Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

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Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

4.19 of 5 stars 4.19 · rating details · 95,807 ratings · 2,129 reviews

It's first the story of two women in the 1980s, of gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode telling her life story to Evelyn, who is in the sad slump of middle age. The tale she tells is also of two women -- of the irrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth, who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop, Alabama, a Southern kind of Cafe Wobegon offering...more

Hardcover, 416 pages

Published May 7th 2002 by Random House (first published 1987)

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Nov 05, 2012 Giulia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Giulia by: SiMo

Shelves: pozzo-letterario, donne

Quando l’oggetto di un romanzo coincide perfettamente con l’effetto che esso provoca nel lettore il successo è garantito. In questo caso parlo della proprietà terapeutica del racconto. Di come i racconti della signora Threadgoode cambino la vita della sua nuova amica Evelyn Couch e di come il libro di Fannie Flagg cambi un po’ anche la vita del lettore. Non in senso drastico, intendiamoci. Ritengo però che questo sia uno di quei libri che aiutano a ridimensionare un po’ il tutto, a dare le giust...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Lynne King rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

I saw that a friend was reading this book, loved the cover and blurb and immediately ordered it for my Kindle. When I first started reading it, I thought that it was “insane” but I soon realised what a gem of a book I’d discovered. This has to be the best book I’ve read for a long time and I have no doubt that I’ll continue to look at it many times in the future.

Now where to start with this multi-faceted book? I’ve read quite a few excellent reviews on it and mine may be nothing in comparison bu...more

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Nov 30, 2007 Natalie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: glbt-fiction, fiction, not-on-kindle

Good characters, some good stories... but often poorly organized, meandering, and not cohesive -- often I was left wondering what the point was, and once the book was done, I still had no answer. The prose was sometimes great, but more often amateur. This was really a mixed bag.

The best I can come up with for the "point" of the novel was to show how times changed from the 20s to the mid-80s through the stories of multiple characters who are connected in various ways. Tied in there somewhere is t...more Good characters, some good stories... but often poorly organized, meandering, and not cohesive -- often I was left wondering what the point was, and once the book was done, I still had no answer. The prose was sometimes great, but more often amateur. This was really a mixed bag.

The best I can come up with for the "point" of the novel was to show how times changed from the 20s to the mid-80s through the stories of multiple characters who are connected in various ways. Tied in there somewhere is the theme of friendship. Even that was haphazard and random, but if that isn't supposed to tie everything together then I'm honestly not sure what does.

The basic problem I had with the novel was that so much of what is written seems extraneous to anything of importance. It's full of little scenes that are neat but don't accomplish anything, which is generally the sort of thing an author reluctantly cuts from the final version. Then, when the book is done, it feels like little was important at all. Bits and pieces here and there are poignant, but it just doesn't feel like a cohesive story, or that the majority of the events have any connection to anything.

It's a disappointing feeling that's hard to shake. It's like the author had a whole fictional world set up, and rather than picking the best story within that world, she just kind of regurgitated it all onto the page. There's good stuff there, but the reader has to wade through a lot to get to it. I felt like it wasn't worth the effort for the small pay-offs here and there.

This is a rare situation where I feel the movie was MUCH better than the book; the movie had coherent themes and a clear story, and since only significant events were included it was much easier to feel involved in the characters. The characters often had more depth because they weren't diluted down by meaningless events. The movie didn't lose any of the "old yarn" feel of the book either, even though it eliminated many of the superfluous characters and side stories. It was as if someone took the novel and gave it direction by stripping it back down to what was good -- the Evelyn and Ninny Threadgoode story, the Ruth/Idgie story, and the characters -- and ran with that... which is exactly what the novel should have done. The only thing that disappointed me about the movie was that it made Idgie and Ruth's relationship more platonic, but the book is barely a step up from that anyway.

Back to the prose: it was of inconsistent quality, which was distracting. Some passages made me cry (in a good way), while others sounded childish. Even the best passages had many redundant words in them. If this had been avoided, and if the story had been as focused as the movie, I think it would have been a great 150 page book. Longer is not always better.

Generally speaking, dialogue is a weak point whenever a character isn't telling a story; the reader has to wade through a lot of pointless exchanges -- "Hello, how are you?" "Good, how are you?" "Good..." -- and whenever a character experiences any kind of powerful emotion, their dialogue comes out sounding contrived instead of realistic. This sucked the tension out of most of the scenes with the potential to be powerful, unfortunately. The aforementioned scenes that made me cry were always thoughts internal to the characters; no speech was involved.

Anyway, it was not a terrible book, but I don't recommend it. Any reader that would go through the effort to glean the good parts from it may as well just watch the movie.(less)

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Nov 15, 2007 Katie Abbott Harris rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really love this movie, but as usual, the book is much better and vastly different. In 1985, two women, Ninny and Evelyn, meet and develop a strong friendship. They share treats and conversation while Ninny spins the story of Whistle Stop and its inhabitants, weaving relationships through generations in an enchanting tale of the Old South. The journey is equally important for both women, allowing Ninny to remember and embrace her past while helping Evelyn to accept her past and look forward to...more

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Jun 09, 2012 Kua rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, gdl, b-3-1

Un libro veramente molto piacevole, uno spaccato dell'America del Sud degli anni '30, raccontato attraverso i bollettini settimanali di Dot Weems, la cronaca dell'epoca e i ricordi di Ninny Threadgoode, che narra le vicende del piccolo centro di Whistle Stop alla sua nuova amica Evelyn. Un pezzo di passato in cui la vita della comunità era veramente il punto di riferimento di ogni persona che vi faceva parte, dove tutti sapevano tutto di tutti, che a volte può sembrare una cosa soffocante, ma ch...more

