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Then Like the Blind Man: Orbie's Story
'Then Like the Blind Man: Orbie's' Story tells the story of a downtrodden nine-year-old who is sent from the city to live with his grandparents in the outback of Kentucky, taking few possessions yet a heart and soul chock-full of hatred for black people. But his grandparents are mavericks of the 1950s south; transforming Orbie into a young man that battles through the demons of his generation to embrace compassion and racial equality.
Synopsis:
A storm is brewing in the all-but-forgotten back country of Kentucky. And, for young Orbie Ray, the swirling heavens may just have the power to tear open his family's darkest secrets. Then Like the Blind Man: Orbie's Story is the first person account of a white youth cast aside in the segregated South of the 1950s, and the forces he must overcome to restore order in his world.
Nine-year-old Orbie already has his cross to bear. After the death of his father, his mother Ruby has off and married Victor, a slick-talking man with a snake tattoo. Orbie hates his stepfather more than he can stand, a fact that lands him at his grandparents' place in Harlan's Crossroads, Kentucky. Orbie grudgingly adjusts to life with his doting Granny and carping Granpaw, who are a bit too keen on their black neighbors for Orbie's taste, not to mention the local Pentecostal congregation of snake handlers. Soon, however, he finds his worldviews changing, particularly when it comes to matters of race, religion and the true cause of his father's death.
Equal parts Hamlet and Huckleberry Finn, Then Like the Blind Man is certain to resonate with lovers of literary as well as historical fiction, particularly in the grand Southern tradition of storytelling.
While fiction about the 1950s Civil Rights era is far from rare, few capture the period and struggles from the perspective of a white child. In 'Then Like the Blind Man: Orbie's Story', Freddie Owens depicts the coming-of-age of one nine-year-old protagonist whose story transcends fiction to capture the shifting racial prejudices that turned would-be racists into a generation that embraced racial equality.
Owens captures his characters’ folksy Appalachian diction without overdoing it and subtly reveals character through dialogue and description. A psychologically astute, skillful, engrossing and satisfying novel.
– Starred For Exceptional Merit by Kirkus Reviews
Every once in a while you read a book in which every element fits together so perfectly that you just sit back in awe at the skill of the storyteller. Then Like The Blind Man is one of these books.
– The San Francisco Book Review
In an American coming-of- age novel, the author presents a stunning story with clarity and historical accuracy, rich in illuminating the Appalachian culture of the time period.
– Publisher's Weekly
Orbie's sharecropping grandparents, by defying convention with unnerving grace, become founts of colloquial wisdom whose appeal is impossible to resist, and the Orbie they nurture – the best version of a boy who may otherwise have been lost – is someone the reader comes to love.
– Michelle Anne Schingler / ForeWord Reviews
This is a rural-America version of Hamlet...but with intriguingly different choices made by the protagonist that have their inevitable effect on the ending. The symbolism is both omnipresent and beautifully handled.
– Catherine Langrehr / The Indie Reader
Synopsis:
A storm is brewing in the all-but-forgotten back country of Kentucky. And, for young Orbie Ray, the swirling heavens may just have the power to tear open his family's darkest secrets. Then Like the Blind Man: Orbie's Story is the first person account of a white youth cast aside in the segregated South of the 1950s, and the forces he must overcome to restore order in his world.
Nine-year-old Orbie already has his cross to bear. After the death of his father, his mother Ruby has off and married Victor, a slick-talking man with a snake tattoo. Orbie hates his stepfather more than he can stand, a fact that lands him at his grandparents' place in Harlan's Crossroads, Kentucky. Orbie grudgingly adjusts to life with his doting Granny and carping Granpaw, who are a bit too keen on their black neighbors for Orbie's taste, not to mention the local Pentecostal congregation of snake handlers. Soon, however, he finds his worldviews changing, particularly when it comes to matters of race, religion and the true cause of his father's death.
Equal parts Hamlet and Huckleberry Finn, Then Like the Blind Man is certain to resonate with lovers of literary as well as historical fiction, particularly in the grand Southern tradition of storytelling.
While fiction about the 1950s Civil Rights era is far from rare, few capture the period and struggles from the perspective of a white child. In 'Then Like the Blind Man: Orbie's Story', Freddie Owens depicts the coming-of-age of one nine-year-old protagonist whose story transcends fiction to capture the shifting racial prejudices that turned would-be racists into a generation that embraced racial equality.
Owens captures his characters’ folksy Appalachian diction without overdoing it and subtly reveals character through dialogue and description. A psychologically astute, skillful, engrossing and satisfying novel.
– Starred For Exceptional Merit by Kirkus Reviews
Every once in a while you read a book in which every element fits together so perfectly that you just sit back in awe at the skill of the storyteller. Then Like The Blind Man is one of these books.
– The San Francisco Book Review
In an American coming-of- age novel, the author presents a stunning story with clarity and historical accuracy, rich in illuminating the Appalachian culture of the time period.
– Publisher's Weekly
Orbie's sharecropping grandparents, by defying convention with unnerving grace, become founts of colloquial wisdom whose appeal is impossible to resist, and the Orbie they nurture – the best version of a boy who may otherwise have been lost – is someone the reader comes to love.
– Michelle Anne Schingler / ForeWord Reviews
This is a rural-America version of Hamlet...but with intriguingly different choices made by the protagonist that have their inevitable effect on the ending. The symbolism is both omnipresent and beautifully handled.
