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241st out of 692 books
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2,804 voters
I Am One of You Forever
This novel describes the experiences of a young boy growing up in North Carolina in the 1940s.
Paperback, 184 pages
Published
August 1st 1987
by Louisiana State University Press
(first published 1985)
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This story is told from the perspective of a young boy, or sometimes from the perspective of a grown man reflecting upon his childhood. The story line is rather time fluid, and episodic, which might seems difficult at times, but press through and it's worth it. I have enjoyed this book for its (almost) magical realism, and fantastic imagery, and the quirkiness of the characters. At points, I literally laughed out loud.
The only qualm I have with this book is that Chappell doesn't expand the cha...more
The only qualm I have with this book is that Chappell doesn't expand the cha...more
Fred Chappell is one of my favorite Appalachian writers--maybe one of the most enjoyable writers I've read in general. This book (published in 1985) is the first of what some call the "Kirkman Tetralogy"--four books narrated by Jess Kirkman. Jess would seem to be a thinly veiled autobiographical representation of Chappell. In this book, we visit his memories of preteen years growing up in North Carolina in the 1940s. We come to know the Kirkman/Sorrels family, particularly Jess's father Joe Robe...more
Pudiera parecer que Libros Del Asteroide se está centrando en la Norteamérica rural de mediados de siglo. Si Adiós, Hasta Mañana de William Maxwell (una de las últimas referencias de esta editorial) miraba hacia allá, Me Voy Con Vosotros Para Siempre hace lo propio... pero con ciertas variables más que gratificantes. Para empezar, el tono general de depresión social se ve ungido por una mirada infantil que no duda en incurrir en un realismo mágico que tiene muchísimo más de poesía que de (¡Dios...more
Fred Chappell tells a tale of a young boy living in a mountain town of North Carolina around the time of World War II. Jess is no older than a third grader, and as most young boys do, he admires his farmer dad and the family hand, Johnson Gibbs, a young man who was pseudo-adopted by the family via employment as a helper on the farm. Johnson and dad are mischievous, and Jess yearns to partake in the mischief, though oftentimes, he is a mere bystander or the object of the tricks. In this novel, yo...more
Favorite Quotes
The tear on my mother’s cheek got larger and larger. It detached from her face and became a shiny globe, widening outward like an inflating balloon. At first the tear floated in the air between them, but as it expanded it took my mother and father into itself. I saw them suspended, separate but beginning to slowly drift towards one another. Then my mother looked past my father’s shoulder, looked through the bright skin of the tear, at me. The tear enlarged until at last, it took m...more
The tear on my mother’s cheek got larger and larger. It detached from her face and became a shiny globe, widening outward like an inflating balloon. At first the tear floated in the air between them, but as it expanded it took my mother and father into itself. I saw them suspended, separate but beginning to slowly drift towards one another. Then my mother looked past my father’s shoulder, looked through the bright skin of the tear, at me. The tear enlarged until at last, it took m...more
I just like steeping in these stories and feeling boundaries blur. Enjoying without needing anything to "happen." I like this as a whole, but also often find myself sitting down to read chapters here and there. I'm still debating on whether or not to run the whole thing on any level. Chapters could probably be taught individually. I like "The Beard," "The Telegram," and "The Storytellers" in particular. Joe would probably say this is my "southern-fried side" coming out. And also my nostalgic sid...more
Funny book, and the blurb on the back is accurate when Fred Chappell is compared to Eudora Welty. They are certainly similar in their styles. However, I believe Welty is the stronger writer, and if one is looking for Southern/country comedic writing, I would recommend both writers, though I would personally lean toward Welty over Chappell.
I thought the first half of the book (prior to The Telegram) was better than the second half. I don't know why that was...perhaps I was just getting tired of...more
I thought the first half of the book (prior to The Telegram) was better than the second half. I don't know why that was...perhaps I was just getting tired of...more
A boy's up-bringing on a North Carolina farm in the 40s told with dialect--a lot of aint's--and Baptist infusions but this is no fried green tomatoes story. This is writing of a master. Just when you least expect it his stories turn into magic realism, then back to reality, back and forth with ease and skill. I did not want this book to end. I understand this is the first of the series and I have not yet read them all.
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This was a lovely, slice of life book by Fred Chappell. I'm not sure if it is a collection of short stories made into a novel or was originally intended as a novel, but the final product is filled with loveliness. I think what surprised me was the balance between realism and surrealism. The book begins very realistically. The language paints the landscape with such care. Then, the surrealism pops in, like in the story "The Beard." Our characters want to find out how long an uncle's beard is and...more
At first I wasn't impressed with this book. I had read one other book by Fred Chappell and liked it. But this book was rather slow in getting started. I guess after thrillers by James Patterson and others, this would naturally be a slow read. But the story picked up with the introduction of unusual characters in the book. I loved Uncle Zeno, Uncle Runkin, and Aunt Sam Barefoot. It turned out to be a surprising novel.
