really good movie! I didn't realize until I watched it that Mary-Louise Parker and Cicely Tyson were in it.

I have never read any Fannie Flagg

>18 sweetiegherkin: Mary-Louse Parker and Mary Stuart Materson were both great in that movie. I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

I finally finished I Still Dream About You today as I put it on hiatus for some time while I read some library books before they were due back.

I Still Dream About You is a novel about Maggie Fortenberry, a former Miss America beauty pageant runner-up, who has decided she's had enough of life's disappointments and plans to commits suicide. The first half of the book is about Maggie's plans to put her suicidal thoughts into action, along with a lot of nostalgia and regrets about her past life. With such depressing content, this made the first half of the book a bit difficult to read, especially for long stretches, even though Flagg does her best to pepper in some amusing anecdotes, mostly by way of Maggie's fellow co-workers in the real estate business. Unsurprisingly, something occurs that stops Maggie's plans of suicide and the second half of the book becomes almost farcical with its series of random mishaps, including a lovelorn goat, a literal skeleton in the closet, and other unlikely events. Still, this second section read quickly and did have many humorous parts. Some elements of the ending are rather predictable, but there are certainly some twists that were unexpected. And while there may be an element of cheese to this nicely tied-up "Hollywood happy" conclusion, it's sometimes pleasant to read a book that ends on a high note of reaffirming life and faith in the idea that everyone eventually gets their just desserts.

For me, what sold this book most was the characters; they kept me plowing through even the beginning half that was a bit more tedious than I would have liked. Maggie is such a perfect gentlewoman that she's haunted by disappointing people, and I think there's an element of her concerns in all of us, making her relatable on some level. Her best friend Brenda is optimistic about changing the world, even if she has difficulty fixing her own overeating habits. Their other co-worker, Ethel, is an elderly woman with a penchant for all things purple and ranting about how the modern world is going to hell in a handbasket, unlike the good old days of her youth. But the star of the show is their deceased boss Hazel, who was such a force to be reckoned with, that not a day seems to go by without one of them remembering her enthusiasm and energy.

In the supplementary materials with the edition of the book I have, Flagg explains about this book that "I think as we get older and we all have something we still dream about -- a time, a person, a home, etc. I suspect we all tend to dream about a time when we were happy, and had a rosy future. So I wanted to explore that theme." In addition to exploring ideas about nostalgia, past disappointments, aging, and the uncertainty of the future, Flagg touches on issues of race and racism, ability/disability, and classism. She also examines underlying themes related to optimism vs. pessimism, the 'grass is greener' mentality, learning to let go, the power of friendship, and the role of women in terms of power and position in society. And throughout the book, Flagg seems to be writing a love letter about the city of Birmingham, her own hometown, by describing its history and culture. In short, like with Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, Flagg manages to pack a lot in a relatively short book with a deceptively simple plot line!

While the beginning of the book was a bit slow to get into, the only real downside for me in this book was the too obviously "villainous" character of Babs Bingington, a rival realtor. The character was entirely unrealistic in that she had no redeeming qualities at all but was simply without sympathy, empathy, or basic human morals. To make matters worse, she was the only character in the book who wasn't a native Southerner. There were in fact several references made to her Northern origins, despite her having lived in Alabama for decades at the book's start. For all Flagg's embracing of people of all races, classes, ages, and abilities throughout the rest of the book, it seemed like that civility couldn't cross the Mason-Dixon line. That was a disappointing sour note, but otherwise this was a book that I'm glad I picked up and read.

>22 sweetiegherkin: I Still Dream About You sounds really good! I am adding it to my wishlist. I was really impressed with Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.

>22 sweetiegherkin: I Still Dream About You definitely wasn't at the level of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, but I ended up enjoying it, especially with the second half. It seems like the general consensus of opinion based on the reviews here on LibraryThing was that it was a disappointing read compared to Flagg's other works. So I think it helps to have your expectations going into this one tempered some. I was planning to pass on my copy anyway, so if you can't find one, send me a DM and I can mail mine to you. Or if you're on BookMooch, I added it to my give-away inventory there.

The Whole Town’s Talking – Fannie Flagg
Audiobook performed by Kimberly Farr
3***

This is the fourth book about the residents of Elmwood Springs (though it is not listed as part of the series). In this volume, Flagg tells the history of Elmwood Springs, beginning with the 1889 founding of the settlement by Swedish immigrant Lorder Nordstrom, who recognized the perfect environment for a dairy, and encouraged fellow Swedes (plus a Norwegian and a German) to join him in Missouri. Several favorite characters from previous books make an appearance here, most notably Elner Shimfissle.

This isn’t great literature, but Flagg spins a darn good yarn. It’s entertaining and full of lively characters – both good and bad. There are marriages, births and deaths. People form alliances and work together to build the town. I like the way world events impact the residents of the small town, and how life changes for them through the decades. It’s a somewhat idyllic view of small-town life, though some residents struggle with alcohol addiction and drug use, and there’s at least one murder.

I liked the “residents” of Still Meadows being able to discuss what was happening in town, though they had to rely on new arrivals and the occasional visitor to their gravesites who might talk aloud, in order to learn what was going on. It reminded me somewhat of Thurber’s Our Town. On the other hand, I found the Epilogue anti-climactic; it almost seemed as if Flagg was at a loss for how to end the story.

Kimberly Farr does a great job performing the audio. She has good pacing and sufficient skill as a voice artist to handle the large cast of characters. Farr really brings the various characters of Elmwood Springs alive, but I particularly loved how she voiced Lorder, Katrina and Elner.

>25 BookConcierge: Oh, I didn't even know that Flagg had any series. You're right about her writing interesting and lively characters.

>26 sweetiegherkin:
They're not really a series ... just all set in Elmwood Springs. Some of the characters reappear from book to book - sometimes in just one sentence - but the books can easily be read as stand-alone novels.

>27 BookConcierge: Gotcha, kind of like William Faulkner's novels or Louise Erdrich's.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café – Fannie Flagg
Abridged audiobook narrated by the author
Unabridged audio performed by Lorna Raver.
5*****

When Evelyn accompanies her husband to the nursing home to visit an ailing relative, she meets Mrs Threadgood. As their friendship progresses, Ninny tells Evelyn about Ruth and Idgie and the Whistle Stop Café, and the time Idgie was tried for murdering a man.

This is actually the third time I’ve read this book and I love just as much now as I did the first time. Flagg does a marvelous job of developing these characters, and the reader feels the love between them. I was hooked from the beginning and engaged throughout. And I was in tears at the end (which is VERY different from the movie).

I thought that this time out I’d enjoy Fannie Flagg reading the audio version. She’s marvelous; a trained actress, she can easily interpret the many characters. However, I realized after I’d gotten the book from the library that Flagg’s audio work is an abridged version. So, I managed to get the unabridged version as well … narrated by Lorna Raver. Raver does a fine job, but she’s not Fannie Flagg. Who could be?!