A Gathering of Old Men

Rating:
Summary: A Gathering of Old Men
Review: "A Gathering of Old Men" is a great novel by Ernest J Gaines who again so vividly captures the prejudice in the south in the 1970's. The book focuses on racial issues of the Southern United States, and also the companionship between friends and the strength of family. Like I said the book takes place in Louisiana in 1970 and starts off with a killing of a Cajun farm worker, Beau Boutan. One of the black workers, Mathu, states that he's killed Beau. Candy, the Cajun owner of the farm says that Mathu is just protecting her, yet no one believes her. All the black men from the surrounding plantations come and state they have killed Beau too....or they just as much a reason to. Clatoo leads the black men to the plantation with their empty shotguns each of them trying to prove a point to themselves as well as to the whit community. The Sheriff, Mapes, arrived to meet them and figure out who he is going to take to jail, while also trying to radio to his deputy to keep Fix at home. Fix is Beau's father and notorious for organizing lynching mobs against blacks. Each chapter of the story is told by each character, including the black men, the sheriff and everyone in between. Giving us insight and history of Black Pride and how its formed. It gives a strong feeling of community and maturity. It shows how the South is changing, as well as the black community. "A Gathering of Old Men" by Ernest J Gaines is a great book to read and I highly recommend it. Gaines' vivid descriptions throughout the book makes you think you are there. You can feel the apprehension and frustration of the characters, as well as see the southern countryside through his words. His unique style of writing the book, telling the story from different points of view., from the good people and the bad people, the young and old. Gaines' new style along with the vivid description make this a must read book.

Rating:
Summary: A Gathering of Old Men
Review: "A Gathering of Old Men" is a great novel by Ernest J Gaines who again so vividly captures the prejudice in the south in the 1970's. The book focuses on racial issues of the Southern United States, and also the companionship between friends and the strength of family. Like I said the book takes place in Louisiana in 1970 and starts off with a killing of a Cajun farm worker, Beau Boutan. One of the black workers, Mathu, states that he's killed Beau. Candy, the Cajun owner of the farm says that Mathu is just protecting her, yet no one believes her. All the black men from the surrounding plantations come and state they have killed Beau too....or they just as much a reason to. Clatoo leads the black men to the plantation with their empty shotguns each of them trying to prove a point to themselves as well as to the whit community. The Sheriff, Mapes, arrived to meet them and figure out who he is going to take to jail, while also trying to radio to his deputy to keep Fix at home. Fix is Beau's father and notorious for organizing lynching mobs against blacks. Each chapter of the story is told by each character, including the black men, the sheriff and everyone in between. Giving us insight and history of Black Pride and how its formed. It gives a strong feeling of community and maturity. It shows how the South is changing, as well as the black community. "A Gathering of Old Men" by Ernest J Gaines is a great book to read and I highly recommend it. Gaines' vivid descriptions throughout the book makes you think you are there. You can feel the apprehension and frustration of the characters, as well as see the southern countryside through his words. His unique style of writing the book, telling the story from different points of view., from the good people and the bad people, the young and old. Gaines' new style along with the vivid description make this a must read book.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Book
Review: A Gathering of Old Men was a very good book. You can't help wanting to now what is going to happen next.This book should be read when you are in high school or in college.This book helps you to get a feel of how black people were treated in the 1920's and 1930's and how they were still getting treated in the 1970's.But in this story it shows you how the younger white people were trying to bring their parents and old friends out of the 1920's & 1930". To show them that blacks and whites were all treated equal. The men in this book was not going down without a fight.

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Summary: old men, indeed
Review: A Gathering of Old Men, set in 1970s Louisiana, is one of the richest and most powerful novels about race relations written in the last few decades. It's really a simple story that could be told fairly quickly, but the event upon which the novel is based is in some ways peripheral to the story. The whole point of the novel is to pry deeply into the hearts and minds of men, both black and white, reveal the pains and struggles that each of them has either dealt out or dealt with, and to reveal the poignant humanity in a group of brave old men who have essentially counted for nothing in their own minds and are determined to take advantage of one last opportunity to stand up for themselves, their friends and families, and their ancestors.

