Being a North Carolinian, I must have a favorite North Carolina author, it is required, so Charles Frazier is my favorite by far. Perhaps it is because of his settings, particularly his intimate feel for the Blue Ridge Mountains, they being the first mountains I ever saw and explored. Or perhaps it is because of his deft portrayals of the people who settled those mountains and whose identity is entwined with them. Frazier grew up there, and his love for the mountains and their deeply shadowed coves pervades his novels, the most famous of which is his first book, Cold Mountain. A story about an obscure anId unimportant part of the American Civil War it was an international bestseller, won a ton of awards and later became an award-winning film all on the basis of the author's ability to set realistic people on realistic terrain and let them talk.
His second novel, Thirteen Moons was more epic in timeframe than Cold Mountain, covering many decades of development. Set in the same terrain as Cold Mountain, the book rewards his fans and all fans of the region with stunningly accurate descriptions of the settlement and develop of the area, along with a compelling personal narrative of the protagonist.
Nightwoods is his third novel and as expected, does not disappoint. I don't want to ruin any of these amazing narratives by describing them here, so let me just say that if you love the Appalachians, the South and the people that settled Western NC and live there still, read this incredibly gifted writer.
No comments:
Post a Comment