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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
Contents
1. Everything That Rises Must Converge [3.5*]
2. Greenleaf [4*]
3. A View of the Woods [4.5*]
4. The Enduring Chill [5*]
5. The Comforts of Home [5*]
6. The Lame Shall Enter First [5*]
7. Revelation [4.5*]
8. Parker's Back [5*]
9. Judgement Day [3.5*]
My order of preference: 8>5>6>4>7>3>2>1>9
---
She was dying when she wrote this, and it shows. These stories feel as haunted as Edgar Allen Poe's Ulalume, and seem written more from a hand 'of death' than 'in fear of death' relative to her other stories.
Sympathy has been replaced with malice, and sorrow with horror. The best of these stories instill different forms of trauma in the reader— nausea, guilt, fear of murder, fear of robbery, fear of possession, fear of 'outsiders'—and are in a way a catalogue of torture and despair. I actually dislike that these stories in this way as they lack the kinder aspect of human sympathy that you find for beaten characters in Southern Gothic works, and this is rooted in Southern Gothic if only for the fact that those without faith in God are the victims in each of the narrative. This is not really a spoiler as from the first sentence of each story you have a pretty good idea who will be damned. In some ways, it feels as though she is trying to make an earthly impression of what the wrath of God might feel like against sinners—those without faith. And her skill lies in, without the usual machinations of violence or vulgar languages, managing to create a darker and 'more hellish' scenario than many other writers can.
A Good Man Is Hard to Find has both better individual stories and is a stronger collection in my opinion, in part because of the narration. In these stories there is a distance between the narrator and the events, and the narrator does not have much way into the thoughts and feelings of the characters, it speaks between them. In her other stories the narrative is strongly seen through one character's perspective, and so there is a stronger sense of time and subjectivity to what is happening which makes her typical strong plot-twists seem more 'present' and 'surprising' than in these stories. This makes me wonder whether she fully edited these stories the way she wanted them to rest. Despite these gripes, O'Connor has set a strong standard for short stories that deserves 5* of appreciation and rivals McCullers and Woolf for my favorite female author right now.
1. Everything That Rises Must Converge [3.5*]
2. Greenleaf [4*]
3. A View of the Woods [4.5*]
4. The Enduring Chill [5*]
5. The Comforts of Home [5*]
6. The Lame Shall Enter First [5*]
7. Revelation [4.5*]
8. Parker's Back [5*]
9. Judgement Day [3.5*]
My order of preference: 8>5>6>4>7>3>2>1>9
---
She was dying when she wrote this, and it shows. These stories feel as haunted as Edgar Allen Poe's Ulalume, and seem written more from a hand 'of death' than 'in fear of death' relative to her other stories.
Sympathy has been replaced with malice, and sorrow with horror. The best of these stories instill different forms of trauma in the reader— nausea, guilt, fear of murder, fear of robbery, fear of possession, fear of 'outsiders'—and are in a way a catalogue of torture and despair. I actually dislike that these stories in this way as they lack the kinder aspect of human sympathy that you find for beaten characters in Southern Gothic works, and this is rooted in Southern Gothic if only for the fact that those without faith in God are the victims in each of the narrative. This is not really a spoiler as from the first sentence of each story you have a pretty good idea who will be damned. In some ways, it feels as though she is trying to make an earthly impression of what the wrath of God might feel like against sinners—those without faith. And her skill lies in, without the usual machinations of violence or vulgar languages, managing to create a darker and 'more hellish' scenario than many other writers can.
A Good Man Is Hard to Find has both better individual stories and is a stronger collection in my opinion, in part because of the narration. In these stories there is a distance between the narrator and the events, and the narrator does not have much way into the thoughts and feelings of the characters, it speaks between them. In her other stories the narrative is strongly seen through one character's perspective, and so there is a stronger sense of time and subjectivity to what is happening which makes her typical strong plot-twists seem more 'present' and 'surprising' than in these stories. This makes me wonder whether she fully edited these stories the way she wanted them to rest. Despite these gripes, O'Connor has set a strong standard for short stories that deserves 5* of appreciation and rivals McCullers and Woolf for my favorite female author right now.
