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mahtiel's review
5.0
(A note to self: never NEVER again resolve to read a profound author's complete works from beginning to an end. It sounds awesome at first, but it can kill some joy in coming back to renewed sparks of love for your favourite author.)
How do you review a book like this? After all, one is only human.
Now I don't mean it in that kind of grandiose way we praise big authors like Shakespeare in encyclopaedias. I say it because as much as I love O'Connor's work, I don't think I fully get it yet. I think I recommend her novels the most. [b:Wise Blood|48467|Wise Blood|Flannery O'Connor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389629799s/48467.jpg|1046530] has been the most insane ride since of the Christ-haunted South since my encounter with the crushing [b:Absalom, Absalom!|373755|Absalom, Absalom!|William Faulkner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388474680s/373755.jpg|1595511] and for [b:The Violent Bear It Away|48468|The Violent Bear It Away|Flannery O'Connor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388381676s/48468.jpg|1510479] I can't even think of any proper comparison. Both books I'm sure I misunderstand on some level, but they totally got under my skin and floored me. But if you never read O'Connor , it is the safest to start with her short stories (any collection).
In one of her essays Flannery discusses a problem that the reader wants his grace warm and binding, not dark and disruptive. She is particularly good exactly at this disruption, especially when it comes to bring forth the motivations of her characters, those strange fascinating people who are hardly ever nice. All of O'Connor's writing naturally centers around faith as practiced in reality, not in expectation. As she wrote,
I don't believe that you can impose orthodoxy on fiction. I do believe that you can deepen your own othodoxy by reading if you are not afraid of strange visions. Our sense of what is contained in our faith is deepened less by abstractions than by an encounter with mystery in what is human and often perverse.
or
And all I can say about my love of God, is, Lord help me in my lack of it. I distrust pious phrases, particularly when they issue from my mouth. I try militantly never to be affected by the pious language of the faithful but it is always coming out when you least expect it.
It is not necessary to add more. I hope I will soon make some time to re-read each of her books and review it separately. I cannot contain her entire works in this modest review form. For now on, I recommend you to just read Flannery O'Connor's work and experience her. As simple as that. Come to this complete edition for little nuggets of weirdness, such as the essay on peacocks, an introduction to the biography of a disfigured little girl or her dryly funny correspondence (which makes me want her as my pen-friend).
Self-portrait (1953) ...a picture worth a thousand words.
How do you review a book like this? After all, one is only human.
Now I don't mean it in that kind of grandiose way we praise big authors like Shakespeare in encyclopaedias. I say it because as much as I love O'Connor's work, I don't think I fully get it yet. I think I recommend her novels the most. [b:Wise Blood|48467|Wise Blood|Flannery O'Connor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389629799s/48467.jpg|1046530] has been the most insane ride since of the Christ-haunted South since my encounter with the crushing [b:Absalom, Absalom!|373755|Absalom, Absalom!|William Faulkner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388474680s/373755.jpg|1595511] and for [b:The Violent Bear It Away|48468|The Violent Bear It Away|Flannery O'Connor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388381676s/48468.jpg|1510479] I can't even think of any proper comparison. Both books I'm sure I misunderstand on some level, but they totally got under my skin and floored me. But if you never read O'Connor , it is the safest to start with her short stories (any collection).
In one of her essays Flannery discusses a problem that the reader wants his grace warm and binding, not dark and disruptive. She is particularly good exactly at this disruption, especially when it comes to bring forth the motivations of her characters, those strange fascinating people who are hardly ever nice. All of O'Connor's writing naturally centers around faith as practiced in reality, not in expectation. As she wrote,
I don't believe that you can impose orthodoxy on fiction. I do believe that you can deepen your own othodoxy by reading if you are not afraid of strange visions. Our sense of what is contained in our faith is deepened less by abstractions than by an encounter with mystery in what is human and often perverse.
or
And all I can say about my love of God, is, Lord help me in my lack of it. I distrust pious phrases, particularly when they issue from my mouth. I try militantly never to be affected by the pious language of the faithful but it is always coming out when you least expect it.
It is not necessary to add more. I hope I will soon make some time to re-read each of her books and review it separately. I cannot contain her entire works in this modest review form. For now on, I recommend you to just read Flannery O'Connor's work and experience her. As simple as that. Come to this complete edition for little nuggets of weirdness, such as the essay on peacocks, an introduction to the biography of a disfigured little girl or her dryly funny correspondence (which makes me want her as my pen-friend).
