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The Time of Man
A neglected American classic, written in subtle, soaring prose for which this underrated Kentucky writer was known, this is the spectacular coming of age story of a young, independent pioneering woman
Set at the turn of the century, this is the moving story of Ellen Chesser, a young woman with a mind of her own. She and her family travel from one small community to another in rural Kentucky, eking out a living as itinerant farmworkers. Initially she feels isolated and lonely, resenting the hardship of her life and longing to be with her childhood friends. Yet slowly she learns what it means to fall in love and forges lasting friendships with other young people at the local dances. She is left stunned, therefore, when the man she is to marry comes to her to confess a dark secret. His past is shameful to him and heartbreaking for her but Ellen's independent spirit and strength of character sustain her in the aftermath. When further accusations come to light, they threaten to disturb the tranquility of her life and that of the community where she lives forever. As she grows older, Ellen Chesser is forced to confront the darker side of human nature but ultimately manages to overcome the difficulties she faces with a resolute dignity.
Set at the turn of the century, this is the moving story of Ellen Chesser, a young woman with a mind of her own. She and her family travel from one small community to another in rural Kentucky, eking out a living as itinerant farmworkers. Initially she feels isolated and lonely, resenting the hardship of her life and longing to be with her childhood friends. Yet slowly she learns what it means to fall in love and forges lasting friendships with other young people at the local dances. She is left stunned, therefore, when the man she is to marry comes to her to confess a dark secret. His past is shameful to him and heartbreaking for her but Ellen's independent spirit and strength of character sustain her in the aftermath. When further accusations come to light, they threaten to disturb the tranquility of her life and that of the community where she lives forever. As she grows older, Ellen Chesser is forced to confront the darker side of human nature but ultimately manages to overcome the difficulties she faces with a resolute dignity.
313 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1926
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August 26, 2022
I had a friend who used to say, “life’s a bitch, and then you die”. To some extent, that is what I felt while reading this book. It is one woman’s tale, but it is really an observation of the harshness of life for a whole class of people and the cyclical nature of that life as they pass it down from one generation to the next, virtually unchanged.
Ellen is born to Henry and Nellie Chesser, the only surviving child of seven. She is a hard worker and a big dreamer. She wants simple things, a bureau drawer to put something in, a bright colored dress to put there, but they are so far outside her own experience and reach that she might as well be dreaming of a castle to live in and a servant to wash her feet. Nellie, her mother, is past dreaming. She knows what life has to offer and it is a constant roaming with a man who moves from farm to farm as hired labor and a string of dead children that tug at your heart until it turns cold. She is lackadaisical and unmotivated, and the bulk of the work and worry that isn’t associated with earning a living, a task that falls to Henry, ultimately descends onto Ellen.
This is where Ellen is when we meet her, and we follow her through her life, her encounters with men, her heartbreaks and betrayals. There is barely a moment in this chronicle when you could not cry for her plight. There is little of what is fair or just in the world she occupies. By the end of the book, I felt her a very old and worn woman, although my calculations tell me she is only in her late thirties or very early forties.
The book is written in a very early, semi-stream of consciousness style. Much of the story is told following the random thoughts of Ellen, so that we see not only the events but how they are affecting her heart and soul. The writing is much easier to follow than the stream-of-consciousness that we think of attached to writers like Virginia Woolf, and I think that is because the style is not sustained throughout the narrative, for the omniscient narrator steps in from time to time and gives us an outside view.
Several other writers came to mind while I was reading. The content conjured up The Grapes of Wrath for me, although this was set in a slightly earlier time frame. The atmosphere was very Faulknerian in places, but this book predates most of Faulkner’s novels, so there is no question of his having influenced her at all. That parallel, in my mind, speaks to the accuracy of her settings and the authentic nature of her characters–telling that both these authors drew on the same observations of what life in the South was like.
Without throwing any aspersions on this book or its writer, I was surprised that it elicited very little emotional response from me. Coming from such an intimate point of view, I felt somehow surprisingly detached from Ellen. Sorry for her, of course, admiring of her strength at times, understanding of her rage at others, but never, even in the saddest moments, feeling a prick of tears.
I am glad to have read this. It has been on my radar for some time. If it had touched my heart instead of just my mind, it might have been a 5-star read.
Ellen is born to Henry and Nellie Chesser, the only surviving child of seven. She is a hard worker and a big dreamer. She wants simple things, a bureau drawer to put something in, a bright colored dress to put there, but they are so far outside her own experience and reach that she might as well be dreaming of a castle to live in and a servant to wash her feet. Nellie, her mother, is past dreaming. She knows what life has to offer and it is a constant roaming with a man who moves from farm to farm as hired labor and a string of dead children that tug at your heart until it turns cold. She is lackadaisical and unmotivated, and the bulk of the work and worry that isn’t associated with earning a living, a task that falls to Henry, ultimately descends onto Ellen.
This is where Ellen is when we meet her, and we follow her through her life, her encounters with men, her heartbreaks and betrayals. There is barely a moment in this chronicle when you could not cry for her plight. There is little of what is fair or just in the world she occupies. By the end of the book, I felt her a very old and worn woman, although my calculations tell me she is only in her late thirties or very early forties.
The book is written in a very early, semi-stream of consciousness style. Much of the story is told following the random thoughts of Ellen, so that we see not only the events but how they are affecting her heart and soul. The writing is much easier to follow than the stream-of-consciousness that we think of attached to writers like Virginia Woolf, and I think that is because the style is not sustained throughout the narrative, for the omniscient narrator steps in from time to time and gives us an outside view.
Several other writers came to mind while I was reading. The content conjured up The Grapes of Wrath for me, although this was set in a slightly earlier time frame. The atmosphere was very Faulknerian in places, but this book predates most of Faulkner’s novels, so there is no question of his having influenced her at all. That parallel, in my mind, speaks to the accuracy of her settings and the authentic nature of her characters–telling that both these authors drew on the same observations of what life in the South was like.
Without throwing any aspersions on this book or its writer, I was surprised that it elicited very little emotional response from me. Coming from such an intimate point of view, I felt somehow surprisingly detached from Ellen. Sorry for her, of course, admiring of her strength at times, understanding of her rage at others, but never, even in the saddest moments, feeling a prick of tears.
I am glad to have read this. It has been on my radar for some time. If it had touched my heart instead of just my mind, it might have been a 5-star read.
March 6, 2021
First published in 1926. One of the great folk novels of American literature. An early twentieth century story about the hill farmers of Kentucky. It's also a story about love. Young love. Reticent and tremulous, filled with a lyrical simplicity and artless strength of the hill folks themselves.
Ellen Chesser was the only surviving child of Henry and Nellie Chesser. They were tenant farmers, also known as share croppers, or road rats, depending on who was doin' the talkin'.
Their lives were made up of happiness, horror and hard work. Their shoes told their stories. Ellen's shoes had been viewed in several moods, critically, hopelessly, carelessly, mournfully, but in all moods they were old and worn.
