Fannie Flagg loves the American South. All the contradictions, genteel traditions and violence are somehow combined to create a warm and welcoming book. I feel I have been acquainted with long lost Alabama relatives. Her characters become family with all the intimacy and mystery that 'family' implies. Intimacy, I think, is self explanatory but I will try to explain what I mean by mystery.
When someone is close to me, I become aware of motivations, desires and denials that are alien to me. In essence, I feel privileged to be shown a new part of a person I love, but as I eagerly look I become aware of other doors left closed. Not because my loved ones are selfish but because that is the nature of humans. How many of us have acted in ways that are inexplicable even to ourselves? Loved something or someone without, seemingly, an act of will? As Woody Allen said "I'm astounded by people who want to 'know' the universe when it's hard enough to find your way around Chinatown." Well, as a metaphor I feel it works equally well for my own mind and the minds of others.
Ok, I could keep going but I hope you get the idea. Fannie Flagg is excellent at letting me feel welcome in a home; I get to know new friends and then begin to sense the true mystery that is every individual for good or bad. I like the sense of depth and roundness this mystery gives her characters. The fact that a a sense of humor runs right through the middle of it is especially satisfactory. The better I get to know her characters the more I laugh and the more interesting they become.
'I Still Dream About You' is full of these real people that inspire, confuse, grow and conquer (their own regrets).
Fanny Flag
ISBN: 9781400065936