– Catherine Langrehr / The Indie Reader
312 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 15, 2012
About the author
Freddie Owens
2 books21 followersI was born in Kentucky but grew up around Detroit. I would sometimes spend a week or two, once I spent six weeks, in Kentucky, staying with cousins or with my grandparents. And yes, it was an entirely different world for me, providing some of the best and worst times of my growing up years. I had a great time on a dairy farm with several of my cousins, milking cows, hoeing tobacco, running over the hills and hollers and up and down a creek that surrounded the big farm. I remember too, periods of abject boredom, sitting around my grandparent's place with nothing to do but wander about the red clay yard or kill flies on my grandmother's screened in back porch.
Certain aspects of this history did manifest knowingly at times, at times spontaneously and distantly, as ghostly north-south structures, as composite personae, as moles and stains and tears and glistening rain and dark bottles of beer, rooms of cigarette smoke, hay lofts and pigs. Here's a quote from the acknowledgements that may serve to illustrate this point.
"Two memories served as starting points for a short story I wrote that eventually became this novel. One was of my Kentucky grandmother as she emerged from a shed with a white chicken held upside down in one of her strong bony hands. I, a boy of nine and a ‘city slicker’ from Detroit, looked on in wonderment and horror as she summarily wrung the poor creature’s neck. It ran about the yard frantically, yes incredibly, as if trying to locate something it had misplaced as if the known world could be set right again, recreated, if only that one thing was found. And then of course it died. The second memory was of lantern light reflected off stones that lay on either side of a path to a storm cellar me and my grandparents were headed for one stormy night beneath a tornado’s approaching din. There was wonderment there too, along with a vast and looming sense of impending doom."
Cormac McCarthy, Pete Dexter, Carson McCullers, Raymond Carver, Flannery O'Conner and Joyce Carol Oates, to name but a few, are among my literary heroes and heroines. Tone and style of these writers have influenced me in ways I'd be hard pressed to name, though I think the discerning reader might feel such influences as I make one word follow another and attempt to "stab the heart with...force" (a la Isaac Babel) by placing my periods (hopefully) '... just at the right place'.
Certain aspects of this history did manifest knowingly at times, at times spontaneously and distantly, as ghostly north-south structures, as composite personae, as moles and stains and tears and glistening rain and dark bottles of beer, rooms of cigarette smoke, hay lofts and pigs. Here's a quote from the acknowledgements that may serve to illustrate this point.
"Two memories served as starting points for a short story I wrote that eventually became this novel. One was of my Kentucky grandmother as she emerged from a shed with a white chicken held upside down in one of her strong bony hands. I, a boy of nine and a ‘city slicker’ from Detroit, looked on in wonderment and horror as she summarily wrung the poor creature’s neck. It ran about the yard frantically, yes incredibly, as if trying to locate something it had misplaced as if the known world could be set right again, recreated, if only that one thing was found. And then of course it died. The second memory was of lantern light reflected off stones that lay on either side of a path to a storm cellar me and my grandparents were headed for one stormy night beneath a tornado’s approaching din. There was wonderment there too, along with a vast and looming sense of impending doom."
Cormac McCarthy, Pete Dexter, Carson McCullers, Raymond Carver, Flannery O'Conner and Joyce Carol Oates, to name but a few, are among my literary heroes and heroines. Tone and style of these writers have influenced me in ways I'd be hard pressed to name, though I think the discerning reader might feel such influences as I make one word follow another and attempt to "stab the heart with...force" (a la Isaac Babel) by placing my periods (hopefully) '... just at the right place'.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
July 4, 2022
Beautiful
This is the story of a young boy, Orbie, and his family. He is left with his grandparents on a temporary basis and there learns about faith, friendship and courage. This is a lovely story, suitable for everyone.
This is the story of a young boy, Orbie, and his family. He is left with his grandparents on a temporary basis and there learns about faith, friendship and courage. This is a lovely story, suitable for everyone.
February 23, 2013
Wow! This book is an instant classic. An amazing first novel, that will stick with you long after you've finished reading. My mom was born in Kentucky and I never had ever heard of someone else eating "soak"! That was really a delightful moment, as we have always thought that she was the only person in the world to do that. Biscuits and coffee, cornbread and milk...."soak". I love it'
*i received this book through a giveaway from GoodReads*
*i received this book through a giveaway from GoodReads*
August 28, 2020
Great storytelling...
Then Like the Blind Man: Orbie's Story by Freddie Owens is a wonderfully written and richly descriptive novel with brilliantly drawn characters and settings. The author weaves a well-crafted coming of age narrative that serves as an allegory for the pains of being.
An exceptionally well written book, the contrast between tone and content is a characteristic talent of only a few authors. Owens pays as much attention to his sentences as he does to his plots, shifting or consolidating meaning with the use of a single word. His writing is impeccably honed, full of juxtapositions and qualifications that help to create a somewhat warm adventure story.
Finally, it must be stated that the author’s script at times is razor-sharp and will cut deep into the emotions of its reader. This story is not for the easily offended. A word of caution, therefore, for the ‘linguistically sensitive’ among us. Nevertheless, the themes and outcome are just as affecting in the arresting early 1950's landscape.
Then Like the Blind Man: Orbie's Story by Freddie Owens is a wonderfully written and richly descriptive novel with brilliantly drawn characters and settings. The author weaves a well-crafted coming of age narrative that serves as an allegory for the pains of being.
