Initial Impressions: Cool Hand Luke, by Donn Pearce - July 2022

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Comments on this board should be written with the assumption that not all readers have finished the book. Please take care not to reveal information that might lessen other readers’ enjoyment.

[Sara]

I'm hoping this doesn't fall into the category of revealing "information that might lessen other readers’ enjoyment," but I'll be joining in on this one. :o)

[Terry]

I ordered the book and also the dvd so I can watch the movie after I finish the book. My TV died several weeks ago. It was having a “failure to communicate.” I bought a new one and just haven’t hooked it up yet. The break has been good for me, but I will have to install it by the time I finish reading Cool Hand Luke. I have seen it before. It will be excellent motivation!

[Lori]

I’m also planning to read this one. Have had my copy for several months and glad it won the poll!

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

Woo wee, we finally got this one voted through. I hope to do reread with audio from hoopla.

[Cheryl Carroll]

I just got Hoopla, thanks to the groups recommendations! I think that I'd prefer to read this one, though. It's so interesting to see what Pearce chooses to elevate from a simple noun or adjective to an actual proper noun (I think that's the correct grammatical word).
So far I've noted The Bull Gang, the Chute, our Time, the Wicker Man, the Building, Bean Juice and Bean Time... oh, and about those last two --

Boss Godfrey was again ambling towards the head of the line, his back turned to me, swinging his Stick from side to side and puffing on a cigar. Then he let go with a standard bean fart. A little one. The hungry kind.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

I'm going to start this one today. It will be my third reading and I've seen the movie at least 4 times. You might say it's a favorite of mine. Luke was (and is) a role model for me. Not that I've ever chopped the heads off parking meters or done time on a chain gang, but his sheer determination and ability to "stick it to the man" was an inspiration.
Paul Newman didn't hurt either.

[Sara]

I have also seen the movie multiple times, but this will be my first reading of the book. Paul never hurts anything!

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

I'd forgotten how beautiful this prose is. Hard to make life on a chain gang sound poetic, but Pearce does it. He served time on a Florida chain gang himself, so our unnamed narrator has to be him.

[Sara]

Cannot resist putting this here. I have put it under a spoiler to save space. It is a Paul Newman true story and has nothing to do with this book, so feel free to skip.

(view spoiler)[Only women of a certain era will fully appreciate this.... True story.
A Michigan woman and her family were vacationing in a small New England town where Paul Newman and his family often visited.
One Sunday morning, the woman got up early to take a long walk. After a brisk five-mile hike, she decided to treat herself to a double-dip chocolate ice cream cone.
She hopped in the car, drove to the center of the village and went straight to the combination bakery/ice cream parlor. There was only one other patron in the store: Paul Newman, sitting at the counter having a doughnut and coffee.
The woman's heart skipped a beat as her eyes made contact with those famous baby-blue eyes. The actor nodded graciously and the star struck woman smiled demurely. Pull yourself together! She chides herself. You're a happily married woman with three children, you're forty-five years old, not a teenager!
The clerk filled her order and she took the double-dip chocolate ice cream cone in one hand and her change in the other. Then she went out the door, avoiding even a glance in Paul Newman's direction.
When she reached her car, she realized that she had a handful of change but her other hand was empty. Where's my ice cream cone? Did I leave it in the store? Back into the shop she went, expecting to see the cone still in the clerk's hand or in a holder on the counter or something! No ice cream cone was in sight.
With that, she happened to look over at Paul Newman. His face broke into his familiar, warm, friendly grin and he said to the woman,
"You put it in your purse." (hide spoiler)]

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

I love that story. I think he was one of those humble stars like Tom Hanks. He knew how he affected people, but treated it like a big joke. Bill Murray lives in our area and loves to sneak up behind people taking pictures and photo bomb them. He was once in a breakfast restaurant near the door when I walked out. I was using a cane because of some recent foot surgery, so he jumped up to open the door and offered to escort me to my car. I declined, because it was not needed, but I was very appreciative.

