Cold Sassy Tree

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Summary: Cold Sassy Tree Review
Review: Cold Sassy Tree Review

Cold Sassy Tree is a well written piece of literature that Olive Ann Burns wrote. Her characters all well described by the main character, Will Tweedy. Will was a fourteen year old boy who was not mature at all. At the end of every chapter, Burns leaves you hanging and you want to keep reading. Will Tweedy was an excellent choice for the point of view. You see the small town, Cold Sassy, Georgia, in a teenage boy's eye who craves for adventure. However, the story and descriptions of people would be told differently if someone else told the story. For example, in Will's eye, Rucker Blakeslee, Will's grandfather, was a very kind, generous man but in the eyes of another he would be a horrible old man that married a young girl that was young enough to be his daughter. Will tells the story in a way his grandfather does not look bad, but if you read the book, Rucker is not as great as Will sees him as. Burns wrote the book in the "Southern language." It is hard at times to figure out what the character is trying to say, but, the book would not be the same is Burns did not use the type of language that she used. Cold Sassy Tree really makes you think about the time period then, 1900s, and the time period now. I recommend this book to anyone above thirteen and anyone who has lost somebody close to them.

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Summary: Cold Sassy Tree
Review: Cold Sassy Tree would not be considered a great work on literature, but more of a fun read. Each chapter leaves the reader hanging, yearning for details of what will occur next. It is heartwarming and entertaining but fails to sufficiently challenge and enlighten becuase it is more of an opinion rather than fact.

Cold Sassy Tree takes place in the cramped, southern town of Cold Sassy, Georgia. The gossip, excitement, and drama are structured to force the reader to keep reading. Will Tweedy, the narrarator of the story, keeps his family on their feet as he matured from a boy to a young man. The stroy is told through his point of view: therefore, more is gained about Will than any other character in the novel. He is nearly killed by a train, falls in love with Lightfoot McClendon, an outcast of his society, and has ambitious goals to become a farmer. Rucker, who elopes and marries young Miss Love Simpson, only three weeks after his former wife had died, set the town into a frenzy. Rucker Blakeslee owns a general store and hope Will, his grandson, will take over, although Will dreams of becoming a farmer. Rucker is insensative to care what people think of him. Every monring ion his way to work, he goes by the Tweedy's house where he keeps his whiskey, and takes one shot. Miss Love Simpson, nearly thrity-two years younger than Ruckerm is a miliner in the general store. She had a rough childhood, and after being raper by her father, she ends up in Cold Sassy. She has earned the title of the"pretties thing in Cold Sassy, and also the most fashinable" (25). If Burns would have used third person point of view, the insight of character would have been changed compeletely. The reader would have lost more about Will, but gained more about RUcker, Miss Love, and other character in the novel. Although there are few needless, dull details about Rucker and Miss Love towards the beginning, things pick up as they go on and the drama grows.

Olive Ann Burns' style rads smoothly. Her words choice aids interest and comprehension becuase of hte southern dialext used to put more emphasis on the background of character and the town. The book depicts a typical small, southern town's drama and chaos. It's views and values are similar to our own. In towns. such as Cold Sassy, there is still an enormous amount of gossip, the same concepts are still looked down upon,and are always the few outcasts.

Cold Sassy Tree is an universal book becuase it is the impulsive thought when spoken of a small, southern town. Readers who appreciate dramatic, love stories in high school all the way to late ages will enjoy reading this novel.

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Summary: Cold Sassy Tree: A Warm, Heart-felt Story
Review: For anyone who read books like To Kill a Mockingbird, or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and enjoyed them, I would suggest reading the national bestseller Cold Sassy Tree. This novel takes place in Cold Sassy, Goergia, in 1906. The town is slow-moving, and prejudice like Maycomb County in To Kill a Mockingbird. The story unfolds as Will Tweedy's, the main character,beloved grandmother dies. Scandal errupts when, only three weeks later, Will's granfather elopes with Miss love Simpson. The town cannot believe that he has married a "yankee" just after his wife's death. The major conflict of the story is between Miss Simpson and Will's family and town as to whether or not they can accept her taking grandma's place. But the important, underlying conflict of this book is if granpa can move on with his life, find love again, and find someway to convince the people of the town that Miss Love Simpson isn't the cold-hearted person they think she is. This book is seen through the eyes of Will Tweedy, a 14 year old boy growing up in a southern town, so, although the words are simple, there is a deeper message about love, death, feelings, and morals. I also learned a lot about southern life through this book. All in all, Cold Sassy Tree was a great book that I would reccommend to anyone. It discussed how much death can change a life forever. Read it! I guarantee you'll enjoy it.