An exceptionally well written book, the contrast between tone and content is a characteristic talent of only a few authors. Owens pays as much attention to his sentences as he does to his plots, shifting or consolidating meaning with the use of a single word. His writing is impeccably honed, full of juxtapositions and qualifications that help to create a somewhat warm adventure story.
Finally, it must be stated that the author’s script at times is razor-sharp and will cut deep into the emotions of its reader. This story is not for the easily offended. A word of caution, therefore, for the ‘linguistically sensitive’ among us. Nevertheless, the themes and outcome are just as affecting in the arresting early 1950's landscape.
January 10, 2015
Owens produces a fairly good read in "Then Like the Blind Man: Orbie's Story." The story tracks the summer that Orbie spends with his grandparents in the Deep South while his recently widowed mother looks for a better life with a new man in sunny Florida. Owens lets the narrative flounder for the first half of the book, while he sets up supernatural conclusion often expected of southern literature. Owens does put a bit of a fresh face on an easily stereotyped approach.
Owens puts together a passable story. The problem with this book is the dialogue. Writing good southern dialogue requires a deft touch, yet Owens opts for a hammer instead. Good dialogue aids the flow of the story while revealing nuances about the makeup of the individual characters. Here, the dialogue often becomes an impediment to enjoying an otherwise engaging story and leaving the reader a little bit like the blind man.
Owens puts together a passable story. The problem with this book is the dialogue. Writing good southern dialogue requires a deft touch, yet Owens opts for a hammer instead. Good dialogue aids the flow of the story while revealing nuances about the makeup of the individual characters. Here, the dialogue often becomes an impediment to enjoying an otherwise engaging story and leaving the reader a little bit like the blind man.
January 27, 2013
This story is told through the eyes of 9 year old Orbie. There is a component of magical realism that I often don't appreciate, as reality based as I am. However, a nine year old's perspective helps. The story is fast paced and exciting incorporating Detroit and Appalachian Kentucky and underlying racial tensions.
March 24, 2013
Then Like The Blind Man: Orbie's Story is a debut novel by Freddie Owens.
The story pulls you in and suddenly you're in Orbie's world...seeing what he's seeing, feeling what he's feeling,thinking what he's thinking. It takes a good story teller to make the reader absorb the character the way Freddie Owens does with Orbie. I really enjoyed this book and I hope to hear more from this author.
The story pulls you in and suddenly you're in Orbie's world...seeing what he's seeing, feeling what he's feeling,thinking what he's thinking. It takes a good story teller to make the reader absorb the character the way Freddie Owens does with Orbie. I really enjoyed this book and I hope to hear more from this author.
February 28, 2013
great story.. its funny because I am from the south so the reviews I read where people wrote that this book had poor grammar and punctuation. Well thats just how people talk here in the south. Thanks for the opportunity to read this book .
November 19, 2012
Debut author, Freddie Owens, swings for the fences and hits a home run with his excellent coming-of-age story set primarily in Kentucky, Then Like the Blind Man. When Orbie’s father dies, his life changes forever. His mother, Ruby, finds herself attracted to the smooth-talking, poetic atheist Victor Denalsky, who had been Orbie’s father’s foreman at a steel mill in Detroit. After Orbie’s father dies, Victor courts Orbie’s mother, and eventually marries her. Not wanting to nor desiring to take care of a nine-year-old boy with an attitude, like Orbie, who can’t stand his stepfather, anyway, Ruby and Victor decide to drop Orbie off at Ruby’s parents’ house in Kentucky, with the promise that they’ll come back to get him once they’ve settled in Florida, where Victor supposedly has a job lined up. Orbie’s mother and Victor take with them Orbie’s younger sister, Missy.
The novel is told in the first person by Orbie, who, though young, is very insightful for his age. As I read, I was often reminded of another famous novel told from the POV of a child, Scout, To Kill a Mockingbird. The themes are different, but Orbie’s and Scout’s perspectives on African Americans in the 1950′s are significant to understanding both books. Orbie has some bad experiences with some of the black people he comes in contact with early on in the novel, so he calls them the “n,” word at various points in the story.
Through the course of Then Like the Blind Man, Orbie eventually realizes that his grandparents are great people who love him. They may not have attained a high level of school education, but they are wise about farm life and human nature.
They don’t like it that their daughter, Ruby, has developed a prejudice for blacks, nor that she’s passed it on to Orbie. That’s one of the many nice touches I liked about Freddie Owen’s debut novel, that in it, it’s not Orbie’s grandparents who live in Kentucky that exhibit a prejudiced point of view, but it’s learned from experiences Orbie and his family have living in Detroit, in the north. Of course, in reality, unfortunately you can find prejudice in every state to this day; but, the author didn’t go the stereotypical route of having his northern characters expressing an enlightened POV, and his southern ones being all racists.
Owens, a published poet, has infused Then Like the Blind Man with a poetic sensibility that makes his story and characters come to life for the reader. Through Owens, and Orbie’s story, we feel the emotions of being dumped off somewhere he doesn’t want to live, at his grandparents’ house; but, we come to see them as positive, nurturing influences on Orbie’s life. Though Orbie despises the alcoholic Victor, and how his mother has made wrong decisions (to his POV, anyway), Victor is not portrayed as being completely bad. He does show an interest in Orbie at times, like when Orbie expresses his fascination with a scar Victor has on his neck that he got in WWII.