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Dec 11, 2008 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

I feel bad saying it, but I think this is a case where I liked the movie better than I liked the book! The movie had its heartbreaking moments, but one was still left with quite a bit of humor and a general feeling of the significance of living life to the fullest. The book featured many more characters (and tragedies!) than the movie chose to portray, and the sadness of some of the stories dragged down the more humorous parts of the book. I guess I had expected the movie when I opened the pages...more

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Oct 01, 2007 Lauren rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really love this movie, so I decided to check out the book (which I often do...movie, then book). I found that the book had a lot more going on than the movie, including a plethora of new characters, which I often found confusing. However, the addition of characters allowed for a look at race relations throughout much of the 20th century, which was very interesting. Overall, though, I liked the way the movie flushed out the main characters and their storyline better than the book, and felt tha...more

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Valcal410 I've never heard of a review where the person likes the movie better than the book...that's very interesting....but i don't read tons of reviews so th...more I've never heard of a review where the person likes the movie better than the book...that's very interesting....but i don't read tons of reviews so that's not saying much! :-)

in terms of book v. movie comparisons - I think the shawshank redemption may be the one case where the movie is better than the book - or they are both equally good if anything - but i think that is primarily because it is a SHORT STORY rather than a novel and thus, it lends itself better to being turned into a 90 minute movie. the director did not have to cut much, if anything, out of the book from the movie. if i recall correctly, the movie basically IS the book. right? I also think the acting and soundtrack really elevate that movie and the emotions it evokes. ahhh, great movie

i think the general problem with movies written from books is that they are lacking in certain essential or even entertaining descriptions, background and character development, and explanations behind character motivations and actions and they also omit certain great secondary themes, stories and characters -They usually simplify the story. Sometimes they can get it right and strike at the cord of the book, but still, they are not the whole. and thus, because the book contains more of what is good, it is almost always better than the movie (which by definition contains less of what is good - I am TOTALLY simplifying here and hearkening back to some philosophy 101 rhetoric! sorry!). also because movies have to please the mainstream - they have to omit certain unpleasantness, character or story complexities, internal thoughts that cannot be expressed in picture (unless narrated or something) and they have to simply or shorten the storyline to fit into a 90 minute film that can keep people's attention. life is much more complex than a movie can show sometimes. characters and people are more complex and that duality and complexity, that yin and yang, is often better told in words than pictures. And thus, when you dumb or water down a work of literature like that, it usually follows that it is not all that it could be. And it's always great when movies can capture the book's essence or be sooo true to the book that they don't disappoint readers. That's a true accomplishment in my eyes. In any case, I think Fried Green Tomatoes, the movie was great and really captured the flavor of the book, but I also really enjoyed reading the book after the fact and the little facts and tid bits that it provided that helped me to better understand the movie, people and the lessons of the story. and that's all i have to say about that ;-)(less)
Jun 06, 2011 07:26pm

Jul 03, 2012 Arwen56 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romanzi

Ho visto prima il film, ma ho amato di più il libro. Entrambi sono riuscitissimi, benché la pellicola non sia del tutto aderente al romanzo. Però possono vantare tutti e due una solida struttura ed una convincente armonia. Non sono del tutto reali, no. Vi è molto della favola in essi. Ma in un modo gentile. E’ come se ti dicessero: “Eh, sì, la vita fa parecchio schifo, ma puoi sempre contare sul fatto che da qualche parte ci dovrà pur essere questo Whistle Stop Café”.
Esattamente come da qualche...more

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Feb 28, 2011 Nick rated it 5 of 5 stars

Evelyn Couch, an empty-nester woman who is unable to find meaning in her life, finds personal strength and a new zest for living through the stories and friendship of Mrs. Threadgoode, a nursing home resident.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is essentially about the relationships of two sets of women—Evelyn and Mrs. Threadgoode in the present (1980s) and Idgie and Ruth in the past. At the start of the novel, Evelyn has no purpose and finds her life unbearable. Her kids are grown a...more Evelyn Couch, an empty-nester woman who is unable to find meaning in her life, finds personal strength and a new zest for living through the stories and friendship of Mrs. Threadgoode, a nursing home resident.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is essentially about the relationships of two sets of women—Evelyn and Mrs. Threadgoode in the present (1980s) and Idgie and Ruth in the past. At the start of the novel, Evelyn has no purpose and finds her life unbearable. Her kids are grown and don’t talk to her, her marriage is essentially loveless, and she has no job or friends. During her visits to see her mother-in-law in the nursing home, Evelyn starts to develop a close friendship with Mrs. Threadgoode, another resident at the home. Mrs. Threadgoode recounts stories of life in Whistle Stop, Alabama from about the 1920s onward. Many of these stories center on two close friends and lesbian lovers, Ruth and Idgie. Evelyn’s and Mrs. Threadgoode’s growing friendship and inspiration from the strength of Idgie and Ruth help Evelyn become a happier, more confident person.

The importance of friendship is the central, unifying theme for the whole novel. The story skips around to different times, different cities, and different characters. Yet through all of the changes that occur over time and place, the constant is that kindness and friendship can triumph the many hardships that people might face in life.

Fried Green Tomatoes is a very emotional book. The characters are very likable (with the one obvious exception) and easy to empathize with. Consequently, readers will share in the emotions of the characters through both joyful and painful times. It’s also hard not to feel a sense of sorrow and loss for the gradual transformation of Whistle Stop from a bustling village into a ghost town.

