Created and edited by Justin Kestler and Ben Florman, SparkNotes Literature Guides provide analysis of (currently) 175 classic works of English and foreign language literature - novels, biographies, plays and poetry - that most commonly appear on examination syllabuses. These books provide the insights that today's students need to know.
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Created and edited by Justin Kestler and Ben Florman, SparkNotes Literature Guides provide analysis of (currently) 175 classic works of English and foreign language literature - novels, biographies, plays and poetry - that most commonly appear on examination syllabuses. These books provide the insights that today's students need to know.
Read Less
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Mrs. Burns did such a fabulous job encapsulating the voice of the South! That ability is up there with Frank McCourt's 'Angela's Ashes' and the two sequels. The main character, Will, is similar to Tom Sawyer. This story makes you laugh, cry, smile, and grimace. I read the unfinished sequel right afterwards. This will be a novel I will read again!
Cherri R
May 2, 2013
Good one
This is a nice simple story with interesting characters. I would recommend it.
alphillips7933@gmail.com
Nov 19, 2011
Great Book
Just finished ready the book and from one page to the next, you never knew what was gonna happen next. Started on Leaving Cold Sassy immediately following. Will Tweedy and Miss Love were two awesome people!!!!!
Rosanne
Aug 10, 2007
Thoroughly enjoyable
The story of how a recent widower, in a small Southern town in 1906, marries a Yankee woman young enough to be his daughter, told through the eyes of his fourteen-year-old grandson. Sounds simple? Don't be deceived - there is enough in this novel to keep you interested through years of repeat readings. How popular notions of 'Christian' virtue and small-town hypocrisy and gossip are contrasted with Grandpa's biblical and rational logic for his choices is one of the main thrusts of the novel. A lot could be said about its historical detail (the elaborate network of customs and traditions, some of them almost barbaric by today's standards), or the moral complexities and subtle nuances of the characters, or even the characters' accents, written exactly how they sound (a credit to the author's ear, to be sure). There's enough in here to keep an English teacher happy for an entire semester. But I just liked it for itself, as a whole, and I liked it enough to read it again and again. A great story, well told. Enjoy.
ggcynthia
Apr 28, 2007
Life in Cold Sassy, 1906
?Full of marvelous yarns, colorful customs, genuine humor and pathos?.You are going to love Cold Sassy Tree?..Exuberant, funny, touching, and so full of the sheer joy of living that the amiable exercise of turning the pages will make you feel ten years younger.? The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio Even though 14 year-old Will Tweedy tells the story, it is anything but a ?teen? read! Set in Georgia in 1906, Burns credits her father, the ?real Will Tweedy,? as the source of small town life stories at the turn of the century. ?He could always make a good story better in the telling? (Acknowledgments). And what is the town?s very Southern name? Why, Cold Sassy, GA! And what in the world does it mean? The ?Tree? is the clue. Characters: Grandpa Rucker Blakeslee------------------main character Grandma Mattie Lou -----------------------(her passing on p. 1 is focus of story) Aunt Loma-----------------------------------his younger, spoiled-rotten daughter Mary Willis----------------------------------his older daughter & Will?s mom Hoyt & Camp-----------------------his sons-in-law who work in Blakeslee?s store Miss Love Simpson----------------Yankee milliner working in Grandpa?s store Plot: exactly three weeks after Miss Mattie Lou?s death, Grandpa Blakeslee announces to his family that he is marrying Miss Love. Shock--revolt?disgust?and hereby hangs the tale. Theme: the good, bad, & ugly of small town, very Confederate South at turn of century Moral character: But is it ?Christian?? Better question: what is its moral character? Is evil punished and good rewarded? Yes. Even more?the Lord is honored & Satan is discredited; the Baptist church is presented realistically (for the times), as are the others. Cold Sassy Tree is neither shallow nor trite; it is well worth the reading (or listening!). Blakeslee Quotes: ?Well, good gosh a?mighty!.. She?s dead as she?ll ever be, ain?t she? Well, ain?t she?? ?Some folks ain?t said pea-turkey to God in years.? About Grandpa: ?He was a democrat, a Baptist, and a devout Confederate veteran. The words Abraham Lincoln couldn?t be spoke in his presence.? ?Ain?t no point. Jest something to do when you cain?t sleep?.I quit thinkin? words and then I started to get sleepy. The surprise was when God came into the pitcher. I don?t mean I saw God. I?well, I felt him, like He was inside a-me, or at least closer than my nose, stead a-bein? way off up in the clouds somewhere thet I cain?t reach to?.Hit feels like that now, Love. Hit must be what the Bible means by ?Peace, be still,? or ?Be still and know thet I am God.?? ?They?s a heap more to God?s will than death, disappoint-ment, and like thet. Hit?s God?s will for us to be good, do good, and love one another, be forgivin??.I can forgive a fool, but I ain?t inner-rested in coddlin? hypocrites. ?When the spirit a? Jesus Christ come down on them disciples later, they quit settin? around a- moanin? and a? tremblin?, an got to work. They warn?t scairt no more, and the words they spoke had fire in??m.?