The same can be said of all the folks who found themselves in similar shoes at the time. Her self-affirmation drove her to succeed, to explore and enjoy the wonders around her, despite the dire circumstances they constantly had to endure.
Although the story ambled along at a slow pace, sometimes even confusing the reader, the prose had a folk music feel. The going was tough for the Chesser family, for Ellen Chesser in particular. She learnt the ways of love through trial and error, kissing a few frogs before the prince finally arrived. Despite heartbreak and sorrow, gentile spirited Ellen always had the honey of life in her heart. And a mouth to keep her standing her ground when folks needed an earful to blow them right off the face of the earth. Her loyalty was unconditional and her resilience never-ending. Like the windflowers on a mountain pasture, and as shiny as a dogwood tree in spring, Ellen was.
This story has a universal appeal. The southern sing-song tone of prose flows over the hills of Kentucky; follows the gypsy wagons on the roads; fills the perpetual dreams of finding homes, and forms the backbone of their songs. There's melody in the tales.
Enchanting. Endearing. A nostalgic journey back in time. It was truly one of those outstanding novels crossing one's path. For me it was an unexpected and an unforgettable experience.
Southern noir is one of my favorite genres. They are as much heartwarming as heartwrenching. They embrace me with a soft feeling of belonging.
I won't categorize the writing skills and experience used in The Time Of Man with other successful southern grit lit authors, since it was Elizabeth Madox Roberts's first novel, and not well edited(compared to today's literary standards). She still managed to capture the ambiance of the period and brought their everyday struggles and joys very much alive with her detailed description of the environment, the people's thoughts, their daily existence, her own stream of consciousness. Incredible atmosphere. She was not standing on the sideline relating a story to her readers; she was Ellen, bringing her honorable tale from within.
Ellen's naive wisdom(s) softened the experience for the reader in a way. Her zest for life, nature, family, commitment and just being herself, almost added a magic touch to challenges they faced. She was real. Honest. Trustworthy. Resilient. Dedicated. She was Dearly Beloved 'Elleen' to us all, and to everyone who ever came in contact with her, in spirit and soul.
The Time Of Man shares a historical and literary mood with novels such as:
The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck;
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan ;
Long Man by Amy Greene ;
Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell
I was thinking about The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson when reading The Time Of Man. Cussy Marie Carter, the librarian in Book Woman, and Ellen Chesser in this novel might have become great friends!
There was something about Ellen. And a lot more about her kind of bravery!
RECOMMENDED
Ellen Chesser was the only surviving child of Henry and Nellie Chesser. They were tenant farmers, also known as share croppers, or road rats, depending on who was doin' the talkin'.
Their lives were made up of happiness, horror and hard work. Their shoes told their stories. Ellen's shoes had been viewed in several moods, critically, hopelessly, carelessly, mournfully, but in all moods they were old and worn.
The same can be said of all the folks who found themselves in similar shoes at the time. Her self-affirmation drove her to succeed, to explore and enjoy the wonders around her, despite the dire circumstances they constantly had to endure.
Although the story ambled along at a slow pace, sometimes even confusing the reader, the prose had a folk music feel. The going was tough for the Chesser family, for Ellen Chesser in particular. She learnt the ways of love through trial and error, kissing a few frogs before the prince finally arrived. Despite heartbreak and sorrow, gentile spirited Ellen always had the honey of life in her heart. And a mouth to keep her standing her ground when folks needed an earful to blow them right off the face of the earth. Her loyalty was unconditional and her resilience never-ending. Like the windflowers on a mountain pasture, and as shiny as a dogwood tree in spring, Ellen was.
This story has a universal appeal. The southern sing-song tone of prose flows over the hills of Kentucky; follows the gypsy wagons on the roads; fills the perpetual dreams of finding homes, and forms the backbone of their songs. There's melody in the tales.
Enchanting. Endearing. A nostalgic journey back in time. It was truly one of those outstanding novels crossing one's path. For me it was an unexpected and an unforgettable experience.
Southern noir is one of my favorite genres. They are as much heartwarming as heartwrenching. They embrace me with a soft feeling of belonging.
I won't categorize the writing skills and experience used in The Time Of Man with other successful southern grit lit authors, since it was Elizabeth Madox Roberts's first novel, and not well edited(compared to today's literary standards). She still managed to capture the ambiance of the period and brought their everyday struggles and joys very much alive with her detailed description of the environment, the people's thoughts, their daily existence, her own stream of consciousness. Incredible atmosphere. She was not standing on the sideline relating a story to her readers; she was Ellen, bringing her honorable tale from within.
Ellen's naive wisdom(s) softened the experience for the reader in a way. Her zest for life, nature, family, commitment and just being herself, almost added a magic touch to challenges they faced. She was real. Honest. Trustworthy. Resilient. Dedicated. She was Dearly Beloved 'Elleen' to us all, and to everyone who ever came in contact with her, in spirit and soul.
The Time Of Man shares a historical and literary mood with novels such as:
The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck;
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan ;
Long Man by Amy Greene ;
Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell
I was thinking about The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson when reading The Time Of Man. Cussy Marie Carter, the librarian in Book Woman, and Ellen Chesser in this novel might have become great friends!
There was something about Ellen. And a lot more about her kind of bravery!
RECOMMENDED
August 10, 2022
"The Time of Man" follows Ellen, the daughter of a tenant farmer, as the young girl matures to be a wife and mother. It's written partly in a stream of consciousness in lyrical prose. Ellen is the only surviving child of parents who had lost five children. The young girl has to figure out life, adjusting to new circumstances as her father moves from farm to farm in the Kentucky hills.
The story tells of the beauty of the natural world, the bounty of the crops in a good year, the desperation in a bad year, and the back-breaking relentless labor. Ellen is resilient and helps her parents, but also takes time to experience the wonder of love. Although Ellen is dirt poor, she has a special radiance and a strong sense of loyalty to her family. Her powers of observation are useful when dealing with people, and bring joy when she is outdoors in nature.
My book was illustrated with beautiful wood engravings by Clare Leighton, an artist known for her art depicting workers. The engravings reinforced the feeling that a tenant farmer had to be strong and extremely hard working to survive in the early 20th Century.
This book is not for everyone since Ellen's interior thoughts comprise a large part of the book. It has both folk and lyrical qualities, and captures the reader with its beauty.
The story tells of the beauty of the natural world, the bounty of the crops in a good year, the desperation in a bad year, and the back-breaking relentless labor. Ellen is resilient and helps her parents, but also takes time to experience the wonder of love. Although Ellen is dirt poor, she has a special radiance and a strong sense of loyalty to her family. Her powers of observation are useful when dealing with people, and bring joy when she is outdoors in nature.
My book was illustrated with beautiful wood engravings by Clare Leighton, an artist known for her art depicting workers. The engravings reinforced the feeling that a tenant farmer had to be strong and extremely hard working to survive in the early 20th Century.
This book is not for everyone since Ellen's interior thoughts comprise a large part of the book. It has both folk and lyrical qualities, and captures the reader with its beauty.
August 3, 2022
I have long wanted to read this, and was finally able to download a copy. It was not at all what I expected. Yes, the story of Ellen, daughter of a tenant farmer, eventually married to a tenant farmer herself. A lifetime of hard work and drudgery in Kentucky during the early years of the 20th century. Disappointment, grief, finding delight in simple things like a new ribbon or piece of felt for decoration, poverty, all the things you would expect from a novel like this. But written in a semi stream of consciousness style, it was almost all interior dialogue. At times, I wasn't sure what she was imagining and what was real, so I just went went the flow. It was written in 1926 and was the author's first novel. I wasn't surprised to learn that she was also a poet.
August 26, 2022
Ellen Chesser is the sole surviving daughter of Henry and Nellie who are itinerant farmers in the rural parts of Kentucky. Their life is defined by living and working on a farm as tenants planting and harvesting tobacco until the time comes when they pack up and move along to the next place never knowing if it was a good decision or not. They are sort of a gypsy-like family often traveling with others that are like them. You can imagine what it must be like for a young adolescent girl of 14 to not really have much of anything to call her own. Ellen is a dreamer and when we meet her in the beginning of the novel, she is lying on the wagon writing her name in the air with her finger dreaming that if she had all the money in the world, at least her wagon wouldn’t break down. She really has simple desires, those that are more permanent and tangible - a house that isn’t a shack and a place to put her things in, friends who are more than passing acquaintances.
Inside the cabin Ellen stood listening while her immediate future was being arranged, little darts of pain shooting out from the inner recesses of abdomen and chest, anger making a fever in her blood.
Ellen’s story is told from her point of view and we experience it through her thoughts and memories. The writing is a stream of consciousness style that allows Ellen to get lost in her mind. She’s merely daydreaming her rememberings and the prose is quite poetic yet realistic. I found her style very original and would get lost with Ellen as she described her thoughts in a beautiful way. Ellen has a sensitivity or an awareness to the things around her and her restless mind can sometimes be seen as a jumble of confusion that eventually evolves in its clarity. Some of her thoughts are tender while others are vicious, woeful and highly emotional.
How, her tears were continually questioning her, how did she, Ellen Chesser, ever come to such a state of need that a person outside herself, some other being, not herself, some person free to go and come and risk accidents far from herself, should hold the very key to her life and breath in his hand?
One thing that stood out to me as I read Ellen’s story was the way the cyclical pattern of nature was juxtaposed with Ellen’s life as she was engulfed by her daily chores: setting out the tobacco plants, feeding the turkeys, milking her cow, gathering eggs, helping with plowing. These are all demands of the land or of the animals and they had to be dealt with over and over. And I think Miss Robert’s intention is to view Ellen as being caught up in this cycle as something that is never-ending and unavoidable. Ellen is a representative of the common man in general, stripped of any culture or sophistication, poor and uneducated. We get to see her progression from her reserved childishness, alert to her surroundings to her awakening as a beautiful young girl who believes
I’m lovely now…It’s unknown how lovely I am. It runs up through my sides and into my shoulders, warm, and ne’er thing else is any matter…
And yet, we also get to experience her confidences and her uncertainties which mature her through betrayals, trials and disappointments. Her journey through life is full of pain and loss. Her inner strength is tested and we see her come into her own realizations about life. Her expectations about life most always exceed what it brings her.
This is my first novel my Elizabeth Madox Roberts but I will definitely be seeking out more and hope that they are easily found. I loved this story immensely and I fell fast to read on and on from the first page.
Inside the cabin Ellen stood listening while her immediate future was being arranged, little darts of pain shooting out from the inner recesses of abdomen and chest, anger making a fever in her blood.
Ellen’s story is told from her point of view and we experience it through her thoughts and memories. The writing is a stream of consciousness style that allows Ellen to get lost in her mind. She’s merely daydreaming her rememberings and the prose is quite poetic yet realistic. I found her style very original and would get lost with Ellen as she described her thoughts in a beautiful way. Ellen has a sensitivity or an awareness to the things around her and her restless mind can sometimes be seen as a jumble of confusion that eventually evolves in its clarity. Some of her thoughts are tender while others are vicious, woeful and highly emotional.
How, her tears were continually questioning her, how did she, Ellen Chesser, ever come to such a state of need that a person outside herself, some other being, not herself, some person free to go and come and risk accidents far from herself, should hold the very key to her life and breath in his hand?
One thing that stood out to me as I read Ellen’s story was the way the cyclical pattern of nature was juxtaposed with Ellen’s life as she was engulfed by her daily chores: setting out the tobacco plants, feeding the turkeys, milking her cow, gathering eggs, helping with plowing. These are all demands of the land or of the animals and they had to be dealt with over and over. And I think Miss Robert’s intention is to view Ellen as being caught up in this cycle as something that is never-ending and unavoidable. Ellen is a representative of the common man in general, stripped of any culture or sophistication, poor and uneducated. We get to see her progression from her reserved childishness, alert to her surroundings to her awakening as a beautiful young girl who believes
I’m lovely now…It’s unknown how lovely I am. It runs up through my sides and into my shoulders, warm, and ne’er thing else is any matter…
And yet, we also get to experience her confidences and her uncertainties which mature her through betrayals, trials and disappointments. Her journey through life is full of pain and loss. Her inner strength is tested and we see her come into her own realizations about life. Her expectations about life most always exceed what it brings her.
This is my first novel my Elizabeth Madox Roberts but I will definitely be seeking out more and hope that they are easily found. I loved this story immensely and I fell fast to read on and on from the first page.
January 12, 2020
Ellen, the main character, a girl of impoverished humbleness and a delicate nature lives in a world where she depends on folk who are indifferent to her suffering with her father and mother who all are physically not up to the work they must do to stay alive. They are not able to escape their fate of poverty and hard work.
But Ellen sees her existence through her prism of imaginations and imprints and memories as her map of how to proceed. She has flashbacks of rights and wrongs she has witnessed to guide her understanding. Her mind is young and her parents are old and she reconciles it by taking life as it comes through a humble spirit while she has no choice or opportunity to elevate her existence. She endures this through her own understanding of how she sees the world, accepts her fate with childlike humbleness.
But Ellen sees her existence through her prism of imaginations and imprints and memories as her map of how to proceed. She has flashbacks of rights and wrongs she has witnessed to guide her understanding. Her mind is young and her parents are old and she reconciles it by taking life as it comes through a humble spirit while she has no choice or opportunity to elevate her existence. She endures this through her own understanding of how she sees the world, accepts her fate with childlike humbleness.
