Rating: 
Summary: "I don't know if you can measure love at all."
Review: "The Ponder Heart"--a short novel written by Southern writer, Eudora Welty--is the story of the eccentric and eternally child-like Daniel Ponder. The Ponders are a wealthy, socially prominent family in the small Southern town of Clay. Edna Earle--Daniel Ponder's long-suffering niece, narrates the story. Edna Earle runs the Beulah Hotel, and this is one of Daniel's favourite hangouts. The hotel was a gift to Edna Earle from Uncle Daniel in a characteristic moment of typical and unstoppable generosity. Daniel's biggest problem--it seems--is his generous and loving heart.Edna Earle tells the story of how Grandpa Ponder tries to curb Daniel's eccentric and generous impulses by locking him up in an asylum, but Daniel turns the table with his smooth, quick-witted charm. Grandpa Ponder decides that an asylum is no longer an option, so he plots to marry Daniel off instead. There's an irony to this decision, of course--if the asylum didn't work, well... marriage may be the next best means of incarceration. The fact that Daniel is over 40 doesn't deter Grandpa from finding his troublesome son a wife, and Grandpa Ponder declares "I'm going to fork up a good wife for him" With Edna Earle in cahoots, Daniel's father marries Daniel off to Miss Teacake Magee--a widow who sings in the choir every Sunday. But Daniel isn't the marrying kind, but this does not deter Daniel from taking the plunge yet another time. Daniel's second marriage proves disastrous. His second bride-of-choice is Daisy Peabody--a 17-year-old waif from a large family of grasping ne'er-do-wells. Daniel and Daisy's domestic tribulations are the focus of interest, amusement, and gossip, but ultimately, Daniel finds himself on trial for Daisy's murder. Edna Earle tells the novel in a very matter-of-fact style laced with practicality & good, solid common sense. Her infinite patience and understanding result in her desire to protect Uncle Daniel--even though she realizes that he has shortcomings. It takes a little time to get used to reading the Southern style of speech, but the novel was very witty. I laughed out loud at several parts, and the courtroom scenes were great fun. The novel was full of marvellous, eccentric, original characters--even the 'dull' characters were interesting. I've read short stories by Welty before, but this was my first Welty novel. What a delightful, good-natured book this is--displacedhuman
Rating:
Summary: Keen observations and exquisite, humorous Southern writing.
Review: "The South impresses its image on the Southern writer from the moment he is able to distinguish one sound from another," Flannery O'Connor wrote in her 1963 essay "The Catholic Novelist in the Protestant South," and Eudora Welty expressed a similar sentiment roughly 20 years later in her memoir "One Writer's Beginnings," when she wrote that ever since she had first been read to, and then started to read herself, there had never been a line that she had not *heard* as her eyes followed the words on the page, possibly out of the desire to read as a listener. And indeed, as Flannery O'Connor remarked in the above-mentioned essay, "the Southern writer's greatest tie with the South is through his ear." While proof of the truth of these statements can be found throughout the literature written by both of these preeminent Southern novelists, Eudora Welty's novella "The Ponder Heart" is perhaps one of the most obvious examples thereof as it is actually written in the form of a monologue, addressed to an imaginary traveler who happens to find himself - by force of circumstance rather than plan - in the small town of Clay, Mississippi, somewhere off the main highway and not quite halfway between Tupelo and the Mississippi-Alabama border, in Edna Earle Ponder's Beulah Hotel; face to face with the hostess. "My Uncle Daniel's just like your uncle, if you've got one ... he loves society and he gets carried away," she immediately tells her visitor about her Uncle Daniel's "one weakness" and proceeds, without further ado, to tell her family's story; thus proving herself afflicted by that same weakness of "getting carried away," and as the reader/listener soon discovers, it is just as impossible to get a word in with her narrative as it is with Uncle Daniel Ponder. But then, you don't even really want to interrupt her: too often she makes you smile or laugh out loud at her descriptions of family and townsfolk, too much you are getting caught up in the story, and too acute is the appearance of her observations. For no doubt, Eudora Welty was not only a keen observer of Southern society; she also mastered the transformation of her observations into the written word with a skill matched only by a select few of her fellow Southern writers. And true to Welty's reflection in her memoir - and to her desire to write as a listener, as much as she used to read as a listener - it is impossible not to actually hear Edna Earle talking to you as you turn the pages, in that unmistakable drawl which seems to roll past your ears languidly, much like the waves of the mighty Mississippi, and which smells of bourbon and magnolias. Thus, in the space of less than 200 pages, we make the acquaintance of Grandpa Ponder, whose fortune would become Edna Earle's to watch over and Uncle Daniel's to give away, Uncle Daniel's first wife Miss Teacake Magee nee Sistrunk (who sang at her own wedding, which turned out to be bad luck because the marriage didn't hold), his second wife Bonnie Dee Peacock ("a little thing with yellow fluffy hair," white trash as trash can be, who after a couple months' marriage "on trial" declared the trial over and left town, but was later lured back to Clay, much to her own misfortune) and of course Uncle Daniel himself, a big man with a big heart and only seemingly a simple soul who constantly needs minding, first by his father (Grandpa Ponder), then by Edna Earle - but who surprises you again and again with his unexpected, only half-conscious witticisms