Orbie comes to think that Victor acts nicely towards him only further to ingratiate himself with Ruby, Orbie’s mother. Ruby is the type of woman who thinks she can change the man she loves, to rehabilitate him, and she always holds out a spark of hope for Victor. This is an aspect about her that kind of frustrated me as a reader, and made me want to tell her–if she was real and in front of me–to stop deluding herself and wake up and realize what a jerk Victor is most of the time. But, thinking of a man who has faults as being some sort of “project,” or someone who can be “rehabilitated,” is a trait that some women have, so Ruby’s having this trait brought even more realism to the story.
Besides there being various themes and messages in Then Like the Blind Man, Orbie’s boyhood exuberance, how he relates to his grandparents, his changing point of view about much of what he’d taken for granted; and his adventures are what really makes the novel captivating. Freddie Owens fills the pages of his novel with other very memorable characters, like the humpbacked elderly lady, Bird; Moses Mashbone; Mrs. Profit; and Nealy Harlan. If you’re a fan of novels like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird, Freddie Owens’s Then Like the Blind Man is s Must Read!
The novel is told in the first person by Orbie, who, though young, is very insightful for his age. As I read, I was often reminded of another famous novel told from the POV of a child, Scout, To Kill a Mockingbird. The themes are different, but Orbie’s and Scout’s perspectives on African Americans in the 1950′s are significant to understanding both books. Orbie has some bad experiences with some of the black people he comes in contact with early on in the novel, so he calls them the “n,” word at various points in the story.
Through the course of Then Like the Blind Man, Orbie eventually realizes that his grandparents are great people who love him. They may not have attained a high level of school education, but they are wise about farm life and human nature.
They don’t like it that their daughter, Ruby, has developed a prejudice for blacks, nor that she’s passed it on to Orbie. That’s one of the many nice touches I liked about Freddie Owen’s debut novel, that in it, it’s not Orbie’s grandparents who live in Kentucky that exhibit a prejudiced point of view, but it’s learned from experiences Orbie and his family have living in Detroit, in the north. Of course, in reality, unfortunately you can find prejudice in every state to this day; but, the author didn’t go the stereotypical route of having his northern characters expressing an enlightened POV, and his southern ones being all racists.
Owens, a published poet, has infused Then Like the Blind Man with a poetic sensibility that makes his story and characters come to life for the reader. Through Owens, and Orbie’s story, we feel the emotions of being dumped off somewhere he doesn’t want to live, at his grandparents’ house; but, we come to see them as positive, nurturing influences on Orbie’s life. Though Orbie despises the alcoholic Victor, and how his mother has made wrong decisions (to his POV, anyway), Victor is not portrayed as being completely bad. He does show an interest in Orbie at times, like when Orbie expresses his fascination with a scar Victor has on his neck that he got in WWII.
Orbie comes to think that Victor acts nicely towards him only further to ingratiate himself with Ruby, Orbie’s mother. Ruby is the type of woman who thinks she can change the man she loves, to rehabilitate him, and she always holds out a spark of hope for Victor. This is an aspect about her that kind of frustrated me as a reader, and made me want to tell her–if she was real and in front of me–to stop deluding herself and wake up and realize what a jerk Victor is most of the time. But, thinking of a man who has faults as being some sort of “project,” or someone who can be “rehabilitated,” is a trait that some women have, so Ruby’s having this trait brought even more realism to the story.
Besides there being various themes and messages in Then Like the Blind Man, Orbie’s boyhood exuberance, how he relates to his grandparents, his changing point of view about much of what he’d taken for granted; and his adventures are what really makes the novel captivating. Freddie Owens fills the pages of his novel with other very memorable characters, like the humpbacked elderly lady, Bird; Moses Mashbone; Mrs. Profit; and Nealy Harlan. If you’re a fan of novels like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird, Freddie Owens’s Then Like the Blind Man is s Must Read!
February 1, 2014
This is another of those books that was immensely difficult to rate. It is a young adult, coming-of-age story, and the fact that it was compared to "To Kill a Mockingbird," high standard as far as I set it to a high standard where I was concerned. And that possibly prejudiced the review, but I was willing to give it my full attention.
Permit me to delineate the positive aspects first. From a historical perspective, this book did a superb job recounting civil rights and all the issues surrounding that time period in history. Since it was narrated through the eyes of Orbie, it is quite a captivating story. There is a bit of mystery, and there are some distressing scenes to read as well. The author certainly writes realistically, and he has catered to young adults. After all, most young adults aren't aware of history as it really was, and this is a perfect way to teach them creatively about a critical and distressing part of U.S. history.
My main complaint is the use of profanity. AS I have stated previously, I don't generally mark down books for profanity, but I do expect young adult books to be held to a somewhat higher standard. If the profanity is mild, I often don't mind, but this is what I consider hardcore profanity. I can overlook the historically accurate derogatory terms that are used. However, I do believe that the language should have been limited to that. I wouldn't want my daughter to read this as a teenager. Notwithstanding, the story is phenomenal.
In short, this is a book I can recommend without reservation to adults who thoroughly know what is contained within the pages. It is worth the read, but I would have preferred some of these elements to be less objectionable. I appreciate the issues that were covered in the book from civil rights to child molestation to murder, and I can't even fault the author for the ending--the way a young adult historical novel should end!