I really enjoyed the book. Other readers my get more out of the relationships in the book than I did. I was much more interested in the story and setting. I was lost in a sort of nostalgia for the café and the “simpler times” of Depression-era Whistle Stop. Although the book has a leisurely pace, I found that it read very quickly; I couldn’t put it down because I had to know what was going to happen next. I highly recommend it.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe will most likely appeal to women who are 30 or older and people who enjoy reading historical fiction or books that take place in the South.
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Jul 02, 2008 whichwaydidshego? rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to whichwaydidshego? by: Courtney

Shelves: modernfiction

This is a book that reminds us of what was once truly great about society, while still facing the worst in it head on. It mayn't again be found in the community, but it certainly can be found within us, if we choose it. And in small ways, then, glimpses will be found in our circle and possibly beyond.

It tells us that equality - of race, of sex, of age - is a disposition that comes from deep within, but is also a decision and a lifestyle. Remember, we, none of us, are merely what we appear to be....more

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Apr 25, 2009 Alisa added it

Shelves: what-my-book-club-has-read

I've always found the movie totally charming, and the book is even more so. Here we get a lot more of the back story of the Threadgoode family, and Idgie's relationship with Ruth. The story moves back and forth in time, and it is interspersed with amusing clips from the Whistle Stop newspaper.

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Jan 13, 2013 Alicia rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book. I loved the character of each of the sections - news, narrative, local speak - it really gives you a sense of why someone like Evelyn would be so drawn to the people and the place of Whistle Stop and Flagg takes you along for that ride. I had trouble following the dates for the first third of the book and found myself flipping back to previous chapters to try to figure out the chronology. I loved how Evelyn would learn about a story from Ninny in the nursing home and then in t...more

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Sep 16, 2011 Thalia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, made, into, movie, family, saga, 2008, office, shelf, 2-5

I really don't know why this treasure sat on my tbr pile for four years. I bought it after I read „Standing in the Rainbow“ which I absolutely adored, and then I put off reading it.[return]Usually I don't like reading family sagas too much, but every once in a while one comes along that grabs you, makes you laugh and cry and doesn't let you go until you've turned the last page. And beyond. This is one of those books. I fell in love with the story and the people in it after about ten pages.[retur...more

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Aug 08, 2011 John Mcconahey added it · review of another edition

Having experienced the depression firsthand, my mother was rife with witticisms and anecdotes of being a teenager in her small Ohio town during the early ‘30s. Being a baby-boomer raised in a more affluent era, I never really connected with her many parables. This book focuses mostly on the residents of Whistle Stop, Alabama, and documents the joys, sorrows, prides, prejudices, sins and virtues of the of the little railroad-supported community. After devouring this enthralling book, my mom’s tal...more

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Jan 19, 2009 Danny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-book

Always interesting to read the book after seeing the movie. Especially since I love the movie so much.

I like the book too, though. It's kind of radical in a lot of ways, which is depressing because it was written in the 1980s. Depressing because it's radical in mostly feminist ways and that really shouldn't be radical anymore.

The storyline was largely the same as the movie with tweaks here and there, mostly to do with timeline, or what Ninny Threadgoode, the storyteller, knew and didn't know. In...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Stephanie "Jedigal" rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-on-my, lgbt, with-em

Oh, what a lovely story. I so wish that the movie hadn't come about first. Not that I think the movie was a BAD job of pulling out a two-hour screen story from this book. The movie was fine, but inevitably a bit watered down. What is great about the book is all the fun details you get. Whistle Stop and its small community are much more important here.

This book skips around in time more than anything I've read to date. The "present-day" 1980's storyline of Evelyn Couch's visits to the nursing ho...more Oh, what a lovely story. I so wish that the movie hadn't come about first. Not that I think the movie was a BAD job of pulling out a two-hour screen story from this book. The movie was fine, but inevitably a bit watered down. What is great about the book is all the fun details you get. Whistle Stop and its small community are much more important here.

This book skips around in time more than anything I've read to date. The "present-day" 1980's storyline of Evelyn Couch's visits to the nursing home are chronological, but the stories of Idgie and Ruth and their family, friends, and neighbors, black and white, and interspersed with the present-day thread in NO particular order. And this actually works really well. In addition to hearing anecdotes and tales from old Ninny Threadgoode's conversation, some are also presented via the Weems Weekly, Whistle Stop Alabama's Weekly Bulletin, written and "published" by the 'postmistress' Dot Weems, various miscellaneous newspaper and radio reports, and standard 3rd person narration. Instead of feeling disjointed, it works really well here.

Flagg's characters are portrayed humorously and lovingly. Minor characters in many novels are also flat characters, but Flagg seems to breath life into her entire cast. She paints the events in their lives, whether tragic, joyous, major or minor, with the lightest brush strokes. The people and the stories don't settle heavily in your mind, but float there like a bird on the water.

This novel is more about the community of Whistle Stop, and also about the times and nation that shaped it, and how it shaped its members, and perhaps through them the future, than it is the story of Idgie Threadgoode. I get the sense that Idgie (despite being very much her own individual person) was also such a good person because of the family and town of good people she belonged to. We could all hope to be so lucky in our communities today!