July 27, 2025
hard-scrabble Arbeitsroman of life croppen shares in east KY in early C20. a bit overlong but pitch perfect tonewise, esp as roberts finds an appropriate middle ground between wisconsin-death-trip-esque backwoods despair and i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud rural rhapsody. few more worthy literary traits than restraint.
May 15, 2021
I can't think of a better novel about rural America, written by a white woman in the first half of the 20th century, than this novel by Elizabeth Madox Roberts. Willa Cather, Carson McCullers, and Edna Ferber may be bigger names, but they're all missing something compared to Roberts. Her gift for language is certainly an asset, as in this quote about Ellen's first love:
There a deep sense of eternal and changeless well-being suffused the dark, a great quiet structure reported of itself, and sometimes out of this wide edifice, harmonious and many-winged, floating back into blessed vapors, released from all need or obligation to visible form, a sweet quiet voice would arise, leisured and backward-floating, saying with all finality, "Here I am."
It is not beautiful prose alone that elevates Roberts' work. She is the sole Modernist of the three writers I can think to compare her to, meaning she is concerned with conveying the inner state of her main character. Not only does she do this, but she does in a way that is intelligent and compassionate, yet not educated. She does not project ideas onto Ellen which wouldn't be believable coming from Ellen herself. The book, for all its beauty and depth, is totally non-pretentious. It feels like an honest portrait of a young woman growing up in share-cropping communities in the South, with no agenda attached. Roberts does not judge the characters, nor does she romanticize them. She falls back on no archetypes, like the "strong pioneer woman" common in rural novels of this period. Life in this time and place was harsh, and Roberts depicts that plainly, but she humanizes the characters by showing their times of joy alongside their times of sorrow.
My only problems with the book are, there are many minor and underdeveloped characters who cycle in and out (probably unavoidable, because Ellen moves so much), and there's a lot more time dedicated to Ellen's youth than her adulthood. She ages 20+ years in the last couple chapters, which gives me whiplash.
There a deep sense of eternal and changeless well-being suffused the dark, a great quiet structure reported of itself, and sometimes out of this wide edifice, harmonious and many-winged, floating back into blessed vapors, released from all need or obligation to visible form, a sweet quiet voice would arise, leisured and backward-floating, saying with all finality, "Here I am."
It is not beautiful prose alone that elevates Roberts' work. She is the sole Modernist of the three writers I can think to compare her to, meaning she is concerned with conveying the inner state of her main character. Not only does she do this, but she does in a way that is intelligent and compassionate, yet not educated. She does not project ideas onto Ellen which wouldn't be believable coming from Ellen herself. The book, for all its beauty and depth, is totally non-pretentious. It feels like an honest portrait of a young woman growing up in share-cropping communities in the South, with no agenda attached. Roberts does not judge the characters, nor does she romanticize them. She falls back on no archetypes, like the "strong pioneer woman" common in rural novels of this period. Life in this time and place was harsh, and Roberts depicts that plainly, but she humanizes the characters by showing their times of joy alongside their times of sorrow.
My only problems with the book are, there are many minor and underdeveloped characters who cycle in and out (probably unavoidable, because Ellen moves so much), and there's a lot more time dedicated to Ellen's youth than her adulthood. She ages 20+ years in the last couple chapters, which gives me whiplash.
November 13, 2013
This was an interesting one.
With this novel, I feel like i've just been on a nice trip. The novel is slow, almost gratingly so, but at the same time I feel that the level of detail that it presented was beautifully intimate. Ellen's story is a tough one to grasp at first; it doesn't have a lot of conflict, and there's no overarching plot. This is bottled life, captured amongst the Kentucky sharecroppers in the 1920's and preserved in these pages. Even more, it's the story of overcoming life's hardships and discovering who you are; identity and loss play a significant role in the story.
Time of Man throws storytelling conventions out the window and goes for a pure, unfiltered approach to perception of reality. This would never succeed in today's market, but to be truthful, never would Great Expectations either.
With this novel, I feel like i've just been on a nice trip. The novel is slow, almost gratingly so, but at the same time I feel that the level of detail that it presented was beautifully intimate. Ellen's story is a tough one to grasp at first; it doesn't have a lot of conflict, and there's no overarching plot. This is bottled life, captured amongst the Kentucky sharecroppers in the 1920's and preserved in these pages. Even more, it's the story of overcoming life's hardships and discovering who you are; identity and loss play a significant role in the story.
Time of Man throws storytelling conventions out the window and goes for a pure, unfiltered approach to perception of reality. This would never succeed in today's market, but to be truthful, never would Great Expectations either.
March 9, 2013
The cadence of Ellen's speech took some acclimation, but it has an almost poetic beauty as she makes such declarations as she will love Jasper "all her endurin days." Or when she comes across the grave of a powerful judge, she cries out, "I'm Ellen Chesser! I 'm here! I'm a-liven."For me, The Time of Man and Ellen's life represent what happens to a woman with imagination and dreams and absolutely no way to achieve them. Roberts has given us a profound look into the life of a sharecropper and a strong woman bond to that life at birth. Robert Penn Warren asserts in the introduction that Roberts book needs to be rediscovered. I am thankful I stumbled upon it.
April 3, 2016
"The rocks fell where she laid them with a faint flat sound, and the afternoon seemed very still back of the dove calls and the cries of he plovers, back of a faint dying phrase, "in the time of man."
This is such a beautiful book. Apparently it was lost for a time until 1963 when Robert Penn Warren thankfully rediscovered it.
This book takes place very close to my home--just about an hour away in fact, in Nelson, Washington and Spencer Counties Kentucky. The time period is early 20th century. The characters are the poorest of the poor.
The book centers around Ellen Chesser and it is her story. I believe that everyone can relate to her story whether they live in Kentucky or not.
This is such a beautiful book. Apparently it was lost for a time until 1963 when Robert Penn Warren thankfully rediscovered it.
This book takes place very close to my home--just about an hour away in fact, in Nelson, Washington and Spencer Counties Kentucky. The time period is early 20th century. The characters are the poorest of the poor.
The book centers around Ellen Chesser and it is her story. I believe that everyone can relate to her story whether they live in Kentucky or not.
June 23, 2015
I've had this book on my "bucket list" of reading for many years, so I am glad to have read it. At times it was tedious reading and at times so awesomely poetic. The last quarter of the book was worth, I think, of the slow beginning of the read.
September 14, 2015
This is a beautiful book.
July 19, 2021
After hearing the Old Time Radio NBC University Theater 1950's Elizabeth Madox Roberts' "The Time of Man" again, I was really interested in reading the novel and though I enjoyed the radio play, I loved this story. After the first 20 pages, I started to feel I was by Ellen Chesser's side, feeling what she felt, I cried when she was feeling rejected and lonely. The radio adaption was changed up a lot. Ellen a young girl of 15 sees the world as straightforward and learns as she grows older, that life is complicated. The Southern dialect becomes easier with each page. There so much to this novel and it is a favorite, to understand it needs just needs to be read.