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
Permit me to delineate the positive aspects first. From a historical perspective, this book did a superb job recounting civil rights and all the issues surrounding that time period in history. Since it was narrated through the eyes of Orbie, it is quite a captivating story. There is a bit of mystery, and there are some distressing scenes to read as well. The author certainly writes realistically, and he has catered to young adults. After all, most young adults aren't aware of history as it really was, and this is a perfect way to teach them creatively about a critical and distressing part of U.S. history.
My main complaint is the use of profanity. AS I have stated previously, I don't generally mark down books for profanity, but I do expect young adult books to be held to a somewhat higher standard. If the profanity is mild, I often don't mind, but this is what I consider hardcore profanity. I can overlook the historically accurate derogatory terms that are used. However, I do believe that the language should have been limited to that. I wouldn't want my daughter to read this as a teenager. Notwithstanding, the story is phenomenal.
In short, this is a book I can recommend without reservation to adults who thoroughly know what is contained within the pages. It is worth the read, but I would have preferred some of these elements to be less objectionable. I appreciate the issues that were covered in the book from civil rights to child molestation to murder, and I can't even fault the author for the ending--the way a young adult historical novel should end!
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
March 28, 2015
Given To Me For An Honest Review
Then Like The Blind Man: Orbie's Story by Freddie Owens is one of the best debut novels I have read. Once you open this book it will grab you and hold you down real tight and you will watch the pages turn and turn and turn some more until you get to the last page, and you'll just want more. As you are reading this book, you can feel yourself being drawn in and becoming a part of the story. The story is being told through the eyes of a 9 year old child, his name is Orbie.You can "hear" his voice as he tells the story. You can feel what he feels. There is great character development, a great storyline, and some fantastic writing. While reading Orbie's story, I was taken back to when I was a child and lived in Alabama. This story is very powerful. His Daddy dies, his Mama remarries, he is left with his paternal grandparents and thus his story begins. It
will engross you, anger you, and make you cheer for Orbie as he goes through his experiences and encounters while living in Kentucky with his grandparents. And then you get the the end ...... well, it's one you will never forget. That's all I can say. Get this book, you won't regret it. I gave this book 5 stars but it deserves so many more. This book would make a great gift for someone. It would make a great addition to your library or to any library's bookshelf. I highly recommend it everyone, especially those who like reading about coming of age. I look for more from Freddie Owens.
Then Like The Blind Man: Orbie's Story by Freddie Owens is one of the best debut novels I have read. Once you open this book it will grab you and hold you down real tight and you will watch the pages turn and turn and turn some more until you get to the last page, and you'll just want more. As you are reading this book, you can feel yourself being drawn in and becoming a part of the story. The story is being told through the eyes of a 9 year old child, his name is Orbie.You can "hear" his voice as he tells the story. You can feel what he feels. There is great character development, a great storyline, and some fantastic writing. While reading Orbie's story, I was taken back to when I was a child and lived in Alabama. This story is very powerful. His Daddy dies, his Mama remarries, he is left with his paternal grandparents and thus his story begins. It
will engross you, anger you, and make you cheer for Orbie as he goes through his experiences and encounters while living in Kentucky with his grandparents. And then you get the the end ...... well, it's one you will never forget. That's all I can say. Get this book, you won't regret it. I gave this book 5 stars but it deserves so many more. This book would make a great gift for someone. It would make a great addition to your library or to any library's bookshelf. I highly recommend it everyone, especially those who like reading about coming of age. I look for more from Freddie Owens.
January 27, 2013
In a fascinating story of growing up in a totally alien environment, Freddie Owens gives us the story of Orbie, oldest child of Ruby missing his dead father and left with his Kentucky grandparents while Momma, the new husband and his little sister go to Florida to start anew. Orbie hates Victor for several reasons and, during his stay in the hills; learns a few more.
Coming from Detroit to the hills is a drastic change for anyone but, if you are only nine it’s worse than most. No friends, odd cultures, black folk who come and go without being seen and then there is Church. The Kingdom Church is mainly black but Orbie’s grandparents are members so his attendance is expected.
There is one character names Moses who captures the attention of the reader more than most. Tall, black, odd speaking and odder acting Moses serves as the significance of Good\Evil. He can do magic, gets Orbie to handle a snake at Church, keeps care of Willis, a crippled boy with the artistic talent of Da Vinci, and does odd jobs that no one ever sees him working on.
Orbie learns a lot in Kentucky and his grandparents learn quite a bit as well. The city slicker becomes a true hillbilly with a talent no one saw coming. Just an excellent story!
Coming from Detroit to the hills is a drastic change for anyone but, if you are only nine it’s worse than most. No friends, odd cultures, black folk who come and go without being seen and then there is Church. The Kingdom Church is mainly black but Orbie’s grandparents are members so his attendance is expected.
There is one character names Moses who captures the attention of the reader more than most. Tall, black, odd speaking and odder acting Moses serves as the significance of Good\Evil. He can do magic, gets Orbie to handle a snake at Church, keeps care of Willis, a crippled boy with the artistic talent of Da Vinci, and does odd jobs that no one ever sees him working on.
Orbie learns a lot in Kentucky and his grandparents learn quite a bit as well. The city slicker becomes a true hillbilly with a talent no one saw coming. Just an excellent story!
February 23, 2013
I have received a free copy of this book through a GoodReads First Reads giveaway.
A beautifully crafted story with richly written characters.