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Summary: A wonderful novel!!!
Review: I read this book for school over the summer. Now that I've finished, I am so happy it was assigned. This was one of those books that you miss when your done reading.
It takes place in the small town of Cold Sassy, Georgia in the early 1900s. The story is told by a 14 year old boy who has recently lost his best friend and his grandmother. Three weeks after his grandma's death his Grandfather announces that he is going to marry a young woman who is half his age. The family is embarrassed and the town is shocked. After almost a year the town and family starts to accept her the way she accepted them.
I wrote this review as a response to other reviews that I read on the site. Frankly, I was outraged by what some people had to say about this book. Someone claimed that the Grandfather raped his granddaughter and one of the boys friends raped his own sister. I don't know what version he read but that was not at all a part of the story!!! The woman the grandfather married tells that she was raped as a child but that was the only raping that went on in the book, and it was needed to explain why she was so afraid of marring and men. Another person said that a child getting whipped is "HORRIFYING" but that was part of the culture back then. People do not agree with it now but back then it happened all the time. There was also a touch of racism in the plot but again it was needed so that Olive Burns could accurately portray southern life in the early 20th. century.
This book was a joy to read and I cannot wait to get the 2nd. part Leaving Cold Sassy. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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Summary: Bodacious
Review: I simply loved this little book---it's full of humor, warmth, and great characters. Olive Ann Burn's use of dialogue and dialect are perfect and lend an air of southern atmosphere to the entire novel. I was reminded at times of Jackson McCrae's "The Bark of the Dogwood" with its use of humor and darkening tales. Simply wonderful!

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Summary: The Roots of Cold Sassy
Review: The novel Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns depicts a very realistic image of old, country life in a small town during the1900s.The characters in the novel invest many lively emotions into the story. For example, Rucker Blakeslee and Miss Love Simpson bring much controversy and excitement to the story. The entire plot is mainly based around them. Their decision to get married despite the judgements and gossip of the nosy inhabitants of Cold Sassy, Georgia, foreshadows change that is yet to come to the tired town of Cold Sassy. For example, Rucker finally decideds to mondernize his home, Mr. Tweedy buys a car, and all of the people in the community begin to change their attitudes towards life. Mary Willis and Aunt Loma, the daughters of Rucker Blakeslee, give much drama to the plot. Their emotions and feelings of hatred towards Rucker and Miss Love's marriage symbolize many of Cold Sassy's "old timey" ways. The characters in the novel were believable, interesting, and overall, realistic.
The storyline in the book was readable, and at times exciting. The marriage of Miss Love and Rucker opens up many good and bad emotions from all of the characters in the book. The suicide of Uncle Camp adds drama and sorrow. The purchasing of cars by Mr. Tweedy and Mr. Blakeslee brings change into the novel. New thoughts and feelings emerge on every page, and the reader never knows what might happen next. The author does a fantastic job in organizing the plot. She begins the book by expressing anger and sorrow through the characters, and ends the story with much change and hope. At the end of the novel, the reader is sad due to Rucker Blakesle's death but is still hoping that the families' bonds will continue to grow stronger. The plot of the book is so enthralling that the reader cannot put it down.
The novel's narrator is Will Tweedy, only fourteen years of age. Throughout the book, Will matures rapidly. He is deeply involved with all the drama of the story, beginning with the marriage of Rucker and Miss Love to the death of his beloved grandfather. He also tends to be right in the middle of the problems that occur. During the marriage of his grandfather, Miss Love confides in him, and he learns many new ideas and situations that might be too hard for someone of his age to understand. Burns made an excellent choice by choosing him as the narrator of the story. Because the readers of this novel are mostly in the age range of twelve to sixteen, they can truly relate to Will Tweedy's point of view. Will also gives the novel a sense of immaturity, being that, like Will, the town of Cold Sassy, Georgia is just now experiencing new changes.
The novel Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns strongly deserves to be preserved over time. It certainly entertains and enlightens readers by taking them back to a time in history much different than today. People will definitely be enjoying this book for years to come.