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jeffburns's review against another edition
5.0
What a great book! I had never heard of it until I saw a list of greatest books by GA authors. So glad I did. It's a great southern book. It's a great boy-coming-of age book. It's a book filled with eccentric characters vividly drawn. It ranks up there with To Kill a Mockingbird, A Confederacy of Dunces, and Mark Twain's works.
bjr2022's review against another edition
5.0
I bought a used out-of-print hardcover, sans cover, and often, after finishing a chapter, I found myself hugging and caressing the book, talking to it, asking how anybody could own it and give it away. (The book was republished in paperback by University of Georgia Press.)
Why isn't author Jeff Fields as known as John Steinbeck, Wallace Stegner, and Harper Lee? Why didn't this 1974 release about life in a boarding house in the Georgia sticks in 1953 win a Pulitzer?
Fields's bio at the Georgia Center for the Book states:
Thank you, Diane Barnes, for waking me up to a book that is indeed a masterpiece.
Jeff Fields is now 82 years old and living in Georgia. Somebody optioned this book for a movie in 1975, but he took it back, not trusting what Hollywood would do to it.
I'm glad a movie was never made, but somebody should make a movie, and I won't go to it because the book is all I want in my head. Somebody should pay serious attention to this man. I wish I knew how to do that better.
He donated his papers to the University of North Carolina. Here's his page: https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/04950/. He is said to be working on another novel. I would like to read it.
12/3/21 Second Reading Update
I read this book a second time after my book club chose it from my list of three nominations. I read it much slower this time, and I was surprised to discover that, for me, it did not have the same impact as the first time. This is because there really are no new levels or writer’s technique to discover. You get it all on the first reading—not a bad thing, but now I understand how somebody could own this book and then donate it after reading it. Gorgeous writing. A slow, meandering wonderful story. And the tour-de-force cinematic ending is worth holding onto my copy of the book. Perhaps I’ll just reread that if I need a certain kind of inspiration.
Why isn't author Jeff Fields as known as John Steinbeck, Wallace Stegner, and Harper Lee? Why didn't this 1974 release about life in a boarding house in the Georgia sticks in 1953 win a Pulitzer?
Fields's bio at the Georgia Center for the Book states:
Jeff Fields has written for print and television as well as for the stage, but he is best known for his 1974 book, "A Cry of Angels," an acclaimed novel that critics called a "masterpiece" and a book "even better than "To Kill a Mockingbird." A coming-of-age story set in small town Georgia, it is populated by memorable characters and fuses the comedy of youth with dramatic incidents, soaring on what Georgia author and friend Terry Kay calls "wings of poetic language." In 2010, the novel was chosen for inclusion on the Georgia Center for the Book's list of "25 Books All Georgians Should Read."I would go one step further and say that anybody who loves literature should read this book.
Thank you, Diane Barnes, for waking me up to a book that is indeed a masterpiece.
Jeff Fields is now 82 years old and living in Georgia. Somebody optioned this book for a movie in 1975, but he took it back, not trusting what Hollywood would do to it.
I'm glad a movie was never made, but somebody should make a movie, and I won't go to it because the book is all I want in my head. Somebody should pay serious attention to this man. I wish I knew how to do that better.
He donated his papers to the University of North Carolina. Here's his page: https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/04950/. He is said to be working on another novel. I would like to read it.
12/3/21 Second Reading Update
I read this book a second time after my book club chose it from my list of three nominations. I read it much slower this time, and I was surprised to discover that, for me, it did not have the same impact as the first time. This is because there really are no new levels or writer’s technique to discover. You get it all on the first reading—not a bad thing, but now I understand how somebody could own this book and then donate it after reading it. Gorgeous writing. A slow, meandering wonderful story. And the tour-de-force cinematic ending is worth holding onto my copy of the book. Perhaps I’ll just reread that if I need a certain kind of inspiration.
tashabye's review
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
tangowhiskyman's review against another edition
5.0
This is a delightful book, rambunctious and sagacious in equal measures. At the heart of it there is a disparate group of characters who are all dispossessed. Dispossessed by fire, by age, or at the hands of a rapacious landlord and employer . Everyone is just trying to get by.
Jojohn’s advice to the 14yr old Earl is priceless.
"School! Let me tell you sump’n, boy. When you’re born, you’re complete, and don’t need nothin’ else. After that, any changes you make in yourself you gotta strain and sacrifice. Little piece of you here in exchange for this, little piece there in exchange for that. Lose your health makin’ a dollar, till you end up wise and rich. Then what happens? You die in a pile of clutter. Kinfolks you never liked end up with your possessions and the worms get your brains. The thing to do is hold down your wants. In the long run it’s less of a strain, and you get to keep more of what you stared out with. ”
I finished reading A Cry of Angels a few days ago and I've not stopped smiling since. That really is priceless.
Jojohn’s advice to the 14yr old Earl is priceless.
"School! Let me tell you sump’n, boy. When you’re born, you’re complete, and don’t need nothin’ else. After that, any changes you make in yourself you gotta strain and sacrifice. Little piece of you here in exchange for this, little piece there in exchange for that. Lose your health makin’ a dollar, till you end up wise and rich. Then what happens? You die in a pile of clutter. Kinfolks you never liked end up with your possessions and the worms get your brains. The thing to do is hold down your wants. In the long run it’s less of a strain, and you get to keep more of what you stared out with. ”
I finished reading A Cry of Angels a few days ago and I've not stopped smiling since. That really is priceless.
carolof3's review
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Excellent coming-of-age book. I read it once every few years.
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