On the back of the book is written, "Equal parts Hamlet and Huckleberry Finn." I absolutely agree with that, however what isn't mentioned is the magic. Not the practicing of magic, which there is a bit of, but the magic on each page. The author has a real flair for writing. Normally when I read, the book plays out in my head. While reading Then Like The Blind Man, I wouldn't have been surprised in the slightest if it turned into a pop up book at any moment, I felt like I could almost reach out and touch the characters.
A beautifully crafted story with richly written characters.
On the back of the book is written, "Equal parts Hamlet and Huckleberry Finn." I absolutely agree with that, however what isn't mentioned is the magic. Not the practicing of magic, which there is a bit of, but the magic on each page. The author has a real flair for writing. Normally when I read, the book plays out in my head. While reading Then Like The Blind Man, I wouldn't have been surprised in the slightest if it turned into a pop up book at any moment, I felt like I could almost reach out and touch the characters.
March 4, 2013
Freddie Owens is a Colorado poet and novelist. I've met him and heard him read. I heard echoes of Faulkner and Steinbeck. He has an acute sense of the language and does a masterful job with dialect. I don't know Kentucky well, but I find his characters believable and that's what counts. The plot is both scary and affirming. I cannot say enough good about this book. Somewhere there is a traditional publisher hitting his/her head on the desk, saying, "Why did I ignore this book? I'm stupid, stupid, stupid." The book is independently published, available on the big A and I hope Freddie makes a bundle and writes a dozen more books.
February 16, 2013
Gripping. Shocking. Every character is so vivid and real with fheir own unique flaws.
March 24, 2013
A powerful book and well worth your attention. I could almost feel the fictionalized racism exude from the pages. I didn't want to put it down.
May 19, 2022
Stupid, mean white trash
Sad story. Mean man - stupid woman. How can people be so horrible to others? Great characters and unbelievable background.
Sad story. Mean man - stupid woman. How can people be so horrible to others? Great characters and unbelievable background.
July 28, 2020
The mark of a great storyteller is that they draw you into the character's head right from the start. Freddie Owens debut novel has done that. This is Orbie's story of his visit to his grandparents in Kentucky in the early 1950's. What Orbie has to face is more than any nine year old should have to. The author keeps us in Orbie's head the entire time right up until Orbie's determination and help from the supernatural meet.
Look forward to reading more by Owens.
Look forward to reading more by Owens.
February 4, 2017
This is a story first and foremost of courage. Family, domestic violence, sexual abuse, racism and religion filled in the rest of this story about a young boy learning lessons that were much too sophisticated for him to have to learn at such an early age. A tough story, but at the same time sweet. 4.5 stars if I could.
May 4, 2015
Seemed like something was missing
I found this a book a bit hard to get into. The story is set in the 1950’s. The main characters are Victor, Ruby, Orbie, Missy and Ruby’s parents.
Victor is a manager at a steel plant in Detroit which appears to be a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. He told the family he has some time off and he and Ruby are going to travel down to Florida while Orbie stays with Ruby’s parents in Kentucky.
If you have a problem with strong language and “on-point” dialogue of the era, trust me, you aren’t going to enjoy the story. Think along the lines of the book, “The Help,” and you know what I’m referring to.
The dialogue is dead on for the time frame. It is brilliantly executed.
As stated, Orbie is dropped off at Grandpa and Granny’s house. The only child he’s able to befriend is a local colored boy named, Willis and his donkey, Chester. Orbie is extremely prejudiced since his encounter with several of the black boys back in Detroit and his step-dad Victor has no regard for them. He is corrected on more than one occasion by his grandma that, “They folks just like us. Only difference is their skin color.”
As the story progresses he does begin appreciating the coloreds and seeing racism from a new set of eyes. That doesn’t mean he fully embraces them, but he becomes much more tolerable and accepting especially after Willis is attacked by five of the local white boys.
Cons
As for the plot, I’m not sure about that. I found myself asking myself through the majority of the story, what’s the point? Where is this headed and why do we care? I wasn’t able to answer any of those questions.
Is this supposed to be about racism? Is a commentary on American culture in the 50’s? Or is it a coming of age story? I have no idea. At times it came across as a modern version of “Huckleberry Finn”, but even Huck and Jim knew where they were going.
The ending of the story was more mystical then resolved. Still trying to figure out exactly what happened.
I’m not hooked enough to read the second book
Three stars
I found this a book a bit hard to get into. The story is set in the 1950’s. The main characters are Victor, Ruby, Orbie, Missy and Ruby’s parents.
Victor is a manager at a steel plant in Detroit which appears to be a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. He told the family he has some time off and he and Ruby are going to travel down to Florida while Orbie stays with Ruby’s parents in Kentucky.
If you have a problem with strong language and “on-point” dialogue of the era, trust me, you aren’t going to enjoy the story. Think along the lines of the book, “The Help,” and you know what I’m referring to.
The dialogue is dead on for the time frame. It is brilliantly executed.
As stated, Orbie is dropped off at Grandpa and Granny’s house. The only child he’s able to befriend is a local colored boy named, Willis and his donkey, Chester. Orbie is extremely prejudiced since his encounter with several of the black boys back in Detroit and his step-dad Victor has no regard for them. He is corrected on more than one occasion by his grandma that, “They folks just like us. Only difference is their skin color.”
As the story progresses he does begin appreciating the coloreds and seeing racism from a new set of eyes. That doesn’t mean he fully embraces them, but he becomes much more tolerable and accepting especially after Willis is attacked by five of the local white boys.