Story in short- Ellen and her parents barely are able to make ends meet and it is a hard lonely life.
This interchange between father and daughter is one of my favorite lines from the book.
"‘I never see any grow. I never see one a-growen.’ ‘I never see one a-growen neither, but they grow all the same. You pick up all the rocks offen this-here hill and in a year there’s as many out again. I lay there’ll be a stack to pick up right here again next year.’ ‘I can’t seem to think it! Rocks a-growen now! They don’t seem alive. They seem dead-like. Maybe they’ve got another kind of way to be alive.’ ‘Maybe they have. All I know is they grow.’"
OTR - NBC University Theatre - July 9, 1950
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌Spoiler Alert❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
Ellen Chesser is the only surviving child of Henry and Nellie Chesser. Ellen is 15 & her family have been travelling with some gypsy type people. Tessie is married to Jock and Ellen is very fond of Tessie. While fixing his wagon, Henry is approached by Mr. Bodine, a local farmer who offers Henry a job with a worker's cabin to live in for his family and if Ellen helps she can earn something too. The Chessers are very poor and when Ellen helps out in the fields, she leaves her shoes in the wagon, after coming back the shoes have been stolen. Ellen talks of finding Tessie and not liking the farm but her father tells her she will like it in time. She has her own garden and she is starting to like it there but she would like to see Tessie again. She had been raped by one of the gypsy men that their family followed, she was afraid of him and after drinking he attacked her. I had to read this several times but it becomes clear. There are few people and only a poor woman with a family nearby who Ellen can really talk to besides her parents. Mrs. (Artie) Pinkson is pregnant again and Ellen does not understand why this is a desired state. One night Ellen leaves to see if she can find Tessie but after miles of walking and being hungry, she was not able to find her. She gave a note with her name and address to a lady if she comes across Tessie. It seems that the lady was up to no good but nothing happened because Ellen's father sees Ellen at the market and they return in Mr. Bodine's wagon. Ellen is feeling lovely until Joe Trent who keeps looking for her and not wanting anyone else to know, after he saw her bathing. Ellen starts to feel things inside and after Joe Trent wanted to walk with her and calling her not very desirable due to her being poor but still follows her. Joe's father has a farm and sends his son to college. Joe sees Mr. Bodine's daughter and they often go riding. It is unclear to me if Ellen succumbed to Joe once and then feeling ashamed avoided him, but rethinking, I think not. She was ready for them to move but they no longer had a wagon. How could they leave and Henry was complaining about not being appreciated. Finally starting at a new farm, Wakefield's worker who had come to help move their things. Two brothers run the farm- Mr. Dick and Mr. Al. Ellen is feeling ugly and gets solace from nature and her work. She is lonely. Ellen starts to hear about others from Effie Turpin and starts to be happy that she can hear about other neighbors. Ellen is invited to a party, though shy, she warms up a little. Ellen is given a calf of her own for all her help. She has made many friends. Ellen notices Jonas Prather has changed and she learns the reason when he tells her shyly of his going to a married woman's home, Jules and paying for sex. He tells her that he has not seen her more then twice since he has known her. Jules' husband cheated at cards and wanted his wife to have paid customers. Jules' husband has been arrested for robbing and hurting an old man. Eli Prather is Jonas' cousin and while traveling he runs into Jules and a month old baby that looks like Jonas' mother. Jonas talks about his grief and how he feels different and wants Ellen to tell her what he should do. He wants to marry Ellen and see her every day but Ellen needs to tell him what to do. Elle says she wants him near but the news has changed her and her idealised thoughts on life. Ellen has seen Miss Cassie's husband Scott having an affair with their lived in cousin, Amanda. Jonas comes visits Ellen and her parents often, he helps her in her work too. He tells her about being married in the spring. The talk about the blocking of the road by Miss Cassie's place that was done by Scott, her husband who is causing troubles and the need to have Miss Cassie set Scott straight; implying not just Ellen knew about Scott's affair with Amanda. Amanda is a poorer relative of Miss Cassie. Miss Cassie hangs herself; Amanda and Scott have left, months go by and the farm is neglected. Jonas tells Ellen that he has an offer far away to manage a farm and that he will write her and come back for her and marry. He says it will be a no good person if he ever forgets her. He sends one letter which she sends one too but no more come. Eli, Jonas' cousin is married to Rosie and they move away. Ellen hears from Dorine that Jonas is back working over at a farm nearby, she is surprised to hear but does not let others know. She also hears Jonas has been seeing Sallie Lou, she tried to remember her from Dorine's party long ago. Ellen is thinking that Jonas will come back, maybe she is thinking about him and Jules, he felt remorse then and came back to her. While working she hears Dorine talking to her mother, Nellie, that Ellen does not know. Ellen notices the differences in her friends after they married, what is apparent is that Dorine prefers talking to Nellie. Ellen keeps herself looking pretty and waiting for Jonas. After hearing comments about Sallie Lou, Ellen feels the need to see what Jonas sees in her, she finds a happy and carefree girl. Ellen trying to figure out why Jonas preferred Sallie Lou, she thinks it has to do with Ellen knowing about his having a child with a prostitute. Jonas had told her about the baby, when Eli went and saw the baby himself and looking like Jonas' mother. Ellen is determined to see Jonas and win him back, she walks 10 miles and finds out from an old lady who tells fortunes and gives powders/charms, who tried very hard to get Ellen to buy sometime, when she finds out about Ellen looking for Jonas, she tells about Jonas and Sallie Lou were just married today and are moving near Cornishville. The old lady has proof of it being Jonas by the old clothes he left. I was thinking by what he kept telling Ellen, if he ever forgot her, he would be a low down person, so it seems it was preplanned in a way. She walks home crying and numb, starting work to forget but it is hard for all the places that she saw him. Ellen remembers about the time when Miss Cassie killed herself after hearing about her husband's betrayal, thinking how it was possible to kill yourself, Ellen knows the grief Miss Cassie must have felt. Anger starts to come to Ellen and thoughts of killing Jonas, which settles down with time. When Henry decides that it is time for the family to move, Ellen is ready and getting her cow ready prevents her saying goodbye to people and things. When Ellen sees the new home a new peace comes to her. Ellen and her family are settling in and Ellen works hard, finally really forgetting about Jonas. Albert Wingate and his mother have a farm