[Sara]

Always nice to see someone who doesn't let the fame go to their heads and remains a human being. I think Robert Redford and Robert Duvall have that reputation as well.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

One of the great things about having seen this movie is they got the casting just right, so I can see every one of these men in my mind's eye.
I was wrong about the unnamed narrator. His nickname is "Sailor", and the author served on a ship in WWII.
As for Luke's nickname: "Just remember, man. Wherever you go and whatever you do. Always play a real cool hand.

[Howard]

Sara wrote: "Cannot resist putting this here. I have put it under a spoiler to save space. It is a Paul Newman true story and has nothing to do with this book, so feel free to skip.

Only women of a certain era..."

Sara, your spoiler made me laugh out loud. Now my two dogs want to know what is so funny.

[Howard]

I don't know how many times I have watched the movie, but I know it is a bunch. Diane, you are right about the cast. It is perfect.

I have also read the book at least twice, but I pulled my tattered paperback off the shelf (as I did the front cover came off) and if I my eyes will allow me to read the small print (which didn't seem so small the last time I read it), I will read it again.

[Sara]

Funny how those books do that...the print shrinks almost as if it were a sweater in a dryer. Can't start this one until I finish the one I am on...but you guys are making me crazy.

[Terry]

I cannot wait for my copy to arrive.

Meanwhile, this about the song, Chain Gang: inspired by Sam Cooke's running into a chain gang of prisoners while on tour, the song pays homage to their hard work. Cooke was reportedly so moved by the plight of the prisoners that he and his brother gave them cartons of cigarettes.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PRyDlVO...

And here is a clip from this PBS program, Slavery by Another Name, about Chain Gangs, produced about 10 years ago.

https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/...


Not so much in the distant past as one might think. I Googled images of modern chain gangs, and got this:

https://www.google.com/search?q=moder...

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Thanks for your research Terry. This book was published in 1967, so I was wondering if chain gangs were still in existence.

[Sherril]

I will not have time to join you in reading Cool Hand Luke, but I am so enjoying reading the thread and will continue to do so. One reason don’t have time is because I’m meeting friends in Philadelphia and we will be visiting the Barnes Foundation museum. I’ve been wanting to see this trove of Impressionism for a long, long time.

[Sara]

I wonder if anyone else here has seen a chain gang? I have. When I was in about fourth grade (so, 1959-60) they worked a road repair job behind our grammar school. At recess, we would sneak done to the edge of the property and watch them. The armed guards were frightening to us kids and it was wrenching, even then, to see men in leg irons. I remember asking a lot of questions of my mother and then having it announced by our principal that NO ONE was to go on that end of the playground until told differently. Not sure how they found out, maybe a parent called, but I'm sure we weren't as sneaky as we thought we were.

[Sara]

Sherril wrote: "I will not have time to join you in reading Cool Hand Luke, but I am so enjoying reading the thread and will continue to do so. One reason don’t have time is because I’m meeting friends in Philadel..."

Have fun, Sherril. I LOVE museums, especially impressionist art.

[Cheryl Carroll]

@ Sara - thanks so much for the anecdote! I love to hear that Paul Newman was, and Bill Murray is, such a nice guy. I am 40 and did not grow up watching Paul Newman. I "discovered" him about a month ago while researching THE SNOPES TRILOGY movie for my Faulkner book club. I definitely fell in love with his eyes! And thought it was amazing that he and his wife met on set, fell in love, and were happily married 'til death did them part.

@ Terry and Sara - thanks so much for the additional info on chain gangs. "Mass Incarceration in the U.S. South" is a two-part panel at the Society for the Study of Southern Literature (SSSL) conference this week. Chain gangs has to be something that they cover in their panels.

@everyone - are the inmates who pick up litter on highways considered a modern type chain gang?

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

I'm not sure Cheryl. A few years ago after Hurricane Floyd, the beach town I lived in (Oak Island, NC) brought in convicts to clean up the beach. They were guarded, but I never saw any chains. Of course, residents were barred from the beach area. What I do remember vividly was the convoy of army trucks that brought in dozens of porta-potties to set around the beach for their use. The guys on this Florida chain gang just had to kneel by the side of the road, or use that funnel in the hole on the truck.

[Sara]

I don't think there are chain gangs anymore. Men are not literally chained together while they work. Also, there are rules that govern the treatment of prisoners and then there were none. The warden could do whatever he wished to them and if they died in custody, too bad, no one cared. Even the chain gang I saw (which was very near the end of such) wasn't as hard a thing as this.