If 4.5 stars were an option, that would be my choice for this novel. The voice is just so dead-on, managing both to be poetic and hilarious in turn. Calling it a coming-of-age book sounds rather sappy, but I suppose underneath that's what it is. It's not my usual choice of narrators (a teenage boy) but I think a narrator like this supersedes demographic. Wonderful characters and language.
Having grown up in the same town as Chappell (the town upon which the setting of this book is loosely based), I first read I Am One Of You Forever in freshman honors English in high school. At a recent event, I ran into Mr. Chappell and the English teacher who assigned the book back in high school, and I was inspired to read the book again. What a true Appalachian treasure!
I forgot about the fact that I never reviewed this book until I read Sarah Addison Allen's novel The Peach Keeper and the magical realism reminded me of Chappell's novel. This book bore a hole right through the center of my heart when I read it. It's a gorgeous book, and when I read it, I had never read anything like it before.
Read an Arabic translation by Nehad Seleha
نهاد صليحة
The book is not an ordinary adventure book. It is very funny but so touching too. The of integration of magical realism into the book is done very beautifully. There is a 4-page chapter called البرقية The Telegram ... it is one of the best things I've read EVER.
نهاد صليحة
The book is not an ordinary adventure book. It is very funny but so touching too. The of integration of magical realism into the book is done very beautifully. There is a 4-page chapter called البرقية The Telegram ... it is one of the best things I've read EVER.
My all-time favorite book. It is a masterpiece of Appalachian story-telling, seamlessly blending the fantastic with harsher realities. I have never wanted so much to read a book aloud, as it needs a mountain twang to be heard properly. Amazing imagery, vivid characters (real people? who can say?). A book with great heart.
Fantastic...literally. Chappell is soooo smart. He raises 'simple' mountain folk tales to a kind of modern mythology and creates a metaphysical experience about the EXPERIENCE of storytelling. This works on so many levels it boggles the mind and yet, on the surface, appears as a hillbilly bildungsroman. great!
I didn't expect to enjoy the book, although I can't say why. I did enjoy it, though, from its simple prose to its quirky - but very real - characters. Each chapter is almost its own self-contained story, with continuity between characters and setting. Some are realistic, some fantastical.
For being hailed as equal to Eudora Welty, Mark Twain, and William Faulkner, I was really disappointed with this book. I never got the point of the book. The magical realism randomly thrown in the story distracted and confused me as a reader. This type of book just wasn't my cup of tea.
I kind of liked how it blurred the line between fantastical and actual events. It emphasized how Jess' imagination was pretty real to him. This book reminded me of Summer of the Monkeys.
A charming book about a young boy, whose farming family had lots of family, and they came by to visit extended visits. Made me laugh so hard I had tears in my eyes, and then cry with sadness at the loss of the life of a friend.
A quietly magical novel--one of my favorites, and the first in a quartet--by an author whose books I first discovered as an undergraduate, and who I have been privileged to publish over the course of many years.
This is maybe my favorite book of all time. It is both whimsical joy and wistful wisdom. My heart swells... All of the books in this series are beautiful, and reading them makes me feel more like myself.
Heh. This is on my top ten of alllll time. Fred's one of my favorite writers. He's from NC, so he's most certainly a southern writer. More specifically, he's from the mountians of Applachia, and entirely distinct and interesting culture if you've never ventured to that part of the country. This book is told through the POV of Jess Kirkman, a young boy growin gup on a farm in the NC mountains and a thinly veiled depiction of the author's early life. The writing is rich, evocative and poetic. A se...more
How do I explain a book like, "I Am One of You Forever"? It was deeply satisfying - the luminous prose, the tying up of loose ends...just tight enough...the mix of strange and commonplace. There are few books that cause me to make audible sounds when I read them (unless I'm reading aloud of course). This book made me laugh outloud as well as gasp at the pure genius of how Chappell strings words together. His writing is filled with unique similes and metaphors, creating clear pictures for my mind...more
A cross of mountain family life and tall tales, this is a series of vignettes that make you think this family is real. The emotions expressed are real and a fun read of their adventures.
Sweet, funny, gritty with tinges of an Appalachian Big Fish. Not too 'oniony'. This is closer to the WNC that I know, with silly men and women who love them anyway.
Had to read it for school.. It was okay I thought it was all over the Place and I didn't find the need for magical realism. Good book overall.
It has been years since I read this, but I remember thinking that it might be a good book to teach. It is funny and well-written.
An excellent collection of stories about a southern mountain family, centering around the boy they took in, Johnson Gibbs.
Appalachian mysticism on a farm, in a family. Amazing read. Highly recommended that every southerner read this.
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Fred Davis Chappell retired after 40 years as an English professor at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He was the Poet Laureate of North Carolina from 1997-2002. He attended Duke University.
His 1968 novel Dagon, which was named the Best Foreign Book of the Year by the Academie Française, is a recasting of a Cthulhu Mythos horror story as a psychologically realistic Southern Gothic.
His l...more
More about Fred Chappell...
His 1968 novel Dagon, which was named the Best Foreign Book of the Year by the Academie Française, is a recasting of a Cthulhu Mythos horror story as a psychologically realistic Southern Gothic.
His l...more
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