nearby, Mrs. Wingate is greedy and refused to give her son some money. Albert is lazy and hangs around in town drinking, coming back to find money and to harass his mother. Mrs. Wingate has a sharer helper, Jasper Kent who has to have a hard time hiding his money and also making money when Albert takes farm animals to sell. Jasper has been friendly with Henry, so Ellen thinks that he is her father's friend and pays no mind to her but when he gives her his money for safe keeping and does this often. Jasper starts to ring in her heart. A drifter painter named Tarbell flirts with Ellen but her heart sings to Jasper but thinks he does not think of her but another girl who is more carefree. Henry has a broken leg from an injury which causes more work for Ellen and Jasper helps out. Then Jasper tells of his wanting to marry Ellen and tells of his life. He has lost his parents, been in jail for fighting, been in love and rejected, loved a girl who refused him causing him to drink his money away, having his boss' wife have designs on him and working very hard. He tells her all and Ellen tries to help him in his sorrows. They plan on marrying after the crops are done. He tells Ellen of a far off place that he has to hidden the sows away from Albert but Albert finds out and with the help of Tarbell sells the pigs. Jasper tries to fight Albert who refuses to fight except with a gun on Jasper's back which when Jasper takes the gun away and throwing down the lantern which burns the barn. Henry and Ellen seeing all and it not being a spite thing but everyone knows Albert is no good but they blame Jasper for spite. Knowing the law is not for him, Jasper is encouraged to go far away until they forget. Ellen gives him all his money and he tells her of coming back for her. Nobody believes he will come back but Ellen knows he will. Ellen hears Jasper's whistle and finds him at their scheduled place. He tells her about having the marriage papers and that they will marry and be together but first he must make square with Tarbell by fighting him. Ellen is afraid and they walk together and then finding themselves walking to their new life. They are married and find a home at Joseph Phillips' farm. They have their first child, Henry and then a summons comes from St. Lucy about the fire. A lawyer is needed and Joe Phillips lends them money. Jasper is found innocent from Henry's testimony. A girl is born, Nannie and then another boy, Joe after Joe Phillips. Another baby is on the way and money is tight, Jasper is spending money on horses. They leave Phillips and farm at Goddards. The farming is hard at the new place and times are very hard. Another baby is born, Dick. The Kents move back to Phillips farm. Some are still talking about Jasper and the fire. Joe Phillips is a lonely man, his wife has little to do with him and his 18 year old boy is only wanting money. He likes to watch Ellen work, she is busy but notices Hester looking at Jasper. Finally Ellen is aware that Jasper has been having an affair which leaves Ellen cold but her anger towards Hester increases and dreams of murder. She refuses to confront them, her pride is preventing and she has not told Jasper about their unborn baby. Dressing up herself she walks to the fields and all the men look at her but not Jasper. She is not even sure she wants him any longer. Joe Phillips tells Ellen if she needs anything he is there and wishes there was another one like her. Jasper hearing she is pregnant and about Joe Phillips' attention, he thinks she has done what he had done. He says he does not want another man's child and they fight, she tells him of Hester and he says he is leaving but Ellen tells him he is tied to them. Hester leaves for the city. When the baby is born Ellen is alone and gives birth. It is apparent that the infant looks like Jasper. They name him Chick but the baby is sickly and never feels well. They all love the baby and the children have soft spot for him. They leave the Phillips and another several farms until at 3 years old Chick who as suffered all his young life dies. The grief is hard and Ellen tells Jasper how she wants the the child to herself because she had brought him in the world alone. They live in Powers County which is extremely poor area. Melissy is born there and she has decided she would never grow old like Granny. The boys are taunted by other boys at school about their father being a barn burner and one of the bullies had a sharp knife, this scares Ellen. The whole County is poor but there are some good people. The work is hard and Nannie is 13. Hen is a grown man and all help out. Henry dies and money is saved for his grave, Nellie wants to live with Bell Carrier, things are settled. Hen tells Ellen about Jasper and Lobe Baker altercation which Lobe would not move his carriage for Jasper to move ahead; and Jasper who readily fights does not. After Lobe's barn burned Jasper is accused and a group of hooded men come to tie and whip him. Ellen Is hurt when confronting the men and stands by Jasper, the men leave and Ellen tends to Jasper who had become unconscious. When Jasper had regains himself, he tells Ellen he must go tonight and that they will leave Ellen and the kids alone but Ellen tells him, she will go where he goes. The family packs all they can and the animals too, looking ahead to a better life and far away from the accusations against Jasper.
Old time radio has a different vibe. In the radio version, after Ellen has lost Jonas, she is determined not to love again. In the novel, Ellen is opened to love when it comes. The radio version has her calling Jonas' name when she is proposed to by Jasper. In the book she has gotten Jonas out of her system long before Jasper is wanting to marry her, her whole being is calling for Jasper long before he tells of his love. The part of the traveling with others is left out in the radio version and the sentiment is a different feel. In the radio version your heart goes out to Ellen but only a miniscule compared to the novel, I was crying and I felt all that Ellen felt through her hunger, hard work, rejections, poverty and being betrayed by her husband. The death of Chick was heartfelt sadness. In the radio version the story has them going way before being married but after the hooded man attacked him. Ellen defended as she did in the novel but there when Jasper came back they went away together and married, had kids, moved to different farms and at the end of the book, Jasper is accused of burning a barn do an and the hooded men came, Ellen let her anger out on the cowardly men. The family leaves way before day break. The novel talks of troubles and little joyous events and true heartache. There is many more differences but a grand l listening and the music wonderful.
Story in short- Ellen and her parents barely are able to make ends meet and it is a hard lonely life.
This interchange between father and daughter is one of my favorite lines from the book.
"‘I never see any grow. I never see one a-growen.’ ‘I never see one a-growen neither, but they grow all the same. You pick up all the rocks offen this-here hill and in a year there’s as many out again. I lay there’ll be a stack to pick up right here again next year.’ ‘I can’t seem to think it! Rocks a-growen now! They don’t seem alive. They seem dead-like. Maybe they’ve got another kind of way to be alive.’ ‘Maybe they have. All I know is they grow.’"