Self-portrait (1953) ...a picture worth a thousand words.
garlicgab's review
4.0
I did not read all of this book, but I'm going to count it finished for now. Flannery O'Connor is a great writer, but she has like one theme (that belief in God is inevitable, and most often occurs with or after a gruesome event) and she repeats this theme in varying ways. I'm sure I would have appreciated all of her stories, but trying to read all of them at once burnt me out a bit. Southern Gothic is exactly accurate, unsettling characters and settings, and unsettling ends for a lot of them. People getting what they wanted in the wrong way. Deeply, deeply Catholic.
Wise Blood was absolutely wild, I loved it. I read later that it is a mishmash of four of her other short stories, and the disconnect between all of the stories does come through, but in an enjoyable way. Keeps you on your toes. Enoch is a real one.
Of course, A Good Man is so sad, but I felt I had a deeper understanding of the story and its symbols than I did when I first read it. I really appreciated it (saying that I "liked" it feels too blasé. too casual and too upbeat). From her letters (p. 1150), O'Connor says:
I was also particularly affected by The River (very sad), A Stroke of Good Fortune (one of her more comedic stories), Everything That Rises Must Converge (felt so much secondhand embarrassment while reading this story), and Greenleaf (also more comedic, but dark). I quit after The View of The Woods because that one was too much, too dark without any redemption. It was genuinely upsetting and I recommend future readers skip it.
Stories/Novels Read:
- Wise Blood
- A Good Man Is Hard to Find
- The River
- The Life You Save May Be Your Own
- A Stroke of Good Fortune
- A Temple of the Holy Ghost
- A Circle in the Fire
- A Late Encounter with the Enemy
- Good Country People
- The Displaced Person
- Everything That Rises Must Converge
- Greenleaf
- A View of the Woods
Wise Blood was absolutely wild, I loved it. I read later that it is a mishmash of four of her other short stories, and the disconnect between all of the stories does come through, but in an enjoyable way. Keeps you on your toes. Enoch is a real one.
Of course, A Good Man is so sad, but I felt I had a deeper understanding of the story and its symbols than I did when I first read it. I really appreciated it (saying that I "liked" it feels too blasé. too casual and too upbeat). From her letters (p. 1150), O'Connor says:
"About that grandmother and the Misfit: it is the fact that the old lady's gesture is the result of grace that makes it right that the Misfit shoot her. Grace is never received warmly. Always a recoil , or so I think."
I was also particularly affected by The River (very sad), A Stroke of Good Fortune (one of her more comedic stories), Everything That Rises Must Converge (felt so much secondhand embarrassment while reading this story), and Greenleaf (also more comedic, but dark). I quit after The View of The Woods because that one was too much, too dark without any redemption. It was genuinely upsetting and I recommend future readers skip it.
Stories/Novels Read:
- Wise Blood
- A Good Man Is Hard to Find
- The River
- The Life You Save May Be Your Own
- A Stroke of Good Fortune
- A Temple of the Holy Ghost
- A Circle in the Fire
- A Late Encounter with the Enemy
- Good Country People
- The Displaced Person
- Everything That Rises Must Converge
- Greenleaf
- A View of the Woods
quodfelix's review
2.0
Some excerpts from her letters published in The New Yorker magazine made me want to read some of her works. The excerpts described a writer eager that her understanding of her faith came through in her stories. With the exception of the first story I read, "A Good Man is Hard to Find," I had difficulty seeing it clearly. Questions of redemption and forgiveness were food for thought after its shocking ending. "Everything that Rises Must Converge" made me think with its examination of segregation and the relationship between a mother and son, but the other stories left me befuddled, so I've put this down after reading 7 stories.
astudyinsass's review
I only rented it from my library to read the short story Good Country People. Along the way I found many thought provoking essays and enjoyed the few short stories I read.
palefire's review
5.0
Loved the short stories more than the novels. Don't really know why that is other than the perfection of the ss. not as prevalent in the novels.
athenalindia's review
4.0
This little book very nearly blew me away. I say very nearly, because there's one incident right near the end that both upset my own sensibilities - but more than that, I've been mulling it over, and I can't for the life of me figure out what it adds. Except for that, though, this is an astounding look at obsessive faith - in religion, in rationality.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
martinjacobd's review
5.0
The writing style is clear and straightforward, while not sacrificing Flannery's lyrical capabilities. It's a beguiling tome. Not sure what to make of it.
jessicaesquire's review
4.0
The only thing that keeps this book from being really perfect is that you can't just sit down and cuddle up with it. It's too prickly and harsh. But it is immensely and unendingly admirable. Perhaps the best first sentence ever?
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