Black Mountain Breakdown

by Lee Smith

Crystal Spangler lives in rural Appalachia. She's the apple of her mother's eye -- not yet beautiful, but she will be. She's the most popular girl at Black Rock High. She makes cheerleader, gets good grades, and is elected beauty queen. Crystal discovers God, goes to college, and falls in love. When she comes home, she's disheveled and confused. Crystal becomes a wealthy politician's wife. But there's something calling her, drawing her back to where it all began, in the shadow of Black Mountain . . .


From the Paperback edition.

Genres: Fiction, Southern, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Coming Of Age, Contemporary, Novels

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Growing up in the Appalachian mountains of southwestern Virginia, nine-year-old Lee Smith was already writing--and selling, for a nickel apiece--stories about her neighbors in the coal boomtown of Grundy and the nearby isolated "hollers." Since 1968, she has published eleven novels, as well as three collections of short stories, and has received many writing awards.

The sense of place infusing her novels reveals her insight into and empathy for the people and culture of Appalachia. Lee Smith was born in 1944 in Grundy, Virginia, a small coal-mining town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, not 10 miles from the Kentucky border. The Smith home sat on Main Street, and the Levisa River ran just behind it. Her mother, Virginia, was a college graduate who had come to Grundy to teach school.

Her father, Ernest, a native of the area, operated a dime store. And it was in that store that Smith's training as a writer began. Through a peephole in the ceiling of the store, Smith would watch and listen to the shoppers, paying close attention to the details of how they talked and dressed and what they said.

"I didn't know any writers," Smith says, "[but] I grew up in the midst of people just talking and talking and talking and telling these stories. My Uncle Vern, who was in the legislature, was a famous storyteller, as were others, including my dad. It was very local. I mean, my mother could make a story out of anything; she'd go to the grocery store and come home with a story."

Smith describes herself as a "deeply weird" child. She was an insatiable reader. When she was 9 or 10, she wrote her first story, about Adlai Stevenson and Jane Russell heading out west together to become Mormons--and embodying the very same themes, Smith says, that concern her even today. "You know, religion and flight, staying in one place or not staying, containment or flight--and religion." From Lee Smith's official website.

Reviews

[Jenny Zarnowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that the same thing other reviewers interpreted as vapid and a lack of Crystal's character development, I interpreted as an accurate representation of the disconnect some very sensitive people feel-- a searching for true self and not knowing how to share that truth with others, a sense of not belonging, a deep sensitivity to external cues and a general fogginess, no sense of normalcy or grounding. Crystal wasn't developed as a character because she was never fully developed as a person. I loved this book-- it was very haunting and familiar to me.

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

I had to give this book a lot of thought once I finished it. I am pretty sure this is my first Lee Smith book. Not familiar with her writing style I was not sure what I getting into.

Our protagonist is Crystal. We meet her as a young girl and follow her through to adulthood. There just seems to be something odd and off about Crystal throughout the whole story, but it is hard to put your finger on. She is beautiful and well liked and ends up wealthy and an adored politicians wife. Then her world seems to melt away.

In my opinion we are party to the mental breakdown of Crystal years after a traumatic incident. It is not stated within the story that this is correct, however I believe that is what we witness. The title of the book hints at it, and the way we leave Crystal at the end of the story indicates it.

Again this is my first book and reading of Lee Smith, so I could be way off in my interpretation. Smith's writing reminds me a lot of Anne Tyler - taking the everyday mundane way of life and producing a well written novel from it. I am sorry to say that for me this book was just 'ok' and will probably prevent me from picking up another of her works in the immediate future.

[Mary Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Black Mountain Breakdown is my least favorite of the five books by Lee Smith that I have read. I'm still trying to decide about the plot of this book because it didn't make sense to me at all. Actually, I thought the plot dragged on and on; and I was ready to give up on the book--BUT, because Lee Smith is one of my favorite authors, I persevered and read to the last page (page 228)!! I do know, however, to watch for symbolism in proper names so have been looking back through the names of the main characters to see if there is a clue, or theme, in them!! Crystal, the main character, is well named because she is beautiful and attractive, but not very resilient and doesn't seem to have much direction in life. I would like to ask Mrs. Smith what her purpose in writing this book was! (It's evident I missed it!) I understand the title though!