Okay, sorry if flowery and rambling. Anyway - I recommend. Fun, funny, sad, touching, but never depressing, in fact uplifting. (less)

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Mar 25, 2013 Fran rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Fittingly enough, I picked this book up at a cafe. Like the one in the book, the cafe is old-fashioned and a little disheveled, serving up unmatched tables and delicious apple pie in a sunny corner building that once was a hardware store. One wall is covered with bookcases. You are welcome to borrow or donate a book. So, when I saw Fried Green Tomatoes on the shelf, I took it home. I've wanted to read it since the movie came out in 1991. I loved this quiet little film, which alternates between t...more Fittingly enough, I picked this book up at a cafe. Like the one in the book, the cafe is old-fashioned and a little disheveled, serving up unmatched tables and delicious apple pie in a sunny corner building that once was a hardware store. One wall is covered with bookcases. You are welcome to borrow or donate a book. So, when I saw Fried Green Tomatoes on the shelf, I took it home. I've wanted to read it since the movie came out in 1991. I loved this quiet little film, which alternates between the story of Eleanor, a fat, unfulfilled, middle-aged housewife in the late 1980s and the tale of lesbian couple Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison in Depression-era Alabama, which Eleanor hears from an old woman she visits in a nursing home every Sunday.

Now, a strange thing happens when you've seen (and liked) a movie before you've read the book: It is almost impossible not to imagine the actors -- their voices, expressions, hair, clothes -- when you read the book. This is not necessarily a bad thing, especially when the actors capture the characters as beautifully as they did in Fried Green Tomatoes. Kathy Bates is perfect as the frumpy housewife who discovers her spine, and Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary Louise Parker are just as good as tomboy Idgie and the gentle, doe-eyed Ruth who steals her heart. So, as I've been reading the book, I've been seeing and hearing these actresses in my head. (That said, I always try to read the book first. I pity kids whose first exposure to The Lord of the Rings or other treasures is through the movie, no matter how wonderful the movie may be. But I digress.)

SPOILER ALERT .... SPOILERS BELOW!

While the film captures the essence of the novel, it does gloss rather daintily over the lesbian relationship at its core. The book's matter-of-fact depiction of this life-long love affair is one of its charms. When 16-year-old Idgie, the fierce "bee charmer" who hunts and fishes instead of going to school, falls for "sweet to the bones" Ruth, it doesn't seem to faze anyone. Years later, after Idgie rescues a pregnant Ruth from her abusive husband, Idgie's father gives her $250 and tells her to start a business so she can feed her growing family. There's no sense that they must explain or justify themselves. It is just the way it is. Whistle Stop accepts them into the fold, just as they accept a less palatable fact of Southern life: segregation.

Flagg portrays the violence and racisim of the South as matter-of-factly as she does the love affair between Idgie and Ruth. They are quietly subversive, selling barbeque out the back door of their cafe to blacks in spite of threats from the Ku Klux Klan, among other details I won't give away in case you plan to read the book.

The fictional world of Whistle Stop, Alabama feels real. You have the sense of observing lived lives. The book captures, in a way the film cannot, the full fabric of this little town, through vignettes of people, black and white, most of whom live on the wrong side of the tracks. It's not just Idgie and Ruth's story, but the story of their son Stump, of hobo Smokey Lonesome, Eva the town whore, Buddy, Sipsey, Big George, Onzel and Naughty Bird, with all their joys and human failings. When the trains stop coming through Whistle Stop and people start to move away, when the decades roll on by until the cafe is replaced by a McDonald's, I feel a pang of loss as strong as that when a beloved character dies.

Despite its often rather grim subject matter, this book is full of its laugh-out-loud humor. But, whenever I'm tempted to lapse into an idealized vision of a simpler time of practical jokes and scenes of big extended families laughing over Easter egg hunts, Flagg brings me up short with a young man being beaten to death in a tar-paper Hooverville or an ominous visit from men in white sheets.

Perhaps I'm also drawn to the book because it sheds light on my grandparents and parents. Mom and dad spent their childhoods in hardscrabble Oklahoma during the Depression, and Whistle Stop, Alabama reminds me of pictures of my grandmothers standing in their faded cotton dresses in front of sagging frame houses, babies draped casually over their arms.

I also enjoy the disjointed nature of the book, which shifts time periods and narrative perspective from one short chapter to another. We may hear about an episode first from a brief item in the chatty local newspaper, then observe that same event from an omniscient perspective in the next chapter. As a writer struggling with structure, I'm fascinated by Flagg's deft handling of this technique. I wonder if she wrote the book chronologically, then moved the chapters around afterward?
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Mar 20, 2013 Ellen Cohen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe has been a favorite movie for many years. Earlier this year I finally got around to read the book as well, and was not disappointed at all. The story is similar, of course, to the movie, but the book gives lots of moving, touching and funny details which are lost in the movie.

Evelyn is a sad middleaged woman, who feels her life is empty and dull, and she is not impressed at first when she meets the old Ninny in a nursing home. Ninny starts telling Eve...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Kiwi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I can't believe I never added anything up here even though I read this near the end of 2012.

'Fried Green Tomatoes' has been one of my favourite films since as long as I can remember. People talk about Idgie and Ruth being 'just friends' in the film, but even when I was younger I never got that impression; the food fight scene always seemed more intimate--and sexual--than any interactions I ever had with friends. I've always been excited to read the book, knowing the relationship was more out in...more I can't believe I never added anything up here even though I read this near the end of 2012.

'Fried Green Tomatoes' has been one of my favourite films since as long as I can remember. People talk about Idgie and Ruth being 'just friends' in the film, but even when I was younger I never got that impression; the food fight scene always seemed more intimate--and sexual--than any interactions I ever had with friends. I've always been excited to read the book, knowing the relationship was more out in the open, but was almost afraid to, as I sometimes get with the things I care about.

