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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
These were excellent, terrible stories. Flannery O'Connor created some of the best, terrible characters. There were no happy endings in thisyere, thisyere. . But read it anyway. The stories are amusing and terrible. lol
Solid Flannery, but I preferred A Good Man Is Hard to Find.
One emerging pattern that intrigued me as I read the first five stories in this collection was O'Connor's conspicuous use of descriptive names for her characters. It made me wonder why she would use such an obvious device in her stories, since O'Connor didn't at first strike me as the type of writer who hits her readers over the head with the obvious...then I thought, maybe that's her point. Maybe her point is that the simple truth is always right in front of you, and that it doesn't take extreme intellect to figure out human nature. Take the fact that most of her main characters are "know-it-all" types, and when they try to impart their superior knowledge onto their pitiable inferiors, it usually lands them in harm's way. She also reiterates this idea by constant foreshadowing, as when a sunset makes it look like "the trees were bathed in blood" in A View of the Woods. As the character Mrs. Fox says, "When people think they are smart--even when they are smart--there is nothing anybody else can say to make them see things straight". O'Connor seems to be telling her readers that there's a point when you're too smart for your own good, so pay attention to your gut, not just your intellect--or she'll throw in a charging bull or circling water-stain carrion bird to teach you to listen.
In the second half of the collection, many of O'Connor's characters literally "see the light"--light imagery being a predominant feature in these stories. This use of light may seem to be a conspicuous way to point to the spiritually enlightened, but somehow O'Connor's stories aren't that simple. They are artfully constructed, and the characters so intricately drawn, that the reader feels there is something more lurking behind the spiritual message. Even with her ominous use of foreshadowing, the endings are still thought-provoking for the reader. They have a certain unsettling quality, so even though a character has received their "grace", there's still an aftertaste of darkness, and it's this element of using light to reveal the shadows in human nature that make her stories so interesting despite what she leads you to expect.
In the second half of the collection, many of O'Connor's characters literally "see the light"--light imagery being a predominant feature in these stories. This use of light may seem to be a conspicuous way to point to the spiritually enlightened, but somehow O'Connor's stories aren't that simple. They are artfully constructed, and the characters so intricately drawn, that the reader feels there is something more lurking behind the spiritual message. Even with her ominous use of foreshadowing, the endings are still thought-provoking for the reader. They have a certain unsettling quality, so even though a character has received their "grace", there's still an aftertaste of darkness, and it's this element of using light to reveal the shadows in human nature that make her stories so interesting despite what she leads you to expect.
I had previously read from Flannery O’Connor’s short stories in anthologies in classes, but I had never taken the time to sit down and read an entire story collection. During this COVID-19 Pandemic, I was looking for something I already owned to read. I came across the title, which is amazing in and of itself, and decided to dive in. I had previously tried, and failed to read Wise Blood, but feel now that I couldn’t really appreciate it without having read her short stories in this collection. I’m not a person who gravitates toward short story collections. I prefer a longer story in order to create connections with characters and plot. However, I will indulge in a collection when the author is as strong as Flannery O’Connor and they primarily write in this format. I was not disappointed with what I found in this collection.
Everything that Rises Must Converge might as well have been called What Terrible Shit Will Befall This Disgruntled Character. Basically, what I found from all the stories is that there is an under current of a very twisted author. She likes to make you really empathize and sympathize with these tragic characters and the sordid tales of their lives and then, on the very last page, do something horrible to them (mostly involving them dying). I thought after the first few stories I’d get tired of it, and I really didn’t. She makes each story so distinct that it doesn’t really become a tired trope for a really long time.
Each story, again, is distinct so I’ll talk briefly about what I liked about all of them. First up is the namesake of the novel, “Everything that Rises Must Converge”. Honestly, it’s a strong story about a son accompanying his mother to the Y via the bus against a very racialized backdrop. In the end, the mother who is a racist, gets knocked down and dies from a black woman’s punch and her son really doesn’t like her very much. It was an interesting story and I see why it’s used because of the historical references to people’s views of racial identity, but I will say it wasn’t the strongest of all the stories.
