I've watched the movie many times. Love the movie. I knew it was a book, I just had never really thought to pick it up until I saw it in a used bookstore and decided "Why not?" and bought it. I'm glad I did, though there were parts that made me sad and other parts I just down right hated. But there were other parts that made things out of the movie make much more sense.

Evelyn Couch seems like such a pathetic character, though her transformation is one I love. The book sheds more light on the way she is than the movie, in which I'm grateful. I think there are times when most people feel they have no where they belong too and can relate to that. Or to the husband who seems more interested in game after work than anything else. I can see how she has slowly lost herself over the years. It is sad to see, but I also love seeing how weekly visits with Mrs. Threadgoode have started to get her thinking differently. Not that she has to lose 25 pounds to be happy, but that she is perfect the way she is now and maybe just get some hormones for that pesky thing called menopause. I think her transformation from a meek woman into a self confident woman is beautiful. Though the part I hated, just hated, in the book was that she left and in those two months stopped all communication with Mrs. Threadgoode. She thought about her often but never picked up the phone or anything and so she missed out on two months with her friend who helped shape her into just loving herself. This is one of the few things I'm glad they left out of the movie.... but I might be biased since I watched the movie first.

The timeline in here isn't chronological. It jumps around. Which makes it feel just as if Mrs. Threadgoode is just telling one of her many stories. I thought this would irritate me a bit but I liked it. It felt like storytime. I also loved The Weem Weekly. I loved the little bits of what was going on. I liked how while they shared stuff, they didn't seem to gossip. They lifted each other up and tended to not drag people down. We don't do that anymore.

Mostly the book offered more in depth character building that helped to make things clearer. In the movie Ninny isn't in any of the scenes that I recall. Though now I'm going to watch it to see. But I remember thinking is she really Idgie? How can we be sure that she isn't? And it seems I'm not the only one who wondered. But the book includes Ninny in many parts and it makes much more sense. And one of the things that made me wonder is that as far as we know, Idgie hasn't visited Mrs. Threadgoode in the nursing home. She talks of being the last one left. I always assumed this means left alive, but in the movie and book I suppose this means left in the area.

I think one of the story lines that made me the saddest was actually Smokey Lonesome. The poor guy. His life never seemed to get better. The bright spot in his life was the Cafe and after that closed down it seemed he had nothing left to look forward too.

I'm glad I took the time to read this book. I'm glad I saw it stacked just there on that table and picked it up.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe - Likewise Book Reviews

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