I did finally get around to it when I saw a copy at my church yard sale and picked it up. I took my time reading through it and am glad I finally did; I *loved* it.

I've always had this habit of splitting films and books into basically two completely different things, almost like they're different universes altogether; it has allowed me to enjoy the Harry Potter films, for example, despite their differences from the books. I did that with this book and find that I love them both equally for different things.

I loved the layering of the book, much like the film but even more, with Evelyn and Ninny's conversations and deepening relationship as we the readers form a deeper connection with the characters of Ninny's stories. The order of the segments--and that they *weren't* in order--seemed very authentic to me with a character who was clearly losing her grasp on the timeline of things. I loved how many other stories there were all knit into the book, too, and how they were all connected through different characters and in different times; that felt very much like life.

Strong older-women characters are always a favourite of mine. I loved the brand of 'strong' that Ninny was, and that through appreciating Ninny's old stories Evelyn grew an appreciation for her own life and power. Ninny was a hoot and a half; I really loved reading her.

The atmosphere of the book, with race in Alabama being more prominent than it felt in the film, read just right to me (though I wouldn't really know, being a white millennial from New England).

I was surprised to find that in some places I loved Idgie even more in the book than the film and sometimes less. The film seemed to capture her wild side without making her seem quite so young and immature, while occasionally her behaviour in the books made her just seem young even when she was older. Other moments, though, she seemed just right and I loved her.

Ruth I adored. Her brand of strength made me feel happy and whole, especially when put in combination with Idgie's tomboyish strength. I've never felt quite so pleased to be the combination of soft butch and hard femme that I am, feeling right dab in the middle between Idgie and Ruth. This book was great for my personal queer identity.

Anyway, I just loved it. I'll have to give it another read some time--oh, and try out those recipes in the back!(less)

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Aug 02, 2012 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars

This novel, made famous by the 1991 movie, tells the story of two pairs of women. The first is Evelyn Couch, a chubby, middle-aged woman with self-esteem issues and an elderly lady, Ninny Threadgoode, who Evelyn meets while visiting her mother-in-law in a nursing home. Mrs. Threadgoode quickly befriends Evelyn and enthralls her with stories of her life in the small Alabama town of Whistle Stop.

The second story is that of Ruth and Idgie, the two women who run the town’s well-loved café. Ruth is...more This novel, made famous by the 1991 movie, tells the story of two pairs of women. The first is Evelyn Couch, a chubby, middle-aged woman with self-esteem issues and an elderly lady, Ninny Threadgoode, who Evelyn meets while visiting her mother-in-law in a nursing home. Mrs. Threadgoode quickly befriends Evelyn and enthralls her with stories of her life in the small Alabama town of Whistle Stop.

The second story is that of Ruth and Idgie, the two women who run the town’s well-loved café. Ruth is a sweet-natured, beautiful lady with a young son named Stump. Idgie is a wild tomboy who drinks, shoots and swears with the men. Their love and friendship defies labels and stereotypes and binds them together for life.

I’ve loved this movie for years, but I somehow missed the book until now. I’m so glad I finally read it. The movie really did a wonderful job with the adaptation, but I think it missed some of the major issues from the novel. I was surprised by how many stories about race relations were in the book.

I loved watching Evelyn transform from a meek doormat to a happy, confident woman. At the beginning, Idgie is the polar opposite character, she’s just bursting at the seams with life. You just can’t beat her passion and spunk. I loved her relationship with Stump. She could talk to him in a way no one else could. She was the same way with the kind hobo, Smokey. She had a way of knowing exactly what people needed and giving it to them while asking for nothing in return.

The story bounces back and forth through the decades starting in the 1920s and finishing in the 1980s. The short chapters introduce us to dozens of southern characters, all of which manage to steal our hearts.

The author deals with serious issues, domestic abuse, racism, murder and more, but she does so while maintaining her sense of humor. One example is the sporadic “The Weems Weekly” which appears every few chapters. One Whistle Stop resident, Dot Weems, writes the bulletin on the small town news. She gives her personal commentary on the events and talks about “her other half (husband)” in a hilarious way.

I wasn’t expecting to like this one as much as I did. I can see this becoming a comfort read in the future. It was also a perfect book to read before my upcoming road trip to Alabama.(less)

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Jul 25, 2012 Eccentrika rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, comedy, my-favorites

Una storia che ho trovato veramente deliziosa: mi è piaciuta tantissimo! Narra un'america che viaggiava con i treni e che amava radunarsi nei piccoli caffè a gustare pranzi cucinati con amore e dai prezzi talmente bassi da sembrare irrisori. Un'america negli anni della recessione, con tanta povertà, ma con tanta voglia di vivere. Un'america fatta di amicizie e affetti sinceri e di solidarietà. Un'america che ormai non esiste più, perché spazzata via dal progresso, dalle multinazionali e dalla ri...more

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Jul 17, 2012 aBeiLLe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café lie ensemble le passé et le présent dans une histoire d’amitié naissante entre Evelyn Couch, une femme à la maison d’une cinquantaine d’année et Ninny Threadgoode, une femme âgée qui vit dans une maison de retraite.

Chaque semaine, Evelyn doit accompagner son mari lors de la visite dominicale à sa belle-mère qui n’entretient pas avec elle des sentiments amicaux. Elle profite donc de ces moments pour s’évader seule dans le salon commun de la résidence...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Sakura87 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autori-nordamericani, novecento, sentimentale

"E' meglio uccidere per amore che per odio, non credi?"

