About Daniel Ponder of Clay, Mississippi, who relishes telling stories and being the center of attention and whose heart is so kind he gives away his possessions to everyone. Eventually, he marries Bonnie Dee Peacock, who later dies. Daniel is put on trial for her murder, but the truth of what happened to his wife is quite difficult to believe.
I did not enjoy this book, although I cannot say I do not like it. I had trouble acclimating to Welty's writing style. It sounds more like speech than writing and is too Southern and colloquial for me. Words like "britches" and "lickety-split" are used, for instance. Names include not only Bonnie Dee Peacock, but also Edna Earle (the narrator) and Williebelle Kilmichael.
However, the book can be quite amusing. The town's coroner is blind. When Bonnie Dee died, there was a terrible storm that sent a ball of fire shooting through the Ponder house: It went down the chimney, around the parlor, through the hall, and then out by the bead curtains. Also, Edna Earle gives these directions to go from Clay to Polk, where the Peacocks live:
"You start out like you were going to Monterrey, turn at the consolidated school, and bear right till you see a Baptist steeple across a field, and you just leave the gravel and head for that, if you have good tires."
Now doesn't that sound Southern?
3 comments:
Yes, it does sound Southern. I suppose you can't call yourself a literate Southerner without having read something by Eudora Welty.
Eudora Welty is one of my favorites.
Yes, I reckon I can say I am more literate on Southern writing now that I have read Welty.
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