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A Gathering of Old Men
A Gathering of Old Men
A Gathering of Old Men
Audiobook7 hours

A Gathering of Old Men

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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About this audiobook

Stirring, heroic, and wonderfully laced with the musical languages of the Bayou, Ernest J. Gaines-the foremost voice in contemporary African American literature-adds another breathtaking saga to his canon with A Gathering of Old Men. When Sheriff Mapes is summoned to a sugarcane plantation to find a dead Cajun farmer, he knows who committed the crime. Mapes finds himself powerless, however, when nearly 20 elderly black men confess to the murder. Can justice be served, or will the dead man's brutish father pass judgment his way? Building to a climax that is as stunning as it is inevitable, A Gathering of Old Men powerfully describes the racial tensions in 1970s Louisiana. Narrators Peter Francis James, Michelle-Denise Woods, Sally Darling, Graham Brown, Murphy Guyer, Tom Stechschulte and Mark Hammer bring Gaines' masterful prose to vivid life. This insightful novel takes its place among Gaines' thought-provoking classics, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and In My Father's House.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 25, 2008
ISBN9781428199064
A Gathering of Old Men
Author

Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines was born on a plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, which is the Bayonne of all his fictional works. His novels include The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Of Love and Dust, Catherine Carmier, Bloodline, A Gathering of Old Men and In My Father's House.

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Reviews for A Gathering of Old Men

Rating: 4.05665027093596 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I'm not quite sure where the recommendation to read (or in my case listen) to this book came from but it certainly was a good one. First published in 1983 there was a movie made from it in 1987 with some, at least now, notable names in main roles. This audiobook was recorded in 2008 with a cast of narrators to voice the main roles in the story. I think that was a good strategy since it clearly delineated the different characters.The book is set in the 1970s on a sugar cane plantation in bayou country in Louisiana. Although it is called the Marshall plantation the cane production is carried out by a Cajun family,the Boutans. Candy Marshall is a 30 something white woman who looks after the black folk who still live in the slave quarters. She is particularly close to an old black widower named Mathu. When Candy discovers Beau Boutan shot dead in Mathu's yard she comes up with an idea. She sends word out to all the other old black men in the neighbourhood to show up at Mathu's place with a shotgun and one spent number 5 shell. When Sherriff Mapes shows up all of the men plus Candy claim that they shot Beau. The sherriff is pretty sure that Mathu is the guilty party but he wants to avoid a riot which is what he fears would happen if he tries to take Mathu into jail. He is also concerned that the local Ku Klux Klan, of which Beau and his father Fix were members, will "ride" and lynch Mathu. There are lots of strangers around because there is a big football game the next day between LSU and Mississippi. Beau's brother, Gil, is one of the stars of the LSU team; together with a black team member he is a good bet to become All-American. Gil knows that if there is a whiff of trouble involving his family his chances of that coveted designation go out the window. So there is a lot of racial tension and it seems like the situation could explode with the slightest spark.We know since last summer that there is still a lot of tension between blacks and whites in the United States but I don't think most people would casually drop the "N" word in conversation now. And I hope that the Ku Klux Klan wouldn't ride to lynch people in the 21st century. So I guess there have been some improvements but it must be difficult to be black now, especially a black male, and realize that one's life could still be in danger because of the colour of their skin. It's disheartening to realize that this story is not that different from what could still happen almost 50 years later.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A dead man. A running tractor. A white woman who claims she shot him. A gathering of old men with shotguns. A sheriff who knows everyone is lying. A father who needs revenge. What is so marvelous about this work is that Gaines tells it from a variety of viewpoints, as different characters narrate chapters. Candy Marshall is the woman who owns the plantation that has been in her family for generations. It is she who spreads the word among those in “the Quarters” that the men need to show up at Mattu’s place. By the time Sheriff Mapes is called and arrives there are dozens of elderly black men, each with a fired shotgun, though many can barely hold the gun let alone aim and fire it with any accuracy. One by one they tell their stories of how and why they shot Beau Bouton. Meanwhile Beau’s brother, Gil, comes home to meet with his father, Fix, who wants