“Greenleaf”, I think, is a much stronger story, but you can’t really call your short story collection and probably one of my favorites. In it, a woman who has a farm degrades her ‘lazy’ black farmer worker she’s had forever and in her mind, she’s the only thing keeping his head above water. It was a very good representation of white privilege and at the very end, the bull that has been loose, gores her to death.
In “A View of the Woods'' was another standout short story about the difference between the generations as well as progress vs. the way it’s always been. A grandfather who thinks of one of his granddaughters as cut from the same cloth (definitely not anyone else in the family) wants to sell off more of his property in order to keep the wheels of progress in motion with gas stations and restaurants and the like. His family is against it, other than his granddaughter, who he loves and takes with him everywhere. She becomes irate when she finds out he’s trying to sell a piece of property where they can see the woods from their house. She goes into a rage and assaults her grandfather for selling the piece of land and he eventually dies.
“The Enduring Chill” is okay, but definitely extremely gothic with the main character thinking he’s getting ready to die and goes home to, what he perceives, is his overbearing mother. Long story short, he was right.
“The Comforts of Home'' was another very strong entry where a woman who takes pity on a nymphomaniac (which was probably very taboo at the time) and brings her home where her adult son lives (which is a large theme throughout most of the stories - mom and son living together). The son hates that she’s there and tries to get her out. Long story short, he accidentally shoots his mother. There is a lot of religious significance throughout the story about how his religious mother tries to help a sinner recover, to the skepticism of her son who ends up accidentally killing her. There’s definitely a lot to unpack there and it was a welcome repreive from the heavy racial discrimination and the use of the N-word.
To me, “The Lame Shall Enter First” was the last of the very strong short stories and is also without the heavy use of the N-word and racial discrimination. A man who wants to do right, but is an atheist, attempts to help a delinquent teenager who believes he’s got Satan in him. While trying to help this lame-legged, demonically possessed child, he also disregards his own son for very superficial reasons. He’ll blindly look over the criminal trespassings on the teenager, but can’t stand some very superficial things about his son. Long story short, he doesn’t help the teenager, and his son dies by falling out a window.
In all honesty, I don’t know whether I began reading too fast, or it’s true, but the rest of the stories were definitely not as strong as the first. “Revelation”, “Parker’s Back”, and “Judgement Day” all kind of ran together in a blur. “Revelation” was about a woman who gets assaulted in a doctor’s office and doesn’t die (good for her!). “Parker’s Back” was about a guy who’s dedicated to tattoos and marries a very Christian woman who hates them. He finally gets one of Jesus, and she’s still disappointed. And then “Judgement Day” is something I think I was so over after the previous two that I sped through.
Long story short, my redone title stands, and O’Connor is a master of late Southern Gothic with an emphasis on racism and religion. It’s a very strong collection, overall and she’s someone that I will seriously consider reading more from. She’s made me interested in other short story collections by writers and I do want to read A Good Man is Hard to Find. If this collection I’m reviewing is ten years later, I will be interested to see her earlier work.
Everything that Rises Must Converge might as well have been called What Terrible Shit Will Befall This Disgruntled Character. Basically, what I found from all the stories is that there is an under current of a very twisted author. She likes to make you really empathize and sympathize with these tragic characters and the sordid tales of their lives and then, on the very last page, do something horrible to them (mostly involving them dying). I thought after the first few stories I’d get tired of it, and I really didn’t. She makes each story so distinct that it doesn’t really become a tired trope for a really long time.