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you grew up in South, love Appalachia and Southern women, you'll like this book. This is a woman's book and Lee Smith speaks to the Southerner.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a nutshell:

Crystal Spangler lives in a small Appalachian town. She’s pretty and usually eager to please others and fulfill their expectations, but there are flashes of independence. The book follows her from her entrance into junior high up through her early thirties. She enjoys popularity among her peers and with boys, explores charismatic Christianity, and has success in beauty pageants. Her later life takes her away from Appalachia, but she eventually returns.

Review:

I read and loved Lee Smith’s Fair and Tender Ladies, and enjoyed the return to Smith’s Appalachia. Both books are stuffed with story. Even very minor characters usually get fascinating backstories or amusing mini-portraits. Take this brief sketch of another pageant contestant:

"Suetta Wheeler, a senior, was Miss Claytor Lake last summer; she’ll be really embarrassed if she doesn’t get this one too. If she could just wear her bathing suit, Suetta knows she could win. Her legs are her best feature, she thinks. But the Junior Women vetoed bathing suits twenty-six to two; bathing suits simply are not in good taste. Suetta grinds her teeth at Crystal. Crystal smiles."

Crystal is a bit of an enigma, both to the reader and to other characters. Rocked early on in the story by a death in her family, Crystal swings from apparent contentment to periods of high emotion, even hysteria. The book riffles through multiple perspectives, but the predominant viewpoints belong to Crystal and her childhood friend, Agnes, who is as practical as Crystal is flighty.

Lee Smith knows how to tell a good story, and this one kept me entertained throughout with humor, spot-on descriptions, a lively cast of characters, and a looming sense of tragedy.

There was one thing I had mixed feelings about, and it was how Lee Smith kept the reader in the dark regarding an event that happens in Crystal’s teenage years. She doesn’t reveal the details of this event until the end. I think anyone could guess what had happened, so the revelation is not necessarily surprising. But I think that perhaps too much was left unsaid about it, and the scene where Crystal recollects the memory of the event comes out somewhat muddled. I’m not sure what exactly happens there, and I think knowing more would have made the ending stronger.

I liked Black Mountain Breakdown a lot, because I love Lee Smith’s writing and her sense of place and people and story. Fair and Tender Ladies is definitely the better book though.

So, take this review as an overall recommendation for the writing of Lee Smith, and a specific recommendation to read Fair and Tender Ladies first, and then if you like that, read Black Mountain Breakdown. Based on these two books, I think I’ll eventually track down and read everything that she has written.

[Darnell Arnoult · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first novel I read by Lee Smith and I told a friend of mine, "I want to write like that." I recongnized Smith's characters. I had grown up surrounded by characters like that. I knew those people. I still know them.

[Grace Tenkay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. The character, the voice the mountains. Lee Smith is a treasure.

[Amy Parsons · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Very literary and reminded me of other books that I kept reading thinking that they would get better and in the end this one never got better!

[Eleanor]

This might be one of the bravest, saddest endings to a novel I’ve ever seen. Crystal Spangler is a high school cheerleader and beauty queen who’s also smart and resourceful, but despite “getting out” of her tiny Appalachian town, acquiring an education and a career, she can’t ever escape the traumas of her childhood. I don’t know anyone better than Lee Smith at eliciting readerly understanding for every single character you get to spend time with, from Crystal’s childhood best friend Agnes to her loving, fatally alcoholic father to her eventual politician husband. It’s both funny and utterly horrifying. The conclusion forces us to think about what happiness means in differet contexts and circumstances, in the same way, I think, as Diana Evans’s Ordinary People does. It’s quite uncommon for an author to suggest such a thoroughly different way of looking at narrative closure; I’m still thinking about it. Smith is just brilliant. Source: bought secondhand from Daedalus Books in Charlottesville

[Leslie Jerkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love you, Lee Smith. This turned out to be the perfect Halloween-ish time book.

