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Indlæser... Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story (original 1994; udgave 1999)af John Berendt (Forfatter)
Work InformationMidnat i det gode og ondes have : roman af John Berendt (Author) (1994)
Southern Fiction (15) » 15 mere Indlæser...
Bliv medlem af LibraryThing for at finde ud af, om du vil kunne lide denne bog. Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog. loved it. The city, the people the "mystery" was a minor player but it all added up to a good read ( ) I ran across a news article about 2024 being the 30th anniversary of this book and giving some detail about it. Shortly after that a copy appeared in our Little Free Library, and some friends highly recommended it as well. Of course I had heard of the hype over it some years back, but had never gotten around to reading it. So I decided it was finally time to do that. It did not meet my expectations, which admittedly, were probably a bit higher than they should have been. The book was alright and while I didn't find it riveting, it was somewhat entertaining, or informative at least. As all sources had indicated, it was truly more of a memoir of a particular period in Savannah society and a few of the upper crust and those who were involved with them. In covering the murder case of a troubled young man and his accused murderer, a high end antiques dealer; it managed to paint a portrait for us of Savannah in the 1970's and 80's. The writing style was adequate and straightforward, with no frills. As the author had written magazine articles for many years, this makes perfectly good sense. That style is just what we find in the book, as well. Events, details and descriptions were laid out matter of factly, with no pretense at suspense or complex story lines. And so the story of Jim Williams, Danny Hansford and 8 years of jury trials, with descriptions of Savannah, and some if its inhabitants woven in, unfolds for us to its denouement. Nonfiction books, even those covering a specific event in a specific setting, tend to be a little dull in their dry factualness. Nonfiction true crime has a tendency toward moralizing. Berendt’s story of a young man killed by his lover/employer in an isolated Georgia town avoids both. He carries the reader along with charming descriptions of the people of Savannah, who seem just like crazy characters in a Southern Gothic lit novel. But these are real people, and supposedly the stories he tells about them are real, as well, and I would get a sudden jolt when he’d slip a chilling fact in amongst the tale of some cheerful eccentricity, such as the town’s complacent acceptance of a jury letting a group of men go free because the victim they stomped to death was “just” a homosexual, or of Savannah’s extraordinarily high murder rate because the victims are mostly black, so it’s “a black problem”. His storytelling is calculated to entertain, and he treats the town and its people with affection, but he does not refrain from telling the whole story and leaving the judgement up to the reader. I read this book for the Twelve Tasks of the Festive Season challenge. This book was for Task the Third: The Holiday Party (Read a book where a celebration is a big part of the action), because the action in the book revolves around a series of parties and ceremonies, from the annual Christmas party given by the killer, to the never-ending house party given by the lawyer/conman, to the society ladies’ exclusive tea parties, to the midnight graveyard ceremonies conducted by the voodoo woman. This is my second reading of “the book” as it became known in Savannah after being published in 1994, spawning a film version and a resurgence of tourism. Journalist John Berendt came down from New York, stayed a few years, and managed to capture the insular eccentricity of a small slice of Savannah’s culture. He wrote about Lady Chablis, Joe Odum, Jim Williams and other compelling characters with a sharp eye. The Savannah in the book, one of hard drinking, high and low society; old, new and no money may be history now, but still lives on in some way. Berendt portrayed Savannah as the most interesting place he knew, that was his art. It drew, and still draws, an uncounted number of tourists trying to capture his version of the city. Drinking, backbiting and gossip are the major activities and sport in the story. Antique dealer Jim Williams and his four murder trials for shooting his young lover are central to the book. His trial defense employs the unique services of a voodoo woman named Minerva. “She’s thrown graveyard dirt at some of the best homes in Savannah, God bless her,” Williams told Berendt. “I give her twenty-five dollars a day, and I’ve learned not to ask questions.”
Elegant and wicked.... Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil might be the first true-crime book that makes the reader want to book a bed and breakfast for an extended weekend at the scene of the crime. HæderspriserDistinctionsNotable Lists
Kriminalroman. En nyrig kunsthandler i Savannah sigtes for mordet på sin unge bøsse-ven og assistent. Under retssagen afdækkes sydstatsbyens syndige, men alt andet end kedelige liv - fyldt med sære eksistenser. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Indlæser... GenrerNo genres Melvil Decimal System (DDC)975.8724History and Geography North America Southeastern U.S. Georgia Southeast Georgia Chatham/Effingham Counties Chatham County/Savannah (Georgia)LC-klassificeringVurderingGennemsnit:
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