Customer Reviews

Edisto: A Novel (FSG Classics)

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

 

 

than this darling jewel of a book! Having actually been on Edisto, and around Simon's age, in the early 70's, I can say PP has captured the place's essence and lyricism of the times. It is laugh-out-loud funny in places, and the characters interesting but the unique style of writing itself is so enjoyable: his economy is remarkable. For example, the only physical description of one of the main characters is this: "he was as shimmery as an islander's god, and solid as a butcher". And yet he paints so vivid a picture of the man, solely through action and dialogue. This is a warm, thoroughly entertaining, thoroughly unique story, with great writing. Full of wit and heart in equal measure. Pretty soon you'll be peppering your talk with unique words and phrases, and be up on the social cache inherent in being a "double Jenkins" in Charleston, but don't let it "hyper you out".

Padgett Powell has succeeded where so many other authors have failed... he writes from the point of view of a young boy, Simons Manigault, with ease and skill. Many times, when a story is told from the point of view of a child, it comes off as hokey, even fake. And even if it is good, it can rarely be maintained for an entire full-length novel. Powell can do it. Simons is a classic character, young and naive, yet inquisitive to the world of crazyness around him. I heard somewhere that this might become a movie... please do not! Why ruin a great thing? Funny, poignant, and thoughtful... this book must not be passed over!

This is a funny and sophisticated coming-of-age story. The author has an impressive command of both dialogue and unusual and telling descriptions. Simons is a remarkable, unusual, and alive boy-man. The story sparkles with youthful enthusiasm in spite of its sophistication, and despite its irony never lapses into easy cynicism. Highly recommended.

"Edisto is a truly remarkable first novel, both as a narrative and in its extrodinary use of lanquage. It reminds one of 'The Catcher In the Rye', but it's better- sharper, funnier, more poignant. - Walker Percy - On the basis of this review alone I decided to give this book a try since I am a great Fan of Percy. I agree with him that it reminds one of "The Catcher in The Rye", but where Holden Caufield is a lost sole in need of salvation, Simons Manigault is a young pillar of sanity in the midst of absurdity. I am a little surprised that Percy finds this book superior to "The Catcher in the Rye" since Simons Manigault shows no signs of seeking salvation or being as confused as Percy's own William Barrett. If you think "The Catcher in the Rye" deserves its reputation as an American Classic, and if you are a Walker Percy fan, then we have similar taste. You will love this book.

... I guess. Is that a fair compromise? This title was urged upon me by a face-to-face friend whom I respect a lot; I'm willing to suppose that it's a fine book since many articulate people say so. Me, I couldn't get past page 20, though I'm willing to take the blame for being an unresponsive reader. I found the boy narrator insufferable, or rather I would have found him insufferable if I could have found him plausible. Possibly I'm just sick of the genre of atro/preco-cious adolescents with colorful dysfunctionality in their parentage. But the narrative syntax is annoyingly coy and artificial, and I have no intuition that the story will take me anywhere where I haven't been before.

Padgett Powell has created an unforgettable character in Simons ("...it's pronounced Sim-mons. I'm a rare one-m Simons") Manigault, a 13-year-old smartass whose tenuously divorced parents want different things from him: Dad, in self-exile on Hilton Head, wants him to play baseball; Mom, a college professor the locals call The Dutchess, lets him sweat out a public school career in Edisto during the day and sneak into black roadhouses at night, all to gain "material" to become a writer. Then a mulatto process server arrives looking for the household maid's daughter, and all hell breaks loose. The maid skips and The Dutchess assigns Simons to the process server's temporary male-role-model custody. Read the rest. A great, entertaining, funny romp through the New South. Buy it or be a loser.

The title of the book drew me as I had been on Edisto Island for a time. I am sorry to say, however, that I could not maintain interest in the book. Using a mouthful of words, the book was fluff. Did it ever go anywhere? Was this just a vignette of life? I am confused. I would read a couple of pages and follow the descriptions and then a couple of pages more, I had drifted off and could not recall what was happening. I guess I expected more. I would recommended that readers save their time and go to some other island.

Although I first bought the current Interrogatory Mood, I wanted to start with his first novel, a classic. The language Mr. Powell uses is magical in that he can evoke the picture of Edisto as accurately as I remember from my visits. I also wanted to take a short diversion from the non-fiction I have been reading. The language he uses is rich and satisfying. And the evocative images he creates thoroughly enrich the story.

I enjoyed this story and recommend it. The voice and setting are appealing and it's a good, quick read.

This has been a wildy overrated novel since the day it was published some fifteen or so years ago. Powell was praised for his verbal inventiveness, but what he has here is verbal obfuscation. Exactly what is he trying to say? It is hard to tell once the reader's entangled in his verbal trap of dialect, half-baked description, and misguided rhetoric. And none of the characters, with the exception of the black cook, is memorably drawn. We really don't care what happens to any of them. Only one scene, the depiction of the boy's attending the Ali-Frazier fight, with the locals rooting on native son Joe Frazier, shows any genuine comic invention.