Customer Reviews

Cataloochee (Historical Fiction)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cataloochee is one of those great surprises that I just happened to stumble across while browsing in a book store. I have been disappointed at times with books in settings such as the Appalachians or deep South because they bog down with unrealistic characters, dialogue, and events. This is not the case with this book. I look forward to picking it up after work and find myself recommending the book to others. Excellent read all the way around!

Most of the books I read are mysteries with a fast paced, linear style. "Cataloochee" is not that type of book. Set in the mountains of North Carolina following the Civil War, it follows the style of an Appalachian tale - slow paced and not in the least linear. As one of the characters would say, "pull up a chair and set awhile." In accepting that invitation you enter a world of complex characters and interwoven lives. You are rewarded with characters who you feel like you really know and care about. By the end of the book you don't want it to end - you want to continue knowing how your new friends' lives continue to unfold. You gain a real feel for time and place. My next vacation will be to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to explore Cataloochee Valley, now part of that park.

Compared to many other modern novels, Wayne Caldwell's CATALOOCHEE seems old-fashioned in its reliance on storytelling to drive the narrative forward -- old-fashioned, yes, but also refreshing, like a cool gourd of water after a hard day in the apple orchard. Even characters, though they're interestingly, if not fully, developed, take a back seat to the story in this novel, which follows a small community in Appalachian North Carolina over the course of sixty years as they contend with each other and a rapidly changing outside world that is encroaching on their land and way of life.

Caldwell focuses primarily on Ezra Banks, his immediate family, and in-laws, but giving the book a panoramic, intergenerational, almost epic quality, he also intertwines the stories of other folks, most of whom are related in some way or another. The farther Caldwell gets from Banks, however, the more confusing the story becomes as one struggles to keep track of who everyone is and what is happening to them. This is off-putting until one realizes that we, as readers, are outsiders hearing this story, looking into these mountain valleys, attempting to understand the people who inhabit them. That Caldwell pulls this off -- making readers feel like outsiders even as he pulls them into this world -- is a stroke of genius. It's reminiscent, in a way, of the hospitality a stranger might experience on passing through Cataloochee and being invited to have supper, drink some home-brewed whiskey, and hear a few yarns with Will Carter.

Accenting the book's compelling narrative structure, Caldwell's prose captures the rhythms of life and death in Appalachia, evoking the sights, sounds, and smells of Cataloochee, the close-knit sense of community, the life-goes-on mentality. Caldwell manages to accomplish this in an understated manner, without ostentation or embellishment, that is well suited to his subject. He also displays a subtle sense of humor: I won't spoil it, but see page 190 for a winking reference to Flannery O'Connor.

All in all, CATALOOCHEE is as fine a story as you're like to here this year or any year.

When you write about a specific place, you need to get it just right. Only by being very local, can the book become universal. And Caldwell describes Cataloochee beautifully and correctly. Cataloochee is a real place, now in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You can visit and walk among the buildings that are still remaining, including the two chapels mentioned in the novel and the Caldwell House.

You can hike it. See my hiking guide, "Hiking the Carolina Mountains", for specific hikes in Cataloochee.

And when you do, imagine the characters as they came into the area and as their descendants left.

If you enjoy novels, you'll love the characters. If you enjoy history, you'll understand the history of this island community. And if you're a hiker, you need to know where you're hiking.

I'm North Carolina born and bred so that may speak to why I loved Cataloochie so much. This writer has an interesting story to tell and keeps you reading until you are unable to cook, clean or put that book down. I loved it!

Some nice insight into what life was like in an isolated Appalachian community in the late 19th/early 20th century.

This book seemed to be searching for some sort of focus--it covers a long time span, and there are many characters. The parts I enjoyed the most was when it slowed down, and dove into a story. Unfortunately there are some chapters where one paragraph would be about a character who jumped in age twenty years from we saw them last. It would say just a little more than "They got married". Then the next paragraph would be about another character dying that said little more "They died".

Still, it did slow down in a few places. There are some very enjoyable passages about the quirky characters and their daily life in the mountains. Unfortunately the author got a little carried away in ending these in weird deaths.

The characters are generally likable. Caldwell did seem to find focus in the end of the book, where it really zoomed in on a specific character and event. Plus it finally showed characters outside of Cataloochee, which helped establish context. It came together well.

For fans of Cold Mountain- besides the setting (Haywood County!), and a little bit of the history, there really isn't much in common. It's a completely different story, Caldwell's writing is much less descriptive, and the dialogue is flat in many places. However, there are very subtle references to characters/places in Cold Mtn. If anyone else noticed these, please comment!

I grew up in western North Carolina among people who could have been the characters in this book. The thoughts, the beliefs, the actions, the very way of living are all portrayed authentically and beautifully. These people were (and some still are) fiercely independent and suspicious of strangers yet willing to give their last dime or last bit of cornmeal to someone who needed it more than they did. Caldwell's writing turns all of this into art that should be enjoyed by all.

This book is so good. I'm trying to read it really slowly so it will last longer.

I picked this book up out of chance at a library. I hesitate reading new authors, just because I am not sure I will enjoy the book and may have to force myself to read it. This book was good and very well written. I loved the history of the area and the ending had me wondering what happened to the area. One thing I think that Caldwell could have done is develop the characters more. If he had taken all the characters in the book and developed their lives he would have a mutilpe book series. I didn't like how you couldn't really get to know the characters b/c he just scratched the surface of them and their lives. I would have liked a more in-depth story of their lives. Overall a great book that I would recommend to family & friends.

The successful historical novel is reminiscent of a traditional quilt, composed of scraps and remnants from other sources that are patched together in a new way. Aunt Patricia's dress fabric meets Ben's jacket and Frankie's drapes and those matching pajamas Becky made for the twins, each piece bringing its own stories, but the whole assemblage is transformed into something new and interesting in its own right. Then, to find utility, the quilt needs to be layered up with something warm, to achieve as much appreciation in the dark as in the daylight. Wayne Caldwell's first novel, is pieced together from a wealth of historical detail. The author is surely familiar with the lives of rural Carolinians in the 19th and early 20th centuries. But there isn't much warmth. Comparisons must be made to Charles Frazier's COLD MOUNTAIN (Vintage, 2003) and 13 MOONS (Random House, 2006), due to the similar subject matter and regional setting and because a blurb from Frazier is posted on the dust jacket. What Frazier achieves, and Caldwell does not, is warmth. Another recent novel, CANAAN (Vintage Books, 2007), recreating the same era, by another Appalachian native, Donald McCaig, shares Frazier's knack for human warmth. All three authors have steeped themselves in the essential minutiae of historical fiction, the detail needed to bring old times into clear focus: the tools, the food, the conflict, the gender roles and the primitivism that let a reader visit another century. But only Frazier and McCaig provide characters whose fates seem worth a 400 page slog. To top it off, too many heavy objects fall on too many people (and a mule) -- a tiresome repetition of sorry endings.