Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings

I found this book to offer a piece of American history which has since been lost. The author meant to tell a tale based on life as it was in the late 1800's in the US. Great tales that were told by others and that the author himself simply repeated.

I have just finished this book. It was a delight. Uncle Remus is one of the most alive characters ever to be portrayed in literature. Now, this is coming from someone who has read Conrad, Doctorow, Carrol, D.H. Lawrence, Robertson Davies, and many other engaging storytellers. Somehow, Uncle Remus resonated with me across the 120+ years since it was written. The simple concept of a free slave mentoring a plantation owner's boy by masterful storytelling is pure magic and often heart-warming. For anyone young at heart, this book is a must.

Most people today know of how the White Georgian Joel Chander Harris was fascinated by the "rabbit stories" of Black slaves he met at a Georgia plantation in the 1860s, thus eventually leading to this book in 1880. While it's justly famous for the "Brer (brother) Rabbit" stories (BTW-Harris was not the first to record these tales from ex-slaves, Abbie Christensen did that in Port Royal, SC in 1874), it's mighty rough for the modern reader. For one thing, the "Negro dialect" used by Harris is almost incomprehensible to today's reader. Additionally, "Uncle Remus' views on education for Blacks (not in favor) and black advancement, as well as his occasional use of the "n-word" will make this tough to swallow in these PC times. One has to remember when this book was written and get past all that to see the actual beauty and importance of these tales. PS-Be warned that if you like the original edition with the wonderful illustrations of Brer Rabbit in overalls smoking a pipe and of the background scenery and other animal charachters, none of these charming illustrations appear in the Penguin version-just so you'll know.