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’ve had Everything that Rises Must Converge on my to-read list for some time. I ended up reading The Violent Bear it Away first. It’s a big difference to go from one to the other. The Violent Bear it Away is so intense and seemed to spring from one of the short stories in Everything that Rises Must Converge. Whereas France O’Connor painted with very dark colors in the former, she has a swifter hand and more clever analogies hidden within these stories. While some of the stories are still very dark, the lessons learned and culture displayed is illuminating.
Race relations in the south dominate most of these stories. There is a great clash with young southerners trying to escape tradition and modernize with their parents fighting against it, with varying results. In Everything that Rises Must Converge (the titular story), a young man sees the effect of progress in race relations on her entrenched mother. The theme of this story continues with Greenleaf, both having very similar endings. The Lame Shall Enter First seems like a first run at what would become The Violent Bear it Away, with an equally horrifying ending.
I liked the title story, The Lame Shall Enter First, and Judgement Day the best. What I really love about her technique is her ability to demonstrate the error in ways, but then to throw it back at the characters. It’s as if she is making fun of someone, but when she sees someone else laugh, she turns on them too. No one is really safe from her judgment. She shines a light on everyone’s misdeeds.
Race relations in the south dominate most of these stories. There is a great clash with young southerners trying to escape tradition and modernize with their parents fighting against it, with varying results. In Everything that Rises Must Converge (the titular story), a young man sees the effect of progress in race relations on her entrenched mother. The theme of this story continues with Greenleaf, both having very similar endings. The Lame Shall Enter First seems like a first run at what would become The Violent Bear it Away, with an equally horrifying ending.
I liked the title story, The Lame Shall Enter First, and Judgement Day the best. What I really love about her technique is her ability to demonstrate the error in ways, but then to throw it back at the characters. It’s as if she is making fun of someone, but when she sees someone else laugh, she turns on them too. No one is really safe from her judgment. She shines a light on everyone’s misdeeds.
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wickedly concise and bone-true, these stories have given me a lot to think about. Flannery O'Connor sets up these infallible situations where awful people only get what they deserve, but usually at the expense of the good people around them. Didn't I feel just terrible laughing.
This edition had a glossy photograph of O'Connor in the opening pages and its a great shot. Its up close in her face and she has an almost nervous grin. You can see her thin hands just knitting together in front of her and, most telling of all, her eyes are shifted to the right. She knows what you're about to get into, and she wishes she could see your face.
There were more than a few characters who were sympathetic, O'Connor wrote with such clarity about their thought processes that sympathy for their positions was natural. They scheme, they gloat, they judge, they resent - they're human. Many of them bring their troubles onto themselves, some are victims of bizarre fate.
Flannery O'Connor was a huge talent. There is bleakness and cruelty in these stories, but there's humor and wisdom too. I've got a lot to think about.
This edition had a glossy photograph of O'Connor in the opening pages and its a great shot. Its up close in her face and she has an almost nervous grin. You can see her thin hands just knitting together in front of her and, most telling of all, her eyes are shifted to the right. She knows what you're about to get into, and she wishes she could see your face.
There were more than a few characters who were sympathetic, O'Connor wrote with such clarity about their thought processes that sympathy for their positions was natural. They scheme, they gloat, they judge, they resent - they're human. Many of them bring their troubles onto themselves, some are victims of bizarre fate.
Flannery O'Connor was a huge talent. There is bleakness and cruelty in these stories, but there's humor and wisdom too. I've got a lot to think about.
This is the very first book by Flannery O’Connor that I have read and after finishing it I understand, why she is considered to be genius of the American short story. These stories made me react – I hated them and I loved them and I was repulsed by some of them. Despite all this I couldn’t put the book down. The way she wrote about race, religion and one’s place in the world; her words about person's true self and what made it; the way she portrayed men and women, mothers and fathers and children was so profound and occasionally almost too gruesome. Her stories made me stop reading and realise something new about history, religion society and above else about myself. A wonderful, if a bit disturbing read!
"Speech Sounds" has to be one of the most underrated short stories of all time.
