Cold Sassy Tree

Rating:
Summary: Taylor Anderson's Review
Review: Cold Sassy Tree, A Critical Review
by
Taylor Anderson

"Cold Sassy Tree", a novel abundant of southern humor and moral lessons, is told by Will Tweedy. Will is a fourteenyear-old boy who lives in a small community by the name of Cold Sassy. He is surrounded by family there and his most adored of them all is his Grandpa Rucker. When Rucker's wife, Mattie Lou, passes away the town is in deep dismay. Grandpa astonishes everyone in Cold Sassy when he marries a young miller who works at his store only three weeks after his wife deceases. Will sees many people's reactions in Cold Sassy and matures by adjusting to the change. The story is full of humor twisted with a small amount of romance as Grandpa and Miss Love become more aquainted.
Will Tweedy had an opinion on every character in the story. His opinions sometimes varied from everyone elses' in the community such as his opinion of Miss Love Simpson. Most of the population believed Miss Love to be a counterfactual young woman who is after Rucker simply for his money. Will sees her as a lonely and companionless woman who wants nothing more than a family and to be appreciated by people in the town. Uncle Camp is another character that must be singled out when you talk about Cold Sassy. He is a crestfallen and worthless man who is verbally abused by his wife, Aunt Loma, who Will has a horrendous relationship with throughout the story. Camp ends up committing scuicide leaving a note saying that his life was a failure but he had managed to repair the kitchen sink before he died. The sink, as expected remains broken when Loma later checks it. Burns did an excelent job with the varriation of characters in the novel.
The plot of "Cold Sassy Tree" was mediocre with too many excessive details. Burns added too many minor unneeded details to the story that she could have comfortably left out. When Will goes back in time to the scene where Mattie Lou passes away, this scene wastes too much time in the story and readers may tend to loose interest in the novel. The trip Will takes with his friends is another example. Burns could have shortened the length of some scenes and held readers attention more throughout the novel.
Overall, Burns gave "Cold Sassy Tree" a soothing and southern style,which was effective for numerous reasons. Its southern dialect brought about a sense of relaxation while turning the pages. It came accross as very easy and enjoyable reading because of this style. It would be classified informal, but at the same time a great work of literature because of the grasp that Burns has on small town life in this period of our nations history.While living in Cold Sassy, many characters gossip about all other characters. Burns makes it seem like you are one of the southern characters who knows everyone elses' bussiness. While reading this book, Burns allows you to feel as if you are a member of the southern community of Cold Sassy.
The main debate of Cold Sassy Tree, is Burns' choice to narrate the novel through first person, with Will telling the story. With this point of view, we can see the story through the eyes of someone who was actually there, who actually went through everything he or she is expressing in the story. Will can relate to everything mentioned in the story because he was there and he knows how everything feels. The downfall to the first person is that we can only see what Will's opinion is in the story, getting a very blast opinion. If Will dislikes one character, this will cause all readers to dislike this character. Will can see characters in the novel in different ways than other peple may see them. This is where a third person narrator could have been more successful for Burns to use in her novel.
Overall "Cold Sassy Tree" is a well written novel and i would suggest it to readers of all ages. If you are in the mood for a relaxing, calm, rural book full of love, humor, and moral lessons I would suggest this book for you