[Diane Gladstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Follow the life of Crystal Spangler living in rural Appalachia.
What a beautifully written book evoking the spirit of another time and place.
A true pleasure to read.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was 3.75 stars for me. Random, I know, but I really enjoyed reading Lee Smith's description of the era, the place, and the people. That carried the book for me.

The main character, Crystal, as others have expressed, didn't connect with me either. I kept thinking she was going to just "grow up" and at one point in the book when she was on her own and teaching, seemed to be but that period in her life was short lived and she was back to being led around by others. Actually, not really that. Crystal was a dreamy person and I think she just let life happen to her as it came along. She had no ambition or drive, or purpose or goal that she wanted. She was truly content to let life happen to her as it happened...or didn't happen. Fortunately, she was startlingly pretty along with being friendly to all so opportunities came her way. In one person's review they eluded to the fact that Crystal's character wasn't developed because she herself didn't know what she wanted to be. I think that's pretty spot on.

I did enjoy the other characters, especially Lorene and Agnes.

Favorite quote: [Crystal has just attended a revival, has gotten saved and isn't acting like herself.] "If I could just get her to eat some Jell-O, Lorene thinks." (p. 129) That's typical, very typical, Southern mama talk! Food, especially jello or even better, a jello salad, fixes all!

Not my favorite Lee Smith book

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sociologist who has often taught a social science oriented Appalachian Studies class (covering geography, resources, economy, history and politics), but in my last year of teaching decided to go out on a limb and teach a humanities-oriented Appalachian Studies class that focused on literature, poetry, music and religion. Among the books I chose for my students to read, I wanted to include something from Lee Smith. It seemed like every syllabus I looked at from other instructors around the region chose Fair and Tender Ladies, and I wanted to do something a little different, so I chose Black Mountain Breakdown without having read more than the first few chapters of it.

When I did read the entire book (before the semester started) I was became concerned. It was immediately obvious to me what had happened to the central character of Crystal with her uncle in the shed, and I worried that I had chosen something that might be a trigger for students or be controversial. But I don't think most of my students understood what had happened until it was spelled out at the end of the story.

For me, this story of a young woman who completely repressed a traumatic experience hit very close to home. The picture of a young woman driven to self-destructive behaviors by buried trauma seemed all to familiar to me.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the worst books I have ever read. It jumped all over the place, and it was impossible to identify with the main character. If I hadn’t been reading it for my book club, I would have closed it permanently after 30 pages. Finishing the book only let me know that I could have quit at page 30 and never missed a thing.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lee Smith is on of those authors you become addicted to. You read one book, then another, then you hear her speak and see how cute and just plain decent she is, then you gobble up the rest of her books as quickly as you can.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading her books about the hills & "hollers"
of the deep south. Her characters don't always live
happily ever after but you won't forget them!!

[Richard Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one book if the reader is interested in Southern lit. Must read. This book contains the best character development I have ever read.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book ever. Like reading a grocery list. Agonizing really. Had to read for a class.

[Rod morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

She captures the essence of the geographical area and culture

I really enjoy reading about areas that I know and about the people of that particular geographical region. Lee Smith ,in this book has set the standard about describing Southwest Virginia in the time period she is writing about. Her characters were relatable and had the same characteristics, personalities, problems,and varied moral values of the people I knew growing up in the same period .
Her story follows the life of several families with the main character being a beautiful but promiscuous young girl and the struggles that she goes through following the death of her father.
I think the book also is a story about mental health problems from a non remembered sexual assault of the main character by a family member , to the devastating results the rape caused later on in girls life. More than that it is about how families grow,prosper, and face tragedy throughout the life span. Lee Smith is incredibly talented in her writing and story telling. I would have given this a 5 but it is not generally the genre I read and the book started off slow for me,but believe me it is an excellent read.

