Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All

Rating:
Summary: Would make a great screenplay by Robert Altman
Review: Allan Gurganus' short story, "He's at the Office", in the 2000 Best American Short Stories Anthology encouraged me. I bought this and a novella called "Plays Well With Others", which after the opening I had to put down because of the complexity of the writing style, a lesser version of Gravity's Rainbow, that would require extensive reads. Confederate Widow was a joy from the start with a rich texture of characters. But like all rich things, you can only take so much of it. Three-quarters of the way through the book I realized neither Lucy or the Captain were going to offer any denounement, just a serial view of their lives together (and apart). He's an excellent writer, but I could not, at the time, endure another colorful characterization or another folksy aside by Lucy to the narrator. It is the kind of book that might do well as a screenplay in the vien of narrated history, such as Little Big Man. I might even go back and finish reading it one day.

Rating:
Summary: Zzzzzzzz
Review: Although enjoyable enough in parts, neither the writing nor the story are good enough to justify the book's considerable length. By the end I resented the time I could have spent reading other books. Many characters have no reason to exist - some don't even exist. Why does the protagonist repeatedly mention having had nine children, yet only ever refer directly to six (and name four)? Ultimately disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Less than the Sum of its Parts
Review: Although enjoyable enough in parts, neither the writing nor the story are good enough to justify the book's considerable length. By the end I resented the time I could have spent reading other books. Many characters have no reason to exist - some don't even exist. Why does the protagonist repeatedly mention having had nine children, yet only ever refer directly to six (and name four)? Ultimately disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Deleting the passage of time...
Review: Here I am, writing this review of a book I read at least 7 years ago. But, like any great book, I still remember Lucy Marsden.
(Like I remember David Copperfield, Don Quijote, Natty Bumpo, etc.)
Perhaps Gurganus's novel doesn't belong with those other classics, but I remember Lucy!
I agree that the book should be shorter. That doesn't change the fact that you should read this story.
The most powerful impression that this book gives is that the flowing of time separates us from other generations but there are messages and memories preserved for us to experience and from which to learn.
When Lucy compares the confederate veterans hanging out in the town square to the vietnam vets hanging out in that same town square, the effect is dizzying. We came from previous generations and others will come from us, live in our houses, drive down the same streets we do, etc. Lucy serves as a reminder that time passes but things don't necessarily change.
The novel's portrayal of history is indeed special.

Rating:
Summary: great characters non linear plot
Review: I am fascinated by Southern hisotry, civil rights and the civil war --this book contained all of these ingredients --it's not really a novel with a linear plot; instead, it's a collection of recollections --just as if you were listening to someone tell you his or her life story which would meander back and forth from early to more recent events as one event triggered memory of another. Some of these stories, though fiction, gave me a truer sense of what certain events must have been like than any other real history I've read. As an example, the story of Castalia's forced journey from Africa to Charleston gave me what felt like the truest view of that passage that I have read; likewise, the story involving Sherman's assault on the Marsden plantation made me get a sense of what that must have felt like to those living on the plantations who were either freed or lost their possessions. The writing is very rich and requires careful attention; my only criticism is that some of the stories seemed to drag and could have been more tightly edited --that made the book, at times, tedious and is the reason for 4 rather than 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Zzzzzzzz
Review: I bought this book in Bangkok and read it because it was in English. Otherwise I would have chucked it aside. Ditto to what other reviewers have said about the bogged-down prose style, plus several other serious flaws, including but not limited to:
characters that are developed at ponderous length and suddenly disappear, never to be heard from again; the incomprehensible pattern of events which the narrator chooses (giving us every random detail for about a 12-year period and then skipping over a whole lot of stuff that would have been nice to know); stomach-churning prissiness that attempts to pass as womanspeak ("I then scolded my prettiest girl for lisping so"), and a burning-of-the-plantation scene that is laughably stupid as well as flat-out physiologically impossible. Not for the literate.

Rating:
Summary: If you let it, this book will stay with you forever...
Review: I have never written a review for any book, but then again, no book has ever affected me the way this book has. As a Southern woman, weaned on stories of life in the South, I was so affected by this novel that it touched my heart like no other. Lucy Marsden seems like a favourite Aunt of mine now, one that has told me the story of her long life and it's highs and lows, and I feel, after reading the book, that I have lived that life with her. There is a sadness in the last pages as you realise that, in many ways, Lucy won't be with you much longer. I have come back to this book time and again, and have lost count of how many times I've re-read it. I seem to find something new each time! I know it is not a book for everyone, but those who take the time to read it and to melt into the pages as Lucy's guest and audience, you will be rewarded in ways most novels promise but can't deliver. It is a story that sizzles when it hits the fat, and any reader who allows themself the pleasure of reading this book will feel forever changed, as if they, too, have lived a lifetime with Lucy Marsden. The story of her youngest child's death never fails to move me; likewise the story of 'The best Christmas pagent ever' always makes me laugh. You want to be her champion and her best friend, and when she speaks near the end of what her perfect quilt would be comprised of, you can see each and every fabric in your mind's eye, and mourn the fact that they are all gone with time, and will never make that perfect quilt. It's the one book I recommend to every passionate reader, and the one that I call my favourite out of many wonderful books.

Rating:
Summary: I miss the widow.
Review: I loved this book. I don't generally write reviews at Amazon, but I have recommended this book to so many friends & family members that I think everyone else should know how great it is, too. It's very, very southern; takes a while to get to the meaty parts sometimes, but if you can stick with it, you win. I grew up hearing this storytelling style, and maybe knew some similar characters. Lucy Marsden became a friend. I rooted for her, stood behind her, and I missed her the minute I finished the book.

Rating:
Summary: Obsessed fan of Lucy Marsden
Review: I must confess, I saw the miniseries before I read the book (because Anne Bancroft is my favorite actress). Soon after, I picked up a copy at the bookstore and lost my attention span with the regular world. The stories Gurganus weaves into this behemoth are still with me five years after I first read it (of course I read it again and again). I recommend this to every human being possessed of an interest in other human beings, especially those people with interests in the human character.

Rating:
Summary: Struggled to Finish
Review: I picked this up because I'd heard it was good. It's not.
Very few characters are fleshed out -- I know who Ned was; I have a good bead on Lucy's father; even Baby came alive for me. All three of these characters are minor; the two major characters, Lucy and the Captain, are still not solid images in my mind. If I can't picture the narrator, it's not good.
The rest of it was just terrible. This book was way too long, and filled with stories that the narrator (Lucy) didn't care about -- so why should I? As I read it, I kept thinking "is something going to happen soon?" I made it to page 600 only because I HAD to (the person who recommended it to me is one of my closest friends, and I had to be able to talk about my progression through the book with her.) I couldn't even finish the last 100 pages (you think I would have, after making it that far, but no, it was just too boring and incredibly BAD.)
Truly an excruciating experience. When I see it for sale on Amazon I am offended that they want me to buy this book; they should PAY me to take a copy of it off of their hands.