Ludie's Life

by Cynthia Rylant

In “luminous moments told in lovely language,” the poems of the Newbery Medal–winning author of Boris bring a rural woman to vivid life (School Library Journal).   Cynthia Rylant returns to her home state of West Virginia with this powerful and evocative collection of poems. In a heartbreaking narrative that flows like a novel, we follow Ludie from childhood to falling in love and getting married, through the birth of her own children, and on into old age. This is the story of one woman’s experiences in a hardscrabble coal-mining town, a story that brims with universal themes about life, love, and family—and all of the joy, laughter, heartache, and loss that accompany them.  Would she tell you that six childrenwere too many,that some disappointed,others surprised,but that, all in all,sixwere too manyand onewould have been just fine?Would she tell you that she marriedthat boy at fifteennot only because he was tall and kindbut also becauseshe needed a way out?   “A brilliant contribution to the growing collection of Appalachian literature that tells the story as honestly and purely as life in the mountains has always been and always will be.” —Teenreads   “A collection of Zen-like moments of self-discovery and serenity . . . A powerful read for young and old alike.” —Kirkus Reviews

Genres: Poetry, Young Adult, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical, Adult, Realistic Fiction

88 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2006

About the author

An author of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for children and young adults as well as an author and author/illustrator of picture books for children, Cynthia Rylant is recognized as a gifted writer who has contributed memorably to several genres of juvenile literature. A prolific author who often bases her works on her own background, especially on her childhood in the West Virginia mountains, she is the creator of contemporary novels and historical fiction for young adults, middle-grade fiction and fantasy, lyrical prose poems, beginning readers, collections of short stories, volumes of poetry and verse, books of prayers and blessings, two autobiographies, and a biography of three well-known children's writers; several volumes of the author's fiction and picture books are published in series, including the popular "Henry and Mudge" easy readers about a small boy and his very large dog.

Rylant is perhaps most well known as a novelist. Characteristically, she portrays introspective, compassionate young people who live in rural settings or in small towns and who tend to be set apart from their peers.

from bookrags.com

Reviews

[Brittany Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a bittersweet look at the life of an Appalachian woman from childhood to motherhood to widowhood and death. The writing is breathtaking. I've loved Cynthia Rylant's children's books, and this work did not disappoint. She aptly describes the beauty of life and family in the mountains of West Virginia while also accurately depicting the nominal nature of the cultural Christianity which is so pervasive. Ludie's Life was beautiful yet missing the hope of a true believer.

"What happens when someone who is old
still sees
out of the same eyes?
The world is the same world,
and you are still you,
and if not for the eyes of others
looking back at you,
you'd never know you'd stopped being
twenty-two and beautiful,
you'd never know there are things
you don't deserve now,
now that you are old."

[Anne Calvert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed everything about it. The style of writing, the story, the people...all of it. The way Ms. Rylant wrote this sweet story of Ludie and her life as a poem-story was something new for me. The story was a quick read, but the way it was written, I know so much of Ludie's life. It was so informative and detailed. I am pleasantly surprised by this book. I will try to find more of Ms. Rylant's work.

[Heidi Burkhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rylant is a remarkable author. Her range is vast, and the attention to the details of her writing are brilliant.

This free verse story was perhaps a relative of Rylant's or a combination of several women she new from her childhood.

Sensitive, and astute, Rylant paints a picture of Aunt Ludie through her words.

Memorable and lovely.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Needing a lighter read after finishing a detailed biography, I picked this out of my "to read" stack. The story is told in poetic mini-chapters that are, at first glance, deceptively simple but merit scrutiny. While not on the same level as Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust, this short book is still worth the time. The reader connects easily with the protagonist and is reminded of the value of simple living. The language offers room for broad interpretation.

[Tricia Price · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found two copies of this in my elementary school library while weeding--they hadn't been checked out in years. I noticed it was a novel in verse and decided to read it to see if it was worth keeping, because my students enjoy a lot of books in this format. It's a beautiful book, and the reading level is not hard, but nothing in it really appeals to kids, or even teens in my opinion. Though I enjoyed it, I don't think it's appropriate for an elementary library.

