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zoe_'s review
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
4.5
Despite this being a pretty long book filled with short stories that have frequently repeating themes, this was such a great read. Especially when reading a bunch of (relatively) short texts in a row, I often find myself zoning out at some point because my head is just filled with narratives and plots and messages etc. but this was never a problem with O'Connor. I think it's because the unsettling atmosphere was executed brilliantly that I could fully immerse myself into each story over and over again (with, 2-3 exceptions maybe?). The repetitive themes also didn't take anything away from the stories, for me at least. At first I thought that O'Connor was maybe working through something, trying to get at the core of a larger issue but the more I read, the more I've come to think of these themes as her utilizing all of the already unsettling ways we interact with each other as a device to center her narratives in realism and the horrors of reality (which, incidentally, does get at a core of an issue).
That being said, the very frequent use of n-words was quite a lot. These stories play in the South, many are focalized by very racist white people, and there are hardly any good/decent characters in these stories - you're just bound to run into a lot of n-words. Even those perspectives that attempted to overcome racial hierarchies did this more out of spite for others than out of genuine empathy or anything else, so they're not the kind of advocates "one" would look for/trust to stop other people saying the n-word. (if that makes sense)
Some of the stand-out stories for me are (these are neither "all of the best" nor "all 4+ stars". As I said, these just stood out to me for various reasons. Some really are great, some just struck a cord for me, some had endings that had me reeling for a bit - even if I saw them coming):
"A Good Man Is Hard to Find"
"A Late Encounter with the Enemy" (maybe my favorite out of the entire collection)
"The Life You Save May Be Your Own" (a re-read for me but I'm so glad that I did because I definitely appreciated it so much more this time round)
"Good Country People"
"Greenleaf" (imo from all her "story with lots of n-words" stories, the one where it's easiest to understand that O'Connor wasn't racist. Or, I should say, the one story where it's clearest that the story's message is anti-racist.)
"A View of the Woods"
"The Enduring Chill" (the most horrifying happy ending to have ever ended "happily")
"The Comforts of Home" (O'Connor suddenly became obsessed with the word "slut")
"The Lame Shall Enter First" (quite long-winded but necessary as the reader realizes what is bound to happen in the end and is just sitting there, waiting for this man to realize the big mistake he's making, but he has to make it for a sufficiently long amount of time for the ending to happen)
"Parker's Back" (perhaps the weakest of my selection here, but something about the ending just did it for me)
That being said, the very frequent use of n-words was quite a lot. These stories play in the South, many are focalized by very racist white people, and there are hardly any good/decent characters in these stories - you're just bound to run into a lot of n-words. Even those perspectives that attempted to overcome racial hierarchies did this more out of spite for others than out of genuine empathy or anything else, so they're not the kind of advocates "one" would look for/trust to stop other people saying the n-word. (if that makes sense)
Some of the stand-out stories for me are (these are neither "all of the best" nor "all 4+ stars". As I said, these just stood out to me for various reasons. Some really are great, some just struck a cord for me, some had endings that had me reeling for a bit - even if I saw them coming):
"A Good Man Is Hard to Find"
"A Late Encounter with the Enemy" (maybe my favorite out of the entire collection)
"The Life You Save May Be Your Own" (a re-read for me but I'm so glad that I did because I definitely appreciated it so much more this time round)
"Good Country People"
"Greenleaf" (imo from all her "story with lots of n-words" stories, the one where it's easiest to understand that O'Connor wasn't racist. Or, I should say, the one story where it's clearest that the story's message is anti-racist.)
"A View of the Woods"
"The Enduring Chill" (the most horrifying happy ending to have ever ended "happily")
"The Comforts of Home" (O'Connor suddenly became obsessed with the word "slut")
"The Lame Shall Enter First" (quite long-winded but necessary as the reader realizes what is bound to happen in the end and is just sitting there, waiting for this man to realize the big mistake he's making, but he has to make it for a sufficiently long amount of time for the ending to happen)
"Parker's Back" (perhaps the weakest of my selection here, but something about the ending just did it for me)
djbeyers75's review against another edition
5.0
I consider O'Connor to be one of the finest short story writers of the 20th century. Not only are the stories well-written, they also have much meaning within them.
kathryn14's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
3.0
Well, when you get 21 books for your 21st birthday to read before you're 30 maybe don't leave the longest till last ... I have learnt this lesson the hard way.
It's not that the stories were bad, O'Connor is an incredibly talented writer but bloody hell it was dense. I feel like I read each individual sentence 3 times just to get any of it to stick in. Also, she may be a great writer, but dear lord the stories were racist, xenophonbic, misogynistic and downright disturbing at times. Not for me.