Beau Boutan is dead, lying out in the weeds beside his shotgun, and everyone knows who killed him. He was shot in Mathu's yard, and Mathu is the only black man on the place that has ever stood up for himself against the Boutans. By the time Sheriff Mapes arrives on the scene, the situation is far from simple, though. Eighteen old black men are assembled in the yard, each with a shotgun and an empty shell of the type that cut Beau down, and each one of them says he killed Beau. Candy is there, the white lady half-raised by old Mathu after her parents were killed, and she is determined to defend Mathu and all of the blacks on her land the way her parents and grandparents defended them in the past. She says she killed Beau and will confess the crime in court. Mapes has a problem on his hands. Fix Boutan, the dead man's father, is sure to come down to the quarters seeking revenge, and there is bound to be a lynching if Mapes can't get everything straightened out before Fix has time to get there. All the old black men gathered in the yard are there because of Fix. Each one of them has lived a long time without ever really standing up for himself; they've all taken abuse quietly, and they have seen their women and children abused right in front of their eyes for what seems like forever. Now, they see they have a last chance to stand up for themselves against Fix and his cruel gang. They have come for a fight, and no one is going to talk them out of it.

Gaines gives us multiple points of view in this novel. Each chapter is related in first person by one of the characters, and the results are incredibly revealing. We learn a great deal about these men, the lives they have led, and their own feelings about those lives. It's really quite intense and revealing. This is not a story of racial hatred, however, despite the fact that a number of white characters have led hateful lives. Twenty years earlier, Fix Boutan would have been revenged his boy's murder without even thinking about it, and this is the Fix Boutan the old black men expect and indeed hope to take their stand against. Times are changing, though, and the younger generation, men such as Beau's brother Gil, don't think the same way that the older generations do. Thus, there is as much hope as anguish in this novel. To some degree, not a lot happens in terms of action over the course of the story, so some may find the reading a little long and boring, but even those who don't fully appreciate the human dimensions of the story will be rewarded by the path the final chapters take and the action that does take place toward the end. I have to say that Ernest J. Gaines proves himself to be an incredible writer, able to communicate thoughts, feelings, and history itself in a manner most writers can never hope to match. A Gathering of Old Men isn't overly complex or lengthy, so there is no reason why anyone should deny himself or herself the pleasure of enjoying and learning from this true landmark of a novel.

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Summary: Taking a Stand
Review: Ernest Gaines clearly demonstrates his love of the land and people of Louisiana in A Gathering of Old Men. In a storyline which has similarities with Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, eighteen old Afro-American men take a stand by admitting to a murder of the local racist bully Beau Boutan. Their position gives them the authority to redeem their dignity.

Ernest Gaines is a masterful writer and a compelling story-teller. The book is structured almost as a number of short stories. Each chapter adds to the whole and is told from a different persons point of view. Each short synapsis provides insight into a new character and the choices and perspectives which they hold.

This is a story about changing times, the late 1970's. This is a story about strength and dignity. This is a story about father and son. This is a story about black and white. There is so much involved in this short novel. In addition to that, it is told in a way that is interesting and readable. I had trouble putting the book down. It certainly was one of the more important books I have read in years.

I advise anyone concerned about the vitality and diversity found in American Literature to read this.

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Summary: A GATHERING OF OLD MEN
Review: Ernest J. Gaines brings a 1970's Louisiana plantation to life in A Gathering of Old Men. A Cajun man, Beau Boutan, lies dead on a black man's farm and Mapes, a white sheriff, must solve this unusual racial dilemma. In addition to the main suspect, there are seventeen old black men with shotguns and one Cajun lady who all confess to the murder. As the day progresses, Mapes presses to find the culprit by whatever means he has at his disposal, often resorting to corporal punishment. During this time, we can see three strong forces in the plot, all consenting and opposing each other's opinions and points of view: Candy, being a Cajun and a lady, is pushed aside as the killer in the "investigation" by Mapes; the old, black men, who are proving to both themselves and to others that, in their old age, they can still present a force to be reckoned with, and Mapes himself, who acts the tough sheriff until time comes down to the wire to uncover the murderer of Fix Boutan's son.
A Gathering of Old Men brings out the racial tension of the Deep South, but at the same time, shows the reader that a most unsuspecting bond can form at any time. Ernest J. Gaines cleverly intertwines the numerous characters, making their use of the local dialect an integral part of his story telling. The colorful and expressive dialog replaces the need for lengthy descriptions of people and settings. The fascinating and unpredictable story line makes this a great novel, one that is hard to put down.