Cons
As for the plot, I’m not sure about that. I found myself asking myself through the majority of the story, what’s the point? Where is this headed and why do we care? I wasn’t able to answer any of those questions.
Is this supposed to be about racism? Is a commentary on American culture in the 50’s? Or is it a coming of age story? I have no idea. At times it came across as a modern version of “Huckleberry Finn”, but even Huck and Jim knew where they were going.
The ending of the story was more mystical then resolved. Still trying to figure out exactly what happened.
I’m not hooked enough to read the second book
Three stars
January 10, 2014
This book was disturbing to me. The blurb fails to convey the general content very well. I was expecting to read a lighter, fluffier story of a beloved decade in American history, but instead delved into a complex, gritty novel in which ignorance, poverty, and molestation prevails.
I enjoyed the voice (mostly) and the writing style, but the language, and especially the bigoted attitudes prevalent throughout made me exceedingly uncomfortable. Seen through nine-year-old Orbie Ray’s eyes, the 1950’s southern mentality, especially in regards to race, is starkly demonstrated through the everyday cruelties and blatant snubs. I had difficulty with Orbie’s occasional smart-mouth and the disrespect he sometimes showed toward others.
I grew up in that period, too, and I remember a couple of times when I got my mouth washed out with soap, or my face slapped, for being disrespectful of my elders, or saying curse words. Yet Orbie was rarely called to task. I’m not saying he did not have reason to feel as he did, but, in my experience, back then, children behaved better or were punished.
I also wanted to throttle Orbie’s mother – more than once! I found her behavior toward her children, her parents, and Victor, inexcusable – gutless, destructive, and stupid. Again, the whole family dynamic was disheartening and distressing to me. For me, this book dredged up a few memories I would just as soon have forgotten, and believe me, my family and experiences were not particularly similar to those of the characters in this book.
The problem, as I see it, is that most of the nastiness still exists today, unfortunately, it is just better hidden. That, too, is a harsh truth, which I would have preferred to have left unacknowledged, locked away in the dark recesses of my mind.
This book was given to me in exchange for my honest review.
Reviewed by Laurie-J
I enjoyed the voice (mostly) and the writing style, but the language, and especially the bigoted attitudes prevalent throughout made me exceedingly uncomfortable. Seen through nine-year-old Orbie Ray’s eyes, the 1950’s southern mentality, especially in regards to race, is starkly demonstrated through the everyday cruelties and blatant snubs. I had difficulty with Orbie’s occasional smart-mouth and the disrespect he sometimes showed toward others.
I grew up in that period, too, and I remember a couple of times when I got my mouth washed out with soap, or my face slapped, for being disrespectful of my elders, or saying curse words. Yet Orbie was rarely called to task. I’m not saying he did not have reason to feel as he did, but, in my experience, back then, children behaved better or were punished.
I also wanted to throttle Orbie’s mother – more than once! I found her behavior toward her children, her parents, and Victor, inexcusable – gutless, destructive, and stupid. Again, the whole family dynamic was disheartening and distressing to me. For me, this book dredged up a few memories I would just as soon have forgotten, and believe me, my family and experiences were not particularly similar to those of the characters in this book.
The problem, as I see it, is that most of the nastiness still exists today, unfortunately, it is just better hidden. That, too, is a harsh truth, which I would have preferred to have left unacknowledged, locked away in the dark recesses of my mind.
This book was given to me in exchange for my honest review.
Reviewed by Laurie-J
March 11, 2013
I received this book as part of a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway. I found this book slow at the beginning but then I became more interested a few chapters into the book. The story is told from the perspective of a young boy named Orbie. His family grew up in Detroit (love when my home state is mentioned in books) but his father was killed in a steel mill accident. The book describes Orbie's life growing up without his father and with his new father Victor. Orbie finds himself in Kentucky for the summer where he is forced to deal with several dilemmas in his family's life including racism and abuse. I loved that this story was written with a Southern dialect and I found the characters to be quite interesting and real. I never knew what was going to happen next and I appreciated that. In all, this book was a bit dark but enjoyable all the same. I would recommend it.
April 25, 2013
Orbie's story is a modern Hamlet set in the Deep South with streaks of magical realism. Parts seemed contrived to me while I read them, "Ah, of course that had to happen." I think I let some of this distract me from what was a very powerful book overall - there is an intensity to the characters, but I was frustrated that I didn't know more about them. I felt like I was looking up at the adults from Orbie's perspective - felt his fears, anxieties, loyalties - and yet there was an aggravating lack of development. The magical realism caught me off guard at first, but ended up being what I liked best about this book.
April 5, 2013
I couldn't put it down. Told from the view of 9 yr. old Orbie, in 1959 I was surprised with the southern vocabulary, the way the boys talked about each other. But that was how it was in south in 1959. The domestic issues were described so well you could understand why each character made their decisions. Religion, alchohol, race, region, poverty, sex, was so interwoven I wanted to know more. The children suffered, the grandparents know but can't make decisions for their children, religion was always on the side of Orbie, even though he was confused by it. Mean people were always feared. It kept me going.
February 27, 2013
I won a copy from Goodreads first reads giveaways.
As I started reading this book it transported me to unknown beautiful place… so beautifully detailed that the images where vivid in my head like I’ve been there before. Each page was a new surprise and each chapter full of magic.
The story was told from a 10 year old point of view and gives it a special touch. Orbie’s evolution through the book was amazing and each character was lovable (Even Victor). I loved it, I didn’t want to put it down.