6.08/10 - a mean score of all my individual story scores😏
It's not that the stories were bad, O'Connor is an incredibly talented writer but bloody hell it was dense. I feel like I read each individual sentence 3 times just to get any of it to stick in. Also, she may be a great writer, but dear lord the stories were racist, xenophonbic, misogynistic and downright disturbing at times. Not for me.
6.08/10 - a mean score of all my individual story scores😏
cypriaturge's review against another edition
4.0
Flannery O'Connor is one of my new favorite authors.
bluelilyblue's review against another edition
3.0
Didn't read the whole collection, only the dozen or so stories assigned for class.
It takes mastery of language at sentence level to be able to write good short fiction, and Flannery O'Connor definitely has it. But for me this was a bit of a letdown. These stories are probably not meant to be read in such a quick succession, because they get tediously repetitive. Not to mention moralising. However, there are a few indisputable gems -- A Good Man is Hard to Find, The River, A View of the Woods, The Life You Save May Be Your Own, just to mention a few. O'Connor also happens to be insanely good at titles, all bangers all the time!
It takes mastery of language at sentence level to be able to write good short fiction, and Flannery O'Connor definitely has it. But for me this was a bit of a letdown. These stories are probably not meant to be read in such a quick succession, because they get tediously repetitive. Not to mention moralising. However, there are a few indisputable gems -- A Good Man is Hard to Find, The River, A View of the Woods, The Life You Save May Be Your Own, just to mention a few. O'Connor also happens to be insanely good at titles, all bangers all the time!
stephxsu's review against another edition
5.0
After reading The Complete Stories, I am now thoroughly convinced that Flannery O'Connor is indeed one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. I loved every single story I read mostly for the hypocrisy, ridiculousness, and self-delusion of the characters. It gives me a sort of guilty pleasure to hear the characters say something that we know is completely untrue.
O'Connor uses the impressive technique of what I like to call "distant narration": the narrator holds the characters at a distance through syntax, resulting in a schism between what the character knows and what the reader knows, and the reader ends up knowing more about the characters and their situations than the characters do themselves. It's because of this technique that I believe we are able to so easily read about such blatant situations of racial and class prejudice: we know the characters are insipid and thus don't take them and their backwards beliefs too seriously.
O'Connor uses the impressive technique of what I like to call "distant narration": the narrator holds the characters at a distance through syntax, resulting in a schism between what the character knows and what the reader knows, and the reader ends up knowing more about the characters and their situations than the characters do themselves. It's because of this technique that I believe we are able to so easily read about such blatant situations of racial and class prejudice: we know the characters are insipid and thus don't take them and their backwards beliefs too seriously.
heidihaverkamp's review against another edition
4.0
Reading Flannery O'Connor is amazing and horrifying. I probably need to read these all over again.
deerisms's review against another edition
4.0
Everyone is an asshole, and if God doesn't get you for it, Flannery O'Connor will.
lindetiel's review against another edition
4.0
It is a difficult task to review an anthology of short stories. It is even harder to give one rating to the whole and complete collection of stories such as this one.
Flannery O'Connor is a remarkable writer who is able to breathe life into characters she creates. She presents harsh reality of American South in her stories, which is mixed with harsh and raw people who perceive world through deformed glass of their own lives and experience. Even though certain stories are not insightful and tend toward repetitiveness, there are those like A Good Man Is Hard to Find, The Comforts of Home or The Partridge Festival that fully compensate the reading experience.
My personal favourite remains The Displaced Person - the story that could easily serve as a commentary to the current situation in Europe, despite it being published in 1954, when it were Europeans who fled territories scorched by World War II with all their horrors and tragedies diminished to one word spoken with contempt: 'refugees'.
These stories are just like the people inside them - raw, harsh and bitter. They are also a worthy read.
Flannery O'Connor is a remarkable writer who is able to breathe life into characters she creates. She presents harsh reality of American South in her stories, which is mixed with harsh and raw people who perceive world through deformed glass of their own lives and experience. Even though certain stories are not insightful and tend toward repetitiveness, there are those like A Good Man Is Hard to Find, The Comforts of Home or The Partridge Festival that fully compensate the reading experience.
My personal favourite remains The Displaced Person - the story that could easily serve as a commentary to the current situation in Europe, despite it being published in 1954, when it were Europeans who fled territories scorched by World War II with all their horrors and tragedies diminished to one word spoken with contempt: 'refugees'.
These stories are just like the people inside them - raw, harsh and bitter. They are also a worthy read.