Raramente, ormai, mi prende la frenesia del libro da finire a tutti i costi, quel romanzo che sei costretto a tenere a distanza per resistere alla tentazione di terminarlo in un solo giorno. Ed è ciò che mi è successo con Pomodori verdi fritti al caffé di Whistle Stop.
Il romanzo è stato un vero e proprio caso editoriale all'inizio degli anni Novanta, complice soprattutto la trasposizione cinematografica non certo fedelissima, che tuttavia h...more "E' meglio uccidere per amore che per odio, non credi?"

Raramente, ormai, mi prende la frenesia del libro da finire a tutti i costi, quel romanzo che sei costretto a tenere a distanza per resistere alla tentazione di terminarlo in un solo giorno. Ed è ciò che mi è successo con Pomodori verdi fritti al caffé di Whistle Stop.
Il romanzo è stato un vero e proprio caso editoriale all'inizio degli anni Novanta, complice soprattutto la trasposizione cinematografica non certo fedelissima, che tuttavia ha un'anima propria tanto che non saprei decidere quale delle due versioni sia migliore.

Attenti, uomini: vi presenteranno Pomodori verdi fritti come una storia d'amore e sarete tentati di tenervene alla larga; la scrittura è senza dubbio molto femminile, non so se mi spiego, e non dubito che sarà particolarmente apprezzata dalle donne, ma voi non correte il rischio di perdervi un bel romanzo solo perché il marketing punta alla fascia femminile per vendere più copie: la storia d'amore, più raccontata che vissuta, è solo uno degli ingredienti (è il caso di dirlo) di un emozionante romanzo che restituisce -smussando gli angoli- le atmosfere dell'Alabama a cavallo tra gli anni venti-trenta, ancora sconquassata dagli strascichi dell'abolizionismo.
La storia, in realtà, non procede cronologicamente, ed è suddivisa in due piani temporali; nel 1985, alla casa di riposo Rose Terrace, la grassa e pavida Evelyne Couch in visita alla suocera fa la conoscenza di Virginia Threadgoode, che tornerà a trovare settimanalmente. Evelyne è imprigionata tra il desiderio di una vita più vivace per cui si sente ormai troppo vecchia e l'inerzia in cui si trascina attraverso un matrimonio insoddisfacente. Gli incontri settimanali con quella che a prima vista le era sembrata solo una vecchia svitata diventano per lei le uniche occasioni di distrazione: la solare Virginia vive con entusiasmo nei suoi ricordi, ed Evelyne inizia anche lei a rifugiarvisi per sfuggire al grigiore di una vita ormai divenuta insopportabile.
Virginia, detta Ninny, trascorse la sua gioventù nel minuscolo paesino di Whistle Stop, ospitata da una famiglia adottiva d'eccezione: cresciuta sotto l'ala protettrice dei generosissimi coniugi Threadwoode, di cui sposò in seguito uno dei figli, Ninny ricorda con fervore le spregiudicatezze di Idgie, ardita e intraprendente, un vero e proprio spirito libero in grado di conquistare chiunque. Figlia dei coniugi Threadwoode, generosa come il padre e calorosa come la madre, Idgie diviene un maschiaccio per essere cresciuta in adorazione del fratello Buddy, tra la vergogna delle sorelle e il gran divertimento dei fratelli. L'angelica e bellissima Ruth, catechista giunta a Whistle Stop in un momento tragico per la famiglia Threadwoode, prorompe come un fulmine nella vita di Idgie, che si innamora istantaneamente di lei. Ruth, pur ricambiandola, si costringe a tornare in Georgia per sposare il fidanzato. Nessun mistero, fin dalle prime pagine, su quale sarà l'esito della loro storia: Ruth tornerà sotto il tetto dei Threadwoode e vivrà con Idgie gestendo il caffè da loro aperto presso la fermata del treno. Sono loro le protagoniste (anche se non indiscusse, perché qua e là i riflettori le abbandoneranno in favore di altri personaggi) del secondo piano temporale, che copre gli anni '20-'60 in ordine non cronologico, seguendo gli aneddoti raccontati dall'anziana Virginia a Evelyne. La narrazione è pertanto spezzata in brevi capitoli che saltano da un piano temporale all'altro, framezzati anche da bollettini settimanali del giornale di Whistle Stop, e di tanto in tanto di altre cittadine cardine della storia.
Se Idgie è un personaggio indimenticabile nella sua vividezza, lo stesso non si può dire di Ruth, che sbiadirà gradualmente dalle pagine del romanzo lasciando di sé un ben magro ricordo; sono altri i tipi umani che rimarranno impressi al lettore: Buddy, l'affascinante fratello di Idgie; Sipsey, la superstiziosa governante di casa Threadwoode che mise al mondo tanti bambini; Big George, l'enorme figlio da lei adottato e cresciuto, il braccio destro (e anche il sinistro) di Idgie e Ruth; il brutale Frank, ben occultato sotto gli abiti da uomo perbene; e ancora molti altri personaggi che affolleranno il caffè di Whistle Stop.
Il romanzo glissa sugli aspetti meno romantici del periodo storico: si accenna agli scontri razziali e al Ku Klux Klan, ma di fatto, sebbene non tutti i cittadini gradiscano che Idgie serva indiscriminatamente a bianchi e negri, non vi è un solo scontro violento e i membri del Ku Klux Klan sembrano bambini travestiti ansiosi di mostrare le maschere e poi fuggire. Se la Storia si fosse svolta come nell'idilliaco mondo costruito da Fannie Flagg, il mondo si sarebbe risparmiato un gran bel periodo nero. Inoltre, nessuno trova mai anche solo lontanamente insolita la relazione tra le due donne, come se l'omosessualità nell'Alabama degli anni venti fosse perfettamente integrata e anzi incoraggiata. Personalmente, non gradisco molto le idealizzazioni, ma comprendo che possano piacere a chi non aspetta altro che fuggire dalle brutture di questo mondo e dunque desideri non trovarle anche nei libri.
Quanto allo stile di Flannie Flagg, obiettivamente non è nulla d'eccezionale, ma riesce a essere realmente scorrevole senza privarsi di un buon lessico. Se cercate un ottimo libro, Pomodori verdi fritti non fa per voi; se invece cercate un romanzo distensivo di buona qualità, ve lo consiglio caldamente.(less)

