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The Whisper of the River
by
Ferrol Sams
In this sequel to Run with the Horsemen, the redoubtable Porter Osborne Jr., a little older and slightly more worldly, leaves the dusty security of his rural Georgia home for college. The year is 1938, but the story is timeless. Armed with the self-assurance of having been "Raised Right, " Porter goes off to Willingham University. Neither Porter nor the university will eve...more
Hardcover, 528 pages
Published
November 1st 1984
by Peachtree Publishers
(first published 1984)
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This trilogy is underrated. Porter Osbourne should go down as one of the classic characters not just in Southern Lit, but in literature in general.
The first book is as a good a rumination on adolescent male sexuality as Roth's "Portnoy's Complaint," and also examines race relations and generational distance in the agrarian early-20th century South. The second find Porter disillusioned with life and medical school, as well as losing his virginity to the unforgettable Vashti. The third sees him g...more
The first book is as a good a rumination on adolescent male sexuality as Roth's "Portnoy's Complaint," and also examines race relations and generational distance in the agrarian early-20th century South. The second find Porter disillusioned with life and medical school, as well as losing his virginity to the unforgettable Vashti. The third sees him g...more
What a great book for me! I'm still not certain why I bought it, or why I recently picked it up, but from the first I felt like I was reading my own psychological biography. While my personal life hasn't been as racy (unfortunately), and I was not a runt (I had the opposite developmental problem), I still followed the humorous trajectory of Sambo as he traveled from prissy piousness to philosophical Christianity. Sambo -- what a congenial character! He has a face that reeks of innocence, but his...more
Aug 28, 2009
Gill
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
People who enjoyed Run with the horsemen, historians, those interested in religious discussion.
Recommended to Gill by:
Donette Lee
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I read this for the second time because I remembered loving the trilogy. I had books 2 and 3 on the shelf so re-read this, the 2nd in the series. It was as wonderful in this encore reading as I remember it being. The story is of a small, young country Georgia boy who goes to University in Macon. While there, Porter Osborne, Jr. grows up. His friendships, capers, close calls, revelations and evolution make for a funny, poignant tale. I laughed out loud and cried quietly but left the book with a w...more
1 like · like · see review
Jan 14, 2008
Peter
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biographies-biographical-novels
My Favorite of the Trilogy -- the first hooks you, this one is the beginning of the man...
But you have to read all three to ensure you capture the essence of what it takes to be "Raised Right"
But you have to read all three to ensure you capture the essence of what it takes to be "Raised Right"
1 like · like · see review
A rollicking good fun regional novel packed with delightful descriptions! The mastery of the English language is something with which to be amazed. The choice of words is so precise and vivid. The novel follows a quickly intelligent boy from rural farm-country Georgia as he navigates his way through all four years at a small private Georgia Baptist university. It highlights his pranks, musings of people and places, his growing-up experiences, his friendships and his relationships with others. Im...more
After reading the first novel in this trilogy, I eagerly jumped into "The Whisper of the River" and was not disappointed. Porter Osborne Jr is in college in this novel and his journey of unabashed self-discovery continues. This novel is as honest and as compelling as the first and adds even more characters--some more developed and memorable than others (who could forget Boston Harbor Jones?)--for us to sample. There are sad and bittersweet moments tempered with college hilarity that stands the t...more
This book was a required read before I began attending Mercer University in Macon, GA. It is the loosely autobiographical story of Porter Osborne, Jr. as he leaves his rural farm life to attend college at Willingham University. The author modeled the story on his own experiences at the school. I highly recommend this book! If you do read it, for further information, here are pictures and names of the people in the story with their book character names as well (http://tarver.mercer.edu/archives/w...more
This is the follow-up to Sams' book Run with the Horsemen, the story of the boy - Porter L. Osborne, Jr. - growing up on the farm in south Georgia. I remember these books being around our house as I was growing up.
Whisper is about Porter growing up and going off to a fictional Baptist college in Macon. It's supremely well-written, with poignant moments as well as hilarious ones. It's just good, smart summer reading.