nothing more than to call up his group of Klansmen to “take care of this problem.” It is Fix’s arrival that the group of old men is awaiting. One by one they tell their stories of how and why they shot Beau Bouton. Their stories are simply but eloquently told. Oppression lasting for generations. Men who will not take it any longer. Their decision to stand up for what is right and against those who would continue the sins of the past has been coming for a long time and they are united and steadfast in their determination to see this through. And that includes NOT allowing some white woman, however well-intentioned, to “save” them. No, they will save themselves, or die trying. Gaines’s writing is evocative of time and place. I can feel the humid heat, taste the dust that fills the air, hear the buzz of mosquitos as evening comes, smell the swamp and sweat. This is the second book by Gaines that I have read (and I’ve read A Lesson Before Dying three times), but I have all his works on my tbr. The world of literature lost a great writer when he passed on in 2019.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A well-drawn and balanced tale of fundamental changes in a society and of the people who either choose to adapt or not, both suffering consequences of perceived progress. I found myself immersed in the story, as told in first-person by those present, and never felt that I was being manipulated emotionally by the author. Nicely written.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Slowly evolving and powerful telling of the strength of old Black men gathering to stand up together to defend one man accused of murder.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest Gaines; (5*)This novel, set in 1970s Louisiana, is one of the richest and most powerful novels about race relations written in the last few decades. It is a simple story that could be told fairly quickly but the event on which the novel is based is in some ways peripheral to the story. The whole point of the novel is to pry deeply into the hearts and minds of men, both black and white, to reveal the pain and struggle that each has dealt out or dealt with, and to reveal the poignant humanity in a group of brave old men who have essentially counted for nothing in their own minds and are determined to take advantage of one last opportunity to stand up for themselves, their friends and families, and their ancestors.Beau Boutan is dead, lying out in the weeds beside his shotgun, and everyone knows who killed him. He was shot in Mathu's yard, and Mathu is the only black man on the place that has ever stood up for himself against the Boutans. By the time Sheriff Mapes arrives on the scene the situation is far from simple, however. Eighteen old black men are assembled in the yard, each with a shotgun and an empty shell of the type that cut Beau down. Each one of them says he killed Beau. Candy is there, the white lady half-raised by old Mathu after her parents were killed, and she is determined to defend Mathu and all of the blacks on her land the way her parents and grandparents defended them in the past. She says she killed Beau and will confess the crime in court. Mapes has a problem on his hands. Fix Boutan, the dead man's father, is sure to come down to the quarters seeking revenge and there is bound to be a lynching if Mapes can't get everything straightened out before Fix has time to get there. All the old black men gathered in the yard are there because of Fix. Each one of them has lived a long time without ever really standing up for himself. They've all taken abuse quietly and they have seen their women and children abused right in front of their eyes for what seems like an eternity. Now they see they have a last chance to stand up for themselves against Fix and his cruel gang. They have come for a fight and no one is going to talk them out of it.Gaines gives us multiple points of view in this novel. Each chapter is related in first person by one of the characters and the results are incredibly revealing. We learn a great deal about these men, the lives they have led and their own feelings about their lives. It's really quite intense. This is not a story of racial hatred however, despite the fact that a number of white characters have led hateful lives. Twenty years earlier Fix Boutan would have been revenged his boy's murder without even thinking about it. And this is the Fix Boutan the old black men expect and indeed hope to take their stand against. Times are changing though and the younger generation, men such as Beau's brother Gil, don't think the same way that the older generations do. Thus there is as much hope as anguish in this novel. To some degree not a lot happens in terms of action over the course of the story. Some may find the reading a little long and tedious. But even those who don't fully appreciate the human dimensions of the story will be rewarded by the path the final chapters take and the action that does take place toward the end. Ernest Gaines proves himself again to be an incredible writer He seems always able to communicate thoughts, feelings, and history itself in a manner most writers can never hope to match. A Gathering of Old Men isn't overly complex or lengthy, so there is no reason why anyone should deny himself the pleasure of enjoying and learning from this true landmark of a novel.I believe Gaines to be a masterful author and highly recommend this novel.