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Jun 22, 2012 Ariel Marie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Southern Lit Fans

Shelves: favorites

There is a certain allure to Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe and I'm never sure what exactly is the reason. Maybe it's the setting of the novel or the time periods it covers. Maybe it's the relationship between Idgie and Ruth or all the characters. Or the mystery that pulls all the stories together. But Fried Green Tomatoes is an excellent read. Sometimes we read to be entertained and this is the novel to choose.

The story follows a woman, Evelyn, who visits a nursing home to meet a...more

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Mar 03, 2012 Marieke rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-high-school-or-earlier, queer-books-or-authors-or-themes

My reading of this book has a weird story that goes with it. In 1989 my grandmother came to stay with me while my mom was traveling somewhere for a chunk of time. I don't know where or for how long, but that's immaterial. I was a senior in high school and there was this little "women's bookstore" a couple of towns away, meaning I could find lesbian stuff, which was highly sought after by my newly-out pre-internet self. There were other stores on that particular Main Street, so it didn't seem str...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Сhristie ♥ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Те, що треба для зимових холодних вечорів. Закриваєш повіки, і ось ти вже в старому домі сімейства Тредгудів, заповненому ароматами ще теплого печеня, яке Сіпсі нарізає на великому столі.. або в кафе "Полуостанок", де Іджі виносить із кухні запашну кукурудзу під білим соусом, знамениті смажені зелені помідори і клаптик лимонного пирога. Нехай я буду банальною, але ця книга пройняла мене всіма відблисками доброти і віданності її героїв. Однозначно, Руфь пощастило з такою подругою, як Іджі. Це най...more

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Oct 17, 2011 Ibis3 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2007, free, historical, lgbt, romance, twentieth-century, women, united-states, mystery, feminism, humour

I couldn''t help but compare this book to the movie, which I really loved. The book contained many of the same elements but the emphasis was quite different. I really enjoyed how the story was told in short narrative chapters interspersed with the newspaper gossip column and the chapters about Evelyn. I really enjoy books that jump around in time as long as all the threads come together and Flagg managed to do that quite well (though there was what I believe to be an error in the timing in Evely...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

OK, I admit it, I have a fixation on trains right now, which indirectly led to me choosing this book about the goings-on in a small town in Alabama called Whistle Stop, located alongside the Southern Railway tracks. The train theme is predominant from Big George Pullman Peavey being named after the man who invented the Pullman car, to the gospel songs sung such as ‘In the Baggage Car Ahead’ and ‘I’m Goin’ Home on the Morning Train.’ There is even a ‘Robin Hood’ like character named Railroad Bill...more OK, I admit it, I have a fixation on trains right now, which indirectly led to me choosing this book about the goings-on in a small town in Alabama called Whistle Stop, located alongside the Southern Railway tracks. The train theme is predominant from Big George Pullman Peavey being named after the man who invented the Pullman car, to the gospel songs sung such as ‘In the Baggage Car Ahead’ and ‘I’m Goin’ Home on the Morning Train.’ There is even a ‘Robin Hood’ like character named Railroad Bill who hopped the government supply trains and threw out food and coal to the poor people who lived along the tracks. . . Mrs. Threadgoode never went to bed until the ten-twenty to Atlanta passed by her house, and she loved the dining car—eating and getting somewhere at the same time appealed to her.

Flagg’s story is told by an omniscient narrator; the reminisces of Ninny Threadgoode, an elderly woman in a nursing home; and by small and funny newspaper clippings, especially those of Dot Weems, who keeps her readers well informed of all the problems she has with her ‘other half.’ Most of the stories, told from varying points of view, center around the heroine, Idgie Threadgoode, who cracks you up with her antics and warms your heart with her goodness to others.
Flagg’s book takes you through southern history from the late twenties through the mid eighties, touching on the great depression when more than 200,000 men and boys roamed the countryside (mostly by hopping trains), and depended on the charity of others to survive; World War II, when because of the shortage of men in town, Dot Weems, Ninny Threadgoode and their friend Opal were cast in the annual Christmas pageant as the three wise men; and racism when the Klan was active and Imperial Laundry trucks drove around Birmingham with “WE WASH FOR WHITE PEOPLE ONLY” written on the side. Historic characters come alive such as exotic dancer Sally Rand, jazz singer and bandleader Cab Calloway, and humorist Will Rogers, whose death broke the hearts of the people of Whistle Stop who called him their Doctor of Applesauce.
I saw the movie when it came out in 1991 and at times in my reading knew what was going to happen, but it didn’t rob me of enjoying Flagg’s southern colloquialisms and unique way of telling a story. As a matter of fact, I’m going to search through my old VHS tapes—I know I have a copy of the movie somewhere. I want to see these characters come alive again on the silver screen.(less)

