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Reading Room:  A Farmer  |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 05:46:36 AM
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i'm reading Janice Holt Giles' book: RUN ME A RIVER right now (a mighty saga of Civil War Valor and Awakening Love)
jus' gotta' read you some 'excerpts' from this book .. it's about a many-generations 'farmboy' turned 'riverman'.
"Since the days of his grandfather, Cassius Cartwright, Bo's people had belonged to the land. But Bo wouldn't bend his head to the ground to be one of them .. not as long as he could lift his eyes to the river."
This passage lovingly describes a farmer whom Bo has just delivered some wood (via his boat). I loved it so much because it describes beautifully so many of my own farmer-families of yesterday.
"He was a little taller than middle height, not yet an old man but past his first youth, and his face was roughly eroded by weather, the way all farmer's faces are. If your hands have fitted a plow handle most of your life and your feet have followed a fuirrow, your face takes a lot of wind and frost and rain and sun. It changes. And your lips get a bleached, tough look. The elements, over a given time, hammer a mouth out of shape and reshape it to serve you better than nature's original gift. They don't do a handsome job, but they do a useful one. A thickened lip-skin doesn't chap so easily, or crack so easily, or bleed so willingly. The elements turn a man's face-skin and lip[skin into an animal's hide and while it isn't pretty it is best that way."
I think i've said it a million times .. but here's one more .. i adore the way Janice Holt Giles writes. Her home, an olde log cabin, isn't far from my very own (a couple counties over) .. it is open to the public and they hold special events. I do plan on becoming a bigger part of her helping to continue her heritage.
If you love stories of farmer's in pioneer times .. do yourself a HUGE favor .. and try and find some of her books. Not sure they are presently being reprinted .. but olde paperbacks and hardbacks can still be found on e-bay!
True Friends, Frannie
My KENTUCKY RAMBLINGS 'blog':
http://cabincreekfarm-kentucky.blogspot.com/ |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2006 : 2:09:27 PM
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That descriptive writing is just amazing, isn't it. I can picture that face and those hands - it's almost like I'm looking rather than reading... that sounds like it is going to be a wonderful book. Enjoy!
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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Phils Ann
True Blue Farmgirl
1095 Posts
Ann
Parsonsburg
Maryland
USA
1095 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2006 : 3:52:28 PM
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Frannie, I've just ordered RUN ME A RIVER, THE KENTUCKIANS, and THE ENDURING HILLS, though ABE. Have you read all of these? I noticed that some of her books are series books, and sure hope I don't get to an exciting point, TO BE CONTINUED! (Oh, no!) Seriously, thanks for the great suggestion, including excerpts.
Ann
There is a Redeemer. |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2006 : 4:46:00 PM
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hey darlin' .. you really can read them in any order .. hannah fowler, i believe is the first or at least the BEGINNING of the family tree .. she is a pioneer moving to kentucky during daniel boone days .. the believers is her daughter .. johnny osage is her son or grandson .. there aren't any 'to be continued's' ... each story stands on it's own two feet! i've read all of those .. all GREAT .. order all of them as you find them .. and if you find OLDE copies .. sometimes they are worth a mint!
i only paid $4.00 at a peddlar's mall for my olde paperback copy of Run Me a River .. but it is selling for $125. for an olde hard-back (no autograph included) copy at my antiques mall!!!! yep! i said ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS!!!!!! i've seen several of her older books go for $75. to $125. xo
True Friends, Frannie
My KENTUCKY RAMBLINGS 'blog':
http://cabincreekfarm-kentucky.blogspot.com/ |
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Phils Ann
True Blue Farmgirl
1095 Posts
Ann
Parsonsburg
Maryland
USA
1095 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2006 : 04:41:57 AM
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Thank you Frannie! I paid only $2 for "The Kentuckians" and "The Enduring Hills", and $15 for "Run Me a River", which seemed scarcer. I saw some pretty steep prices, but not on the ones you mentioned; Hannah Fowler, etc.... at least I don't remember them as high. I am glad they stand alone. I hope they ship out soon!
Hugs,
Ann
There is a Redeemer. |
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Reading Room: A Farmer |
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