On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

Comments on this board should be written with the assumption that not all readers have finished the book. Please take care not to reveal information that might lessen other readers’ enjoyment.

I'm planning to read all three of our selections this month. Now to decide which goes first.

I will join this one, too, but like Sara, I am not sure when.

Terry, we will soon run out of Jiles' books to read.

There are still quite a few which I haven’t read. Hopefully, she keeps writing for a long time and we will look forward to them as time goes on. For now, though, I am happy to keep reading her work as it is always so satisfying.

I read this one 2 years ago so won’t reread. I believe it was my second one after having read News prior to that. Simon never really got me excited but I do hope you all find it worthy of Jiles. I’ll follow along with the group.

Sara, I'm reading all 3 of our choices this month too, and got a head start with this one. I just finished it and really liked it a lot. I need to read some of her earlier work. Of course, like everyone else, I loved News of the World, then read The Color of Lightning. Happy to say Captain Kidd has a small cameo in this one.

Oh, lovely. I like when familiar characters show up, even if just for a moment.

My library audiobook service, Libby, has Simon the Fiddler (also News of the World, which I think I have a hard copy as well), so I will start it as soon as I finish , Lincoln in the Bardo which I’m reading (listening to) now.

I really liked this, but even though there is a lot of action, it's a slow moving book. Just be aware that this is a "road novel" along the lines of The Lincoln Highway. That means that the journey is just as important as the destination, so lots of details and characters.

I have this book, but not sure I will be able to get to it in time.

Diane, interesting that you mention Lincoln Highway. I haven’t done the math yet, but I would guess I am about 80%i to that book tonight, and enjoying the journey very much!

Sara wrote: "I'm planning to read all three of our selections this month. Now to decide which goes first."

I'm starting with COOL HAND LUKE. That thread is already popping! Great supplemental information about chain gangs, the movies, and Paul Newman so far. Wayne Caldwell has gotten so much buzz from this group that I'm going to do his second, and then SIMON THE FIDDLER if I have time.

I'm about a third of the way in. I'm intrigued with the music aspect of this book and how Simon and his buddies are trying to find work. I'm still not that invested in the characters per se and Simon's mission to find love, but the prose is very good and love the background for the story as well.

I'm still trying to find a copy of Cool Hand Luke. I'll try to get to that later in July if I can find one.

Franky, some of the more technical musical stuff went over my head, but I could certainly identify with the tunes. There's a lot of historical value in the occupation of Texas by Union soldiers after the war as well. Such as the fact that you needed "papers" to identify which side you were on.

Franky wrote: "I'm still trying to find a copy of Cool Hand Luke. I'll try to get to that later in July if I can find one.."

I found COOL HAND LUKE to be an amazingly entertaining read. The characters were all so unique, and the symbolism was great. I certainly hope that you're able to locate a copy of the text!

I had not planned on reading this, but I'm still waiting for my Caldwell to come in. Also, the reviews seemed kind of mixed. I have been wonderfully surprised so far. Possibly bc I was in concert and marching bands, and choir? When Jiles describes Simon's emotions while playing his fiddle, I am caught up and experiencing all of them with him.

I also enjoy reading Simon's resourceful and tenacious characteristics.

He had a bottomless supply of waltzes, jigs, reels, hornpipes, and slow airs. Some of the slow airs could bring men and women to a standstill, their eyes brimming with tears for a remembered love or a certain long-lost valley at twilight or another country without war, taken by emotions of loss and exile for which they had no words.

Think about how creatively resourceful Simon is here --

At the encampment outside of town on the Guadalupe River he gave a false name, Simon Walters. This was so that he would be at the end of any list or muster roll and would therefore have time to think of what to do if some group he was in was called up for some task, such as fighting or kitchen duty.

I don't know if I would have ever thought to do that! (I've always enjoyed having a "C" surname, bc it gets me through the line faster!)

I am not musical at all, can't even carry a tune, but I can appreciate how music can create memories and emotion for the listeners. If you can read notes and are musical, I think that might add another layer of understanding to this novel. I loved the history that I got in this one.

Simon is quite resourceful. Had to be to survive in that era.

I was hoping (and expecting) to love this one. My father was a fiddler and many of the songs are very familiar to me. Somehow I am having a hard time connecting to Simon, though. I feel as if I am standing at a distance on this one, no emotional attachment. It is good, but not up to the other Jiles' books that I have read so far. I am a little over 50% in, so it might change but I am skeptical.

I thought it improved drastically once he got to San Antonio.

Well, he is on his way, so I'll cross my fingers.

Sara, I had the very same experience with Simon. I never got his motivations. I hope you find it picks up for you soon.

Diane wrote: "If you can read notes and are musical, I think that might add another layer of understanding to this novel. I loved the history that I got in this one."

The musical background does help, but think about it like this -- in the Confederate camp, before the war is over, Simon would sneak away from the group just to practice scales for up to two full hours! That is serious dedication to technique and precision! (And I think, it would be analogous to us reading books on southern literary criticism just so that we could better understand the novels that we read...?)

That being said, I am only 14% in, so there is ample time for my opinion to change.

Sara wrote: "I was hoping (and expecting) to love this one. My father was a fiddler and many of the songs are very familiar to me. ..."

What a wonderful opportunity you had to have a fiddler as a father! I truly think that is so special. I'm actually making a list of all the songs that are mentioned so that I can find them on YT. I want to get a true feel for the music moments, and understand why Jiles chose these particular songs to include.