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Everything that Rises Must Converge, by Flannery O'Connor, is a collection of short stories that mostly deal with change- be it in generations, equality, character, etc. Nine stories are included, and though as a whole they would be rated 3.5/5 stars if the rating system allowed, they varied in power of deliverance and originality, with some being extremely interesting while others seemed to rehash plots and tropes in former stories. Among the most engaging were "Everything that Rises Must Converge" (a post-civil rights story focusing on a son who is trying to teach his mother that minorities are going to find a higher place in the world whether she likes it or not), "A View of the Woods" (You can only buy your grandkids' allegiance to a certain point, and young people have a right to decide who they are for themselves), and "The Lame Shall Enter First" (Treasure what you have instead of wasting your time trying to boost your crappy self-esteem).
The characters, all in all, were a bit disappointing, not to mention two-dimensional. While it is understood that this is a book of short-stories, I often felt an immense amount of indifference to the characters. Some characters who should be mentioned are Mary Fortune Chance, a little girl featured in "A View of the Woods" who took a rather unexpected turn, and Johnson from "The Lame Shall Enter First", a messed up delinquent with a clubbed foot who is convinced he is taken by the devil. Other than those two characters, I can barely remember anyone.
My main issue with these stories is that most of the stories used the "self-righteous, naive widow with insufferable children" trope (including "Everything That Rises Must Converge", "Greenleaf", "The Enduring Chill", and "The Comforts of Home"). It's difficult to imagine that a critically acclaimed author such as O'Connor couldn't dream up some different scenarios besides a somewhat dumb woman with children, usually an adult son who thinks himself better than his mother and that he knows what is best for her. While in some ways, the sons are generally smarter than their mothers, it felt very played-out after viewing it for the fourth time. It would have been preferable to see a story that didn't deal at all with adults or that dealt with a minority family (which would have fit well since one of the overarching themes in a few of the stories was racism) instead of the same people with different names and a sightly jumbled cast and plot.
While I have several complaints about this book, as a whole it was interesting enough as a collection, and I'm planning on reading one of O'Connor's novels next. I would recommend this to those who are interested in story collections such as those written by Ray Bradbury (The Illustrated Man and The Martian Chronicles). While O'Connor is more into Realistic Fiction while Bradbury leans toward Sci-Fi, their styles are quite similar. All in all, it wasn't a bad read, but I would probably only read certain selections from it if I read it again at all.
The characters, all in all, were a bit disappointing, not to mention two-dimensional. While it is understood that this is a book of short-stories, I often felt an immense amount of indifference to the characters. Some characters who should be mentioned are Mary Fortune Chance, a little girl featured in "A View of the Woods" who took a rather unexpected turn, and Johnson from "The Lame Shall Enter First", a messed up delinquent with a clubbed foot who is convinced he is taken by the devil. Other than those two characters, I can barely remember anyone.
My main issue with these stories is that most of the stories used the "self-righteous, naive widow with insufferable children" trope (including "Everything That Rises Must Converge", "Greenleaf", "The Enduring Chill", and "The Comforts of Home"). It's difficult to imagine that a critically acclaimed author such as O'Connor couldn't dream up some different scenarios besides a somewhat dumb woman with children, usually an adult son who thinks himself better than his mother and that he knows what is best for her. While in some ways, the sons are generally smarter than their mothers, it felt very played-out after viewing it for the fourth time. It would have been preferable to see a story that didn't deal at all with adults or that dealt with a minority family (which would have fit well since one of the overarching themes in a few of the stories was racism) instead of the same people with different names and a sightly jumbled cast and plot.
While I have several complaints about this book, as a whole it was interesting enough as a collection, and I'm planning on reading one of O'Connor's novels next. I would recommend this to those who are interested in story collections such as those written by Ray Bradbury (The Illustrated Man and The Martian Chronicles). While O'Connor is more into Realistic Fiction while Bradbury leans toward Sci-Fi, their styles are quite similar. All in all, it wasn't a bad read, but I would probably only read certain selections from it if I read it again at all.
Tired of seeing certain words pop up here and there, even if it was a product of its times. "The Lame Shall Enter First" held my attention the longest, though "Parker's Back" and "Judgement Day" had something to say to me indeed.