Customer Reviews

The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Whenever I read Welty I feel as if I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop--as if she's holding back something, and herein lies the genius of her storytelling. While she knows what's going on in her stories well before the rest of us do, it's her pacing and skill with holding back that create the tension and psychological realm that we're drawn into. The only othe author I can think of that manages this might be Jackson McCrae in his "Bark of the Dogwood--A Tour of Southern Homes and Gardens" or possibly some of Alice Walker's books. Still, if you're a fan of literature, Southern or not, you MUST read this great writer's works. "A Curtain of Green" is my favorite. Highly recommended to anyone with a pulse.

Also recommended: "Bark of the Dogwood" and "The Color Purple"

You will run out of highlighter ink reading this one, because there are so many passages you will surely want to reread and savor later.

This grand matriarch of Southern Writer Tradition was first discovered, praised and published by luminaries such as Robert Penn Warren when he was coeditor of The Southern Review, Edward Weeks when he was editor of The Atlantic Monthly, and Mary Louise Aswell, when she was fiction editor of Harper's Bazaar.

This collection of stories is truly worthy to be called a classic. It is sometimes tedious reading, because the stories and characters are complex. After a number of false starts over a period of years, I finally resolved to give this scholarly work the focused time and attention it deserves, and feel richly rewarded for the effort.

Ms. Welty joins the ranks of great writers who prove to us that a great writer does not have to live the experience to effectively write about it. She leaps with ease between characters as diverse as Aaron Burr, a deaf black servant boy, a traveling salesmen, eccentric Southern matrons, and countless others. She portrays them in all of their complexities as if she had lived the experiences of each. Her descriptions of scenes and settings are equally as lucid and believable as if she had first hand knowledge of each. This rare and precious gift is best described in her own words, "I have been told, both in approval and accusation, that I seem to love all of my characters. What I do in writing of any character is to try to enter into the mind, heart, and skin of a human being who is not myself. Whether this happens to be a man or a woman, old or young, with skin black or white, the primary challenge lies in making the jump itself. It is the act of a writer's imagination that I set most high."

Ms. Welty is an example of not just southern writers but history as well. An reader would be smart to read her works.

Welty's recent death makes this collection more important, and brings all of her best work together in one pricey volume. It contains her masterful, southern short stories lived through the eyes of charming characters. This collection also contains what some say was her best piece: "June Recital." The reissue edition contains much more interesting cover art photography.

If Flannery O'Connor is the Empress of Southern gothic writing, than Welty is for sure the Queen. Her stories perplex, confuse, amaze and just plain make you happy that people can write like this.

Her short stories are a given on any English professor's syllabus, and with good reason. Not only are they well written and chock full of metaphors and symbolism, but they speak a multi-generational and multi-regional dialect all their own.

Personal fave: Why I Live at the P.O.

As a short story writer, as a Southern writer, Eudora Welty is simply the best. Her writing is beautiful, but also complex--as are her characters. In a story of just a few pages, she can create a whole world and make a character come so alive that that character remains with you for days or even a lifetime. You feel as if you have known and lived with these people forever, and yet the short story form leaves you feeling that there is so much more to know. I love the stories about the South, but one of my favorites is the offbeat "Circe" based on the Greek legend about the sorceress who could turn men into swine. The harassed Circe notes that this is not a very great feat since men are pigs anyway and the legend develops an entirely different perspective. These stories are humorous, touching, and inspire awe for the talent that created them.

For those who want to jump-start their introduction to southern literature, this is as fine a beginning point as you will find anywhere. The prose is so richly drawn that it feels like poetry, and the images in "A Curtain of Green" and "A Still Moment" will take your breath away. You have to slow down to savor every carefully crafted sentence. Very highly recommended.

These other critics need a sample of madame O'Connor. They'd then see the error in their statements. Muera a Eudora!

This book is one of the many fine examples of this magnificant Mississippi writer. A marvel of fiction!

I've never read this book, but I can reccomend this author with all my heart. I've read numerous famous American short stories in high school, but Welty's make for some of my favorite. She is, indeed, hilarious, and creates profound characters which you'll never forget. Her stories are varied in subject matter as well, which always adds an excellent surprise. I highly reccomend "Why I Live at the P.O." my personal favorite, and "A Visit of Charity."