The Long Night

by Andrew Lytle, Frank L. Owsley Jr (Introduction)

Provides vivid descriptions of Alabama during an important period in the state’s history
 
A first-rate novel that provides vivid descriptions of Alabama during an important period in the state’s history, The Long Night is set in the vicinity of Montgomery, Alabama, between 1850 and 1865. Originally published in 1936, the book is based on a true story related to Lytle by one of his close friends and colleagues at Vanderbilt University, Frank L. Owsley, who later became the chairman of The University of Alabama Department of History. In fact, the novel opens with a letter to Professor Owsley from the author, and Owsley’s son has written the introduction to this edition.

As described by George B. Tindall, The Long Night is “the episodic story of a young Alabamian beset by the moral dilemma of desire for revenge against the persecutors of his father and his larger duty in the war, a story that rose to its climax in the Battle of Shiloh.” The work is rich in its description of the land and people of Black-Belt Alabama during the mid-19th century.

 

Genres: Southern, Historical Fiction, Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

Andrew Nelson Lytle (December 26, 1902 – December 12, 1995) was an American novelist, dramatist, essayist and professor of literature. He was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and early in his life planned to be an actor and playwright. He studied acting at Yale University and performed on Broadway when he was in his 20s.
Unlike other Southern intellectuals who left the region never to return, Lytle went home after the death of a kinsman. Except for brief sojourns elsewhere, he remained in the South for the rest of his life.
(wikipedia)

Reviews

[John Pendergraft · Rating 4 out of 5]

To my detriment, I first read "The Long Night" in a rushed and superficial manner about 11 years ago. It is a forceful and emotional story about a son's pursuit to seek revenge on the large cabal of men guilty of murdering his father. Set in the Old South against the backdrop of the Civil War, young Pleasant McIvor is away from home when his father is brutally murdered in his bed with his mother watching. Given a charge to pursue and avenge his father Pleasant cold-heatedly fulfills this duty in a mystical ghostly manner until events alter his mission and his way of looking at the world. Pleasant is joined by others in his quest including his Uncle Armistead who is a source of strength and honor and the embodiment of all the Old South stood for both for good and ill.

The Long Night is a story about honor, vengeance, justice, vengeance as a substitute for justice, and vengeance as a poor substitute for justice. It is a story about the family as the bedrock of a society. It is a story about the family as an idol. It is a story about revenge and redemption and how the former is not the latter. It is a story about wasting one's life mired in hatred and suffering while never searching out friendship, love, community, and beauty. Ultimately, it is a story about neglecting the good life gifted to us all.

Lastly, a warning. This book is not for the faint of heart. It is not for the "goody two shoes" inhabiting our sanitized and glitzy culture. Andrew Lytle has given us a gift wrapped in a story. He has shown us evil in many of it's manifestations. He has described societal goods and societal evils, painting for us life as it was in the Old South. Lytle teaches that in each of one of us there is saint and sinner, that as a result, each culture contains good and evil. Unfortunately, to the "highly educated" and 'politically correct" this lesson and others contained in this book would be lost on you.

[Drew Norwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Vengeance—the dark way. Into Shiloh woods he had gone, had carried it there. On that field where the living died and, dying, came more alive, he had lost it and had found himself.”

The Long Night is based on a true story of an Alabama family that was relayed to Andrew Lytle by Frank Owsley. The meat of the plot takes place between the 1850s and 1864, and its main concerns are family honor, vengeance, social customs in transition, and societal bonds. The plot takes you in from the very beginning but it's not until the end that you realize you've been in the presence of a master story-teller.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book for many reasons. The power of words, scenes and character are expertly demonstrated in this masterpiece. I consider this one of the very best books I have ever read. Hierarchy of human needs change....

[Kelly Obernuefemann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Southern. I heard a panel discussing it (and So Red the Rose) last year at the Southern Historical Association conference and put it on my list to read. Written in 1936, it is surprisingly easy to read, fast read. Classic southern story of avenging insults to your family and the coming of war. Aside from the expected racism, very entertaining.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Civil War fiction from one of the Agrarian Writers of the New South. Heavy use of dialect but you get the hang of it.