[BX6]≡ Libro Gratis Cross Creek Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Edward Shenton 9780684818795 Books

Cross Creek Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Edward Shenton 9780684818795 Books

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Cross Creek Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Edward Shenton 9780684818795 Books

The book Cross Creek was not available in my local public library, so I bought it. Once I started reading the book, I became suspicious it had been banned from the library. The language and racial attitudes are unsettling. But, they are typical of what existed in the 1930s in much of this country, and especially in rural Florida.

This is as much a cultural and social work, as literary. It captures a part of our history that largely has vanished and has been forgotten. The characters, their portrayals, and their language probably are greatly exaggerated, to make the book more captivating. The book can be viewed as racist, but Rawlings pretty much treats the Cracker Whites about equally to the not-too-far-from-slavery, Blacks. Rawlings was sued for libel by one of her white neighbors she depicted in the book.

This was a foreign land; Rawlings could just as easily have been writing about a hamlet in some Third World country. She was in it, became part of it, but was born in it. She had the degree of separation and perspective needed to write about Cross Creek. But, she also portrayed some of her characters quite harshly.

Many of Rawlings' Cross Creek backwoods neighbors, black and white, lived at the fringes of society, culture, and the economy. They had a subsistence lifestyle, and experienced severe privation and even real hunger in the 1930s. They survived on bream (sunfish, or bluegills), grits, black-eyed peas, and collard greens. "White bacon" was a real treat. Some of these people were the "left behinds," as the more capable individuals emigrated to urban areas, South and North, in the early to mid 20th Century to improve their fortunes.

As a native of the Deep South, I enjoyed reading this beautiful description of an earlier time and now transformed place. This is the "Old Florida," more of which still existed and I remember as a child over 50 years ago. I've visited the house in Cross Creek (now a Florida State Park) a couple of times, and I highly recommend visiting Cross Creek, as well as reading the book. These are true remnants of the "Old Florida."


Tags : Cross Creek [Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Edward Shenton] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Cross Creek</i> is the warm and delightful memoir about the life of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings—author of The Yearling</i>—in the Florida backcountry.<BR><BR>Originally published in 1942,Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Edward Shenton,Cross Creek,Simon & Schuster,0684818795,BIO007000,Literary,USA,Authors, American - 20th century - Biography,Authors, American - Homes and haunts - Florida,Authors, American;20th century;Biography.,Authors, American;Homes and haunts;Florida.,Cross Creek (Fla.) - Intellectual life - 20th century,Cross Creek (Fla.) - Social life and customs,Cross Creek (Fla.);Intellectual life;20th century.,Farm life - Florida - Cross Creek,Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan - Homes and haunts - Florida - Cross Creek,20th century,Authors, American,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Editors, Journalists, Publishers,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY General,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Literary Figures,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Personal Memoirs,Biography,Biography & Autobiography,Biography Autobiography,BiographyAutobiography,Cross Creek,Cross Creek; memoir; The Yearling; Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings; Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings books; Florida; country; farm; Florida everglades; Florida country; country living; farm living; Florida memoir; rural memoir; independence; female; woman; community; bucolic; World War II; World War 2,English,Farm life,Farm life - Florida - Cross Creek,Florida,GENERAL,Homes and haunts,Literary,Literature: History & Criticism,Memoirs,Non-Fiction,Novels, other prose & writers: from c 1900 -,RAWLINGS, MARJORIE KINNAN, 1896-1953,Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan,Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan - Homes and haunts - Florida - Cross Creek,ScholarlyUndergraduate,USA,United States,Women's Studies,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Editors, Journalists, Publishers,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY General,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Literary Figures,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Personal Memoirs,General,Biography Autobiography,1896-1953,20th century,Authors, American,Biography,Cross Creek,Farm life,Florida,Homes and haunts,Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan,,Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan, 1896-1953,Biography & Autobiography,BiographyAutobiography,English,Literature: History & Criticism,Memoirs,Novels, other prose & writers: from c 1900 -

Cross Creek Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Edward Shenton 9780684818795 Books Reviews

Not quite the quality I'd expected. The binding is nearly rotten. I wanted to actually read the book but I'll just have to display it.
Cross Creek is one of the finest memoirs ever written, filled with grace and beauty from one of America's greatest writers, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Perhaps no other writer has so perfectly and honestly captured a place and time like Rawlings did in Cross Creek. It will transport you to that small acreage of backwoods Florida and cause you to wish for a life such as this.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings purchased a seventy-two acre orange grove in this remote area and fled her aristocratic life in the city to perfect her craft and get published. It is here all her beloved books would be born, including this memoir covering the years of hardships and beauty at the creek. Rawlings herself would become a part of the earth and land as she was reborn here in Cross Creek and would leave behind literary achievements such as "South Moon Under," "Golden Apples," "When the Whipporwill," "Cross Creek Cookery," and of course, her Pulitzer winning, "The Yearling."

Her close relationships with her neighbors at the creek, both black and white, are told with humor and humanity. Their lives were often filled with hardships but serenity as well, for all of them had chosen to live this kind of life rather than conform to society. Especially poignant are Rawlings' observations of a young destitute couple who would be portrayed so movingly in Jacob's Ladder.

