The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

"Ever' man wants life to be a fine thing, and easy. 'Tis fine, boy, powerful fine, but 'tain't easy. Life knocks a man down and he gits up and it knocks him down agin. I've been uneasy all my life...I've wanted life to be easy for you. Easier'n 'twas for me. A man's heart aches, seein' his young uns face the world. Knowin' they got to get their guts tore out, the way his was tore. I wanted to spare you, long as I could. I wanted you to frolic with your yearlin'. I knowed the lonesomeness he eased for you. But ever' man's lonesome. What's he to do then? What's he to do when he gits knocked down? Why, take it for his share and go on."

                             —Penny Baxter in The Yearling

If you have read my last several posts, you already know I've been teaching a class on the work of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. This is the last one in that series, at least for a while.

I selected The Yearling for my class to read and discuss because it is MKR's best known novel and most highly acclaimed, having won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939. I was quite sure I had read it several years ago when I first took on an acting role portraying the author. In listening to the audio version in my car, I realized in the last half of the novel that I had NOT finished it. Maybe, I only thought I had because I had seen the 1946 movie version. At any rate, I enjoyed the book much more than I had back then and possibly due to the talented narrator who was so adept at reading the dialogue and making the characters come alive. I'm rating The Yearling a 5 and I have no doubt I'll read it again.

My class seemed to genuinely enjoy the book, as well. We all loved Penny, the wise and loving father of Jody who is actually the main character. We agreed that the obvious theme was the coming of age story of a boy but thought perhaps the theme of survival was just as significant. We learned that MKR had a great love for the land of North Central Florida and its flora and fauna. This reverence for nature is evident in Penny's philosophy in the novel.

Don't think of this one as a young adult fiction. Think of it as a valuable historical fiction beautifully capturing the life of early pioneers of Florida. I recommend it highly!

 

Bossypants by Tina Fey

"One of the worst parts of [playing Tina Fey] was that I learned what it felt like to be a lightning rod. I got some hate mail and there are definitely people out there who will dislike me for the rest of my life because of 'what I did' to Sarah Palin. On an intellectual level, this doesn't bother me at all. On a human level, I would prefer to be liked. There was an assumption that I was personally attacking Sarah Palin by impersonating her on TV. No one ever said it was 'mean' when Chevy Chase played Gerald Ford falling down all the time. No one ever accused Dana Carvey or Darrell Hammond or Dan Ackroyd of 'going too far' in their political impressions. You see what I'm getting at here. I am not mean and Mrs. Palin is not fragile. To imply otherwise is a disservice to us both."

Had I not been leading the discussion of this book for our Page Turners group, I likely would not have finished it. I selected it from a list of our library's book bundles because I thought it would be funny. I don't believe I laughed aloud a single time in the reading of the book. Perhaps I could admit to an occasional smile or snicker. The funniest part was the script of Tina and Amy Poehler's skit portraying Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton because it brought back the memory of viewing that very humorous event on "SNL." Overall, though, I guess Fey's type of humor is just not my cup of tea. I gave the book a 2 rating.

When our group met to discuss the book, most agreed it was mediocre. The group's rating averaged 2.1, the lowest in quite a while.  I actually apologized to our male members for this selection---it was "chick lit" to the nth degree! As always, our discussion was enjoyable---much more so than the book. Some of the negative comments were about Fey's "potty mouth" and juvenile humor. Most agreed the cover photo was disgusting but it did seem to symbolize Fey's feminist ideas. We thought perhaps she told her story to inspire women to persevere in a man's world as she did. In our discussion, someone brought out the fact that many in our age group have not been exposed to Tina Fey's comedy on "SNL" or "30 Rock." It seems possible that younger adult readers, particularly female, would find Bossypants more entertaining and worthwhile.

Cross Creek Cookery by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

"My father used to say this grace at table: 'Receive our thanks, our Heavenly Father, for these mercies. Bless them to our bodies' good, for Thy name's sake. Amen.'
     Food imaginatively and lovingly prepared, and eaten in good company, warms the being with something more than the mere intake of calories. I cannot conceive of cooking for friends or family, under reasonable conditions, as being a chore. Food eaten in unpleasant circumstances is unblessed to our bodies' good---and so is a drug-store sandwich---or a raw duck. Some of my dishes, such as alligator-tail steak or Minorcan gopher stew may horrify the delicate, who may consider them, too, unblessed. I have included nothing that is not extremely palatable, and the reader or student of culinary arts may either believe me or fall back in cowardly safety on a standard cook book."
                -Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Cross Creek Cookery

In following up that quote, this is surely NOT a standard cookbook. Open a cookbook on your shelf and tell me, do you see: Florida Soft-Shell Turtle (Cooter) Soup; Aunt Effie's Custard Johnny Cake; Poke Wee, Cross Creek; Cow-peas; Swamp Cabbage Salad; Orange Lake Frog-legs; Shrimp Pilau; Pot Roast of Bear; Sweet Potato Pone, Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie, Mayhaw Jelly? Hmm...I didn't think so.

