Guy Rivers: A Tale of Georgia

by William Gilmore Simms

Excerpt from Guy Rivers: A Tale of Georgia

The entire aspect of the scene, if not absolutely blasted, wears at least a gloomy and discouraging expression, which sad dens the soul of the most careless spectator. The ragged ran ges of forest, almost untrodden by civilized man, the thin and feeble undergrowth, the unbroken silence, the birdless thickets.

About the Publisher

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499 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1993

About the author

William Gilmore Simms (April 17, 1806 – June 11, 1870) was a poet, novelist and historian from the American South whose novels achieved great prominence during the 19th century, with Edgar Allan Poe pronouncing him the best novelist America had ever produced. In recent decades, though, Simms' novels have fallen out of favor, although he is still known among literary scholars as a major force in antebellum Southern literature. He is also remembered for his strong support of slavery and for his opposition to Uncle Tom's Cabin, in response to which he wrote reviews and a novel.

Reviews

[Miles Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simms' first border novel, which looks at early 19th Cent Georgia, ca 1828/9 during that state's gold rush. The work labours under the sentimentalism that characterized romanticist literature during the era, but Simms' work is far from a simple regurgitation of earlier romantics. This is a truly southern work, and the setting (N Georgia) and the particular characters offer some vision of the creation of a truly distinct southern literature. Its also an interesting story in its own right. Very much recommended for those interested in southern literature and history, and especially Georgia in the Early Republic.

[J. Alfred · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book from a website called "Forgotten Books." Reading it helped me understand why it got that way.
It is one of the worst examples of sentimentalism I've ever come across, as well as being wildly unbalanced: one moment you'll be laughing at an honestly funny scene, the next, somebody's being killed in a strange mix of graphic violence and bathos. There is also an underlying message that mothers, representing society as a whole (but still very much themselves) are responsible for much of humanity's faults. A big ol' (500 page) mess.