and insights: a veritable court jester in the medieval tradition with the flair of a 20th century gentleman raised in the traditions of the old South. And the story that unfolds before your eyes and ears is as colorful as its protagonists, from Uncle Daniel's early commitment to an asylum to his trial for Bonnie Dee Peacock's murder, with an outcome as wildly unexpected as only Daniel Ponder could have caused it. Flannery O'Connor, who likewise created many a character who could have populated the world of Eudora Welty's "The Ponder Heart," said that whenever she was asked why Southern writers in particular seemed to have a tendency to write about freaks, this was "because we are still able to recognize one." She warned, however, that outlandish as they might be, the heroes of modern Southern literature are not primarily intended to be comic but rather, prophetic figures reminding us of a long-forgotten responsibility, and she noted that *any* fiction coming out of the South was invariably liable to be called "grotesque," unless it actually was grotesque, in which case it would be called "photographic realism." ("The Catholic Novelist in the Protestant South.") And Eudora Welty, whose keen sense of observation in fact did find expression not only in her writing but also in a number of celebrated collections of photography, called location, in an essay written the same year as "The Ponder Heart," "the crossroads of circumstance" and "the heart's field;" intrinsically linked to the emotions and experiences described in any good piece of fiction writing. ("Place in Fiction," 1954.) In that sense, "A Ponder Heart" is a piece of Southern fiction in the best literary tradition - in addition to which, it is a pure delight to read.
Rating:
Summary: "I don't know if you can measure love at all."
Review: "The Ponder Heart"--a short novel written by Southern writer, Eudora Welty--is the story of the eccentric and eternally child-like Daniel Ponder. The Ponders are a wealthy, socially prominent family in the small Southern town of Clay. Edna Earle--Daniel Ponder's long-suffering niece, narrates the story. Edna Earle runs the Beulah Hotel, and this is one of Daniel's favourite hangouts. The hotel was a gift to Edna Earle from Uncle Daniel in a characteristic moment of typical and unstoppable generosity. Daniel's biggest problem--it seems--is his generous and loving heart. Edna Earle tells the story of how Grandpa Ponder tries to curb Daniel's eccentric and generous impulses by locking him up in an asylum, but Daniel turns the table with his smooth, quick-witted charm. Grandpa Ponder decides that an asylum is no longer an option, so he plots to marry Daniel off instead. There's an irony to this decision, of course--if the asylum didn't work, well... marriage may be the next best means of incarceration. The fact that Daniel is over 40 doesn't deter Grandpa from finding his troublesome son a wife, and Grandpa Ponder declares "I'm going to fork up a good wife for him" With Edna Earle in cahoots, Daniel's father marries Daniel off to Miss Teacake Magee--a widow who sings in the choir every Sunday. But Daniel isn't the marrying kind, but this does not deter Daniel from taking the plunge yet another time. Daniel's second marriage proves disastrous. His second bride-of-choice is Daisy Peabody--a 17-year-old waif from a large family of grasping ne'er-do-wells. Daniel and Daisy's domestic tribulations are the focus of interest, amusement, and gossip, but ultimately, Daniel finds himself on trial for Daisy's murder. Edna Earle tells the novel in a very matter-of-fact style laced with practicality & good, solid common sense. Her infinite patience and understanding result in her desire to protect Uncle Daniel--even though she realizes that he has shortcomings. It takes a little time to get used to reading the Southern style of speech, but the novel was very witty. I laughed out loud at several parts, and the courtroom scenes were great fun. The novel was full of marvellous, eccentric, original characters--even the 'dull' characters were interesting. I've read short stories by Welty before, but this was my first Welty novel. What a delightful, good-natured book this is--displacedhuman
Rating:
Summary: Another Welty Treasure
Review: (***) Here, as in all of her fiction written in the first person, Eudora Welty's grasp of voice and place is nothing short of amazing. She is truly and American icon.
Rating:
Summary: A delightful comedy of the American South
Review: Endearing and funny, with a wonderfully satiric narrative style,
award-winning author Eudora Welty's exquisite, but tender and loving portraits invite us to laugh at the absurd frailties of the human animal. The slightly backward, small southern town of Clay is the setting for Edna Earle's rambling tale of her Uncle Daniel Ponder and his unique eccentricities. While perhaps not exciting (or readable) enough for the youngest teens, adult readers should enjoy this madcap window on southern life. Uncle Daniel is a simple, gentle, kindly, guileless, and above all generous soul, who loves to give things away. Fortunately, Grandpa Ponder is "rich as Croesus", but even his resources are limited. In an effort to find someone to give more things to, Uncle Daniel becomes enamored of one Bonnie Dee Peacock, a suitably mindless twit who agrees marry him "on trial". Things are rocky enough for the happy couple, when an unexpected death
throws the whole town into turmoil. The book's conclusion may seem silly to some, but is not so very unbelievable given the context. The only thing to be said against this precious little gem of a book is that it doesn't have much of an impact - there are no great issues being debated here, or at least the aren't presented explicitly. Reading between the lines though, some fundamental human values are being affirmed, to wit: family loyalty, kindness toward those with special needs, and good old-fashioned Christian charity. A delightful, uniquely American entertainment, even if it is rather light weight.
Rating:
Summary: Edna Earl Tells All There Is To Know About The Ponder Heart
Review: Eudora Welty possessed a remarkable talent for crawling into the skin of her characters--and Edna Earl Ponder is one of her most astonishing creations. Like her widely anthologized short story "Why I Live at the P.O.," Welty's short novel THE PONDER HEART is written as a monologue, giving the reader the unexpected sensation of sitting across the front porch from Edna Earl herself as she determinedly relates the story of how her eccentric Uncle Daniel unexpectedly found himself on trial for murder in their tiny Mississippi town. THE PONDER HEART is a masterpiece of American humor. The humor of the novel is not, however, so much in the story (amusing though it is) as in the way it is told. Edna Earl has a typically Southern knack for turning a colorful phrase, and throughout her narrative she takes us on a tour of the best of Southern venacular, tossing off several memorable comments and laugh-out-loud descriptions on every page--particularly when it comes to white trash Bonnie Lee Peacock, who marries the addlepated Uncle Daniel on a trial basis. And if you're not Southern enough to completely grasp the definition of "white trash," that most Southern of perjoratives, Edna Earl will leave you in no doubt as to what precisely it means. Welty wrote considerably deeper works than THE PONDER HEART--her stunning short stories and the Pulitizer Prize winning novel THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER come quickly to mind--but for pure-dee down home humor Edna Earl, Uncle Daniel, Bonnie Lee, and the Peacock family are hard to beat. A touching, hilarious, and extremely memorable work that you'll probably return to again and again! Strongly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Edna Earl Tells All There Is To Know About The Ponder Heart
Review: Eudora Welty possessed a remarkable talent for crawling into the skin of her characters--and Edna Earl Ponder is one of her most astonishing creations. Like her widely anthologized short story "Why I Live at the P.O.," Welty's short novel THE PONDER HEART is written as a monologue, giving the reader the unexpected sensation of sitting across the front porch from Edna Earl herself as she determinedly relates the story of how her eccentric Uncle Daniel unexpectedly found himself on trial for murder in their tiny Mississippi town. THE PONDER HEART is a masterpiece of American humor. The humor of the novel is not, however, so much in the story (amusing though it is) as in the way it is told. Edna Earl has a typically Southern knack for turning a colorful phrase, and throughout her narrative she takes us on a tour of the best of Southern venacular, tossing off several memorable comments and laugh-out-loud descriptions on every page--particularly when it comes to white trash Bonnie Lee Peacock, who marries the addlepated Uncle Daniel on a trial basis. And if you're not Southern enough to completely grasp the definition of "white trash," that most Southern of perjoratives, Edna Earl will leave you in no doubt as to what precisely it means. Welty wrote considerably deeper works than THE PONDER HEART--her stunning short stories and the Pulitizer Prize winning novel THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER come quickly to mind--but for pure-dee down home humor Edna Earl, Uncle Daniel, Bonnie Lee, and the Peacock family are hard to beat. A touching, hilarious, and extremely memorable work that you'll probably return to again and again! Strongly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Almost slapstick funny
Review: If you like southern writers, if you like Eudora Welty, if you like eccentric characters, if you like a little slapstick in your novels, don't miss this one.
Uncle Daniel goes down in literary history as one of the most engaging and memorable of all characters as he 'just loves to give things away, loves to make people happy.' And, oh, the trouble he causes with his largesse!
Read it and laugh.
Rating:
Summary: A concentrated tour de force of Southern humor
Review: In this masterpiece of idiomatic Southern narrative, Edna Earle Ponder relates the zany adventures of her Uncle Daniel. You can almost imagine Edna Earle sitting in her rocking chair on the front porch, dryly commenting on the goings-on in Clay County and the foibles of its Dickensian population. Edna Earle looks out for her overly generous Uncle (who "may not have a lot of brains" but is "blessed with a fond and loving heart"), looks up to her ornery Grandpa (whose fear of electricity motivated him to cover the roof "with lightning rods the way Grandma would sprinkle coconut on a cake"), and looks down at the white-trash Peacock family (the type of folk who would "wave at trains till the day they die"). When Uncle Daniel up and marries one of the Peacock daughters, the next thing you know she's dead and he's on trial for murder. A quick read--and well worth it--"The Ponder Heart" never loses its colloquial appeal or its comic pacing. I only wish it were longer.
Rating: 
Summary: Edna Earle tells the story of her family to a salesman.
Review: It made me laugh out loud to see a writer of Eudora Welty's stature with two stars. One of our greatest living treasures, being heckled. This is a work of genius, as are all her books.
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