OTR - NBC University Theatre - July 9, 1950
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌Spoiler Alert❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
Ellen Chesser is the only surviving child of Henry and Nellie Chesser. Ellen is 15 & her family have been travelling with some gypsy type people. Tessie is married to Jock and Ellen is very fond of Tessie. While fixing his wagon, Henry is approached by Mr. Bodine, a local farmer who offers Henry a job with a worker's cabin to live in for his family and if Ellen helps she can earn something too. The Chessers are very poor and when Ellen helps out in the fields, she leaves her shoes in the wagon, after coming back the shoes have been stolen. Ellen talks of finding Tessie and not liking the farm but her father tells her she will like it in time. She has her own garden and she is starting to like it there but she would like to see Tessie again. She had been raped by one of the gypsy men that their family followed, she was afraid of him and after drinking he attacked her. I had to read this several times but it becomes clear. There are few people and only a poor woman with a family nearby who Ellen can really talk to besides her parents. Mrs. (Artie) Pinkson is pregnant again and Ellen does not understand why this is a desired state. One night Ellen leaves to see if she can find Tessie but after miles of walking and being hungry, she was not able to find her. She gave a note with her name and address to a lady if she comes across Tessie. It seems that the lady was up to no good but nothing happened because Ellen's father sees Ellen at the market and they return in Mr. Bodine's wagon. Ellen is feeling lovely until Joe Trent who keeps looking for her and not wanting anyone else to know, after he saw her bathing. Ellen starts to feel things inside and after Joe Trent wanted to walk with her and calling her not very desirable due to her being poor but still follows her. Joe's father has a farm and sends his son to college. Joe sees Mr. Bodine's daughter and they often go riding. It is unclear to me if Ellen succumbed to Joe once and then feeling ashamed avoided him, but rethinking, I think not. She was ready for them to move but they no longer had a wagon. How could they leave and Henry was complaining about not being appreciated. Finally starting at a new farm, Wakefield's worker who had come to help move their things. Two brothers run the farm- Mr. Dick and Mr. Al. Ellen is feeling ugly and gets solace from nature and her work. She is lonely. Ellen starts to hear about others from Effie Turpin and starts to be happy that she can hear about other neighbors. Ellen is invited to a party, though shy, she warms up a little. Ellen is given a calf of her own for all her help. She has made many friends. Ellen notices Jonas Prather has changed and she learns the reason when he tells her shyly of his going to a married woman's home, Jules and paying for sex. He tells her that he has not seen her more then twice since he has known her. Jules' husband cheated at cards and wanted his wife to have paid customers. Jules' husband has been arrested for robbing and hurting an old man. Eli Prather is Jonas' cousin and while traveling he runs into Jules and a month old baby that looks like Jonas' mother. Jonas talks about his grief and how he feels different and wants Ellen to tell her what he should do. He wants to marry Ellen and see her every day but Ellen needs to tell him what to do. Elle says she wants him near but the news has changed her and her idealised thoughts on life. Ellen has seen Miss Cassie's husband Scott having an affair with their lived in cousin, Amanda. Jonas comes visits Ellen and her parents often, he helps her in her work too. He tells her about being married in the spring. The talk about the blocking of the road by Miss Cassie's place that was done by Scott, her husband who is causing troubles and the need to have Miss Cassie set Scott straight; implying not just Ellen knew about Scott's affair with Amanda. Amanda is a poorer relative of Miss Cassie. Miss Cassie hangs herself; Amanda and Scott have left, months go by and the farm is neglected. Jonas tells Ellen that he has an offer far away to manage a farm and that he will write her and come back for her and marry. He says it will be a no good person if he ever forgets her. He sends one letter which she sends one too but no more come. Eli, Jonas' cousin is married to Rosie and they move away. Ellen hears from Dorine that Jonas is back working over at a farm nearby, she is surprised to hear but does not let others know. She also hears Jonas has been seeing Sallie Lou, she tried to remember her from Dorine's party long ago. Ellen is thinking that Jonas will come back, maybe she is thinking about him and Jules, he felt remorse then and came back to her. While working she hears Dorine talking to her mother, Nellie, that Ellen does not know. Ellen notices the differences in her friends after they married, what is apparent is that Dorine prefers talking to Nellie. Ellen keeps herself looking pretty and waiting for Jonas. After hearing comments about Sallie Lou, Ellen feels the need to see what Jonas sees in her, she finds a happy and carefree girl. Ellen trying to figure out why Jonas preferred Sallie Lou, she thinks it has to do with Ellen knowing about his having a child with a prostitute. Jonas had told her about the baby, when Eli went and saw the baby himself and looking like Jonas' mother. Ellen is determined to see Jonas and win him back, she walks 10 miles and finds out from an old lady who tells fortunes and gives powders/charms, who tried very hard to get Ellen to buy sometime, when she finds out about Ellen looking for Jonas, she tells about Jonas and Sallie Lou were just married today and are moving near Cornishville. The old lady has proof of it being Jonas by the old clothes he left. I was thinking by what he kept telling Ellen, if he ever forgot her, he would be a low down person, so it seems it was preplanned in a way. She walks home crying and numb, starting work to forget but it is hard for all the places that she saw him. Ellen remembers about the time when Miss Cassie killed herself after hearing about her husband's betrayal, thinking how it was possible to kill yourself, Ellen knows the grief Miss Cassie must have felt. Anger starts to come to Ellen and thoughts of killing Jonas, which settles down with time. When Henry decides that it is time for the family to move, Ellen is ready and getting her cow ready prevents her saying goodbye to people and things. When Ellen sees the new home a new peace comes to her. Ellen and her family are settling in and Ellen works hard, finally really forgetting about Jonas. Albert Wingate and his mother have a farm nearby, Mrs. Wingate is greedy and refused to give her son some money. Albert is lazy and hangs around in town drinking, coming back to find money and to harass his mother. Mrs. Wingate has a sharer helper, Jasper Kent who has to have a hard time hiding his money and also making money when Albert takes farm animals to sell. Jasper has been friendly with Henry, so Ellen thinks that he is her father's friend and pays no mind to her but when he gives her his money for safe keeping and does this often. Jasper starts to ring in her heart. A drifter painter named Tarbell flirts with Ellen but her heart sings to Jasper but thinks he does not think of her but another girl who is more carefree. Henry has a broken leg from an injury which causes more work for Ellen and Jasper helps out. Then Jasper tells of his wanting to marry Ellen and tells of his life. He has lost his parents, been in jail for fighting, been in love and rejected, loved a girl who refused him causing him to drink his money away, having his boss' wife have designs on him and working very hard. He tells her all and Ellen tries to help him in his sorrows. They plan on marrying after the crops are done. He tells Ellen of a far off place that he has to hidden the sows away from Albert but Albert finds out and with the help of Tarbell sells the pigs. Jasper tries to fight Albert who refuses to fight except with a gun on Jasper's back which when Jasper takes the gun away and throwing down the lantern which burns the barn. Henry and Ellen seeing all and it not being a spite thing but everyone knows Albert is no good but they blame Jasper for spite. Knowing the law is not for him, Jasper is encouraged to go far away until they forget. Ellen gives him all his money and he tells her of coming back for her. Nobody believes he will come back but Ellen knows he will. Ellen hears Jasper's whistle and finds him at their scheduled place. He tells her about having the marriage papers and that they will marry and be together but first he must make square with Tarbell by fighting him. Ellen is afraid and they walk together and then finding themselves walking to their new life. They are married and find a home at Joseph Phillips' farm. They have their first child, Henry and then a summons comes from St. Lucy about the fire. A lawyer is needed and Joe Phillips