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    Giant: A Novel
    Giant: A Novel
    Giant: A Novel
    Audiobook15 hours

    Giant: A Novel

    Written by Edna Ferber

    Narrated by Courtney Patterson

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    The basis for the classic film starring James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rock Hudson, Giant is Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edna Ferber's sweeping generational tale of power, love, cattle barons, and oil tycoons, set in Texas during the first half of the twentieth century.

    When larger-than-life cattle rancher Jordan ""Bick"" Benedict arrives at the family home of sharp-witted but genteel Virginia socialite Leslie Lynnton to purchase a racehorse, the two are instantly drawn to each other. But for Leslie, falling in love with a Texan was a lot simpler than falling in love with Texas. Upon their arrival at Bick's ranch, Leslie is confronted not only with the oppressive heat and vastness of Texas but also by the disturbing inequity between runaway riches and the poverty and racism suffered by the Mexican workers on the ranch. Leslie and Bick's loving union endures against all odds, but a reckoning is coming and a price will have to be paid.

    A sensational and enthralling saga, Ferber masterfully captures the essence of Texas with all its wealth and excess, cruelty and prejudice, pride and violence.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCaedmon
    Release dateApr 23, 2019
    ISBN9780062884862
    Author

    Edna Ferber

    Edna Ferber (1885-1968) was an American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan to Jewish parents, Ferber was raised in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Economic hardship and antisemitism made their family a tight knit one as they moved constantly throughout Edna’s youth. At 17, she gave up her dream of studying to be an actor to support her family, finding work at the Appleton Daily Crescent and the Milwaukee Journal as a reporter. In 1911, while recovering from anemia, Ferber published her debut novel, Dawn O’Hara: The Girl Who Laughed, earning a reputation as a rising star in American literature. In 1925, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel So Big, which follows a young woman from a suburb of Chicago who takes a job as a teacher in a rural town. She followed up her critically acclaimed bestseller with the novel Show Boat (1926), which was adapted into a popular musical by Oscar Hammerstein and P. G. Wodehouse the year after its release. Several of her books became successful film and theater productions—So Big served as source material for a 1932 movie starring Barbara Stanwick, George Brent, and Bette Davis, which was remade in 1953 with Jane Wyman in the lead role. Ferber spent most of her life in New York City, where she became a member of the influential Algonquin Round Table group. In the leadup to the Second World War, Ferber supported President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was a fierce critic of Hitler and antisemitism around the world.

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    Reviews for Giant

    4.5/5

    17 ratings6 reviews

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    • 3/5
      The writing is so loaded with cliches, I have a hard time understanding how Ferber became an American literary giant. Still, she managed to keep me interested throughout the book. The movie is OK, and James Dean's performance as Jett Rink is brilliant, although much different and far less evil than the Rink of the novel.
    • 4/5
      Had to add this books again after deleting it. I am not keeping my copy because it is and old and worn paperback, but it was worth reading. I don't read much fiction, but I did like the movie and that drew me to the novel. It is an view of Texas, predjudice and how we have changed. Well, maybe not that much. I do recommend this book.
    • 3/5
      Giant is Edna Ferber's classic novel about Virginia socialite Leslie Lynnton and her improbable marriage to Texan cattleman Jordan 'Bick' Bennedict. Pretty, refined and sharply intelligent, Leslie makes a stark contrast to her swaggering husband. Bick is the king of the million acre Reatta Ranch in Texas. Set after the end of the first World War, Bick has strong opinions about the place of women and everyone else in society. Taught to think for herself, Leslie struggles to adjust to the harsh Texas landscape and the social customs of the society she has married into.Fans of the movie Giant should be happily surprised that the movie followed the book so closely. Fans of Texas will probably be less pleased. While not a smear job, Giant does not always paint Anglo Texans in the most flattering light. Their destruction of the land through unsound farming and grazing practices is described. The inherent bigotry of the Mexican people is also relentlessly explored. The bigness, bragging, overheated egos, misogyny, friendliness, sense of family and custom and racism are all laid bare. Most startling is despite being written decades ago, many of the social themes of the novel still seem very much resonant today.
    • 3/5
      I bought this one over five years ago while in Marfa, Texas visiting a friend from high school. Marfa was actually home base for the filming of the movie with Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean. I don't know why I put off reading this for so long since I really liked the movie and loved my stay in Texas. In any case, the book was far more enjoyable than I expected it to be, with (sadly) still-relevant commentary on class, gender, and immigration. Most of it consists of the viewpoint of an educated East Coast woman who marries a Texas rancher and her early impressions and observations of life in Texas. I liked both, but now that I've read it, I'd say that the film adaptation is well done, not too faithful, with some good narrative choices and framing decisions.
    • 5/5
      I know this ruffled Texan feathers at the time, but Giant is truly a great American classic, rich in character and history. Even if you've seen George Stevens' film, reading the book is essential, and once you've read it, listen to Courtney Patterson's audio book (she does this very well). The film is among my top ten; the novel is among my top ten. Bold of Ferber to call out racism so strongly in the 1950s, and it's sad we've not progressed as much as I imagine she thought we might by now (December 2021).

      For me, this book and film are like a trip home, although I'm not Texan (slightly north, but not too far north to appreciate the culture issues, good and bad, Texas shares with the South). Ferber reliably does this for me, even with her far flung novels. Ice Palace piqued my interest in Alaska (maybe summertime interest - it sounds so horrifically cold!), and So Big made me appreciate Chicago and the cold cities up Nawth.

      If you're looking for early feminist fiction, Ferber's your gal. Her heroines always face daunting circumstances (many worse than the challenges Leslie faces in Giant) and all are more than prepared to defy convention to survive (& have to!). Her short stories are a delight, and are plentiful if you get on an Edna kick and feel like you just can't quit.

      Ferber's life is worth researching as well. She defied conventions to observe and write of issues we still face - some timeless, and some, as mentioned earlier, we'd hope to have overcome in the 100 years since she put pen to paper.

      Another review felt there were too many clichés to enjoy the novel. If it's characterizations they're referring to, I would suggest it's comfort of characters you may know or have known in your own life. If it's clichés of phrase, then I suspect they weren't so much clichés when this was written in the 1950s, although they may well be by now.

      I would also add that Ferber's Cimmaron is perhaps her most interesting, yet least comforting read. Her female protagonist leans brittle (and perhaps somewhat rightfully so for the circumstances) and her male protagonist a little too cavalier and self-centered. But in whole, the journey is worth it and the book explains a lot about those who ventured into Native American territory long before statehood.

      Showboat the film and Showboat the novel are two different animals, partially due to commercialization and partially due to the Production Code under which the film was made. Saratoga Trunk suffers the same treatment. Which is to say you will want to experience the novels for each to truly appreciate the depth of the stories.

      Consider Giant a passport to the Ferber universe. Cozy up, and enjoy! Absolutely recommend.
    • 3/5
      Giant is a very descriptive novel of a Virginia woman who marries a Texan shortly after World War I. The novel is thoughtful and withstands the effects of time. Although I have seen Showboat, I had never read an Edna Ferber book until Giant. After reading it, I will definitely try to see the movie version starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean.