Pulitzer Prize Winning Fiction Project discussion

I'm just wondering if anyone has read this one yet? I just started it last night.


Lori :)

Lori,

Yes: I have read "The Optimist's Daughter," and though it was some years ago, I remember the novel fondly. It's more of a character study than a story that puts plot above all other considerations. Laurel is a wonderful character, and it is through her eyes that we are given the opportunity to investigate the ties that the past have upon the present. The prose is somewhat minimal, with moments in which a kind of natural lyricism rises. In short, it is beautifully written. I have heard from some readers that they do not particularly like the novel. I, however, enjoy stories that instill the principals of character above intrictate plots. As Henry James once succinctly wrote, "Character is conflict, and vice versa."

I read it years ago and loved it also. I love Southern literature and Eudora Welty along with many other Southern writers.

Wanted to love it but did not find it especially entertaining or interesting. The last 30 pages are the best.

Yes, the last thirty pages are great. But I think they're so powerful because of what came before them. Ms. Welty took the time to observe without flinching the conflict and burgeoning animosity that exist between Fay and Laurel; and having done this, when the stepmother and stepdaughter finally have it out, the conclusion is more poignant and resonant.

Like much of Ms. Welty's work, the novel is pleasantly deceptive. You read one of her stories or books and go along with them, not always realizing the power and profundity lurking in the subtext. And when finally she hits you with it -- watch out!