yay!

this has been waiting for candydarling for a year, so i cheesed out and watched the movie because i don't see myself getting to read it any time soon.

Received the book yesterday, thank you! When I was 15, me and my best friend loved the movie based on this book. We watched it several times back then. Hopefully the book will be good too. ;)

I loved the movie Fried Green Tomatoes as a teenager, so I had high hopes for this book. I'm glad to say I was not disappointed!

Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe tells many stories of the people that lived in the town of Whistle Stop, Alabama during the depression, but in the center are Idgie and Ruth, who ran the town's cafe together. It is connected to the present (1980's present) through Ninny, who was married to Idgie's brother, and who remembers everything that happened at Whistle Stop and tells the stories to Evelyn, who she meets at the old folks home she's staying at. This is a story that will make you both happy and sad, just as life itself will. My only complaint is that I would've loved to read even more about Idgie and Ruth, because sometimes we get brief glimpses into other peoples lives, but those feel a bit unnecessary at times because the people are so tangentially related to the main characters. On the other hand I liked that there were so many stories, so that the whole town came to life. Fannie Flagg has a way of writing that will draw you in and make you care deeply for the characters in her novel.

The movie Fried Green Tomatoes has a special place in my heart, because it was the only film I had seen with a depiction of a happy lesbian relationship, until Fucking Åmål / Show Me Love came out in 1998. The movie reflects the time it was made in, and the relationship between Ruth and Idgie was made ambiguous, so that straight people might think they were just really good friends, but gay people knew they loved each other romantically. I'm glad that in the book it was made clear that they were in love with each other and that their community loved and accepted them, and considered them both parents of their son. Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe is a wonderful story of two women in love and the community that they lived in, and I could really relate to the agony of wanting nothing more than to be with the person you love, but feeling the weight of society's expectations.

I recommend this book warmly to anyone who is interested in reading a tale about strong women and their community in the deep south during the 20th century. Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe is definitely in my top 10 favorite books.

For an excellent commentary on the handling of both racial tensions and sexuality in the book and the movie, I recommend this article:
Fried Green Tomatoes - Excuse me, did we see the same movie? by Lu Vickers
from Jump Cut, no. 39, June 1994, pp. 25-30
copyright Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, 1994, 2006

Giving this book to Niksu, because it's on her wishlist. Happy Reading!

Thank you so much for this wishlistbook. I'm really looking forward to start reading it, my hopes are high!

I have found my own copy of the book so this is free to travel.

Kampin kirjanvaihtohyllyssä.