lends them money. Jasper is found innocent from Henry's testimony. A girl is born, Nannie and then another boy, Joe after Joe Phillips. Another baby is on the way and money is tight, Jasper is spending money on horses. They leave Phillips and farm at Goddards. The farming is hard at the new place and times are very hard. Another baby is born, Dick. The Kents move back to Phillips farm. Some are still talking about Jasper and the fire. Joe Phillips is a lonely man, his wife has little to do with him and his 18 year old boy is only wanting money. He likes to watch Ellen work, she is busy but notices Hester looking at Jasper. Finally Ellen is aware that Jasper has been having an affair which leaves Ellen cold but her anger towards Hester increases and dreams of murder. She refuses to confront them, her pride is preventing and she has not told Jasper about their unborn baby. Dressing up herself she walks to the fields and all the men look at her but not Jasper. She is not even sure she wants him any longer. Joe Phillips tells Ellen if she needs anything he is there and wishes there was another one like her. Jasper hearing she is pregnant and about Joe Phillips' attention, he thinks she has done what he had done. He says he does not want another man's child and they fight, she tells him of Hester and he says he is leaving but Ellen tells him he is tied to them. Hester leaves for the city. When the baby is born Ellen is alone and gives birth. It is apparent that the infant looks like Jasper. They name him Chick but the baby is sickly and never feels well. They all love the baby and the children have soft spot for him. They leave the Phillips and another several farms until at 3 years old Chick who as suffered all his young life dies. The grief is hard and Ellen tells Jasper how she wants the the child to herself because she had brought him in the world alone. They live in Powers County which is extremely poor area. Melissy is born there and she has decided she would never grow old like Granny. The boys are taunted by other boys at school about their father being a barn burner and one of the bullies had a sharp knife, this scares Ellen. The whole County is poor but there are some good people. The work is hard and Nannie is 13. Hen is a grown man and all help out. Henry dies and money is saved for his grave, Nellie wants to live with Bell Carrier, things are settled. Hen tells Ellen about Jasper and Lobe Baker altercation which Lobe would not move his carriage for Jasper to move ahead; and Jasper who readily fights does not. After Lobe's barn burned Jasper is accused and a group of hooded men come to tie and whip him. Ellen Is hurt when confronting the men and stands by Jasper, the men leave and Ellen tends to Jasper who had become unconscious. When Jasper had regains himself, he tells Ellen he must go tonight and that they will leave Ellen and the kids alone but Ellen tells him, she will go where he goes. The family packs all they can and the animals too, looking ahead to a better life and far away from the accusations against Jasper.
Old time radio has a different vibe. In the radio version, after Ellen has lost Jonas, she is determined not to love again. In the novel, Ellen is opened to love when it comes. The radio version has her calling Jonas' name when she is proposed to by Jasper. In the book she has gotten Jonas out of her system long before Jasper is wanting to marry her, her whole being is calling for Jasper long before he tells of his love. The part of the traveling with others is left out in the radio version and the sentiment is a different feel. In the radio version your heart goes out to Ellen but only a miniscule compared to the novel, I was crying and I felt all that Ellen felt through her hunger, hard work, rejections, poverty and being betrayed by her husband. The death of Chick was heartfelt sadness. In the radio version the story has them going way before being married but after the hooded man attacked him. Ellen defended as she did in the novel but there when Jasper came back they went away together and married, had kids, moved to different farms and at the end of the book, Jasper is accused of burning a barn do an and the hooded men came, Ellen let her anger out on the cowardly men. The family leaves way before day break. The novel talks of troubles and little joyous events and true heartache. There is many more differences but a grand l listening and the music wonderful.
March 26, 2021
Interspersed w/ my dectective & mystery reading... or maybe it's the other way around ! but recently... this ... a comment on a Classic caught my attention. And I suppose it IS a classic for it was available through my eLibary.
Written in 1926, a bit of Grapes of Wrath, I suppose in that it chronicles a hard HARD life and what day-after-day looks like as one grows up in the rural and expanding south as a 'wandering' family. One needs to look to the WRITING in these books, of course, since the story is 'familiar' and in this case quite plodding to me. But then, what are the alternates (I have an answer to that since I'm also just finished reading 'Waiting for the Barbarians'... but that is another entry🤪.
So. Yes. It eveokes the monotony (my words) and helplessness and dispair and ... love that holds families togetehr somehow.
Written in 1926, a bit of Grapes of Wrath, I suppose in that it chronicles a hard HARD life and what day-after-day looks like as one grows up in the rural and expanding south as a 'wandering' family. One needs to look to the WRITING in these books, of course, since the story is 'familiar' and in this case quite plodding to me. But then, what are the alternates (I have an answer to that since I'm also just finished reading 'Waiting for the Barbarians'... but that is another entry🤪.
So. Yes. It eveokes the monotony (my words) and helplessness and dispair and ... love that holds families togetehr somehow.
March 11, 2017
This was a poetic and wonderful story of a woman born and trapped into a the sharecropping way of life in the 20s in Tennessee. The language was a first hard to read but after awhile I was used to it and it made me laugh out loud at some of the arguments and/or discussions - repeating themselves over and over again. I did try and skip through some of the text as it did seem to drag on and on in places. The extreme conditions and absolute poverty and the ability to survive it all is inspiring. The author portrayed the isolation and nomadic lifestyle in a way that I felt that I was living right there with them. Given a glimpse into the life back then, I'm glad I live in today's time period!
September 22, 2013
It’s very wordy and a long slog, but there’s an interesting story buried in it. And if you’re someone who enjoys getting lost in well-evoked setting, you’ll be in clover.
This is a coming of age story set in rural Kentucky in the early 20th Century. It follows Ellen Chesser from 13 years old until late middle age. Ellen’s introspection is well handled as she matures throughout the course of the book.
This is a coming of age story set in rural Kentucky in the early 20th Century. It follows Ellen Chesser from 13 years old until late middle age. Ellen’s introspection is well handled as she matures throughout the course of the book.
September 16, 2013
I will write a full review of this book in a little while, but for now, let me just say that it is a great work of art detailing tennant farming life in the early 1920s. While I can barely imagine the lonliness and heartache associated with the lifestyle, EMR does a fantastic job pulling you into that world and leaving you with the same emotions and despair as her characters might feel. Beautifully written, complex story of a simple life.
September 26, 2016
I loved this book. It reminded me si much of my maternal grandma and grandpa, who were tenant farmers in Missouri in the early twentieth century. The writing evokes the sights, smells and feeling of being in the country, poignantly recalling to my mind weekends spent on the farm. Even the poverty is the same. A beautifully written book.
February 2, 2009
I reviewed this at my blog.
August 30, 2021
An enjoyable, if slow, coming of age tale. There's something timeless about this account of rural poverty. The language is poetic and there's a great sense of the seasons passing. That said, I wasn't completely convinced by the characters and the book would have profited by being more tightly edited. Still a good read all round. A wonderfully presented and illustrated volume!
January 10, 2019
Although published in the 1920s, this novel unabashedly celebrates the strength of woman in the character of Ellen Chesser Kent. The narrative style bears paying close attention, but is both lyrical and stark in turns. A historical treasure by a Kentucky author.
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December 26, 2018Slow moving plot that makes one concentrate on the poetic writing style and the internal aspects of the main character. A classic that takes one back in time to universal truths.
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