[Janna Odenthal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brought back so many wonderful memories of the little things that make life worth living - a homemade delicious biscuit, a loving husband, trees with birds just outside the window. And yet it made me want to go visit my elderly friends who are sick, sad or alone and listen to the to their life stories. I miss you, Mom!

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Told in verse, we learn about the life of a woman, who as a child stole scraps of food from the table in her own home in Alabama to her marriage to a young boy named Rupe and their life as a coal mining family in West Virginia. We learn about her life, her children, her own fatalism towards her lot in life, but underneath is a beautiful woman much more intelligent living in a world where no really knows who she is.

As a native West Virginian, I can identify with Ludie, have met people like Ludie, and could easily have been some descendent of Ludie. "No mountain child could ever describe the ocean" is powerful because of its metaphor of experiencing a life outside of the comfortable family ties we have.

Published in 2006--wished I had read it sooner.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick "motherhood" story read! I recommend it for adults not children not necessarily because of content (although there are some subtle sexual references) but because they just won't get it! I love the format and simplicity and yet the text is full of depth and meaning. I fell in love with Ludie and related to her as any mother would.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

picked this up because it's by Cynthia Rylant. She tells the story from West Virginia, the life of a women names Ludie, who gets married to a coal miner, raises babies, and does what it takes to provide for them.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

My rating doesn't reflect the writing of this book--it's a very touching and realistic view of one woman living her life in the South. It was just so sad to me (especially the end part telling of her last years) that I just can't rate it higher.

[Rachel Vivio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super short but really sweet.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good short story in the form of a poem. I am not a big fan of poetry so it was ok. It was a quick read. The theme of love and family was strong through out the poem.

[Rosabelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this is the first Cynthia Rylant book I haven't really cared for. It was depressing, rather inappropriate in places for the intended age group, and lacked usual depth in characters.

[Maria Hrickova · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ludie’s Life is the life I’ve always dreamed of having. I loved her and every little detail about her life. So precious and sweet.

[Christina Kern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poignant. Heart-breaking. Beautiful.
I feel like I have just seen the back of something I have heard of my whole life. There are some anecdotes in this book that I will never forget.

[JoJo Ames · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written.

[Lorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful. Real, and good writing.

[Nadine · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Poverty is hardest on those intelligent enough to understand it."

[Adriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very easy read and quite interesting. Not necessarily a worldview I'd agree with, but still well-written and intriguing.

[hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.7

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poems about a well-lived life. Beautiful and thought-provoking.

[Hiimmasinyeahhimasonimmasonhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely heartbreaking, but yet, so comforting.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - This isn't the type of book I'd normally pick up. I'm still not sure why I did actually decide to read it. The cover didn't draw me in. I happened to see this on the 'put back' cart at the library while trying to find a little boy's Scooby-Doo book and for whatever reason I picked it up. Something - I don't know what - made me want to read it.
Ludie's Life is written in verse, which I've become very fond of if it's done right - and Ludie herself, and her life, is about as far away from me and mine as one can imagine.
Ludie lives in the backwoods where she either uses an outhouse to go to the bathroom or - and yes, I'm serious - a "pee pot" that's kept under the bed. (I don't know that I've ever been more happy to be alive in this day and age than when I read about that.) Everything from the tiny day to day things to the larger aspects of Ludie's life is just so very different than mine. But the story doesn't have to be relatable. It's written kind of as if you're looking in a window.
It's not a particularly exciting story. In fact, it's pretty much just the opposite IMO. It's slow, it's repetitive (I'll touch on that in a sec) and nothing really "happens". It's just what the title implies - Ludie's Life.
There are some repetitive parts. Nothing real huge, nothing very long. Usually - possibly always - only one sentence. Sometimes it worked to push it farther into my mind. Sometimes it was just bothersome.
There were two parts that popped out at me because of contradictions. The first one I forgot before I could note it. The second is on page 68 when the author talks about Ludie having "two baby girls, beautiful grandbabies for Ludie to one again rock to sleep". Ludie was so happy for this she "forgave" her New Yorker grandson-in-law and some of his perceived misgivings. Yet, numerous times throughout the book it was stressed that Ludie wasn't ever exactly happy with having 6 children. She wasn't thrilled when some grandchildren were dropped off on her porch. It's basically strongly suggested that Ludie wanted to live her own life. The sentence I quoted above just threw all of that out of the window for me I suppose.
I liked this enough that I'm going to check for other works but I'll probably only try one written like this. I wouldn't invest the time it would take to read a story written in any other way.

