Into the Sound Country: A Carolinian's Coastal Plain [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Ann Cary Simpson (Author, Photographer) "The Sound Country starts at the base of a scuppernong vine in the Great Dismal Swamp, runs south for two hundred amazing miles, taking in..." (more)
Key Phrases: scuppernong wine, sound country, North Carolina, Sound Country, Chapel Hill (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

An insightful and rich glance at an under-appreciated and under-explored region.

Coaster

[A] memorable journey into Eastern North Carolina's varied natural world, a reading of this volume should prove gratifying.

Our State

Simpson will introduce you to a North Carolina you've never experienced.

Coastwatch

Simpson brings the natural world so close that the reader can almost smell the rivers.

Virginia Explorer

[Observations and anecdotes] form an amiable pastiche with Simpson•s own family history and that of eastern North Carolina.

Preservation Magazine --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

A story of rediscovery - of two North Carolinian's returning to their roots in the state's Eastern provinces. This book is an affectionate and personal portrait of the coastal plain; Bland Simpson tours his old waterfront haunts, whilst Ann Simpson's original photographs compliment their journey.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 269 pages
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press; illustrated edition edition (November 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807823813
• ISBN-13: 978-0807823811
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,114,890 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stopping to smell the roses when you thought it was a swamp., July 18, 1998

By	Dr. John S. Clayton, Sr. (Rockville, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Into the Sound Country: A Carolinian's Coastal Plain (Paperback)

I received Bland Simpson's "Into the Sound Country" as a gift. I've had it by the bed for my night reading. It's an unlikely book for me to read -- no plot, no tight narrative, no famous folks or... well, it's different.

You walk into it rather slowly. I kept thinking of John Parker quoting White's description of Roanoke Island (site of the "Lost Colony") as "the goodliest land under the cope of heaven."

"I got no respect for a man with judgment like that," Parker said.

Simpson takes on this swamp filled, brackish, mosquito plagued, twisted tree, run-down and Godforsaken part of the world (except for the beaches) that he and his ancestors grew up in, and Suffering Cats! You can't put the book down. You want to go there. Hell, you want to LIVE there. Remarkable.

I read until I couldn't keep awake last night and then for some reason -- perhaps my wife being away baby sitting in Charlottesville -- I woke up this morning a bit! before five and finished the book. Hated for it to end. That kind of book.

Simpson teaches Creative Writing at Chapel Hill. His long ago past was at one time my present, the forties and fifties on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It's a funny book to recommend. Who the hell has time for a book that is so... leisurely. And such good company. I read passages to Jutta. Long passages. That kind of book.

Very quietly in a sort of sneaky way, you get a picture of this guy and his family. Not a bad life. Not bad at all. You'll be glad you got to know him and them. His wife takes pictures. Good ones. You'll like her too.