Cross Creek Cookery makes interesting reading but I would not recommend it as a cookbook since the ingredient amounts and directions are ambiguous, at best. I read it in preparation for the class I am teaching on Rawlings, the author. Apparently she wrote it in response to requests by fans of Cross Creek, her chronicle, or memoir, of her experiences living in "this enchanted place" in North Central Florida. The longest chapter in Cross Creek is "Our Daily Bread," describing many popular foods of the region and admitting to culinary skill being her greatest vanity: "For my part, my literary ability may safely be questioned as harshly as one wills, but indifference to my table puts me in a rage."

Many of the recipes are very rich, involving plenty of her Jersey cow Dora's butter and cream. A friend said she should include a Jersey cow with each cookbook!

The longest section is desserts. Caution: Your mouth will likely water!

I will rate Cross Creek Cookery a 3.5. It seems a bit odd to rate or blog this book since I didn't actually read it "kivver to kivver." I did read all the narratives which were pretty entertaining and skimmed the menus and recipes. Most are too labor-intensive for me! And as I mentioned, often not very concise. I recommend it to fans of Rawlings, especially as a companion to Cross Creek, but as a cooking tool, not so much.

Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

"Yet when a wave of love takes over a human being, love of another human being, love of nature, love of all mankind, love of the universe, such an exaltation takes him that he knows he has put his finger on the pulse of the great secret and the great answer."                                -Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Cross Creek

Any followers of my blog will already know that I start each post with a quote. Cross Creek has so many pithy ones, it is difficult to choose just one! I have read this book twice before and I enjoyed it this third time, while preparing for a class I am teaching about Marjorie Rawlings. (You may notice the last few posts are related.) I must rate it a 5.

The genre of Cross Creek is a little difficult to pin down. It is a chronicle of the author's time in North Central Florida but has also been called autobiography. I think you could describe it as a memoir or even a series of short stories. Whatever you want to call it, it has much to offer---humor, poignancy and lovely description. Two of my favorite chapters are "The Evolution of Comfort" and "A Pig Is Paid For." I got a little bogged down with "Our Daily Bread," one of the longer chapters and all about food. Parts of the "seasonal" chapters at the end were a bit dull, especially after so much humor and excitement at the start.

"The Census" is an important chapter since it included a description of a "friend" that later brought a lawsuit against Mrs. Rawlings. During the trial Marjorie said this book was a "love story to a place" but I believe her affection for Cross Creek, the place, may have been slightly diminished by the disappointment and stress of the trial because she never wrote about it again. If you have never read Rawlings' work, do start with this one!
            

Blood of My Blood by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

"You'll never know how much your father loves you. You're mine---blood of my blood, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh."                          -Arthur Kinnan to daughter, Marjorie

This is the first book written by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, completed in 1928, refused for publication, undiscovered for decades and finally published in 2002, long after the author's death. It was originally submitted for a writing contest as a novel but it is VERY autobiographical. It begins with the story of Marjorie's grandparents and the upbringing of her own parents. Marjorie is born around page 50 and the last 2/3 of the story is hers, concentrating mostly on her conflicted relationship with her mother and the closeness of her and her father. I would describe her mother, Ida, as a tiger mom on steroids! She was very controlling, trying to relive her own life vicariously through Marjorie. Fortunately she did seem to mellow after Marjorie had flown from the nest.

Marjorie's last book was The Sojourner which, ironically, borrows from this first one. I have not read it yet but apparently the line "blood of my blood" shows up more than once and the main characters are based on Rawlings' maternal grandparents. Also, the setting is a northern farm.

Blood of My Blood was very helpful in enlightening me about Marjorie's family, childhood and youth in preparation for the class I am teaching this month at Rollins College, "The Life and Literary Works of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings." For that reason I will rate it a 4. Fans of Rawlings will probably enjoy it but one could not call it a page-turner.
                   

