"We haven't had trouble here. We're trying to avoid it. God knows we're trying, and we've got a start. It may not seem like much to you, but it's a beginning."
-Mayor Sidney Grenlee, from the novel
This book was advertised as possibly Patrick D. Smith's finest novel. Since I have read A Land Remembered, a favorite of mine, and several other of his novels and appreciated his writing very much, I decided to read this one. I must beg to differ on the hype. I feel it is far from Smith's best, even though I did finish it and will rate it a 3. A couple of problems were poor editing and very long sentences with frequent listing.
Many ultraconservatives trying to save people from reading anything that makes them "uncomfortable" would probably want to ban this one. In fact, the introduction written by the author in 1998 admits it was controversial after its publication in 1967. There are some very disturbing scenes.
The story takes place in Midvale, Mississippi, in the 1960's in a small town dealing with new federal legislation seeking to provide equality to blacks. In Midvale, the white sheriff, Ike Thornton and white mayor, Sidney Grenlee, are trying very hard to help their black citizens. Many of the townspeople agree with their efforts but, of course, there are racist rednecks, Con Ashley for one, who can't stand the thought of blacks having equal rights. Along come a couple of civil rights workers from California who supposedly want to open a school for blacks. The young woman, Sylvia Landcaster, has education in mind and her heart in the right place. Her coworker, Jeffrey Van Dolan, just wants to stir up trouble. I couldn't decide who I disliked the most: Ashley or Van Dolan---both pretty despicable.
The Beginning is an interesting story but as I mentioned, it is certainly not Patrick D. Smith's best!
No comments:
Post a Comment