Not sure about other states, but in Virginia the people who are on work details that pick up trash, etc. volunteer for the job. They want to get outside the jail and that is the only way they can do it. They have the option to stay in the cell all day instead.

Congratulations on finding Paul Newman, Cheryl. The Long Hot Summer is a favorite movie for me...watching him with Joanne Woodward is magic. I can do the dialog with them, but I never get tired of it.

[Terry]

There are, or at least recently, women in chain gangs, in Arizona. Google Chain Gang Girls for videos.

[Sara]

Wow, Terry. That is shocking for me. I see that Arizona is the only state that has not banned them completely. Making someone wear leg irons now would seem to me to be just a way to break them psychologically. You could use tracking devices if you thought there was a threat of escape.

Also interesting to me that Georgia was among the last states to abandon the practice, since it was late 50s when I saw them. I'm thinking I was witnessing one of the last vestiges of that kind of punishment.

Found this article about a sheriff who tried to reintroduce them in FLORIDA in 2013. Talk about going backward!
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

[Cathrine ☯️]

Diane wrote: "so he jumped up to open the door and offered to escort me to my car. I declined, because it was not needed, but I was very appreciative.."

I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend, but ...
What was wrong with you!!! I would have let him carry me to the car. Nothing to do with the foot in this case.
Seriously D, it wasn't about the damn foot.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Lots of people told me that, Cathrine. Including one who said I should have let him help me and pretended to fall, then sue him!

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Run, Luke! Run!

[Cheryl Carroll]

I am absolutely falling in love with Donn Pearce's writing.

I don't think this is a spoiler bc it's not related to the plot. More to character motivation / development. But I'm going to use the spoiler thing just in case. The description of Luke's family is phenomenal.

(view spoiler)[ Luke’s brother was wearing a suit, a white shirt and a tie. His hair was shiny with vaseline and plastered down smooth over his head. And even from the porch I could see that he was a farmer, as clearly as if he had been wearing overalls, brogans and a ragged old hat. You could see it in his hands, the weather-beaten complexion of his face, the awkward movements of his body. Jackson’s people were mountain people from that extreme northeast corner of Alabama which lies adjacent to Tennessee and Georgia, at the very end of the Appalachian Range. They were coal miners, timber cutters and livestock raisers who had always struggled without much luck to make a living out of a hard, tough country. And I could see from there that Luke’s mother was the strong, enduring breed of woman that you find in those mountains. She was getting old and she was tired but she still had that expression of determination, of suffering long ago accepted without question. (hide spoiler)]

[Cheryl Carroll]

Did anyone else have to google "catheads"? I'm going to start using that with my family!

So many wonderful nicknames, but what on earth is "Babalugats"?!

@Sara, when I read the following passage my mind jumped back to your description of being a little girl on the playground, sneaking closer to the fence so that you could watch the chain gang.

And this is the way you saw us that Friday as we began to approach the civilized frontiers of the Free World. You sat on the porches of your farmhouses and on the patios of your split-levels, drinking iced drinks and fanning yourselves, resting in the shade to alleviate the effects of the hundred and five degree heat wave that had overwhelmed central Florida for that whole week. You sat in your shiny new cars and waited in the line that formed up behind the trustee with the red flag. The tank truck went by empty. Soon a large dust cloud appeared down the road and began to drift towards you. Within that cloud you could see us, a gang of half-naked, laughing demons dancing an exuberant ballet of labor. We came closer. You could hear the tinkling shackles on the legs of the Chain Men. You saw the rolling cage, the melodrama of armed guards, the vertical white stripes on the sides of our sopping wet pant legs, the numbers painted on our buttocks.

[Sara]

I loved that description too, Cheryl. It was different back then when you went out in a car...no air conditioning, so the windows were down and the heat was stifling, and anything going on on the side of the road like this would have gotten everyone's full attention, and I'm sure there would have been fear. Just the guns in the arms of the guards would have raised fear.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Isn't that writing just magnificent Cheryl? Pearce obviously loved those men he was writing about. Catheads are big biscuits, called that because they are the size of cat heads. No idea where Babalugats nickname originated from. It sounds like it might be a Cuban or Mexican derivation.

[Terry]

About the movie:

“Like all the prisoners, Luke gets a number printed on his uniform. His is 37, and if you look up his namesake — the Gospel of Luke — chapter one, verse 37 says, "For with God nothing shall be impossible."

I thought that was interesting.

Read More: https://www.looper.com/306866/the-unt...

This looks like a fascinating article about the movie, but warning — if you don’t know the story, it probably contains some spoilers.

[Terry]

Searching for Babalugats, I found this posting regarding Dennis Hopper and his character’s name:

“I don't really remember him in this (I saw this as a teenager, during my formative film buff years - I've always been a Paul Newman fan), but I do remember that his name was Babalugats. I'm almost certain Hopper chose that for himself. They wanted to call him something like Joe, but he insisted on Babalugats, who was a Canaanite war deity that appeared to Hopper while he was tripping on a tab of acid he found behind the dumpster. K “

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/finula...

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

That's quite the research Terry. On both counts. There were quite a few religious references in this novel.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

That Hopper story can't be true true, Terry, since Babalugats was in the book. Hopper didn't choose the name , the author did.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Speaking of nicknames, it seems significant to me that no one went by his real name. Nicknames were given to every man coming into the chute (the Newcocks). It's as though they just left their old selves at the gate (which they did) and became someone else entirely while doing Time.

[Terry]

Ah, you must be right, Diane! Another Hopper legend!

[Cheryl Carroll]

@Terry - thanks so much for the research! It's frustrating when a quote is inaccurate. I came across one in the SSSL conf. this week (Society for the Study of Southern Literature). I was able to verify it's accuracy. It's a quote from Tennessee Williams, from something he wrote as a gift on a photo to his partner: When your candle burns low, you’ve got to believe that the last light shows you something besides the progress of darkness.

[Cheryl Carroll]

Terry wrote:
“Like all the prisoners, Luke gets a number printed on his uniform. His is 37, and if you look up his namesake — the Gospel of Luke — chapter one, verse 37 says, "For with God nothing shall be impossible..."

Terry, great call on that! I will also add that the meaning of the name Luke is "bringer of light" or "bright one". He certainly is all of that to the men in camp. He is a symbol of absolute rebellion and disorder to the guards.

Luke's relationship with God is explored several times in the novel. I'll post about that on the "final impressions" board.

[Cheryl Carroll]

Diane wrote: "Speaking of nicknames, it seems significant to me that no one went by his real name. Nicknames were given to every man coming into the chute (the Newcocks). It's as though they just left their old ..."

I absolutely love the nicknames. I think that nicknaming is something unique to the south. We were all born fluent in simile and metaphor! Here's a passage regarding Dragline getting his name --

Like all the outstanding characters of the Camp, he had to earn his nickname. When the Walking Boss brought in the squad after his first day out on the road, the Captain asked how he had made out with the new man. Boss Godfrey’s answer was loud enough for the rest of us to hear. Ain’t never seen nothin‘ like it, Cap’n. He can shovel more mud than any six men put together. He’s like a human dragline. But once upon a time, his name was Clarence Slidell.

The following is a longer passage, and from the last third of the book so I'm putting it under a spoiler. It's a long list of nicknames and crimes.

(view spoiler)[
Ugly Red, the moonshiner; Four Eyed Joe, who is doing Time for screwing his daughter; Little Greek, the sponge diver and check artist from Tarpon Springs; Big Steve, the heist man; Rabbit, Coon, Possum, Gator and Eagle, all characters from the tales of Uncle Remus; Sleepy, the last of the Seven Dwarfs, whose six partners all got away when the cops arrived; Onion Head; Burr Head; Stupid Blondie, Stupider Blondie and Stupidest Blondie; Chief, the Blackfoot Indian, the con man and chronic liar whose true exploits are just fantastic enough to keep everyone guessing about the others; Ears, who has all of it, who looks like a taxi coming down the road with both front doors open, our only Lifer; Koko, the twenty-threeyear-old Canadian burglar who has twelve more years to serve; Cottontop, the idiot from Oklahoma; Babalugats, a four-time loser, pulling five years for creeping the Miami mansion of Al Capone’s brother; Blind Dick, the selfstyled sex maniac who proudly shows you the pictures and the article in Coronet magazine showing him being mauled by a posse after three days of frantic flight and pursuit in the Everglades; Alibi Moe; Tramp; Bullshit Bill; Preacher, whose mother is a policewoman in Jacksonville and who is doing a three spot for stealing a cow; Loudmouth Steve, the juvenile delinquent; Society Red; Blackie, the bigamist; Dynamite, who finished a year for stealing a car, was free for six days, stole a car with which to return home to Connecticut, had a wreck, was caught and given three more years—all of us were‘there; the big ones and the little ones, the cagey and stupid ones, the quiet and the shy and the guilty, the gray and the nameless as well as the bold ones, the wild ones who bore the names of barbarian warriors. (hide spoiler)]

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Makes me wonder what my nickname would be when I came in. Probably " Reader".

[Sara]

So, I know this is NOT what he says, but it is what my little sister always said when she sang the song...so, when I read "Babalugats" I immediately thought of Tutti Frutti by Little Richard. "a bop, babalugats, a bop bam boo".

I'm hoping my nickname would not have been "stupidest blondie".

[Sara]

The story about the Italian children and the leftovers just tore me up. It would have been hard not to strangle that Lieutenant in his sleep.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Luke's wartime memories and stories were not part of the movie, as I recall. If Hollywood had to cut something, that was probably the right decision. Those experiences had a lot to do with who he became after the war.

[Sara]

It gives you a real glimpse into what he is struggling with that makes him so anti-authoritarian and also puts a real perspective on the incident that lands him in this mess.

The movie did, of course, have to cut things. One of the reason I mostly seem to like books better. I did like the changes the movie made to (view spoiler)[the visitation from Mama. (hide spoiler)]

[Cheryl Carroll]

Sara wrote: "So, I know this is NOT what he says, but it is what my little sister always said when she sang the song...so, when I read "Babalugats" I immediately thought of Tutti Frutti by Little Richard. "a bo..."

That is actually a fun explanation, and I am going to go with it! Thank you for that, and for sharing such a cool memory.

Sara wrote: The story about the Italian children and the leftovers just tore me up. It would have been hard not to strangle that Lieutenant in his sleep.

That scene is just so unconscionable. Don't you think that there has to be some truth in it, for Donn Pearce to include it in this book? I'm not sure how much action he saw in WW2. I only did a cursory biographical search, and below is the intro paragraph to his Wikipedia page. (Not included below are details on his crime life... he reminds me of the "Catch Me If You Can" guy!)
------------------------------------------------

Born Donald Mills Pearce in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pearce left home at 15. He attempted to join the United States Merchant Marine at 16, but was turned away due to his age. He lied about his age, registered for the draft, and was inducted into the United States Army in 1944. Frustrated by rules he considered unnecessary, he went AWOL, then three days later thought better of it and turned himself in to a Navy shore patrolman. His sentence was 30 days in the stockade. He served three days of his sentence, then was transferred to a combat infantry unit. Anticipating being sent to the front (this was during WWII), he wrote his mother a letter. She contacted the Army, informed them of his true age, and he was thrown out of the Army. By this time, he was old enough to join the Merchant Marine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donn_Pe...

[Cheryl Carroll]

Diane wrote: "Luke's wartime memories and stories were not part of the movie, as I recall. If Hollywood had to cut something, that was probably the right decision. Those experiences had a lot to do with who he b..."

So, about those wartime memories... and his participation in the abuse of civilians... (should I save that for the "final impressions" board?)

I will say here, though, that Pearce is an absolute artist, tying us right into Luke's shoes. I was very much able to "feel" the frenzy of those wartime moments, the desperation, the anger at the higher ups and their sometimes confusing and inhumane decisions. The quick-sand suck into self-medication, clouded judgement, group psychology and peer pressure and mental exhaustion. Certainly not an excuse for abusing another human being, but I appreciate the perspective that Pearce provides.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Cheryl, as long as nothing gives away the ending, I don't think his wartime experiences are spoilers. Interesting that we know nothing of his childhood. I bet he was a difficult child.