Customer Reviews

Oral History

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In the tradition of her other novels like "Fair and Tender Ladies," this book truly captures the spirit of the mountain people, their lives, and their lore. Smith masterfully creates her characters through the use of mountain dialect, and each one comes alive to the reader in a unique way. The use of details that she has collected from meticulous research on Appalachian lore serves to further the reader's impression that she is truly a master at work. If you liked "Fair and Tender Ladies" then don't miss this one!

This was the first book of Lee Smith's that I read - and still one of my favorites. Two things make Oral History memorable: (1) the accuracy of her portrayal of folk beliefs, the folklore, of the region and (2) a wonderful plot line that is never contrived. It doesn't hurt that Lee Smith has mastered her craft as well. A must read for anyone interested in folklore as a way of life - not a musuem piece. If the Foxfire series is for you, so is this novel.

To complete an assignment for a college class, Jennifer takes her notebook and tape recorder to the tiny mountain town in Virginia where her Mother grew up. She meets family members and learns of a mysterious curse that has followed them for generations. Her grandfather and her great-aunt actually left their mountain cabin because of ghostly screams and noctural visitations. Jennifer learns about herself as she chronicles the lives of her ancestors.

This is a beautifully written, absorbing story. Characters are fully developed and Smith captures the character and the hard life of the Appalachian mountaineer with sensitivity and empathy, not without sending a chill or two up the reader's spine.

Here's a world you may not know but if it's a familiar one, you may see it with new insight after reading ORAL HISTORY.

This is an in depth, yet interesting look at the rich history of the Appalachian family life throughout the ages. From wichcraft to trailer-trash this book covers it all.

This is the only Lee Smith book I've read, so comparisons with other Smith books are impossible.

The story traces the history of an Appalachian family from the late 19th century to the late-mid 20th century. It is told from various points of view, by various characters, at various times, resulting in a book which on the surface might seem "downright Faulknerian." However, Smith's main concern is the story and not the experience of reading it (which could, on some level, be said of Faulkner's literary goals), hence readings don't have to wrestle with the language. That being said, readers unfamiliar with the grammatical and lexical idiosyncracies of Appalachian English might sit scratching their heads at some of the characters' utterances, but the language is far from incomprehensible.

"Oral History" offers a view into a period and location that, until recent years, has remained fairly secluded. It's a pleasurable and rewarding read.

The language is beautiful. She uses it to really bring us into the minds of the characters, who vary immensely in their personalities. That in itself is a joy to read - to observe the differences between the upper-class educated romantic self-involved young man who travels to this remote area, and the dutiful spinster whose inner passions have not been wholly untapped, and the 12-year-old boy on the day he becomes a man by killing pigs and drinking rotgut. You will probably fall in love with at least one of these characters.

The stories follow a family's history from post-Civil War era up to the 80s. I agree with the reviewer who said the book was terribly disjointed, which is its major flaw and it took me three months to finally push through to the end. The first section of the book is really fascinating, dwelling in the supernatural. But then it abandons its supernatural mystery and never really comes back to answer it. That was a great disappointment for me.

Still, for love of the language and the characters, I can recommend this book.

I recently read this again after a hiatus of 11 years. Lee Smith simply delivers stories, characters, and setting that can't be beat. It was only while sitting here, thinking about how wonderful the book was with the multiple voices and circular story line, that I realized the comaprison to Marquez' Solitude was right there. Both are wonderful books that HAVE to be read.

I still cannot choose my favorite book of Lee Smith (Fair & Tender Ladies or Oral History). Both have characters that draw you in, along with stories that captivate the imagination. Read both and let me know which one you favor.

This novel has some genuinely transcendant moments, such as a scene early in the book when Granny Younger--one of the novel's many narrators--spies on two characters kissing in a field. Smith writes, "The lightning flashes right then and I see her face and it is old, old. It is older and meanern time. Red Emmy stars me right in the eye and she spits one time on the rainy ground." She weaves an interesting story that passes seamlessly from one generation to another. The book has two major flaws, however. One is that the ghost story of the Cantrell household, which continues as a thread from the beginning of the novel to the end, is never fully realized. The other is that the book has a serious problem with voice. The most convincing character in the story is Richard Burlage, a somewhat pathetic and naive schoolteacher from away who falls in love with a mountain girl. Several of the mountain people speak in a voice that seems contrived and awkward, not at all natural in the way they tell their story. At times Smith does herself a disservice by telling the story through so many different narrators. Still, it is a well-informed, compelling story with many nice moments.

I have just finished this book and I can't say enough good things for what it brought to me. I had heard of the book from something on Public TV and just had to have it. I am 60 and my mother's family was from this area, but mother never talked much about that part of her history. I had felt like there was an important part of me that I didn't understand. This book just delighted my mind as I followed the closeness of the many people and how they lived and thought. It was most interesting to me and I hope to read more of these tales if I can find them in large print. I feel like a part of me is now alive as I understand more about the people and times in these mountains.

I've been into this lady since day one. Lee Smith gets it all right out in front there, no apologies and no smoke-blowing. She writes books that you go back to time and time again. Oral History is by far my favorite, but don't overlook Fair and Tender Ladies, or ANYTHING else this wonderful woman has written. I was also taken in by "Conversations with Lee Smith" book.