Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe in Crazy Challenge Connection

Nov 20, 2019 Heidi rated it it was ok

I enjoyed the storyline and it almost parallels the movie exactly, with the exception of highlighting how close Ruth and Idgie really were. I guess 90s streamline movies would glaze over that.

I really can't believe how racist this book is. There are full paragraphs discussing varying skin color and gum color. It was appalling to me.

I'm really torn because the feminism in this book is powerful, but the racism just can't be overlooked. ...more

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Jun 20, 2014 Susan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: cozy-reads, character-book, 2014, set-in-north-america, kick-ass-women, cultural-usa

I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit difficult to get into it as it moves across time and space. At the start, when I was still getting familiar with the characters I had to really concentrate to follow it. I am glad however, that I stuck with the novel.

The book has really well-developed characters, including a number of vibrant, multi-faceted women. There are also a number of really enjoyable, satisfying plot lined. The author, Fannie Flagg, is adroit at addressing issues of race, gender, ...more

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May 31, 2017 Maggie Shanley rated it liked it

This was not my favorite style of writing, it is episodic, with more telling than showing, but I did like the quirky characters. I also felt that many of the characters were playing stereotypes and too many were introduced to make them more than a stock character, but Idgie and Evelyn and Whistle Stop came alive in flashes and jumped off the page to lead me on a journey. I bet the book would be better as a movie because it would not be so jumpy and episodic.

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Jan 29, 2017 Eshita Dey rated it it was amazing

One of the best books I've ever read. Gives a beautiful taste of the era that was!
Highly recommended. ...more

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Dec 11, 2018 SandyL rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 400-499-pgs, a-overdrive, genre-historical, z-audiobook, setting-alabama, genre-classic

Evelyn Crouch is visiting her mother-in-law at a nursing home in Alabama, where she meets Mrs. Threadgoode. Mrs. T reminisces about her life in Whistle Stop, AL, recounting all the characters who lived there. The story spans from the 1929 to the late 1980's and skips around a lot. With racism on the rise in the US right now, it was difficult to read (well, listen since I listened to the audio version) about the segregation and how differently blacks and whites were treated and how, in a lot of w ...more

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Jan 31, 2021 Kristin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1990-1999, 5000-2021, women-s-fiction, 1950-1989, book-to-movie, own-pb, series, reading-women-challenge-2021

If you can get past the attitudes around weight, race, sexism and physical abuse presented in this book, you may enjoy it. However, I found that uncomfortable.

This book revolves around the lives of people in Alabama and Georgia from the 1920's to the 1980's. Recollections and memories from the life of an 86-year-old woman and the struggle with middle age of a woman of the 1980's are portrayed in small snippets that are often entertaining and revealing. The characters are complex and interesting ...more

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Feb 26, 2021 Carissa Brown rated it really liked it

Shelves: adult, audiobook, history-historical, borrowed

"...but oh, it would just break you heart to see some of them waiting for their visitors. They get their hair done up on Saturday, and on Sunday morning they get themselves all dressed and ready, and after all that nobody comes to see them. I feel so bad, but what can you do? Having children is no guarantee that you'll get visitors...No it isn't" So sad.

The book isn't much different than the movie portrayal. ...more

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