Rawlings' recollections of her friendship with Moe, and especially his daughter Mary, who was Moe's reason for living and the only one in his family who cared when he came or went, are told with such beauty we feel pain ourselves when he takes his last breath at the creek. Her deep friendships over the years with Tom and Old Martha are told with humor, honesty and a gift for description few have ever had.

Tinged with sadness is Marjorie's relationship both as employer and friend to 'Geechee. Rawlings would attempt to help her to no avail as this sweet personality slowly became an unemployable alcoholic. Her mistreatment at the hands of a womanizer unworthy of her love was at the heart of her problem. It is perhaps at the bottom of a few bitter comments from Rawlings.

But Cross Creek is about the earth and our relationship to it. When we stray from it we become less because it is a part of us. Rawlings came to believe over time that when we lose this connection to the earth, we lose a part of ourselves. The great and wondrous beauty of nature, from magnolia blossoms and rare herbs to Hayden mangos and papaya, are as much a part of this memoir as the people. Particularly hilarious are Rawlings' descriptions of a pet racoon of mischievious nature and such cantankerous disposition as to almost seem human.

Rawlings' world at the creek is perhaps her legacy, a gift given to the reader we can never forget. In order to enjoy this memoir, however, one must read the entire book, taking into consideration a number of factors. Published in 1942 and covering many years prior in a backwoods area of Florida, at a time when racial equality was a distant dream, some may be offended by Rawlings' casual, though never mean spirited observations. Rawlings honestly relates actual conversations from this time and place between blacks and whites, and blacks to other blacks. Rawlings treated everyone fairly but a long string of farmhands prone to drink and violence, including the one who would destroy her friend and employee 'Geechee, prompted her to lump an entire race into one group, her friends at the creek being exceptions. I do not feel the comments of this southern woman and most gifted of writers should keep anyone from reading this most beautiful and heartwarming of memoirs.

Rawlings' graceful prose, whether describing a chorus of frogs singing at night as a Brahms waltz, the scent of hibiscus drifting through the air at dusk or a myraid of dishes meticulously prepared and labored over for hours, is delightful and unforgettable. Cross Creek will make you hungry for succulent fruits, cornbread and hot biscuits with wild plum jelly, and the living of life itself.

Reading this lovingly written memoir will leave you with a wistful desire to walk away from society as Rawlings did and live the life we crave in our very being, even if it is not possible, and can only be lived in our hearts.

"Cross Creek belongs to the wind and the rain, to the sun and the seasons, to the cosmic secrecy of seed, and beyond all, to time."
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
(1896-1953)
Wonderful book for anyone who loves "old Florida" and beautiful writing. Ms. Rawlings will not let you down.
I read this book about 20 years ago and recently reread the masterpiece. I love Rawlings writing style and the descriptive way she explains each and every aspect of cross creek. I live in the south and could just envision in my mind the birds, bugs, people, flowers, the river etc. She was a remarkable author and woman.
OK, I am biased because I grew up near Cross Creek and actually knew one of the lawyers but this is a wonderful look back into rural central Florida. Exceptionally well written short bites of life in and around Cross Creek and colorful descriptions of Ms. Rawling's neighbors. So colorful that the book spawned one of the more influential lawsuits of its time. That is another story and one well worth reading.
Charming, evocative, and very much deserving of its status as a classic.
One of my favorite books...ever. Rawlings writes about nature (human and flora/fauna) as few know how. I sent a copy to someone because I wanted to share this valuable piece of literature. I read it every few years as it takes me away to this place and time. Kinnan Rawlings was one of America's most gifted writers. The movie Crosscreek with Mary Steenburgen, Rip Torn, Alfre Woodard, Malcolm McDowell, Peter Coyote, Joanna Miles and Dana Hill....is so lovely...I bought that, too.
The book Cross Creek was not available in my local public library, so I bought it. Once I started reading the book, I became suspicious it had been banned from the library. The language and racial attitudes are unsettling. But, they are typical of what existed in the 1930s in much of this country, and especially in rural Florida.

This is as much a cultural and social work, as literary. It captures a part of our history that largely has vanished and has been forgotten. The characters, their portrayals, and their language probably are greatly exaggerated, to make the book more captivating. The book can be viewed as racist, but Rawlings pretty much treats the Cracker Whites about equally to the not-too-far-from-slavery, Blacks. Rawlings was sued for libel by one of her white neighbors she depicted in the book.

This was a foreign land; Rawlings could just as easily have been writing about a hamlet in some Third World country. She was in it, became part of it, but was born in it. She had the degree of separation and perspective needed to write about Cross Creek. But, she also portrayed some of her characters quite harshly.

Many of Rawlings' Cross Creek backwoods neighbors, black and white, lived at the fringes of society, culture, and the economy. They had a subsistence lifestyle, and experienced severe privation and even real hunger in the 1930s. They survived on bream (sunfish, or bluegills), grits, black-eyed peas, and collard greens. "White bacon" was a real treat. Some of these people were the "left behinds," as the more capable individuals emigrated to urban areas, South and North, in the early to mid 20th Century to improve their fortunes.

As a native of the Deep South, I enjoyed reading this beautiful description of an earlier time and now transformed place. This is the "Old Florida," more of which still existed and I remember as a child over 50 years ago. I've visited the house in Cross Creek (now a Florida State Park) a couple of times, and I highly recommend visiting Cross Creek, as well as reading the book. These are true remnants of the "Old Florida."