Rating:
Summary: Brent's Cold Sassy Tree Review
Review: Cold Sassy Tree Book Review
Cold Sassy Tree was an enjoyable book due to a few strong points and little weak ones. The characters seemed to be typical people living in a small southern town, where the news spreads exceptionally quick. Olive Ann Burns makes the characters and their stories very interesting and amusing to read about from Will's close encounter with the train to Grandpa Rucker's Marriage to Miss Love. Burns makes the reader keep guessing about what will happen next.
Burns tells a captivating story of this small Georgian town. There are many exciting short stories in the book, however the main plot deals with Grandpa Rucker and Miss Love's marriage. There are two different opinions of this subject. First, there is praise from Will, followed by criticism from almost everyone else in town. Burns does an extraordinary job showing how a small town similar to Cold Sassy would act in this situation.
Burns chooses the proper point of view for this novel, by picking Will Tweedy to narrate the story. Even though Will could be bias or stretch the truth at times, he did a superior job telling this story. Will might have over exaggerated Aunt Loma's cruelty. He also could have made Grandpa Rucker's relationship with Miss Love seem not as corrupt as it really was because of his relationship with Grandpa. Will moved the story along very well, without meaningless or unnecessary detail. However, in some cases a bigger picture would have been gained had another perspective been used. The reader would have seen what was going on all over town rather than just staying with Will the majority of the time.
Cold Sassy Tree is a very smoothly written novel because of the transitions from chapter to chapter. It would not jump from setting to setting out of the blue without an explanation. The book clearly illustrates the development of Will Tweedy throughout his boyhood. From what he learned by with his own incidents and knowledge, to what Grandpa Rucker taught him, he matures. The characters were all very typical and everyday for this setting. However, the short stories and plot are authentic and unique for an account on a maturing southern young man. Such as the train trestle incident, and the plot of Grandpa's marriage with Miss Love.
Olive Ann Burns is an excellent storyteller. She makes the reader wonder if his/her hometown was once resembling Cold Sassy. It also makes the reader think if he/she is reminiscent of the town- following social rules and not doing what is right, or similar to Will Tweedy and Grandpa Rucker by doing what their heart tells them to do. This is a high-quality novel, but it will not stand the test of time like Dickens, Shakespeare, and other famous authors. Olive Ann Burns is indeed a fine writer, but she has not written a sufficient amount of popular novels for her name to linger with the names of the greatest authors.

Rating:
Summary: Cold Sassy Tree Review
Review: Olive Ann Burns,"Cold Sassy Tree" is about the laid back lifestyle of the small town of Cold Sassy, Georgia.Because the characters are easy to relate to in everyday life, they make the book seem realistic. Burns describes her characters so vividly that they almost appear right before your eyes. Such description is evident when Burns describes Love Simpson as "tall, plump, big-bosomed,[she] stood very straight, moved lively, and wore flouncy, fashionable clothes"(Burns 23), and when describing Aunt Loma as "blue-eyed" with the " thickest long curly hair you ever seen, with little tendrils around her face that made her look sweet and innocent"(25).These true to life figures all have varying outlooks on situations which add to the realistic theme. After Rucker's wife, Mattie Lou, dies and he wants to re-marry he thinks,"she's as dead as she'll ever be"(5).Rucker's daughter, Mary Willis, is distraught over the issue:"Just think.Ma hasn't been dead but three w-w-weeks!"(5).
"Cold Sassy Tree" is told through the eyes of fourteen year old Will Tweedy, and though the novel begins at a dilatory pace, it does not take long for the exhilarating action to occur. Grandpa Blakeslee and Love Simpson's eloping, Will's near to death experience with the train, and Will's associating with a mill girl are all segments of "Cold Sassy Tree" that captivate the reader in this page-turner. "Cold Sassy Tree" is a book that appeals to most readers.
Will tells the story of "Cold Sassy Tree" from a journal that Aunt Loma gave him to write down the important events that occured in his life. Naturally, the book moves expeditiously ove scenes in the novel except the events that concern Will and his life; because Will is fourteen while writing this journal, the stories that he tells are sometimes partly ficticious. If "Cold Sassy Tree" would have been told in third person, a reader would have received more realistic views of the controversies and mature issues throughout the town.
Because of the loose country lifestyle of "Cold Sassy Tree",Burns uses a country dialect to accentuate this atmosphere.When Will is nearly killed by a train Loomis screams,"Jesus save us, dare's dat dar udder train! He ne'ly at de trestle!"(82). This is an example of some of the unclear portions of the book resulting from the counrty dialect. The dialect aids the country atmosphere, but a few points in teh novel, it hinders the reader's comprehension as in the previous passage.
Olive Ann Burn's "Cold Sassy Tree" is written in an eloquent style, and it is quite obvious that a master storyteller lies behind this work of literature. After completing "Cold Sassy Tree", a reader is left with the constant theme throughtout the book of the old growing young and the young growing old. "Cold Sassy Tree" is a book that will be read for generations to come as a result of Olive Ann Burn's talent to entertain, enlighten, and challenge her readers.

