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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
My sister, as some of you may know (or may have figured out by now), is named after Flannery O'Connor. The name Flannery is more commonly used as a last name, and so the meanings that we've found are, well, interesting: a flat piece of metal or one with red eyebrows. But what's in a name? Neither my Flannery nor I had ever read anything by Flannery O'Connor before. Flannery, because she's worried that she won't like her namesake and me because I really haven't read a lot of classic literature at all. So, aside from one short story skimmed in undergrad this is my first O'Connor experience.
O'Connor's style is dark and gritty. It presents life, specifically Southern life, in stark, unflattering detail. It is post-Antebellum South and O'Connor details the struggle with changing ideologies and practices. It's funny, but not in a laugh-out-loud way. It's funny in the painful way where you recognize some of yourself in these massively flawed characters. It's an uncomfortable glimpse into your own thoughts, speaking from the perspective of a white person.
O'Connor excels at calling out all the little hypocrisies and petty insults that white people did (and do) almost off-handedly. She never calls it out for what it is, but presents it in a way that is difficult to ignore. The book is uncomfortable in that way - it will make you realize things that you may not want to realize.
O'Connor excels at creating characters. Each voice is distinct and memorable in its way. There are a few character types she deals with, though. In particular, the character of the spoiled, pseudo-sophisticated son who is ashamed of his "backwards" mother shows up in several stories. Even with this repetition, though, she inserts different plot arcs so that each pair is distinguishable. Everyone is a little bit crazy in their own way, and everyone is doomed.
This book is beautiful, but is also very tragic. Each story is about a doomed character, and although that doom varies in its manifestation it is still nine stories about gloom and death and comeuppances. It's about the weakness of the human mind and the inability to change. It's extremely dark, but extremely well-written (Although some stories drag. "The Lame Shall Enter First" was my least favorite story.) I would recommend it for those who are in a contemplative mood or who would like to find some truly amazing character construction.
O'Connor's style is dark and gritty. It presents life, specifically Southern life, in stark, unflattering detail. It is post-Antebellum South and O'Connor details the struggle with changing ideologies and practices. It's funny, but not in a laugh-out-loud way. It's funny in the painful way where you recognize some of yourself in these massively flawed characters. It's an uncomfortable glimpse into your own thoughts, speaking from the perspective of a white person.
O'Connor excels at calling out all the little hypocrisies and petty insults that white people did (and do) almost off-handedly. She never calls it out for what it is, but presents it in a way that is difficult to ignore. The book is uncomfortable in that way - it will make you realize things that you may not want to realize.
O'Connor excels at creating characters. Each voice is distinct and memorable in its way. There are a few character types she deals with, though. In particular, the character of the spoiled, pseudo-sophisticated son who is ashamed of his "backwards" mother shows up in several stories. Even with this repetition, though, she inserts different plot arcs so that each pair is distinguishable. Everyone is a little bit crazy in their own way, and everyone is doomed.
This book is beautiful, but is also very tragic. Each story is about a doomed character, and although that doom varies in its manifestation it is still nine stories about gloom and death and comeuppances. It's about the weakness of the human mind and the inability to change. It's extremely dark, but extremely well-written (Although some stories drag. "The Lame Shall Enter First" was my least favorite story.) I would recommend it for those who are in a contemplative mood or who would like to find some truly amazing character construction.
It took me a while to finish this because I kept reading other books in between. It's easy to do that with this book; pick it up, read a quick short story, and then put it back down for a time. I adore Flannery O'Connor. Her characters are realistic and believable and she manages to create an entire atmosphere just sentences into each story. As I was reading, I texted a friend who is also a fan of O'Connor, "if no one dies at the end, are you even reading Flannery O'Connor??" That is pretty much the essence of almost every story in this novel (although let's be honest, all those terrible people deserved their demise). O'Connor is a literary master and her works are always a treat. They'll stick with you for the rest of your days.
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I once did a read-along with this well known figure on Bookgram by the sobriquette everyone who reads must converse. The book we were reading was "Against The Day"; not to spoil the anecdote too soon, but... I read about halfway in only a couple days and thought of contributing in some unconventional harangue; I guess it was a blimp that goes out from the Center of the Earth .. like the Jules Verne story .. hm, now I would to converse about O'Connor yet again, since I read the stories previously and then was already familiar with em, but I just needed rather in a attractive magnetism to point Cardinal north. Here I could stand my ground, and became the first book in a while that guided me, and exposed Johnson's BULLSHIT with the 140 IQ, and science though just is missing the integrity of identifying the mythical. Folks who believe in science somehow misconstrue the cosmic forces of nature which really fabricate the Supernatural. No, Science is just another one of Mankind's Plots and Trickery to avert the ape 🦧 that desperately clings to be immortal. The extraterrestrials we think have materialized in our Saga has always been the Gods, and the Angels... And that I think exposes the futility of scientific explanation, but not by effacing evolutionary 'conundrums,' that is true. Fact is, we forget and we unlearn history that Everytime we are reborn to this world, books can only explain so far as interpretation shall reveal.
"Although the Bodhisattva leads an infinite number of creatures into Nirvana, in reality there are neither any Bodhisattvas to do the leading nor any creatures to be led."
Know that euphemism the devil can hide behind the Bible... What if the unseen hides behind the veil, that in disenchantment and ignorance they have failed to see? After all, humans are just wired to forget; drugs, and Vidya, and all of the interesting phenomena that diminishes our clairvoyance to see into the far distance, beyond the horizon of life and connoitering upon the dirt, sleeps a giant of the most finite immensity, still the absolute most eternal thing observable; that, the universe, the collapsing gas giants those immeasurable pretending to be inert, biding time
"Although the Bodhisattva leads an infinite number of creatures into Nirvana, in reality there are neither any Bodhisattvas to do the leading nor any creatures to be led."
Know that euphemism the devil can hide behind the Bible... What if the unseen hides behind the veil, that in disenchantment and ignorance they have failed to see? After all, humans are just wired to forget; drugs, and Vidya, and all of the interesting phenomena that diminishes our clairvoyance to see into the far distance, beyond the horizon of life and connoitering upon the dirt, sleeps a giant of the most finite immensity, still the absolute most eternal thing observable; that, the universe, the collapsing gas giants those immeasurable pretending to be inert, biding time
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Extremely well crafted and dark tales of the dysfunction and racism of the south during the 1950s.
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Short stories mostly about some awful people. Not everyone is awful, but at least someone in each story is. She’s supposed to be one of the greats of American lit, so I thought I’d check her writing out. Her writing is technically and stylistically good, but that doesn’t make up for the ubiquitous racism, heavy use of the n-word, and non-compelling characters. My first and last experience with Flannery O'Connor. I may have to start researching authors more often before reading their books, especially civil rights era and prior.
most disturbing stories i've read in a while. neil gaiman wishes he could write like she does.