Cecilia K. (ccbyrd) reviewed A Gathering of Old Men (Vintage Contemporaries) on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This book is awesome.I picked it up on a fluke and am sure glad I did.
Focusing on a hot day in 1970 Louisiana,a sheriff is summoned to a sugarcane plantation,where he finds 1 young white woman,and 18 old black men,and 1 dead Cajun farmer.
Each man claims guilt,and all but one promises to provoke a riot at the courthouse if the sheriff tries to make an arrest.Im the meantime, they all await the lynch mob that the dead mans father-like his son,a notorious brute-is sure to launch.Before its over,everyone involved has been surprised by something;the old men not least of all,by their first taste of power and pride.
Focusing on a hot day in 1970 Louisiana,a sheriff is summoned to a sugarcane plantation,where he finds 1 young white woman,and 18 old black men,and 1 dead Cajun farmer.
Each man claims guilt,and all but one promises to provoke a riot at the courthouse if the sheriff tries to make an arrest.Im the meantime, they all await the lynch mob that the dead mans father-like his son,a notorious brute-is sure to launch.Before its over,everyone involved has been surprised by something;the old men not least of all,by their first taste of power and pride.
Odelia A. (LaCreole41) reviewed A Gathering of Old Men (Vintage Contemporaries) on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Great book, Ernest Gaines sure knew how to tell a good old "Louisiana" story.
Glenda B. (zzemom) reviewed A Gathering of Old Men (Vintage Contemporaries) on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I enjoyed this book so much! It takes place all in one day and I wish it could have gone on and on. I fell for each one of these old guys.
Helpful Score: 1
I was living in Louisiana during the time this book takes place. Gaines truly accurately captures the atmosphere, the mindsets and the local color of the time and place. Well written, you care about the characters and you wonder at man's inhumanity to man as well as how really deeply people can care.
Connie A. (jazzysmom) -
Helpful Score: 1
Absolutely one of the best books i've read. This is a very touching story of friendship, love and strength. A cajun man is killed, his people are mean and vengeful. A young white woman who has grown up with the blacks on this Louisiana plantation of cane country and loves the people who work this land has confessed to the killing. She didn't do it but she knows one of the blacks will be blamed if she doesn't say she did it. As word gets around in the hour after the killing, all the old timers who have a score to settle with this cajun family gather in front of the house, lined up, all with a rifle of the same that killed the man. Each one telling the sheriff they did the killing. Now who is he to believe and how is he going to handle this, and what is going to happen when the mean hateful father finds out his son is dead. Excellint author, excellent story consept and excellent read.