[Debra Leigh Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like the novel, because I have great respect for Lee Smith's work. But I struggled to finish the book. Why? Because the main character wasn't successful in energizing the story, nor did she have a satisfying, or even comprehensible, arc. I understand the concepts that were being explored, but didn't believe the ways in which this character, Crystal, was being presented. She should have been more than a representative of concepts. Her actions didn't unfold in believable ways; and her inactions and careless passivity were maddening. It felt as thought Crystal was more of a psychological sketch than a fully realized character. The other thing that bothers me, and I want to be careful here not to insert a spoiler, is that there was a very dated feeling to her ultimate "fate" -- along the lines of other female characters in English and American literature who didn't follow society's dictates. Death, suicide, madness -- suggestions of cosmic punishment travel through those novels and add a kind of morality tale quality to the narrative. So, in that sense there was a kind of 19th century feel to the novel's endpoint. I've never been a fan of that sort of conclusion.

[Raina S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just not a very good book. Aimless writing. I am not sure why I continued reading as it never got better. I was given another Lee Smith book years ago that my book club loved. I didn’t finish that one and thought it was time to give her another try. She writes well, the place and time and family are drawn well, but she does not draw me in. There wasn’t a single character in this story that was three dimensional. The strange way to end the story with crystal’s breakdown while visiting a mental institution was unbelievable. Her catatonic state as an ending is just horrible. I’m sorry I read to the end. No, I am not one for happy endings but how about someone anyone in this book care about something other than her looks? How about get her help? Maddening.

[J B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt like this was a true representation of how a mental health crisis represents itself sometimes. Especially if the person doesn’t tell anyone about the dissociation and other symptoms. Also if the person cannot remember an incident of abuse. In crystal’s case she found it hard to talk about what was happening, and I think didn’t even realize it was happening. Also the incident of abuse came back in a rush and she was not able to speak of what happened to her. I think her escape was turning in her mind back to her childhood when her father was alive: the rush of the river and the traffic were around her, the leaves falling and the lightning bugs blinking, all the things that made her feel comfort.

[Carlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved "Oral History", "Fair and Tender Ladies", and "The Last Girls" and also liked this novel but it didn't quite measure up to these. Lee Smith's writing creates a wonderful sense of the people and place but I did find the early introduction of so many names, some very similar, left me wondering "Now who was that and what is their relationship to the main character, Crystal?" Throughout the book Crystal struggles to find herself amid a deeply buried past and I too struggled to make connections with this character and her seemingly random and often emotionless life choices.

[Damean Mathews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting Appalachian tale. Tangents spill off at times and make it hard to follow, but overall the story is not unfamiliar to a mountain native. Crystal and Agnes are two very difficult characters to like. For that matter, so is just about everyone else with more than a minuscule part to play. The ending is not anything I would have predicted, but it does offer a full circle sort of reckoning. My first full read by Smith, but not my last.

[Lexy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can’t say I was much of a fan of Crystal from the get go, so to speak. From the moment she burst in to sobs as her father read poetry, what a drama queen. However she does have a life changing truly dramatic experience that is only hinted about at the time, then explained in more detail at the end of the book. I do feel more compassion for her and it makes me wonder if there is not a sequel?

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the reviews on the back of the book said that it was like reading Madame Bovary set in Appalachia. That review hit the nail on the head. Although Madame Bovary was an extremely whiny protagonist, at least Crystal pursues her restlessness in a way that does not annoy the reader.

[Jessica Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't a fan of how the story was told. The perspective jumped around enough to give the reader whiplash. Once I got to the end I realized why it was done that way. If you like Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story The Yellow Wallpaper, you may enjoy this book.

[Beth Woodard · Rating 5 out of 5]

My introduction to the amazing North Carolina author with Virginia roots. I was riveted at the writing and the way she let her reader see through each person’s eyes. Loving and get-the-job-done relationships in a tiny mountain valley town.

[Diane Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Lee Smith, but this is not one of her best. I thought I had read it before, but if I did, nothing about it registered with me. The Southern ways, the speech patterns, the actions of the characters were all wonderful, but the main character, Crystal, just never made sense.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really like this book. The main character seemed spoiled and idolized for her appearance. Maybe I just missed the point. I kept reading, thinking it would get better, but it didn't in my opinion. I wouldn't recommend it to any of my friends.