Idella, Marjorie Rawlings' Perfect Maid by Idella Parker with Mary Keating

"For the most part, she did not smile, and to me she seemed a lonely woman, no matter how many friends and admirers she had. She was always looking for happiness, only I don't think she ever really found it."
                                     -Idella Parker, describing Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

I read this memoir the first time when I began playing a cameo role of Marjorie Rawlings. I found it very interesting then, as it shows different characteristics of the famous Florida author than what I have read in biographies. In my rereading of the book to prepare for a class I am teaching, I am once again reminded of her strengths and imperfections. Though Idella, who Rawlings referred to as her "perfect maid" felt great love for her employer, she worried about her, sometimes pitied her and at times, resented her. The quote above, I think, reflects some of the worry and pity, along with Idella's concern about Marjorie's unhealthy habits. Some of the resentment stemmed from the racial relations of the time but also the volatile temper which flared when Rawlings was drinking too much or depressed about her writing going badly.

An interesting quote near the end of Idella's book summarizes the relationship quite well:
"In private, we were often like sisters, laughing and chatting and enjoying one another's company. We shared many years [10] together, helped one another through bad times, and rejoiced for each other's happiness. Between the two of us there was deep friendship and respect, and no thought of the social differences between us.
But whenever other people were around, the barrier of color went up automatically. Without acknowledging that we were doing so, we became more distant to one another. She became the rich, white lady author, and I became quiet, reserved, and slipped back into her shadow, 'the perfect maid.'"
In the acknowledgements, Idella says she wishes that Mrs. Rawlings had lived to see integration because she truly believes Rawlings would have welcomed it.

A couple of my favorite parts of the story were when Idella invited Marjorie to go to church with her and the humorous results that followed. Also, examples of the racial divide were shown in the Ocala movie theater episode---pretty funny to read but very frightening for Idella at the time.  I applauded Marjorie when the restaurant would not allow Idella to use the restroom somewhere in GA or SC and she refused to stay there and made Norton, her 2nd husband, drive on to a place where they could pull over and go in the woods!

All in all, this is not the greatest literature, but seems to have a lot of "heart." I am a fan of Marjorie Rawlings and if you are, you will surely find this a good read---an easy one, too, at only 129 pages with a number of photographs. I rate it a 4.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Sojourner at Cross Creek by Elizabeth Silverthorne

"Sift each of us through the great sieve of circumstance and you have a residue, great or small as the case may be, that is the man or the woman."
                 -Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings,  Cross Creek

I read this biography several years ago, likely soon after I took on a cameo role where I portrayed Marjorie in front of school groups. I have just finished rereading it in preparation for a class I am teaching at Rollins College in the Lifelong Learning program there. The course title: The Life and Literary Works of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings." I enjoyed this reading so much more, perhaps because I have been involved in the Rawlings Society, visited Cross Creek and read so much more of her work. I have gone from being interested in Mrs. Rawlings to being a true fan! As biographies go, this one is quite good;  I will rate it a 4.

Marjorie's life is fascinating and a good example why one should never give up on their dreams. She was a precocious child and a promising writer through her school days. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin with honors she went to New York with high hopes of beginning a writing career. After 10 years of newspaper work, she had no luck selling her short stories or an early novel she had written, Blood of My Blood, and was becoming doubtful of achieving her goal to be a famous author. It was after moving to north central Florida, a place known as Cross Creek, that her writing career really took off. When she was inspired by the tranquil, wild surroundings and her Cracker neighbors, she wrote short stories and later novels that were published and proved popular and successful. Her best-known novel is The Yearling, although Cross Creek, a chronicle of her experiences, would rank high as well. The Yearling won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939.

I especially admire Rawlings' ideas about the earth, for example "No man should have proprietary rights over land who does not use that land wisely and lovingly." Time and again, her love of nature appears through her writing. In reading The Yearling again, and listening to it on CD, I'm discovering much humor along with the beautiful descriptions.

Marjorie was extremely generous it seems, both with financial help to her family, friends and employees, but also with her time in helping aspiring writers. Much is known of her, too, by her prolific correspondence, especially with her beloved editor Maxwell Perkins. She also answered many letters from readers and wrote to servicemen often during WWII.

I have come to know and appreciate Marjorie's many good qualities, including her great love for Florida (my home) and the attention she brought to its beauty by her writing. Her second husband wrote her epitaph:

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

1896-1953

wife of

Norton Baskin

Through her writings she endeared

herself to

the people of the world