What do you think?
Rate this book
So Red the Rose
Young's novel of war coming to the Natchez region of Mississippi has long been considered one of the best of Civil War novels. “If you would understand what was best in the Old South, its attitude toward life, you will find them here, glowing with that same vitality which was theirs in life.”� New York Times . Southern Classics Series.
452 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1934
18 people are currently reading
205 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 28, 2020
This book is an excellent novel about the War Between the States, written in 1935 before “Gone With The Wind�, and not for those readers with easily bruised feelings.
The central characters are members of two interconnected cotton-planter families, the Bedfords and McGehees, and Young depicts them as a scholarly, well-educated, cultured elite in antebellum Natchez, Mississippi. The paterfamilias of the Bedford family is against secession and is contrasted with the McGehee’s who support secession.
Roughly half the book takes place before the war and establishes the relations between the characters in the two families, as well as those outside of the familial circle, such as a visiting spinster named Mary Cherry, who visits between the two houses, despite not being a relation. This relationship in particular was interesting to me as Young included significant detail as to how the spinster and family members interacted. This is not a sharp, fast-paced drama; I would say it almost meanders as the Mississippi river does, and tries to illustrate an aspect of life in the old South. This is clearly not a book which can be read quickly; however, as I read and concentrated and the flowing dialogue, I lost track of time, because this is so well written. Another reviewer described the first half of the book as “languid�, which is a very accurate description.
The second half of the book takes place during and right after the war and illustrates how the two families coped with the deaths of kin and members of their circle, as well as the destruction of home and property. It moves with more of a purpose, and might even be a bit harsh. I read this once, then skimmed it again right after because there is so much detail and dialogue to consider. Young includes a page on “Characters of the Book�, which outlines the names and relationships of the characters in the text. I had to constantly refer to this page to keep the names straight, as every character had a role, including the slaves and small children of the Bedford family. The preface was written by George Garrett and, as with all of Garrett’s prose, entertains, edifies and does not disappoint.
The central characters are members of two interconnected cotton-planter families, the Bedfords and McGehees, and Young depicts them as a scholarly, well-educated, cultured elite in antebellum Natchez, Mississippi. The paterfamilias of the Bedford family is against secession and is contrasted with the McGehee’s who support secession.
Roughly half the book takes place before the war and establishes the relations between the characters in the two families, as well as those outside of the familial circle, such as a visiting spinster named Mary Cherry, who visits between the two houses, despite not being a relation. This relationship in particular was interesting to me as Young included significant detail as to how the spinster and family members interacted. This is not a sharp, fast-paced drama; I would say it almost meanders as the Mississippi river does, and tries to illustrate an aspect of life in the old South. This is clearly not a book which can be read quickly; however, as I read and concentrated and the flowing dialogue, I lost track of time, because this is so well written. Another reviewer described the first half of the book as “languid�, which is a very accurate description.
The second half of the book takes place during and right after the war and illustrates how the two families coped with the deaths of kin and members of their circle, as well as the destruction of home and property. It moves with more of a purpose, and might even be a bit harsh. I read this once, then skimmed it again right after because there is so much detail and dialogue to consider. Young includes a page on “Characters of the Book�, which outlines the names and relationships of the characters in the text. I had to constantly refer to this page to keep the names straight, as every character had a role, including the slaves and small children of the Bedford family. The preface was written by George Garrett and, as with all of Garrett’s prose, entertains, edifies and does not disappoint.
March 12, 2015
After all these years, I had never read "So Red the Rose", Stark Young's classic novel of the Old South's Planter Class entering into, living through, and coming out of the Civil War era. Right out of college in 1970 from Mississippi State College for Women, I landed a job on the weekly, soon to be daily, newspaper in Oxford, Miss., where one of the "historic houses" is, or was, "the Stark Young House." For some quirky reason, this was one of the old timey classics I read about, but hadn't actually read, until this past week. I had acquired a throwaway copy some time back at the local library and came across the copy I'd taken home ($1 the copy, hardbacks) and read it as if on literary assignment! I had to rearrange some brain cells and mind bents to get into the rhythm of Young's writing style ... but this I did do, and so appreciated the novel and especially the characters' takes on certain historical matters and cultural observations. Young was, after all, much "closer to the day" than am I. I would recommend the local library not throw away this classic, but to keep it close. After all, having it on hand is not the same as recommending that we all return to those days of the horrors ....
August 10, 2017
Oh, dumplin', how you do go on!
This is another title that I learned about from reading "Max Perkins: Editor of Genius" by Scott Berg. A 1930s best-seller that Perkins edited in between his bouts with Fitzgerald, Wolfe and Hemingway. It would be a hidden gem, I figured.
The conversations that took place in the early pages of "So Red the Rose" rather delighted me with the richness of their vocabulary but chapters later-- It seemed to be entirely rapid-fire chitchat and I could not for the life of me distinguish the characters, not even after I regularly referred to the "List of Characters" helpfully provided.
I flipped a few chapters ahead, hoping to become engaged in some meaningful action-- this IS the Civil War, after all-- but genteel conversation was pretty much all that I continued to find. I disengaged.
This is another title that I learned about from reading "Max Perkins: Editor of Genius" by Scott Berg. A 1930s best-seller that Perkins edited in between his bouts with Fitzgerald, Wolfe and Hemingway. It would be a hidden gem, I figured.
The conversations that took place in the early pages of "So Red the Rose" rather delighted me with the richness of their vocabulary but chapters later-- It seemed to be entirely rapid-fire chitchat and I could not for the life of me distinguish the characters, not even after I regularly referred to the "List of Characters" helpfully provided.
I flipped a few chapters ahead, hoping to become engaged in some meaningful action-- this IS the Civil War, after all-- but genteel conversation was pretty much all that I continued to find. I disengaged.
January 14, 2014
If you are looking for a Southern, this one is pretty interesting. Of course it was written in the 1930s, so you will have to deal with racist language and ideas. It is a story of the civil war homefront in Natchez, Mississippi -- from the white planter perspective of course. Keeping all this in mind, the story is interesting and a faster read than I expected. The book was a best seller, and then GWTW came out the next year and everyone forgot about it.
October 31, 2011
Excellent, and most certainly not sentimental, whatever its superficial detractors may say. If you can find it, Donald Davidson has a good essay on this book.
August 20, 2018
Has to be one of my favorite books. One of the best about the South I have ever read.
November 23, 2023
Full ABC of Southern apologia, including the fact that Africans sold other Africans into slavery. What that have to do with the southern secession, i have no idea.
"Well, this: democracy, a good theory, a great human right, which works out none too well; slavery, a bad theory, a great human wrong, which works out none too badly."
"General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox on April 9 was published in the Mississippi papers on the 14th, and soon afterwards the force in Mississippi surrendered. Then came the news of Lincoln’s assassination, which everyone took as the final blow to the South, for he was a Southern man and understood them, and he had planned a peaceful adjustment, once the Union was saved. He had pronounced against confiscations and against universal negro suffrage."
"It was well known that a great difference between the industrial North and the planter South lay in the fact that where in general the captains of industry sent lawyers to Washington to look after their interests, the planters sent members of their own class. When Mr. Daniel Webster wrote Mr. Biddle, the banker, suggesting that his check had not arrived, it could have been assumed that his fiery orations in the Senate halls for certain interests were, though none the less sincere, less closely connected with himself than the speeches of Mr. Calhoun were to himself, who argued for his own possessions and prejudices, which were also those of the people he represented."
“There were plenty of antislavery men in this country till the northeast part of Mississippi was opened up, and later on the industrial North began to grow solid against us.�
"Well, this: democracy, a good theory, a great human right, which works out none too well; slavery, a bad theory, a great human wrong, which works out none too badly."
"General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox on April 9 was published in the Mississippi papers on the 14th, and soon afterwards the force in Mississippi surrendered. Then came the news of Lincoln’s assassination, which everyone took as the final blow to the South, for he was a Southern man and understood them, and he had planned a peaceful adjustment, once the Union was saved. He had pronounced against confiscations and against universal negro suffrage."
"It was well known that a great difference between the industrial North and the planter South lay in the fact that where in general the captains of industry sent lawyers to Washington to look after their interests, the planters sent members of their own class. When Mr. Daniel Webster wrote Mr. Biddle, the banker, suggesting that his check had not arrived, it could have been assumed that his fiery orations in the Senate halls for certain interests were, though none the less sincere, less closely connected with himself than the speeches of Mr. Calhoun were to himself, who argued for his own possessions and prejudices, which were also those of the people he represented."
“There were plenty of antislavery men in this country till the northeast part of Mississippi was opened up, and later on the industrial North began to grow solid against us.�
July 8, 2023
Maybe my favorite Civil War novel. The story of the Bedfords and the McGehees, families closely related by marriage and by proximity; both of Natchez, MS, both planters and cotton producers; the McGehees opposing secession and slavery; the Bedfords more in favor of secession; both with sons who enlist in the Confederate army; both radically changed by the War; presented not for contrast but rather to show a unity of life.
So Red the Rose was one of the first of its genre. In many ways it’s a prototype—paving the way for the popular success of Gone with the Wind, serving no doubt as inspiration for Caroline Gordon’s Penhally and likely others. Shelby Foote seems to have nearly plagiarized Young in writing one of his scenes in Shiloh: A Novel. The influence and impact is deserved.
“I've noticed that our people here'n this country--by way of defending themselves, I reckon--have already begun boasting of what they had, their former splendor, and so on. But what they would do better to speak of would be not what they have had but what they have loved.�
So Red the Rose was one of the first of its genre. In many ways it’s a prototype—paving the way for the popular success of Gone with the Wind, serving no doubt as inspiration for Caroline Gordon’s Penhally and likely others. Shelby Foote seems to have nearly plagiarized Young in writing one of his scenes in Shiloh: A Novel. The influence and impact is deserved.
“I've noticed that our people here'n this country--by way of defending themselves, I reckon--have already begun boasting of what they had, their former splendor, and so on. But what they would do better to speak of would be not what they have had but what they have loved.�
April 1, 2023
As I read this, it seemed to me that I could sense Stark Young desperately trying to create characters who reflect his intellect, within a story people would want to read. If that was his goal, he achieved the second part of it. The book became the biggest selling novel of 1934 and was made into a movie. But who reads or remembers it now?
There is some fine writing in here and the story is, at times, moving. But the characters seem inauthentic and the story too preachy and timebound. In the end it amounts to a commercial success but an artistic failure--or at least a missed opportunity.
There is some fine writing in here and the story is, at times, moving. But the characters seem inauthentic and the story too preachy and timebound. In the end it amounts to a commercial success but an artistic failure--or at least a missed opportunity.
December 21, 2022
So much in this gem....I will share one portion of a sentence that sums up modern man....today's man ' is so competent to both think without knowing and to know without thinking'... This is a well written portrayal of a society long gone and always criticized by those with huge splinters in their own eyes. Can not recommend this book enough.
June 19, 2024
What a refreshing novel of antebellum life, politics, and history! When I discovered that this novel is still in print, I went ahead and bought it. Though took me awhile to finish it, it was worth savoring and taking my time at it.
📕 Read book version.
🎥 Movie version.
📕 Read book version.
🎥 Movie version.
Want to read
May 8, 2010So Red the Rose by Stark Young (1934)
April 29, 2017
A slow starter - but then the action sped up and engrossed me. Flat characters I kept mixing up - with the exception of two young lovers, Duncan and Valette (and I may have misspelled her name). Published in the 1930s and THE Great American Civil War Novel until Margaret Mitchell penned her masterpiece about bratty Scarlett and rascally Rhett - and I read it not as a print book, when I could have flipped back to double check characters' names and relationships, but as a Kindle selection.
Honestly, some books are meant to be savored as paper and ink concoctions.
Lyrically written, part stream of consciousness, part still life description, this book details how two planter families in Natchez survive (or not) the War Between the States. Its viewpoint is definitely dated, but several white characters' consciences actually struggle, however briefly, with the dissolution of the Union and even the evils of slavery - briefly, remember.
Honestly, some books are meant to be savored as paper and ink concoctions.
Lyrically written, part stream of consciousness, part still life description, this book details how two planter families in Natchez survive (or not) the War Between the States. Its viewpoint is definitely dated, but several white characters' consciences actually struggle, however briefly, with the dissolution of the Union and even the evils of slavery - briefly, remember.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.