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Tobacco Road

Erskine Caldwell

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May 31, 2019 Sara rated it liked it

Shelves: southern-lit, depression-era, classics

He still could not understand why he had nothing, and would never have anything, and there was no one who knew and who could tell him.

Those are the words of Jeeter Lester. I could have made him a pretty comprehensive list of reasons why, and I think Erskine Caldwell could have too. And, some of those things were not his fault and perhaps beyond his control, but most of them were not.

This book is raw and almost depraved. Its characters are only true of a type, and as such not real at all as peop He still could not understand why he had nothing, and would never have anything, and there was no one who knew and who could tell him.

Those are the words of Jeeter Lester. I could have made him a pretty comprehensive list of reasons why, and I think Erskine Caldwell could have too. And, some of those things were not his fault and perhaps beyond his control, but most of them were not.

This book is raw and almost depraved. Its characters are only true of a type, and as such not real at all as people you would know or meet. And, it is not easy to nail down exactly how the author views them or the message he is trying to convey. There is sardonic humor and yet you are never tempted to laugh; there is unmitigated tragedy, but you are also never tempted to cry.

It is a good thing Caldwell kept this short, because no one would wish to spend another minute with the Lesters. The only characters who even deserve compassion are Pearl, who gratefully hid from her “husband” and escaped the fate of her mother, and the starved and abused grandmother, who was beyond any ability to escape the torment.

I think the hyperbole is intentional. I don’t think these are the real hard-pressed, poor people of the rural south in 1930. Whatever statement Caldwell was trying to make about religion (and I’m not sure I have decided what that was), I doubt many of those real Southerners would have recognized themselves, or the belief system his characters displayed. I can remember my grandmother, in the 1950s, on her very thin knees for periods of time that made my own little ones ache, and I can assure you there was not an ounce of insincerity or hypocrisy in her prayers--on your knees in hard prayer was common. I am not convinced things would have changed that much in the course of twenty years.

I am left with a mixture of unexpected feelings. There is something unforgettable about the story, beyond the shock factor, but it also makes you feel like you have just witnessed something foul that you would like to put away.
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