Giant by Edna Ferber
By ShelfHeron6057
Just wrapped this up and I’m curious what other people thought. I’d watched a YouTube doc about Rock Hudson by Matt Baume a while back, and it was pretty solid—Giant came up of course. So when I saw this novel on the library staff picks shelf, I figured why not. I kept running into trouble getting through it, so I ended up grabbing the audiobook with a credit and I made it through most of the book that way, so take my reaction however you want. A few thoughts, mostly things people probably already said: - I grew up in Texas (different parts over the years) and I didn’t realize it was satire right away. I kinda guessed later, but not completely. That definitely made it click more for me. Still, the whole “This is Texas!” “This is how we do it in Texas!” “Texas is different!” loop got to be a lot. - The stuff about distance felt really true to life. Like, “it’s far but not that far…about 800 miles.” Sure, it’s exaggerated, but if you’ve lived in West Texas you get it, lol. - Even though it’s fiction, I actually learned some Texas things I didn’t know. Ferber obviously did her homework, but since it’s also a send-up, I’d still want to look at non-fiction stuff if I really cared about the details. - I can see why some readers would be annoyed by parts that feel like they’re info-dumping Texas history. - I read somewhere that Ferber wrote it with a movie in mind, and I wonder if that shaped the choices she made. - The ending/overall structure felt kind of odd to me. I kept waiting for this big showdown moment and then it just sort of fizzled out. I’m interested in why she did it that way—might go looking to see if there’s commentary. - Not everyone feels super developed. Uncle Bawley is great though. And the whole Luz vs. Leslie thing was pretty intense/visceral.