The Forge (Library Alabama Classics) [Paperback]

Thomas S. Stribling (Author), Randy K. Cross (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Library Alabama Classics | Publication Date: March 30, 1985

The Forge was first published in 1931.

 

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A half-century ago, Stribling won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. What Stribling did in his day was somewhat revolutionary; years before Faulkner, Stribling was publishing short stories set in the South that completely challenged the old molasses-and-roses plots of Southern literature.

“By the time he died in 1965, Stribling had published over a dozen novels; one was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, two were Literary Guild selections, and another was the first book by an American selected by the English Book League.

“The shock themes of his best three novels—a trilogy of The Forge, The Store, and Unfinished Cathedral—received more attention than they would today. What endures is his sense of the flow of history, the chain of events caused by the old King Cotton and his attendant lords being dethroned by the Civil War. By following representative families through these three works, one can identify with the variety of efforts tried in escaping from defeat and can appreciate the tragic flaws in any human efforts to escape environment.

“The raw material Stribling used was close at hand and rubbed many raw nerves in the tense days of the 1920s and 1930s. But the message itself is just as relevant now as then.” –Larry McGehee

About the Author

Randy Cross is an instructor of English, John C. Calhoun State College, Decatur, Alabama, and is a co-editor of Stribling’s autobiography, Laughing Stock.

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: University Alabama Press (March 30, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0817302492
• ISBN-13: 978-0817302498
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,006,113 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Series, September 24, 2011

By 

AgnesMack (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Forge (Library Alabama Classics) (Paperback)

The Forge is book 1 in the 3 part Vaiden series. The books begin at the start of the Civil War and follow one Southern family through reconstruction.

The second in the series, The Store, won the Pulitzer in 1933, so I decided to read the entire series.

The Forge was very successful at creating this family and depicting their lives. The pace was quick, in fact in the 500 or so pages of this first book, we went all the way through a family owning slaves, signing up to fight in the Civil War, losing half of their family in the battles, losing the war, losing their slaves and eventually losing all of their money. They went from being a prominent and well respected family to having nothing and being shamed into town.

There is a definite agenda of the author, to both show this family in a sympathetic life and to make a statement against the way they lived. I found him to be extremely successful at this as well.

It's a little strange reviewing this book now, as I finished it and immediately began the second book. So it basically feels like I'm still in the middle of it. I was torn rating it, because it's something I've really enjoyed and become somewhat lost in, yet it isn't necessarily something I'd recommend to someone either.