The Ponder Heart

Eudora Welty's The Ponder Heart is a novella that has a light comedic feel, a little dark humor, and just enough of Southern flavor to make it a fun, quick read. Narrated by Edna Earle, citizen of Clay County, it tells of the character of Daniel Ponder, Edna's "simple" but good natured uncle. Daniel is the kind of guy who would give you anything he has; if he doesn't have it, he'd try to find it just so he could give it to you. Being that Uncle Daniel has such a generous personality, it is up to Edna to keep tabs on him and make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble, or give every single possession away. As you could imagine, this is quite a task for our narrator. Edna narrates a few of the oddball episodes in Daniel's life, including his foiling a plan to have him institutionalized as well as describing Daniel's two failed marriages. Edna's narrative zeroes in on his second marriage to seventeen year old Bonnie Dee. Bonnie Dee is a tiny thing, sort of doll like, and a bit materialistic. When Bonnie Dee dies under mysterious circumstances, good old Uncle Daniel suddenly finds himself charged with murder. A humorously bizarre court trial ensues, which pits many of the Ponder clan against the family of Bonnie Dee, all with Uncle Daniel and the late Bonnie being the center of attention. Testimony and crazy antics ensue as family lawyer tries to prove Uncle Daniel innocent.Most enjoyable about this novel is simply Edna Earle's narrative voice, and the light hearted tone she gives to the book. She understands and empathizes with Daniel throughout all. Revealed in her narration are some insightful thoughts into Daniel's nature of just being a good hearted person.The book is a little too light at times, but still a fun read. I think Welty's short stories give much more weight and power to the themes she explores.

This book is surely one of Eudora Welty's finest and funniest works, narrated in the first person by Edna Earl, who tells of the trumped up charges against her eccentric uncle for murdering his young wife. I doubt that any other writer could so effectively present the nuances and rhythms of southern speech and the characteristics of a small southern town. Published in the early 50s, its presentation of the Mississippi Negroes as servants might be offensive to some, but it avoids the harsh language of some other southern works of the first half of the twentieth century.

No plot, just a bunch of rambling about nothing. A lady just talking on and on about her dumb uncle in Mississippi during the 40s.

Another book that sounded interesting but took too long to get there!

That's one of the many parenthetical bits of wisdom tossed off by the narrator of The Ponder Heart, Miz Edna Earle Ponder, the youngest daughter of ponderous plantation wealth destined to remain a spinster and care for her batty Uncle Daniel, himself the youngest and last male of a clan that everyone in Clay County, Mississippi reveres and envies. Uncle Daniel has a habit of giving things away out of the innocence of his Ponder Heart, perhaps not a heart of gold but at least a heart of divinity. In case you're city-bred, you should know that divinity isn't a synonym here for Godhood but rather a confection of egg white and corn syrup. You'll find a recipe for it in Joy of Cooking but not in Julia Child.Honestly, I never liked divinity much as a kid. It's sweet and sticky and full of air, like coagulated cotton candy. And it's a perfect metaphor for this novella, written in the early 1950s when Jim Crow still held court and when the enduring verities of Southern backwardness and isolation were regarded as quaint to the edge of endearing. The skin pigment melanin was equated with sloth and foolishness in Welty's Clay County, while strangers - a euphemism for yankees - were utterly clueless and presumably up to no good. The Ponder Heart is essentially a 150-page shaggy dog story, an elaborate joke that takes its time reaching the punch line. One could choose to read it more seriously, as a depiction of the death throes of the chivalrous 'old order' of Southern society... if one were a literary poobah on the faculty of a state university somewhere... or one could just read it for the laughs. I'd recommend the latter choice.I must have read something more profound by Eudora Welty way back in my youth, since I've harbored the notion that she was one of the major stars in the firmament of Southern literature. I wish I could remember what. This novella is "no great shakes" even as humor. It's sentimental and affected, and the joke runs thin before it's half told. It seems to me now that Welty is no more than a slick local-colorist, the equivalent in prose of a Norman Rockwell magazine cover. This book at least belongs on the shelf of regional genre writing, alongside Bret Harte, Hamlin Garland, and Garrison Keillor. Even in that category, it isn't a stand-out.But then, as I said, I'm not partial to sticky sweetness.

A truly delightful book!

Awful waste of time!

Quite short. I found I did not get involved in the characters.disappointing as had heard this was an American Classic.