As I started reading this book it transported me to unknown beautiful place… so beautifully detailed that the images where vivid in my head like I’ve been there before. Each page was a new surprise and each chapter full of magic.
The story was told from a 10 year old point of view and gives it a special touch. Orbie’s evolution through the book was amazing and each character was lovable (Even Victor). I loved it, I didn’t want to put it down.
December 11, 2013
A great story, well told.
March 24, 2013
Pretty good for a free book from Amazon. And a Colorado author too.
February 28, 2013
I received this book free in a GoodReads giveaway. The story drew me in right from the beginning. It did get a little slow in the middle, but it was overall a good read.
May 11, 2013
Absolutely loved this story!!
May 25, 2013
Reading this on my phone when I have to wait or am doing my back therapy. Really like the style--it reminds me of "The Angry Woman Suite," in fact I had to check if it was the same author--not.
August 29, 2020
A tragic yet brilliantly descriptive drama of a hopeless society set in the 1950s American South.
Set in the Southern part of Kentucky in the late 1950s, this story describes the life of the nine-year-old boy, Orbie, living on a small rented plot with his sister, grandma, and grandpa. His father was killed in a suspicious accident in the steel factory and his mother and her new lover are also living with them.
The setting is typical of a smallholding, with some tobacco growing, a weeping willow tree, and even the small family graveyard. Across the way, the owner of the small property has his house and a small all-purpose general store. Lurking in the background and wandering around the graveyard most of the time, dressed in the same purple dress, is the sinister hunchback cousin of his, with the name of Bird Pruitt. The characters are all gnarled and scruffy country folk, and the country smells of tobacco, cooking food, and moonshine, pervade the story.
There is an element of hopeless resignation to life and the attitudes of the adults, which the author describes vividly from the point of view of young Orbie. Grandpa is a vital old man, but he suffers a stroke which leaves him somewhat feeble, but grandma is the strongest of them all. With the exception of her, the characters all reflect a dreary, almost resigned acceptance of a boring life which is never going to change for the better.
Whilst most of the adults continue with their bickering and intrigue, interspersed with bouts of drinking, hints of sex, and occasionally work, Orbie finds refuge in his books of science fiction, comic books about superheroes, and his own active fantasies. When he finds a new friend, life changes for him, but around him, tensions mount amongst the adults and between him and the local gang of colored children.
Described in somnambulistic detail, through the eyes of the young child, the author evokes a fascinating drama of a small and helpless community that is collapsing as domestic violence and even murder threaten to further contribute to destroying the lives of all of them. Evocative and atmospheric descriptions of the violent thunderstorms that rock the landscape escalate with the social drama as a terrible twister and heavy hailstorm strike the little community.
The writing is richly descriptive and includes a range of sensations and images of life during that period of time. There is also an eerie undertone to the plot, both in the stark images and the pervading atmosphere which is strongly Halloween in character. For readers who have lived during this period, the writing will evoke strong and poignant memories, whilst, for younger readers, it will provide a moving perspective of a world that was both tragic but also filled with charm and human resilience. This was a world where being a child was an adventure, it was also a world that will never exist again, and this book is a superbly written reminder of those mixed times which formed a bridge between an older society and the new technological world of today.
Set in the Southern part of Kentucky in the late 1950s, this story describes the life of the nine-year-old boy, Orbie, living on a small rented plot with his sister, grandma, and grandpa. His father was killed in a suspicious accident in the steel factory and his mother and her new lover are also living with them.
The setting is typical of a smallholding, with some tobacco growing, a weeping willow tree, and even the small family graveyard. Across the way, the owner of the small property has his house and a small all-purpose general store. Lurking in the background and wandering around the graveyard most of the time, dressed in the same purple dress, is the sinister hunchback cousin of his, with the name of Bird Pruitt. The characters are all gnarled and scruffy country folk, and the country smells of tobacco, cooking food, and moonshine, pervade the story.
There is an element of hopeless resignation to life and the attitudes of the adults, which the author describes vividly from the point of view of young Orbie. Grandpa is a vital old man, but he suffers a stroke which leaves him somewhat feeble, but grandma is the strongest of them all. With the exception of her, the characters all reflect a dreary, almost resigned acceptance of a boring life which is never going to change for the better.
Whilst most of the adults continue with their bickering and intrigue, interspersed with bouts of drinking, hints of sex, and occasionally work, Orbie finds refuge in his books of science fiction, comic books about superheroes, and his own active fantasies. When he finds a new friend, life changes for him, but around him, tensions mount amongst the adults and between him and the local gang of colored children.
Described in somnambulistic detail, through the eyes of the young child, the author evokes a fascinating drama of a small and helpless community that is collapsing as domestic violence and even murder threaten to further contribute to destroying the lives of all of them. Evocative and atmospheric descriptions of the violent thunderstorms that rock the landscape escalate with the social drama as a terrible twister and heavy hailstorm strike the little community.
The writing is richly descriptive and includes a range of sensations and images of life during that period of time. There is also an eerie undertone to the plot, both in the stark images and the pervading atmosphere which is strongly Halloween in character. For readers who have lived during this period, the writing will evoke strong and poignant memories, whilst, for younger readers, it will provide a moving perspective of a world that was both tragic but also filled with charm and human resilience. This was a world where being a child was an adventure, it was also a world that will never exist again, and this book is a superbly written reminder of those mixed times which formed a bridge between an older society and the new technological world of today.
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