Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter's Son (Library of Southern Civilization)

There have been several excellent reviews of this book. I agree with most of them. This book is worth reading even if only as an exercise in literary appreciation. There was once a time, Camelot I suppose, when people actually did think and speak with poise, elegance and most impressively, wit. I value the works of D. K. Chesterton for the same reasons. Percy certainly fits that mold.I, like Nolan Bond (see his review), am also descended from those red-neck hill people that Percy puts firmly on the bottom of the social ladder. I am old enough to know that they possessed many of the same values and qualities he did though without the aristocratic poise. My Dad, Grand-father and Great Grand father would have been tolerated by his family but never quite accepted as equals. However, what Percy does is so solidly evoke the admirable qualities of a life which is intent upon transcending the vulgar, that even his elitism is charming. His remembrances of his father are so vivid and so superior to the statement of his own life, that I can admire his dad even where I just chuckle at Percy himself.But you have to let that go. It is the wit that makes the book worth buying. The capacity to use the language as it ought to be used, understated when most deadly, evocative when most descriptive, charming throughout, which makes one yearn to have one more real conversation before death and boredom actually prevail.Percy is without illusion about himself. He is fearless in his appreciation of those qualities transmitted to himself as well as in his own failure to rise to the nobility they require. He never matches his dad, in his own eyes or otherwise. But along the way, he reminds us that poverty is not impediment to quality, and that true freedom begins with an internal conviction. Percy does not hesitate to consider that some men are superior to others - in that he was free of certain bonds which enslave us. He was thereby able to transcend all cultures and be at home, and appreciative, in them all.It is a life worth living, even if it wasn't always comfortable.

This is another view of. the great flood of 1927 and life in the Mississippi Delta as told through the eyes of the white aristocratic Southern Gentleman. It is limited in its wisdom by the era in which this man lived, but it gives clear insight into the mind of a well educated white gentleman, who lived during trying times in a culture that no longer thrives. He is at his most eloquent towards the end of the book when he talks of the end of life and what living a single life means on this earth. After reading this I wondered how Will Percy's view of the differences between the races will have changed if he could witness our modern times and the advancement of the individual person, regardless of color of skin in all areas of life. Be prepared to cringe in parts of this memoir. Nonetheless, I am glad I read it.

This well-written life was interesting to me for what it had to say about the position of some liberal aristocratic Southern whites in relation to the cotton economy in the first half of the 20th century, and in their struggles to keep down the Ku Klux Klan and retain black field labor when blacks were naturally heading north. It also tells an important part of the story of the terrible Mississippi flood of 1927, that put huge parts of the Mississippi delta under water, forcing whites and blacks onto the levees to save themselves and their livestock from drowning. After the flood, at least around Percy's home town of Greenville, the blacks were then conscripted (i.e., put back in slavery) to force them to fight the flood and then, the plan was, to make sure they didn't flee north and would return to cotton work instead. It's a pretty sickening story and one that reminds Americans that racial slavery essentially continued in this country far into the 20th century. Think about the fact that the Mississippi of 1964 was only about 35 years removed from the events of 1927 and you have some idea of what the civil rights movement of the 1960s was still up against in at least one state.

I've known the name Will Percy all my life. One of the largest grave markers in the Greenville cemetery bears the name PERCY. My father, George Robinson, was often invited to the estate to play tennis with the Percy boys. He fit in well because he, too, was orphaned at an early age. People of all ages and classes loved the levee. On hot summer evenings, it was a place to catch a cool breeze coming in off the river. When I was less than a year old, the levee gave up and the river came into Greenville. Will Percy's prose is beautiful, and his ability to tell a story delightful. This is truly the way life was in the early days, with all the charms and prejudices of the times. The book must be read with an open mind for what it is; a well-crafted glimpse of a slice of life. It was never intended to be a statement of mores. "Lanterns on the Levee" is so descriptive, you can almost hear the sound of the river boats and smell the rich soil of the Delta as you read. I'm so glad the book is still in print!

This book is fantastic and I suggest reading it. 3 stars only because it is filled with typos. It seems nobody read and edited just used find and replace a lot!!! And incorrectly! It’s a mess and the publisher should be ashamed.

Whether or not you agree with all of the sentiments in the book, anyone serious about his or her writing should not miss the opportunity to read an author gifted with outstanding imagery ability. His descriptions of the South in which he grew up put you right there at the scene. Like many southern authors he is a bit flowery, but in general, the pros far outweigh the cons. People who want to bury books like this are the same type who want to ban "Huckleberry Finn" from school libraries. Wishing the past had not existed is a poor substitute for learning from it. I find books like this instructive, in that you get much more of an honest, warts and all portrayal of life as it used to be.

This book gives a true picture of the South. I grew up there and I always cringe when I see how misinformed people are in this ultra-PC world. If you want the truth, read this book.................. if you think you can stand it.