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I had to read this book for my Intro to Fiction course and honestly, I had the hardest time getting into it. There are so many characters, many sharing similar names, that it is exhausting trying to keep up with them all. The story premise is engaging, but the style in which it was written made it hard for me to stay involved.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    When the meanest white cracker in the Parish is shot dead on a sugar plantation, the sheriff is summoned. He finds a white woman and eighteen old black men with shotguns. The sheriff thinks he knows who shot the man, but each old man insists that he did it, despite threats and physical abuse, and each promise to incite a riot at the courthouse if the sheriff arrests him.Meanwhile, the dead man's family is gathering their supporters to form a lynch mob to take care of the problem themselves.As the day goes on, each one of the old men learns to stand up fr themselves as men and not as second class citizens. This is an incredibly moving book
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Books like this make me wish I believed in reincarnation so that could come back as a teacher and share this book with young impressionable minds. It is an amazing book, especially so because of the deft, multifaceted approach it takes in attacking the subject of racism. It tackles it directly. This is does by relating stories which, while fictional within these pages, were duplicated countless times over in real life. It tells of black men who volunteered to fight in World War I, who served with distinction and who were decorated for their bravery. But when they returned home they were not given heroes’ welcomes but were feared and oppressed all the more because they had had the gall to think that they could get away with killing white men, even if they were Germans. It attacks its inhumanity by discussing the many little ways that an entire people can be thought of as something less than human, something unfit to breathe the same air and drink the same water as human beings. It attacks its impersonality. In almost every case, the old men justified their actions by relating events that occurred long in the past and had nothing to do with the victim of the crime at hand. Why did this happen to this man? Because he’s a white man and must share the guilt with all white men. Similarly, when Gil hears what happens to his brother, he immediately behaves as if his black teammate is in some way responsible. People are racist not because they find an individual offensive but because the faults they perceive in that person’s race are applied without exception to all of its members. It attacks the way racism plays with our fears. If you want to get a white man riled up, ask him how he’d feel if his wife or daughters were raped by one of them. If you see a group of them armed with shotguns, you immediately assume aggressive, rather than defensive intentions. While Gaines’ book can be treated as a treatise against racism, it is still an amazingly gentle book, full of characters you, for the most part, will become very attached to. It is also very much a book about loyalty and the courage to stand up for your friends, your beliefs, and yourself. FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.…Actually, there is no point to go on. This is a five point book, my favorite so far this year. I really loved it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A killing on a former plantation brings out courage in a gathering of old, former sharecroppers. Interesting style as the author flits from one person to another telling bits of the story.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Destined to be one of my top reads for 2012, this is a powerful tale of the deep south and the terrible bigotry that existed in the 1970's.When a son of the local, powerful white racist is killed, it takes a strong white woman to gather the old black men to rally.When each man arrives on the porch, gun in hand, they await the sheriff and the local near do wells who will seek revenge.When the sheriff demands to know who is to blame, each and every older gentleman claims he was the culprit.Each chapter, excellently, compellingly written from the perspective of each man, tells a tale of subjugation at the hands of the white racists and the need to finally take a stand against intolerance and evil.There is power in this book-- mighty, mighty power.Highly recommended!!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved this book! It’s like "The Magnificent Seven" transformed into The Geriatric Eighteen. It is both comedic and tragic, and I believe it deserves its status as a classic of recent American literature.The story takes place on one day in the late seventies on a former plantation in Louisiana, now run by 30-year-old Candy Marshall. Candy’s parents died in a car wreck when she was very young, so she was raised by Miss Merle – the mistress of a neighboring plantation, and Mathu, an old black man – now 82 - on Candy’s plantation. Candy has come to Mathu's, and finds him holding an empty shotgun, with the plantation's white Cajun farmer, Beau Boutan, lying dead nearby. Candy sends out an alert for everyone to come to Mathu’s yard right away and bring spent twelve-gauge shotguns and number five shells. She believes Mathu has killed Beau Boutan, who was a cruel, racist man that no one likes. But Beau’s father “Fix” is even worse. There has never been an incident of a black man killing a white man in this parish before, and it is thought by everyone that Fix and his cohorts will come out to the plantation in short order for a lynching. When Sheriff Mapes arrives, what he discovers is that not only is Candy claiming she killed Beau, but everyone else is too. These are men in their seventies and eighties, who had never stood up to the white man before, who had spent their lifetimes enduring insults, beatings, and killings in their families. Now they were ready to take a stand. But some of their wives are there at Mathu’s too, and they participate as well. As each of the men and women who have gathered at Mathu’s testifies to the sheriff why he or she had justification to kill Beau, they reveal the history of the hurt that characterized their lives as blacks in the Deep South. Beuleh, one of the old men’s wives, is telling why she killed Beau when she is interrupted by Sheriff Mapes: “You’re talking about thirty-five, forty, fifty years ago, Beulah. … And you got no proof Fix was mixed up in that.” Beulah lashes out at him:"‘Now, ain’t that just like white folks?’ Beulah said to us, but still looking at Mapes. ‘Black people get lynched, get drowned, get shot, guts all hanging out – and here he come up with ain’t no proof who did it. The proof was them two little children laying there in them two coffins. That’s proof enough they was dead. And let’s don’t be getting off into that thirty-five, forty, fifty years ago stuff, either. Things ain’t changed that much round here. In them demonstrations, somebody was always coming up missing. So let’s don’t be putting it all on no thirty-five, forty, fifty years ago like everything is so nicey-nicey now. No, his seeds is still around. Even if he is old now, the rest of them had their hands in some of that dirt.”Fifteen different narrators tell this story, beginning with the voice of a child, Snookum. Gaines’ ability to assume so realistically the voices of old, young, black, white, male, and female is an incredible tour de force; each voice has its own distinctive tone, nuance, dialect, and vocabulary – and these are so distinct he makes you feel as if you can actually hear each and every one. The eighteen men, the women, Candy, Mapes, and some others, all sit on the porch at Mathu's and wait for “the riders,” whom they feel sure will be out to exact vengeance when night falls.Discussion: In the book, none of the main characters speaks as a narrator. Rather, impressions of them and of their motives are provided by the other speakers. Further, each person’s story is given to Mapes as if testifying in church. It’s a wonderful narrative technique that reflects aspects of the storytelling tradition where Gaines grew up. And while the old men, who can hardly see and barely aim make an uproariously funny grouping, they also make a gloriously courageous panorama, as they get ready to die at last as men, for their principles.Evaluation: This is one of those books that made me so excited by reading it. It’s an ineffable feeling that hits you when you know you have come upon something really good. I’d love to tell you how it turns out in the end and the amazing form of redemption that Gaines constructs. But that would be a spoiler: you’ll just have to read it yourself!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This 1983 novel is the fourth novel of Gaines' I have read, and I appreciated it less than the others. It told a dramatic story of a killing in Louisiana of a white bully by a black man. A large number of old black men gather and each asserts he killed the bully. The sheriff is fearful of a lynching. The story is full of drama but then kind of disintegrates into a shoot-out not very engaging, so the ending did not live up to the earlier drama of the book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I had to read this book for my Intro to Fiction course and honestly, I had the hardest time getting into it. There are so many characters, many sharing similar names, that it is exhausting trying to keep up with them all. The story premise is engaging, but the style in which it was written made it hard for me to stay involved.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a fast engaging read that draws you in. It's a good classroom text that everyone can understand (even reading fairly quickly), especially if you want to discuss the Civil Rights Movement or race relations in the 20th Century. Beyond this issues, it is an easy read which you might well find yourself flying through in one sitting. If you do enjoy it, also, pick up some other works by Gaines--particularly A Lesson Before Dying is another worthwhile read. I can't really recommend this book highly enough, so I'll stop here, but A Gathering of Old Men is one of those books that you know people will be reading decades from now, not just for its themes and ideas, but for the beauty and simplicity of the characters and prose as well.