Rating:
Summary: A Gathering of Old Men
Review: I have only recently become familiar with Ernest Gaines, and this is the second of his books that I have read. In this one, he gives a unique look at the racial tension between blacks and whites. The book begins with a white man who has been shot. A gathering of old black men ensues, and each claims to the white sherrif, in their attempt to protect the real killer, that they committed the murder.

During the reading of this book, as a midwestern white woman, I developed a new appreciation for why today, blacks still feel the effects of past oppression at the hands of whites. The book was set in the 1970's, giving readers a good perspective on why the tensions still persist.

I enjoyed the sense of unity that was present in the black community in this novel, and cheered the determination of each of the characters while they stood to make their point.

The only negative I found in the book was the confusion brought on by the number of characters in the cast. At times it was difficult to keep them all straight. However, as I write this, I'm thinking that maybe that was the point. I was forced to keep looking back and reviewing, as I learned to identify each of them as individuals.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is willing to work a little at a worthwhile read.

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Summary: A fantastic novel
Review: Masterful. Three scenes stand out. In the first the eighteen black men discuss how their lives had been affected by "progress" or the exploitation of their land. They had lost touch with their roots and essentially become shells of their former selves. In the second scene the father of the murdered man consults his two living sons on how best to proceed. The father feels that to sit back and let the law take its course would be to allow for the destruction of his family. In the third and most powerful scene a city man tries to explain to several Klansmen how the South has changed.

There's no hiding the fact that Gaines thinks he's Faulkner. There's the same complicated voice, the same introduction of too many characters, the same obsession with the South, and the same jumping from scene to scene. Although Gaines isn't Faulkner and shouldn't pretend to be, the book is nevertheless stunning and (unlike Faulkner) readable.

Rating:
Summary: Too many details, but powerful.
Review: Set on a Louisiana sugarcane plantation in the 1970's, AGathering of Old Men is a powerful depiction about race relations andracial tensions arising in the south. When a white man named Beau Boutan is murdered, eighteen old black men come together to do something they have never done before, stand up for themselves. The book tells, in detail, 15 different narrators' point of views of how this whole episode went down. This book is a good example of race relations in the south, and can be related to other situations in other places, even if it's not the exact same situation. To me this book is a very detailed, powerful book, but because of all it's details the book goes by very slow, and sometimes begins to get very boring. The book could have been told with only one or two narrators in only a few chapters. I would recommend this book to anyone who has the time and patience to sit down, read the book, and try to fully understand it. END

Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Book
Review: The setting in the book A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines happens to be in a small Louisiana farming community in the early 1900s when the conflict between white people and black people was much greater. The main theme in this story is racism. The story deals with a whole town being extremely racist and the changes they undergo as the story progresses. Unlike most southern racist stories, this story more accurately incorporates the hatred the black community has for the white community as well as a similar hatred which the white community has for the black community. The story takes almost the entire first third of the book to set up the plot for the novel, but once it is developed the story becomes extraordinarily interesting.
This story portrayed southern society in a very negative point of view. It seemed to share many of the same ideas, however, as the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Both stories deal with racism and tolerance for one another, and they both dealt with a black man committing a crime and a lynching mob trying t o take matters into their own hands. In both stories the mobs were disassembled due in part to the efforts of a certain compassionate white member of the community. The book is easy to read, yet it presents the reader with many complex issues to examine while reading.