Rating:
Summary: cold sassy tree
Review: Olive Ann Burns brings a small southern town to life as she portrays the life of a young Will Tweedy and his family's problems. Many adventures, lessons and life experiences are taught through this novel .

With the death of Mattie Lou Blakeslee, Will's grandmother, the adventures seem to begin, such as Will's near death experience when he is over run by a train.
Rucker, Will's grandfather, is engaged to marry only a few short weeks after his wife's death. Although he does not have the family's approval, Rucker and his fiancé, Love Simpson, a lovely young woman half Rucker's age and also a Yankee, the two run two secretly run off and elope. This horrifies Rucker's family and provides the town with new gossip.
Rucker's attitude towards his dead wife is " She's as dead as she will ever be." Therefore Rucker provides a new beginning for himself and places his family in a very uncomfortable situation. Thus forcing the small town of Cold Sassy Georgia to show
their true personalities and flaws. Rucker's unpredictable behavior, stubbornness and authority over his family only push him to become more outrageous. Love Simpson's beauty, charm and unsuspecting past only bring mystery and sparks into their relationship, and the town's opinion on the family. As Will has high hopes and great expectations towards his grandfather's new life he brings the only form of support towards Rucker's new lifestyle. Will Tweedy looks beyond the reputation Miss Love has been given, " A horrible gold digger." from the women of the town and finds Love is nothing resembling what she is pronounced to be. Will befriends her and stands behind Love even when a dark character from her previous home arrives for a surprise visit and a secret that shocks the whole town.

As Will Tweedy matures his priorities quickly change. Will being the naive child he was, Will was simply concerned with fishing rather than mourning over the loose of his
grandmother. Within a short time his thoughts have become more open and Will puts a large amount of effort into being trusted and protecting Miss Love's reputation over his family's. While on a camping trip Will averted the subject away from Miss Love and focused his attention upon his Aunt Loma, a selfish sisterly figure in his life. Will conjures stories so bizarre that the truth was unthought of.

Will Tweedy has to cope with the growing precaution of life and death throughout the novel. His grandmothers death, his close encounter with the train to which his dog
was almost killed, his uncle Camp's suicide and eventually the death of a beloved family member. From these experiences Will comes to appreciate life at a whole new level, and his true character is tested. As individuals are forced to cope with their surroundings Burns portrays that the world and the people within it are cruel and harsh.

Olive Ann Burns brings to color to a dull little town in Georgia. Bringing excitement, suspense and satisfaction to each experience. Burns truly does leave you
pondering what the world has in store for this small little town and the people within the community

Rating:
Summary: Re-Entering Cold Sassy
Review: Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns is truly great literature. The characters have a certain life about them that hasn't been seen in a long while. Will Tweedy, a young 14 year old man learns the do's and dont's of life in the small town of Cold Sassy. After Will's grandfather elopes with Miss Love Simpson, a Yankee woman over 20 years younger than he, he experiences an emotional and sexual awakening, beginning his maturity. Burns adequately depicts the maturity of a young southern boy, while other novels such as The Yearling and Across Five Aprils fail. Rucker Blakeslee is much like his grandson Will in most, but not all ways. Rucker's general store haunts, in a way, Will because he is expected to take it over after Rucker's death. Rucker has a different, non lip service, perspective of religion than most inhabitants of Cold Sassy. Will has his own agenda, to have a farm, and settle down for the rest of his life. "Lord, forgive me for fittin' thet man yesterd'y -- though Thou knowest if i had to do it over agin I'd hit him harder (20)" Rucker says in a prayer ending a prayer meeting he originated. Rucker also is very traditional in his ways. "Grandpa [Rucker] had said Cold Sassy's Name would be changed "over my dead body" and that is exactly what happened". The week after his death, the name is changed to Progressive City, a metaphor of the changes that are coming, and that have came, to Cold Sassy
Will, Rucker, and Miss Love, and the inhabitants of Cold Sassy's personalities and actions develop a plot which interests, yet intrigues. "If the preacher's wife's petticoat showed, the ladies would make the talk last a week. But on July 5, 1906 things took a scandalous turn". From just an excerpt from the back cover of the book, a reader is pulled in and wants to start reading. Will tells this story in First-Person point of view, but he tells it 8 years after the book takes place. The First-Person point of view gives the reader a more accurate, one sided story, while a Third Person point of view is too vague. Burns does an excelling job of giving the reader an accurate account of the stories happenings.
Cold Sassy flows like the Nile in spring, sweeping you away as you first take a dip, then it throws you out into the sea that is Great Literature. One thing Burns could have improved upon while writing Cold Sassy is transitions from chapter to chapter, they just are not up to standard. One thing lingers after reading cold Sassy, the ending. Burns doesn't wrap up the novel sufficiently Despite these few flaws, Cold Sassy is a masterpiece of literature, rivaled by no southern novel.

Rating:
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.

Rating:
Summary: Cold Sassy Tree Entertains Many
Review: Olive Ann Burns reveals her artistic merit through her cunning ideas tied together into a brilliant plot. She describes the characters well to help a person fully understand the characters' personalities. She uses wit to entice the reader into reading the book.
Ms. Burns vividly portrays the characters in Cold Sassy Tree. The reader aquires the education and background of Will Tweedy, Hosie Roach, and Lightfoot McClendon. Also well depicted, are Rucker (Grandpa) Blakeslee's stubbornness and Miss Love Simpson's greediness to use Grandpa to get what she wants like a trip to New York. The gossiping town has its own character, too. "The town" agrees on every subject of gossip including believing that Mr. Blakeslee should not marry Miss Love. However, Mary Toy Tweedy and Aunt Carrie are not three-dimensional characters. Burns only tells us that Aunt Carrie dyes Mary Toy's hair purple and that Mary Toy stays with someone else for while. Ms. Burns fails to fully illustrate these characters. Nevertheless, Cold Sassy Tree contains many fully-fleshed characters.
Cold Sassy Tree contains an understandable, enthralling plot filled with excitement and wonder. Rucker Blakeslee marries Miss Love three weeks after his wife dies. Will Miss Love and Grandpa Blakeslee stay together, or will the town's hurtful gossip tear them apart? The book is filled with humor and morals like Will Tweedy bringing rats to Aunt Loma's Christmas play. Respect and do not gossip are important lessons and themes in the novel. Grandpa had the town's respect, but when he married Miss Love, the town didn't respect him anymore. This hurt many of Rucker's relationships. Gossip about Lightfoot hurt her relationship with Will. After Will kissed her, knowing that the town would gossip about this event, Lightfoot began to cry. However, the chapters usually do not end in a mysterious cliffhanger; this aspect detracts from the book. Altogether, the novel has an entertaining plot.
Ms. Burns used first person point of view to draw the reader into the setting of the book. Will Tweedy, an average teenage boy, expresses his views on the Cold Sassy community. He learns morals and gains knowledge like do not judge people. The town thinks Lightfoot is a filthy, rude millgirl, but she is actually kind and selfless. The reader procures Will's personality and maturity level through Will's narration of Cold Sassy, Georgia and the events that occur. Will becomes not very gullible and able to form his own opinions. Before Will becomes more mature, he stands Lightfoot up to go do something with his family. After maturing, Will favors Miss Love and Grandpa's marriage, and visits them while the town shuts them out. Will journeys to bring Miss Love her horse and helps her train it. He comforts Miss Love during her sadness from the town gossip, and he promises not to tell anyone that she kissed Clayton McAllister. The author made a wise choice to tell the book in first person. This helps the reader to thoroughly understand the character's lifestyle.
Olive Ann Burns artistically wrote the novel. The dialogue shows how well she portrays the characters' personalities, but the dialogue is somewhat hard to read. Cold Sassy Tree is amusing and illuminating. Will informs his friends about Aunt Loma nursing a pig. Overall, the book is not extremely challenging to read because of the lack of large vocabulary. Once hundred years from the present, few people will be reading Cold Sassy Tree. The novel is exhilarating with many enjoyable stories, but that make the reader laugh, but the novel is not prominent.
Ms. Burns skillfully explicates the characters, plot, and point of view in Cold Sassy Tree. She cleverly presents her thorough ideas in her well-connected, enticing novel. Any reader would find her artwork and enjoyable piece of literature.

