It was Anbolyn of Gudrun’s Tights who nominated the author Edna Ferber for the CPR Book Group, the idea of which is to give neglected authors and or books a bit of a boost and breath some new life into them. So thank-you Anbolyn because I hadn’t even heard of Ferber who was so popular in the 1920s and 30s and even won a Pullitzer Prize.
I started off with Show Boat which I think everyone will know was made into a Broadway musical in 1927. The 1951 movie is so famous that it’s one of those ones which I’m not sure if I’ve actually seen in entirety or maybe I’ve just seen lots of clips over the years. Anyway next time it’s on TV I’m going to watch it to see if it differs from the book.
I really enjoyed this. The show boat is the Cotton Blossom Floating Palace Theatre and it plies its trade on the Mississippi River, calling in at towns on the river as the local crops ripen and the inhabitants have money in their pockets. Magnolia’s parents are the boat owners, they are Captain Andy Hawks and Parthenia Ann Hawks and while Andy is a popular and kind chap, Parthy is a grim-faced terror with a dislike of the theatre, actors and just about everything else. She has a tongue that would cut cloot (cloth) – as we say here.
Against Parthy’s wishes Magnolia ends up on the stage and when they call in to St Louis she falls for the wonderfully named Gaylord Ravenal, who ends up joining the show boat’s cast.
That’s a brief outline but there’s lots going on in this book with characters being accused of miscegenation (marriage between a black person and a white person) which was illegal in some places in America at the time and that ‘n’ word is used quite a lot by the more ignorant characters. One of the characters is ‘passing’ as a white person.
As a Jew Edna Ferber was no stranger to prejudice but it didn’t stop her from having a very successful career as a writer, which you can read about here. I have one other book by her – Ice Palace, but I’ll certainly be looking out for more in the future.
I’ve loved the idea of a Mississippi river boat since I started reading Mark Twain years ago but I know that the reality would kill me in no time – too hot!
So glad you read and liked Ferber! I still haven’t read any of her novels though I have Fanny Herself on my Kindle. I am just fascinated by her life and by the fact that she has fallen out of favor. Thanks for resuscitating her!
Anbolyn,
I’m definitely going to read more of her books. I think there is a book group in the US reading Giant so she might be making a comeback, she deserves to anyway.
BTW, I saw your tweets on Bin Laden, when I heard the news in the morning I went on to the internet to see what US bloggers were saying about it and you were the only one who mentioned it. It was good to see that not all Americans were madly rejoicing, even under the circumstances it seemed a wee bit distasteful.
Never read the book – may now, just to compare. I just loved the magnificent music of the stage/film version. (Giant, as well.)
Reading Ferber must be a bit like reading Margaret Mitchell- you have to keep reminding yourself that the world has not always been so extraordinarily politically correct.
A point to the ‘rejoicing’ over bin Laden’s death — did you notice that the age demograpic of the celebrants skewed decidedly youthful?
I, too, thought that the celebration went too far — tho I still believe that it was the media coverage that took it there.
Were we glad that he was taken out in such specatular fashion? You bet!!
But were there millions of Americans partying in the streets in every city and town? Of course not.
Were there some in a few places (notably in NYC and DC, where the massive carnage caused by this man was very real and still resonates) that were played again and again by the world media? Yes…and deservedly so.
I was talking about it a few mornings after to some folks with teen- and college-age children and they observed that to a young American, Bin Laden was the most evil villain in their young lives – that is to say: ever.
The man who masterminded the murder of thousands in an instant.
There aren’t many Americans who don’t still choke up at the memory. Forgive us a moment of closure.
Pearl,
I had ‘Old Man River’ running through my head whilst reading it. I definitely haven’t seen Giant.
The media folks do manipulate things and people, so sometimes it’s difficult to know what is going on elsewhere. I don’t grudge them their celebrations but I just wish they hadn’t shown it so much on tv.
I saw 9/11 as it happened because I had just switched the tv on about 1 minute after the coverage started and I thought it was a film at first, not a news report. It is one of those few things that you’ll always remember where you were when it happened or you heard the news – like Kennedy, I can just remember his funeral.
My sons were both still at high school on 9/11 and it was seen as being so important that their teachers put tvs on so they could witness it. Of course nobody realised then how horrific it was going to be, not even Bin Laden would have thought that they would collapse. I suppose he was the most evil person for youngsters, but his death doesn’t solve anything. Strangely, people didn’t celebrate when they heard that Hitler was dead, maybe because the war was still going on in the Far East and elsewhere.
The retribution bombings have started already though and I’ve no doubt they’ll continue. We’ll all just have to get used to loads of security again, as it used to be here when the IRA were at their height.
On a nicer subject – I was looking at the Holyrood Palace site and they have the dates of when they are closed on it. I think you might be lucky this time! Fingers crossed.
Ohhh…thanks! I just checked the palaces website and Huzzah!! We’re in!!
The killing of bin Laden was a minor victory, I suppose. Hopefully it won’t become a pyrrhic one.
The real score was the load of intel our savvy SEALs brought back from his lair. We may very well prevent far more than whatever they might bring in ‘retaliation.’
Pearl,
Yes, it just shows you how safe he felt there too as he wasn’t worried about the info falling into the ‘wrong’ hands.
I suspect it’s a many headed monster though.
Hubris is the downfall of many.
And I’ve always held to the hydra model for that brood of vipers.
Pearl,
There seems to be a never ending queue of baddies waiting for their turn of ‘most wanted’.