[Lea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Ludie's Life, Cynthia Rylant skillfully weaves words to extract the extraordinary from the ordinary. Ludie lives her life the best she can. The slow and steady pace of Rylant's verse seems to mirror the slow and steady passage of Ludie's life. She, like most of us, is forced to come to terms with the incongruous emotions that accompany life. She longs for more, but has found some contentment as a wife and mother in the hard-living hills of West Virginia. She loves her children and grandchildren, but has had her fill of raising babies.

I was very moved by the glimpses into this one woman's life, and found myself connecting with her on many different levels. One of my favorite observations from this book is "...if not for the eyes of others looking back at you, you'd never know you stopped being twenty-two and beautiful, you'd never know there are things you don't deserve now, now that you are old."

This seems the kind of book a woman could grow with. Readers of 16, 35 and 50 would probably all find their own solace within this book's pages.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cynthia Rylant's prose poetry is flowing and beautiful.

"The worst thing that ever happened to Ludie
was loneliness,
and this occurred only in her final years,
so one may say
she had a lucky life.
She did not outlive her children,
was never in a hospital,
and did not fear death.
But loneliness,
had she known it was coming,
might have destroyed her.
Ludie had been deprived, yes.
Of a mother.
Of enough money.
Of certain opportunities.
But Ludie had never been lonely...

Never a night alone
until Rupe started dying...

so Ludie learned to sleep alone in a bed at night..."

This book at just over one hundred pages tells Ludie's story growing up in Alabama and moving with her husband to West Virginia where he worked in the coal mines. Along the way, Vietnam happens, John F. Kennedy and Bobby are assassinated, some of her children are born again.

From the woman who wrote the endearing Mr. Putter series, Rylant has an incredible ability to tell a very three dimensional story in only a few pages.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a huge fan of poetry, and I have to be in a mood for novels in verse, but Cynthia Rylant's Ludie's Life was a pleasant surprise. Chronicling the life of a women from the coal camps of Alabama, Ludie's story is one of hard work, frustration, and contentment. Ludie marries at the age of fifteen to escape her neglectful step mother and enters into a life with a kind, hard working man named Rupe. Ludie's dreams pushed aside, she raises six children, and many more grand-children, in West Virginia. The story often broke my heart. Ludie is a woman of integrity and vigilance, but is afraid to see the ocean because she doesn't want to long for it once she's back home. Rylant does an amazing job creating a setting and life with so few words.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ludie's Life by Cynthia Rylant is amazing! It is a collection of poems written in narrative/novel form. It is set in the early 1900s and starts with Ludie's childhood and works its way through her adulthood and old age with occasional flashbacks to her younger-adult self. These poems struck home for me. They spoke about the silent parts of a person that can't really be expressed. They were raw and honest and real. Very beautifully presented and powerfully emotional. I cried at the end. I loved it. It took me less than 2 hours to read the whole book. And I think what made the book perfect for me is that it didn't rhyme. I hate rhyming poetry, it seems too easy or two cliche. So this book was perfect. Definitely meant for a female audience but in a wide age span (I'd say 12-50, or even 70).

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've learned that novels in prose are "outsider" books. The poets don't acknowledge them as true poetry and novelists don't accept the shortcuts of the form. But ... sometimes I'm really in the mood for just an essence of a thing. Ludie was from a small southern town, married too young, and had too many children. Through Rylant I really saw how she viewed the world. Some of the lines were beautiful: "Ludie ... knew the pain of being more than the world would ever see ..." There is an ache to this story that pulled me in. As an adult, it resonated with me. As a children's book, I'm not sure.

[Snickerdoodle · Rating 5 out of 5]

(2013)I loved this story. Some call this a "collection of poems" but it reads like a story. We get to know Ludie from beginning to end, who she was and why. We can see ourselves and those we love in her. We get to see, in one short book how a life evolves. This is not a book to be raced through, but one to be read slowly and savored, like poetry. This is not a children's book but could be understood and enjoyed by teens, most certainly for adults of all ages. I've just finished it ... but this is a book I could begin again and enjoy just as much
(2023) And I did ... begin again a decade later and loved it just as much.