Customer Reviews

Tobacco Sticks

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

 

 

This is an absolute page turner. Well written, exciting yarn set in the South, post World War II. This book includes a group of absolutely wonderful characters that you just cannot forget and become of a part of, including the narrator of the story, a 15 year old named Lee. I would highly recommend this book. Superb American literature.

Tobacco Sticks was more like Faulkner to me than Harper Lee. The author has charted out his own terriotry and the story is compelling and well written. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much and was reluctant to finish. It is the story of a lawyer who does the hard thing and that is a rare story. I think readers will discover this author soon.

What a great surprise to find a Southern novel that is not just another stereotypical drama of the old South. The writing is superb and the charatcters richly drawn. I would highly reccommend this book to anyone.

Based on the reviews I've read here on Amazon, I expected a mediocre piece of prose featuring stereotypical characters and a hackneyed plot. Imagine my surprise when, from the first page on, I couldn't put down the book! The premise, the characters, the pure visual -- even cinematic -- nature of this fine author's work was a delight. Oh, and I wasn't in the least troubled by what one reviewer here pointed out as a grammatical error. I recognized it for what it was -- the narrator's voice and way of talking. Lighten up, readers! Remember why you're reading to begin with. Great job, Mr. Hazelgrove!

A story of a boy and his relationship with his father. I think I would place this in the coming of age category, although it is not entirely a coming of age story. It is also a story of privilege, power, corruption and also about racism and exploitation. It was perhaps a little slow starting, but the book culminates in a wonderful trial scene - albeit one I found harder to take entirely seriously since reading "Tom Sawyer - Detective".

The trial read well, keeping you involved much like one of those ones on TV. But I also wondered, as I read, whether the American court system is really riddled with all these things that seem stereotypical now. Do lawyers "object" to every other sentence for instance? Are cross examinations really so brief? For that matter, is the term "caucasian" really used for white people?!

But the answer to all these questions might be - in fact is likely to be - yes. So I am not faulting the book on accuracy. Those were merely thoughts going through my mind because the trial read so much like every other trial scene I have watched or read. There is a twist in this trial of course - but even then it is not unusual to have such a twist - so my criticism of this book is merely that it did not entirely surprise me! But I did enjoy it and would still recommend it.

I really enjoyed this novel and having just finished The Help I really believe this book rounds out my understanding of the South. Great courtroom drama and lots of intrigue. I am including the Publishers Weekly Review because I think that really sums up the novel.

"Set in 1945, this skillfully crafted novel by the author of Ripples chronicles the coming-of-age of Lee Hartwell, the pubescent son of a Richmond, Va., lawyer, whose close-knit family is torn apart by WWII and its aftermath. The adult Lee narrates in the particularly resonant tones of nostalgic Southern elegy. The novel also touches on the major dramatic mid-century changes in the American South: the growth of organized labor (organizers are trying to unionize a local steel mill); the tenacious hold of old-style politics on a hotly contested senatorial campaign; and the brewing revolution in race relations. At home, 12-year-old Lee is troubled by his family's cool reception of one ex-soldier brother, who was shot in the foot (it's implied that the wound was self-inflicted), while the swaggering eldest brother, who saw no combat, is warmly welcomed. When his father decides to defend a young black woman, believing she has been framed to protect the incumbent senator's reputation, he is forced to resign as the senator's Richmond campaign manager, and the town turns against him. Young Lee is also taunted by his friends, and his achingly sweet relationship with the daughter of the steel tycoon backing the senator is also threatened. Explosive racial tension, betrayal and murder, difficult ethical and social decisions, first love and a dramatic denouement in a sweaty Virginia courtroom are skillfully entwined in this haunting tale, which has all the characteristics of a good summer read. Starred Review Publishers Weekly

This is a pretty good story with a very dramatic climax, marred by the fact that the author is clueless about what tobacco sticks are used for (To hang the newly harvested leaves in the tobacco barn for curing, not for poking the stuff. Come on, for goodness sake!), and has a abysmal lack of knowledge of courtroom/trial rules of proceedure.

The characters in this book are borrowed from a dozen other southern coming of age stories, as is the plot. Three of the main male characters have last names beginning with the letter "H" which makes it hard to remember which is which. Each character is a stereotype, from the angry black cook to the mother who needs a rest cure to the vapid young girl. Also, the writing is poor. For example, what does this sentence mean? "A hot, blue haze rolled in the window light with the greasy exhaust fan above the back door running wide open." Is that supposed to be poetic? The author uses "laid" when he should have used lay, as in, "I laid on his bed while he hobbled around..." Please. If you want to be an author learn grammer first and also, skip the poetic if it doesn't tell the reader anything. I rate this book a five because it is just the kind of average book that people think makes a good summer read. Take it to the beach and toss it in the trash

A plot stolen from "To Kill a Mockingbird" is surpsisingly good. The author sets a nice tone in his descriptive passages. He has chosen to begin each chapter with a short description of the process of growing and tending tobacco, which I think juxtaposes nicely with the advancement of the story. I think his dialogue is better than his exposition, however. I would encourage him to continue writting, as he may get better and better.