Each story, again, is distinct so I’ll talk briefly about what I liked about all of them. First up is the namesake of the novel, “Everything that Rises Must Converge”. Honestly, it’s a strong story about a son accompanying his mother to the Y via the bus against a very racialized backdrop. In the end, the mother who is a racist, gets knocked down and dies from a black woman’s punch and her son really doesn’t like her very much. It was an interesting story and I see why it’s used because of the historical references to people’s views of racial identity, but I will say it wasn’t the strongest of all the stories.
“Greenleaf”, I think, is a much stronger story, but you can’t really call your short story collection and probably one of my favorites. In it, a woman who has a farm degrades her ‘lazy’ black farmer worker she’s had forever and in her mind, she’s the only thing keeping his head above water. It was a very good representation of white privilege and at the very end, the bull that has been loose, gores her to death.
In “A View of the Woods'' was another standout short story about the difference between the generations as well as progress vs. the way it’s always been. A grandfather who thinks of one of his granddaughters as cut from the same cloth (definitely not anyone else in the family) wants to sell off more of his property in order to keep the wheels of progress in motion with gas stations and restaurants and the like. His family is against it, other than his granddaughter, who he loves and takes with him everywhere. She becomes irate when she finds out he’s trying to sell a piece of property where they can see the woods from their house. She goes into a rage and assaults her grandfather for selling the piece of land and he eventually dies.
“The Enduring Chill” is okay, but definitely extremely gothic with the main character thinking he’s getting ready to die and goes home to, what he perceives, is his overbearing mother. Long story short, he was right.
“The Comforts of Home'' was another very strong entry where a woman who takes pity on a nymphomaniac (which was probably very taboo at the time) and brings her home where her adult son lives (which is a large theme throughout most of the stories - mom and son living together). The son hates that she’s there and tries to get her out. Long story short, he accidentally shoots his mother. There is a lot of religious significance throughout the story about how his religious mother tries to help a sinner recover, to the skepticism of her son who ends up accidentally killing her. There’s definitely a lot to unpack there and it was a welcome repreive from the heavy racial discrimination and the use of the N-word.
To me, “The Lame Shall Enter First” was the last of the very strong short stories and is also without the heavy use of the N-word and racial discrimination. A man who wants to do right, but is an atheist, attempts to help a delinquent teenager who believes he’s got Satan in him. While trying to help this lame-legged, demonically possessed child, he also disregards his own son for very superficial reasons. He’ll blindly look over the criminal trespassings on the teenager, but can’t stand some very superficial things about his son. Long story short, he doesn’t help the teenager, and his son dies by falling out a window.
In all honesty, I don’t know whether I began reading too fast, or it’s true, but the rest of the stories were definitely not as strong as the first. “Revelation”, “Parker’s Back”, and “Judgement Day” all kind of ran together in a blur. “Revelation” was about a woman who gets assaulted in a doctor’s office and doesn’t die (good for her!). “Parker’s Back” was about a guy who’s dedicated to tattoos and marries a very Christian woman who hates them. He finally gets one of Jesus, and she’s still disappointed. And then “Judgement Day” is something I think I was so over after the previous two that I sped through.
Long story short, my redone title stands, and O’Connor is a master of late Southern Gothic with an emphasis on racism and religion. It’s a very strong collection, overall and she’s someone that I will seriously consider reading more from. She’s made me interested in other short story collections by writers and I do want to read A Good Man is Hard to Find. If this collection I’m reviewing is ten years later, I will be interested to see her earlier work.
фланнері о'коннор пише зовсім страшно. її оповідання залишають відчуття безнадії і беззахисності, таких цілковитих, що навіть сховатися ніде не хочеться, – нема де від них ховатися.
I loved most of these stories! Right now, I am not sure I can verbalize why though. Actually, I am not sure I consciously know all the reasons why.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Stories ranged from 3 ⭐️ to 4.5 ⭐️ … so round up book to 4 ⭐️
Filled with brilliantly developed characters and evocatively drawn scenes. Each story is dark, dark, dark. I appreciate the hell out of her writing, but it truly does bring me down a bit.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced