The latest science news and current events.
The top science news articles and current events news this week.
Science Resources
Science RSS News Feeds
Earth, Life and Space Science RSS News Feeds.
|
 |
 |
 |
| View Larger Image | Mudbound
by Hillary Jordan
| | List Price: | $22.95 | | Price: | $15.61 | | You Save: | $7.34 (32%) |  | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours | | | | | Sales Rank: | 3177 | | Studio: | Algonquin Books | | | Binding: | Hardcover | | Number Of Pages: | 336 | | Publication Date: | March 04, 2008 | | Publisher: | Algonquin Books |
| |
EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
In Jordan's prize-winning debut, prejudice takes many forms, both subtle and brutal. It is 1946, and city-bred Laura McAllan is trying to raise her children on her husband's Mississippi Delta farm—a place she finds foreign and frightening. In the midst of the family's struggles, two young men return from the war to work the land. Jamie McAllan, Laura's brother-in-law, is everything her husband is not—charming, handsome, and haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the McAllan farm, has come home with the shine of a war hero. But no matter his bravery in defense of his country, he is still considered less than a man in the Jim Crow South. It is the unlikely friendship of these brothers-in-arms that drives this powerful novel to its inexorable conclusion.
The men and women of each family relate their versions of events and we are drawn into their lives as they become players in a tragedy on the grandest scale. As Kingsolver says of Hillary Jordan, "Her characters walked straight out of 1940s Mississippi and into the part of my brain where sympathy and anger and love reside, leaving my heart racing. They are with me still." |
Amazon.com
Jordan won the 2006 Bellwether Prize for Mudbound, her first novel. The prize was founded by Barbara Kingsolver to reward books of conscience, social responsibility, and literary merit. In addition to meeting all of the above qualifications, Jordan has written a story filled with characters as real and compelling as anyone we know. It is 1946 in the Mississippi Delta, where Memphis-bred Laura McAllan is struggling to adjust to farm life, rear her daughters with a modicum of manners and gentility, and be the wife her land-loving husband, Henry, wants her to be. It is an uphill battle every day. Things started badly when Henry's trusting nature resulted in the family being done out of a nice house in town, thus relegating them to a shack on their property. In addition, Henry's father, Pappy, a sour, mean-spirited devil of a man, moves in with them. The real heart of the story, however, is the friendship between Jamie, Henry's too-charming brother, and Ronsel Jackson, son of sharecroppers who live on the McAllan farm. They have both returned from the war changed men: Jamie has developed a deep love for alcohol and has recurring nightmares; Ronsel, after fighting valiantly for his country and being seen as a man by the world outside the South, is now back to being just another black "boy." Told in alternating chapters by Laura, Henry, Jamie, Ronsel, and his parents, Florence and Hap, the story unfolds with a chilling inevitability. Jordan's writing and perfect control of the material lift it from being another "ain't-it-awful" tale to a heart-rending story of deep, mindless prejudice and cruelty. This eminently readable and enjoyable story is a worthy recipient of Kingsolver's prize and others as well. --Valerie Ryan |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 31 reviews)
|
"Violence is part and parcel of country life." 
Two world wars, poverty and racism combine to create tragedy in this powerful story of a Mississippi family living on a farm with no electricity and no running water, heavy rains cutting the farm off from civilization until the raging river abates. It is here that Henry McAllan brings his wife, Laura, a former school teacher from Tennessee, their two daughters and his ancient, angry father, a mean-spirited man who looks at the world through hate-filled eyes. Henry has promised Laura a rent house in town when he buys the farm, but fate conspires to defeat that plan and the city-bred woman must make do with her lot in life at "Mudbound": "This was the truth at the core of my existence; this yawning emptiness, scantily clad in rage." Henry is oblivious to his wife's unhappiness. Landsick, all Henry can think about is his farm and what he hopes to accomplish. But then Henry is not an introspective man, leaving his cantankerous father to harass an already overburdened wife.
When Henry's younger brother, a pilot, returns from World War II, Laura's life markedly improves, Jamie filled with a lightness that seems to make this harsh world more bearable. Even Henry is overjoyed, doting on the brother who has always looked up to him. It is 1949 in Mississippi, Jamie not the only returning soldier. Nearby, Hap and Florence, Henry's share tenants, welcome home their oldest son, Ronsel, one of the decorated black troops that served under General Patton. The bright shine in Ronsel's eyes soon dims in the glare of the white man's criticisms. Racial tensions still thrive in the south, Ronsel quickly cataloging the danger if he remains in this place. Whatever he has come to know of the world has no value in this town, where blacks are little more than irritants to the superior whites.
In alternating chapters, Laura, Henry and Jamie speak of their experiences at Mudbound, their personal histories, the shattered hopes and disappointments life has dealt them, the endless battle with the sucking mud that smothers everything and everyone. In other chapters, Florence, Hap and Ronsel tell another story, a loving family who bear their troubles together, a strong black woman who works the fields when her husband is injured, who worries for an older son who has lost his way in the confines of this limited place. Certainly tragedy is not unexpected in this novel, given social conditions and the ready aggression of men outraged that a returning soldier thinks too highly of himself. A dark drama unfolds, one more act of rage and stupidity, fulfilling a destiny begun long ago. Jordan takes hold of this bitter tale and rides it to the end, each of her characters a study in longing, loss and the evasive remnants of hope that hide in the human heart: "When he is best, he is a little worse than a man; and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast." Luan Gaines/ 2008.
August 05, 2008 | |
A Must Read!! One of the best books I've read in a very long time!!
This is a debut unlike any that I've come across. It possesses the grace and fluidity, polish and drama that usually come with experience. Hillary Jordan's talent for psychological acuity is remarkable. Jordan is a gifted writer whose ability to speak to the reader with economy is enthralling. It's about life before, during and after WWII, as well as farmlife. This reader felt Laura's bewilderment [annoyance, as well as stoicism] at facing life without the everyday amenities [household running water, etc.]. Mudbound is about the complications of a marriage, [racial] prejudice that this reader has always found disgusting, as well as shameful. I [almost] meshed with Laura from page one. [It was extremely easy to get into and stay with this story.] Her [Laura's & Jordan's] insights were a treat to this reader's eyes, as well as ears. [Marital status bringing a certain "cachet" -- how dated is that -- or is it?] I could hear all of the characters speak [it's that amazing]. Jordan tells each character's story through his/her voice [a la Picoult, etal.]. Mudbound is an astonishing tale of two families. [Laura & Florence are wonderful!!] It's filled with insights, different kinds of love, a character's sensual/sexual awakening, as well as hate [racial prejudice] that is beyond shame. I predict that Mudbound will, someday, be declared a "classic." This reader came to care about each character, as well as his/her fate. At times, this book left me gasping. Fans of Pat Conroy should run out to buy this book!! This is recommended reading without reservation!
July 27, 2008 | |
Hauntingly told with vivid images 
I found this to be a very disturbing story -- one that will haunt me for a long time. Jordan's first book is a masterful portrayal of the cruel, evil underbelly of the deep mucky, nasty, bigoted post WWII south.
July 23, 2008 | |
Mudbound--Clear Vision of MS Delta
Mudbound was a risky read for me. As a life-long Mississippian, I wondered how an "outsider" could come in and tell a story that would ring true to the many intricacies of race relations in a state that still struggles with the some of the most basic issues.
I found Jordan's insights both revealing and disturbing. It was like accidentally looking in the 5x side of your makeup mirror and seeing your flaws more clearly than you ever intended to.
She created believable characters and a story that drew you in.
June 30, 2008 | |
Mississippi Delta Farm Life In The 1940's 
In her novel MUDBOUND Hillary Jordan does a good job bringing the language and attitudes of both black and white rural Mississippians living in the years surrounding World War II to life. The story is told by six "voices". Laura's voice is perhaps the one we hear from most frequently. She is a "city" (Memphis) born woman who marries when in her early 30's and had given up on marriage and motherhood. Her husband is Henry, a basically good but also inconsiderate man and it is his dreams of farm life that bring his wife and daughters to live on a remote cotton farm with him and his hateful father. Another voice belongs to Jamie, Henry's much younger charming brother, a returning war hero with a serious drinking problem and some other unresolved issues. Hap is a middle aged black tenant farmer and an almost saintly part time preacher and his voice helps us understand the hopes, desires and choices of many black Southern Americans of that time. His wife Florence is a sharply observant voice who sees much as "granny midwife" to the poorer people in the area and in her other role as housekeeper for Laura and her family. Florence and Hap's son Ronsel is the last voice. Ronsel returns from service in World War II much changed after seeing the greater acceptance of blacks in Europe and other parts of the United States and finds difficulty in accepting the subservient plight of black folks in the Jim Crow Delta.
The beginning and ending of the novel are the weakest parts. The beginning chapter in which we meet Jamie and Henry digging a grave should be compelling but somehow isn't and I had to force myself to continue reading and was fortunately soon rewarded as Laura begins to tell her story. The ending of the book also has problems and is not nearly as strong as the author seemed to have intended. In fact the overall quality of writing in the novel weakens after the tragic climax. There are also some very predictable plot elements that keep the story from seeming as original as it could be. Yet this is a very readable worthy book with some important messages about racism and humanity as well as some real insight in to life in the Delta sixty some years ago.
June 27, 2008 | |
SIMILAR PRODUCTS |
| |
|
|
|
|