Whisper is about Porter growing up and going off to a fictional Baptist college in Macon. It's supremely well-written, with poignant moments as well as hilarious ones. It's just good, smart summer reading.
Apr 03, 2008
George Bradford
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to George Bradford by:
Scott
Shelves:
southern-man,
truth
The Whisper of the River is as fine a work of American Literature as I have ever read. No survey of 20th Century American Novels is complete without it. No student of Southern United States fiction should overlook it.
In Run With the Horsemen Ferrol Sams presents the reader a mountain of a man (Porter Osborne, Jr.) In The Whisper of the River Ferrol Sams presents the reader a mountain of a book. And it is hilarious.
The conclusion of Run With the Horsemen was hopeful, optimistic and exciting. As a...more
In Run With the Horsemen Ferrol Sams presents the reader a mountain of a man (Porter Osborne, Jr.) In The Whisper of the River Ferrol Sams presents the reader a mountain of a book. And it is hilarious.
The conclusion of Run With the Horsemen was hopeful, optimistic and exciting. As a...more
A lovely coming of age story about going off to college and the start of World War II. A great ending line and a rollicking good time in the middle. I read it while in college - it was required reading at my husband's school, the school Sams attended - my husband lived in "Nottingham." It was really moving and captures so much of the angst, joy, and freedom of college life.
Don't let the cover mislead you. It's hardly about a weepy romance. It's about a boy who's been "raised right" as we say down here for strict Southern Baptists. He goes to college, joins a fraternity and loosens some of his impossible standards. I laughed throughout. But it's also poignant regarding race and sex. I'm rereading it.
I was required to read this book for college at Mercer University (the college Willingham University is based on). I really enjoyed it, mainly because many of the places mentioned in the book (though fictionalized) were familiar to me. The book does have some fairly vulgar parts, but the story itself is great.
The sequel to "Run with the Horseman," I loved it. Lots of southern culture and humor as we travel with Sambo to college. The ending is almost "hanging" as WW II breaks out. Parts are "laugh out loud" funny.
A wonderfully Southern book written about growing up. Ferrol Sams combines the grotesque with the beauty of the South to create a masterpiece of wonder and confusion. Read with a glass of wine.
Follows up on Run with the horsemen. The main character goes off to college and a far larger world than where he grew up. I recommend it to anyone. Love the author's writings.
This book was laugh out loud funny. In Ferrol Sams class story telling style, the antics of Porter Osborne in college are hysterical.
a peak at college life in the 1930s in a small southern town at at small private college. interesting juxtaposition to my own experiences.
What a super book! Sams evokes pre-WW2 rural Georgia in a way that reminds me of Faulkner, but funnier.
This encompasses a journey, my journey, from boy to man in the south. Funny too.
A magical, mischievous, and complex sequel, but one that had a hundred pages too many.
This is one of my favorite books of all time. Ferrol Sams is SO funny!
I liked it better than the 1st, but not quite as much as the 3rd.
Read this book ready to laugh out loud. Fun fun fun. Fun.
Excellent book by another great Georgia author ~
Another great read by Ferrol Sams
Great story
Folksy but funny.
Part two of Ferrol Sams trilogy finds The Boy in college. This book is my favorite of all of them( although I must admit that, for some unknown reason, I have refused to read the third installment, which deals with Porter Osborne Jr.'s war years).
With a six-fingered black man named Boston Harbor Jones, a blind roommate who steals food and even prissy secret hussies who deflower virgins, this book is an epic romp through college life on the teetering edge of World War II.
With a six-fingered black man named Boston Harbor Jones, a blind roommate who steals food and even prissy secret hussies who deflower virgins, this book is an epic romp through college life on the teetering edge of World War II.
Ferrol Sams is great I can't believe I laughed till I cried at some of the chapters in this book. I waited so long to read this book. I started "When All the World was Young" as soon as I finished this.
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“Of a sudden he felt that fraternity life was the only way to exist at college. How could he have doubted? (126)”
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“It didn't amount to a fart in a windstorm, nohow.”
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Apr 18, 2012 01:03pm