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A review by zoe_
The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor
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)