Rating:
Summary: Cold Sassy Tree Book Review
Review: Cold Sassy Tree, most likely not a novel our great-grandchildren will be reading because of its somewhat less-than-enthralling plot and unclear theme. The novel only proved to slandarize the South by the use of incorrect grammar and uncouth dialect. Although Olive Anne Burns was creative with her use of Southern slang, she greatly over exaggerated her point and made the story dull. In this passage her use of too many slang words pads what Grandpa is trying to say, "Cause if'n you do, or if'n you have a mind to after you git over bein' so mad at him, why, we could git this'n annulled. Folks in Cold Sassy will have a good time talkin', but if you go on off to Texas, why, you won't have to put up with nothin' on account of it. So you want to marry him or don't you? (149)" This, along with many other quotations from the book, make it harder for the reader to understand what the character is trying to say, and narrow the audience down to mostly Southerners.
The story is written in 14-year-old Will Tweedy's point of view; therefore the reader gets the story in a childish and immature perspective. Although this puerile view helps us understand more about Will, we don't get a clear understanding of the thoughts and feelings of other prevalent characters such as Grandpa and Miss Love. Having Will as the narrator does help the reader connect with the story better than any omniscient narrator would, but with an all-knowing point of view, we would get an unbiased perspective.
A slow plot makes Cold Sassy Tree a slow read. Too much conversation, along with torpid details make Cold Sassy move at a dilatory pace and certainly fail to compel a reader to keep reading. The audience is narrowed further because of the setting of the novel, in the early nineteenth century. This contributes to the reader's confusion, losing him or her in the small-town gossiping and brash racism that was common to the times.
The characters in Cold Sassy Tree were very well developed, although we could have been introduced to characters such as Lightfoot McClendon and Uncle Camp more thoroughly. The individuals, although rude and gossipy, were well drawn by the author and certainly helped bring about an idea of the way things really were during those days.
Cold Sassy Tree does not entertain its readers, and therefore does not stir up much thought or provoke much zeal for the novel. After reading the novel, I felt I had gained nothing and wished I had spent my time reading something more valuable and thought provoking than Cold Sassy Tree.

Rating:
Summary: A Critical Review: Cold Sassy Tree, Olive Anne Burns
Review: The recount of a child's maturation and development begins with a young Will Tweedy, the narrator of the story, from the small town of Cold Sassy, Georgia, in the year 1906. He is the main character, whom we watch become a young man as the novel progresses from beginning to end. He reflects the youth of today's world, always defying the rules that conduct his daily life. Burns praiseworthily paints the picture of the lives of every individual person. She does not only describe the way the certain character acts and looks, but depicts the character's emotions in a thoughtful manner. Will fights with a mill boy his same age, Hosie Roach, and discovers that he has feelings for a mill girl, Lightfoot McLendon. Will is of a different society than Lightfoot, he comes from a family that belongs to the upper class, while Lightfoot is lower class. Will wrestles with himself throughout the novel because he has the conscience that he will never be able to marry Lightfoot. Miss Alice Ann, a nosy woman from Cold Sassy, sees the two of them kissing at a point in the story. She yells at Will so loudly that he compares her voice to the voice of God (Burns 246). Mrs. Burns displays the segregation of the two classes exceptionally well, exposing the ways of life in 1906. She makes certain that there were two ways of life to live by in not only Cold Sassy, but everywhere else in the southeastern portion of the country. The style of the writing consists of southern dialect. She frequently uses the word "ain't" to reveal that many people go uneducated in this certain time period. Through the duration of the narrative, reading this slang can become a bit unclear as to what Mrs. Burns is trying to express in her writing. But to be able to write with this style so well, there is no question that the book is written admirably.
Like many other books, the moral is to come to accept outsiders. J. K. Rowling has done the same thing in her masterpiece Harry Potter series. Both Mrs. Love Simpson and Harry Potter are of the race that they interact with every day. Mrs. Love is a human being and Harry, a wizard. Mrs. Love confides in Rucker, whom shelters her when she is being so violently gossiped about. Love also tries to ignore all of the gossip about her, which makes her better than the common person in Cold Sassy. In Harry's case, he confides in his friends Ron and Hermione when his fellow mates at school think that he knows nothing about his own world. Both characters are eventually accepted into their worlds. Mrs. Love is accepted when Camp, Will's uncle, commits suicide and she begins to work at a store that Will's grandfather, Rucker, owns. Working is a major characteristic of Cold Sassy. Lazy people are rejected because they expect others to work for them for nothing. Miss Love commences into Cold Sassy's society because working is one of multiple ways of life that the town abides by. The moral of the story is acceptance of another idea, thing, person, whatever it may be. You see this moral in so many other stories that you become exhausted of it. If it were me, I would find another moral to write about in my book. On the other hand, Burns relates the moral to everyday life so miraculously that people over the age of thirteen could read this book and associate themselves to it.
Change is defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as follows: to make different in some particular, to alter. Cold Sassy as a whole was not ready for this onset of moving forward into new ideas. The people of the town were stuck in the past, like people in a picture. Mr. Blakeslee announced that he was going to be married to a woman half his age, which appalled his family and his community. This certain marriage would bring a change to his family especially, but he could not help that he loved a woman. Will Tweedy found love that resided between Rucker and Mrs. Love when he overheard them kissing (366). Will accepted the change in his family after that certain moment. When Rucker dies, the name of the town is changed from Cold Sassy to Progressive City, which I find very ironic, because progression was the very idea that scared the community to death.
I retained a feeling of satisfaction after reading this book to its entirety. Although it was slow at times, with every new page came a new meaning to the moral of the narrative. The story gives you an insight to the much different ways of life that people a century ago lived by. Burn's work gave me the feeling that I am very fortunate to have the certain luxuries that I have today. The book can teach anyone life lessons to feed back upon and to look upon when it is needed. The construction of the story is built magnificently around the struggles of a person to be accepted by his or her peers. I have never felt these struggles because I have never been to a new school or anything related to that. I have always been around people that I know, people that I can get along with, and people that I can reflect upon.
In decades to come, readers will enthrall themselves in this novel. It has the chemistry to become a classic. It is not of the same style of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, but because it has its own feel to it, Cold Sassy Tree will be remembered for its unique style that Olive Anne Burns inscribed it in.

Rating:
Summary: Cold, very cold
Review: I read this book to the very end. That was my mistake. All this book is about is the life of a little boy and his family. BORING!
It needed more of adventure and anything else that could be in it. It was boring and im surprised that i actually made it through the book.