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Jul 17, 2011 Bernell Spicer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fittingly enough, I picked this book up at a cafe. Like the one in the book, the cafe is old-fashioned and a little disheveled, serving up unmatched tables and delicious apple pie in a sunny corner building that once was a hardware store. One wall is covered with bookcases. You are welcome to borrow or donate a book. So, when I saw Fried Green Tomatoes on the shelf, I took it home. I've wanted to read Fried Green Tomatoes since the movie came out in 1991. I loved this quiet little film, which al...more Fittingly enough, I picked this book up at a cafe. Like the one in the book, the cafe is old-fashioned and a little disheveled, serving up unmatched tables and delicious apple pie in a sunny corner building that once was a hardware store. One wall is covered with bookcases. You are welcome to borrow or donate a book. So, when I saw Fried Green Tomatoes on the shelf, I took it home. I've wanted to read Fried Green Tomatoes since the movie came out in 1991. I loved this quiet little film, which alternates between the story of Eleanor, a fat, unfulfilled, middle-aged housewife in the late 1980s and the tale of lesbian couple Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison in Depression-era Alabama, which Eleanor hears from an old woman she visits in a nursing home every Sunday.

Now, a strange thing happens when you've seen (and liked) a movie before you've read the book: It is almost impossible not to imagine the actors -- their voices, expressions, hair, clothes -- when you read the book. This is not necessarily a bad thing, especially when the actors capture the characters as beautifully as they did in Fried Green Tomatoes. Kathy Bates is perfect as the frumpy housewife who discovers her spine, and Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary Louise Parker are just as good as tomboy Idgie and the gentle, doe-eyed Ruth who steals her heart. So, as I've been reading the book, I've been seeing and hearing these actresses in my head. (That said, I always try to read the book first. I pity kids whose first exposure to The Lord of the Rings or other treasures is through the movie, no matter how wonderful the movie may be. But I digress.)

SPOILER ALERT .... SPOILERS BELOW!

While the film captures the essence of the novel, it does gloss rather daintily over the lesbian relationship at its core. The book's matter-of-fact depiction of this life-long love affair is one of its charms. When 16-year-old Idgie, the fierce "bee charmer" who hunts and fishes instead of going to school, falls for "sweet to the bones" Ruth, it doesn't seem to faze anyone. Years later, after Idgie rescues a pregnant Ruth from her abusive husband, Idgie's father gives her $250 and tells her to start a business so she can feed her growing family. There's no sense that they must explain or justify themselves. It is just the way it is. Whistle Stop accepts them into the fold, just as they accept a less palatable fact of Southern life: segregation.

Flagg portrays the violence and racisim of the South as matter-of-factly as she does the love affair between Idgie and Ruth. Idgie and Mary are quietly subversive, selling barbeque out the back door of their cafe to blacks in spite of threats from the Ku Klux Klan, among other details I won't give away in case you plan to read the book.

The fictional world of Whistle Stop, Alabama feels real. You have the sense of observing lived lives. The book captures, in a way the film cannot, the full fabric of this little town, through vignettes of people, black and white, most of whom live on the wrong side of the tracks. It's not just Idgie and Ruth's story, but the story of their son Stump, of hobo Smokey Lonesome, Eva the town whore, Buddy, Sipsey, Big George, Onzel and Naughty Bird, with all their joys and human failings. When the trains stop coming through Whistle Stop and people start to move away, when the decades roll on by until the cafe is replaced by a McDonald's, I feel a pang of loss as strong as that when a beloved character dies.

Despite its often rather grim subject matter, this book is full of its laugh-out-loud humor. But, whenever I'm tempted to lapse into an idealized vision of a simpler time of practical jokes and scenes of big extended families laughing over Easter egg hunts, Flagg brings me up short with a young man being beaten to death in a tar-paper Hooverville or an ominous visit from men in white sheets.

Perhaps I'm also drawn to the book because it sheds light on my grandparents and parents. Mom and dad spent their childhoods in hardscrabble Oklahoma during the Depression, and Whistle Stop, Alabama reminds me of pictures of my grandmothers standing in their faded cotton dresses in front of sagging frame houses, babies draped casually over their arms.

I also enjoy the disjointed nature of the book, which shifts time periods and narrative perspective from one short chapter to another. We may hear about an episode first from a brief item in the chatty local newspaper, then observe that same event from an omniscient perspective in the next chapter. As I a writer struggling with structure in my memoir, I'm fascinated by Flagg's deft handling of this technique. I wonder if she wrote the book chronologically, then moved the chapters around afterward?(less)

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Jun 15, 2011 Pearls Are rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm writing this for those who have read the book and are just comparing notes, so I don't want to recap the story, as has been done so many times. I just wanted to make a couple of observations.

I had, like so many others, seen the movie and enjoyed it somewhat, though the "OMG, the person telling the story IS the person in the story" part, I thought was just so Hollywood. Therefore, so predictable and fake. When I saw the book at a yard sale, I almost didn't pick it up, but thank goodness I dec...more

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The Perks Of Bein...: Fried Green Tomatoes By Frannie Flagg	3	17	May 12, 2013 11:52pm
Bookworm Bitches : August 2012: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe	73	211	May 06, 2013 02:35pm
Do you think Ruth and Idgy were lovers? Why do you think that Flagg wasn't clear on the subject	23	239	Apr 02, 2013 10:58am
Southern Lit Lovers: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe November 2012 - Spoilers Possible	27	38	Dec 11, 2012 01:12pm
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About Fannie Flagg

Fannie Flagg began writing and producing television specials at age nineteen and went on to distinguish herself as an actress and writer in television, films, and the theater.
She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (which was produced by Universal Pictures as Fried Green Tomatoes), Welcome to the World, Baby...more

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