Since your father was a fiddler, perhaps you can help me understand why there is a negative connotation (in the novel) to that profession? From page 40 / 12% --

The sergeant regarded the shirts on his desk and Simon could see him counting them. “All right. Did you get paid?” “We did.” The sergeant said, “Good. Remarkable, since you should have been in the cells for assaulting a Union soldier after you had supposedly surrendered.” He took off the glasses and looked Simon up and down. “But then you’re a fiddler.”

Cheryl, I read that quite the opposite of a negative connotation. I thought the sergeant was saying if he was not a fiddler he would have been thrown in the cells, but being a fiddler, and therefore in demand, he was out.

I do count it as a unique privilege to have been raised in a home full of music and to listen almost daily to the best fiddler in the south.

Cheryl, I like that analogy between readers and musicians. It's true, if you love something and are passionate about it, it's how you choose to spend your time.

What is the difference between a violin and a fiddle???

I found a short YT video that answers this. One of the comments really caught my eye, and I thought the group (especially Sara) would enjoy it.

A violin has strings.
A fiddle has strangs.
(posted by Garrett Williamson)

This comment (obviously!) has nearly 2000 likes.
https://youtu.be/gUuCUyzbvt4

I always associate a violin with classical music, being played by someone in formal dress. A fiddle in my mind is country or bluegrass, played by a jeans wearing fiddler. That quote perfectly sums it up.

We have both in our family. My husbands papaw taught himself to o play the fiddle and had a little band of guys who played bluegrass. He wore the western style long sleeved shirts with the fun embellishments. It was always so fun to watch and listen to him play. For him, I’d never say he played a violin. But his grandson, my husband’s cousin, plays the violin. Classical music and very formal. He and his brother who plays cello played the Wedding March at our wedding.

@ Diane, Lori -- I absolutely agree with both of you. Lori, that's so special to have family play at such a milestone event like a wedding. Such a blessing for you and your husband.

Sara wrote: Somehow I am having a hard time connecting to Simon, though. I feel as if I am standing at a distance on this one, no emotional attachment. ..."

We all have our passions, and the Civil War is one of mine. I own dozens of books, and visit CW battlefields several times a year... I am seriously into it! I was immediately drawn to the characters and storylines.

One thing that impresses me about Simon is his intense connection to his fiddle. It is his livelihood, his joy, and his comfort. It is also his teacher, in a way, bc his love for it helps him tamper his emotions --

Simon had a hair-trigger temper and he knew it, and all his life it had been impressed upon him to contain himself because he could end up in jail with his fiddle confiscated or stolen.

Simon also uses visualizations for emotional control. I mentally applauded him in the following scene for utilizing it as a trauma-coping technique.

Simon hated cities. He hated towns. As they trudged through the humid cold streets of Houston he thought of the property near the Red River and it gave him comfort. It was as if he already owned it and this incident was only a temporary setback. There would be a spring of clear water and around it great pecan trees, deer would bed down in the post-oak mottes at night. Wild horses would tread the smoking earth in dimly seen caravans, the breath of the great brown buffalo drifting white in the winter air.

Diane wrote: "I really liked this, but even though there is a lot of action, it's a slow moving book. Just be aware that this is a "road novel" along the lines of The Lincoln Highway. ..."

I should have paid more attention to this warning, Diane. I greatly enjoyed the book, but definitely had to labor through the travel descriptions. It might not have been so laborious if I were familiar with the Texas and Mexican landscapes, but I'm not, and spent quite a bit of time googling things like "achiote" and "sago palms". "Spanish dagger flowers" are my favorite new discovery.

I was not familiar with any of the fiddle songs, except for Cotton-Eye Joe. So, I made a list of them and added them to a playlist on YT. Listed here under a spoiler due to length:

(view spoiler)[
STEPHEN FORSTER - The “Father of American Music”
MISSOURI SHUFFLE
BLARNEY PILGRIM
EIGHTH OF JANUARY
RYE WHISKEY
HOME SWEET HOME
DEATH AND THE SINNER
AILEEN AROON
GLENDY BURKE
COTTON-EYE JOE
LEATHER BRITCHES
MISSISSIPPI SAWYER
ST. ANNE'S REEL
THE NIGHTINGALE WALTZ
HARD TIMES
LORENA
WE'RE BOUND FOR THE RIO GRANDE
MCPHERSON'S LAMENT
NEIL GOW'S LAMENT
DOWN IN THE TENNESSEE VALLEY
A MAN OF CONSTANT SORROW
THE FAREWELL SONG
PUT YOUR LITTLE FOOT
LA SAVANE
JEANIE WITH THE LIGHT BROWN HAIR
RED RIVER VALLEY
THE MINSTREL BOY
ANGELINA BAKER
THE LOST CHILD
THE BONNIE BLUE FLAG
WAITING FOR THE FEDERALS
WHISKEY BEFORE BREAKFAST
MARCHING THROUGH GEORGIA
THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET
BRIGAND OF ALGIERS
BEAUTIFUL DREAMER
SHENANDOAH
(hide spoiler)]

Cheryl, you seemed to work hard on this one, what with research and lists. I myself just read and hope to get the meaning of things by osmosis, but I certainly appreciate those who do the research and then share it with the rest of us. That Playlist is impressive.

Cheryl, love that definitional difference between violins and fiddles! LOL!

Cheryl, I also am a bit of a Civil War buff. Love visiting battle sites and museums dedicated to the War of Northern Aggression (as my grandfather called it). Then having a special place in my heart for fiddlers, I thought this book probably couldn't miss with me. But, I couldn't help feeling that Simon was just a bit wooden and the romance a bit hard to wholly believe. I'm very pleased it connected for you! I am currently reading something that gives me what this book failed to deliver.