The Ponder Heart

De: Eudora Welty

Narrado por: Sally Darling

Originally published in The New Yorker in 1954, The Ponder Heart is easily Eudora Welty’s most comic novel, a lighthearted burlesque that rivals Caldwell’s Tobacco Road for capturing rural idioms, and the novels of Mark Twain for high farce.

Edna Earle, a person of large distinction in Clay County, and the talkative owner of the Beulah Hotel, tells the story of her Uncle Daniel Ponder, a local hero whose over-affection for society compels him to give everything he owns away. The disappearance of Uncle Daniel’s second wife, the waifish and willowy Bonnie Dee Peacock, leads to his arrest for murder. The trial, which comprises the second half of the novel, is a masterpiece of courtroom anarchy. A cast of Dickensian characters coupled with Edna’s hysterically accurate observations of small-town life, transport the reader, like a raucous family drive, to a truly original conclusion.

©1982 Eudora Welty (P)1994 Recorded Books, LLC

Very Southern

The story was quite engaging. The southern accent was perfect and the setting of a small southern town brought back memories.

Great reader

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I liked the reader, although the comedy was often over-the-top, and the characters, especially Uncle Daniel and the lawyers, were not believable. The courtroom scene was interminable.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It was okay; I was glad when the book was over.

What does Sally Darling bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her Southern accent is very good. She makes Edna Earle, the narrator, come to life.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No. I'm not a fan of Southern comedies. I've liked Eudora Welty in the past, although not this one so much.

A little too "Southern" for me

While I strongly identify with a number of female southern writers, I did not particularly enjoy this book. I recalled starting on it years ago in paperback form and never coming back to it. Welty's ability to capture the essence of the town and the characters was excellent, but the story itself was so sticky-sweet and sappy (typical rendition of many southern towns and their people), I almost stopped listening a couple chapters in. I did finish listening, however.
For what the story was, the narrator was perfect and did an excellent job delivering each character's most likely voice.