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limdz's review
3.0
Good God, do I love Flannery O'Connor's stories .... but this collection is mostly insufferable, with the exception of the first and last essay and a few in between. I loved "The Fiction Writer and His Country," for instance, as well as "King of the Birds."
This book had been recommended to me several times. I told my thesis advisor I was concerned about the amount of "Catholic' theory applied to writing, but I was interested, because I think many great writers were Catholic... I wanted to know how a Catholic who has NOT rejected her religion applies her spiritual sentiments to her prose. But getting through some of those essays about Catholicism and fiction .... oh, man. I wanted to throw the book at a wall several times.
Part of the collection's flaws are actually not O'Connor's fault. I think the editors did a rather poor job organizing her prose....many, many of the essays are repetitive -- and not in a good way.
I'd rather just read her stories, enjoy them for the great works of art they are ..How she thinks about them -- in particular, how she frames her art with her Catholic opinions -- is not as engaging or interesting for me, and may even (in SOME ways!) detract from the experience.
This book had been recommended to me several times. I told my thesis advisor I was concerned about the amount of "Catholic' theory applied to writing, but I was interested, because I think many great writers were Catholic... I wanted to know how a Catholic who has NOT rejected her religion applies her spiritual sentiments to her prose. But getting through some of those essays about Catholicism and fiction .... oh, man. I wanted to throw the book at a wall several times.
Part of the collection's flaws are actually not O'Connor's fault. I think the editors did a rather poor job organizing her prose....many, many of the essays are repetitive -- and not in a good way.
I'd rather just read her stories, enjoy them for the great works of art they are ..How she thinks about them -- in particular, how she frames her art with her Catholic opinions -- is not as engaging or interesting for me, and may even (in SOME ways!) detract from the experience.
emilyos's review
4.0
I picked up this book after one of Justin's professors had quoted something she had to say about short stories. It was definitely a worthwhile read, and even made me want to write. She did have a lot to say about being an author who is both Catholic and Southern, those parts I skimmed over.
Evidently it was also recently featured on NPR's You Must read this just a couple of weeks ago.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104056377
Evidently it was also recently featured on NPR's You Must read this just a couple of weeks ago.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104056377
shortthoughts's review against another edition
4.0
This is a collection of essays and addresses mostly about fiction writing. This is the first writing of O'Connor's I have read. She was intelligent and a good writer. Her wit was very dry but she definitely understood the craft she was about. There are helpful gems and insights scattered throughout. Being a collection, there are stronger and weaker essays. I think my favorite of the group is her essay on keeping peafowl.
encyclopediablonde's review
“There’s many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.”
leelulah's review
5.0
If you thought you knew anything about writing fiction, turns out tht you don't. If you're obsessed with books being a full version of a statement, then you're wrong. And mostly, if you're obsessed about the American or Catholic novel in ways that hinder the prophetic vision of an author, then you're wrong. You just want sanitized literature, and here's Flannery telling you why. Being serious, this book is very engaging and also deals with the problems of modern education, which, despite having been writing in the late fifties, are as relevant as ever.
ben_smitty's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent collection of O'Connor's remarks on what incarnational writing looks like, which is the portrayal of God's mysteries through concrete means (like writing or nature). While O'Connor does not give specific writing advice, she discusses that the goal of the Catholic writer should be to reveal the world as it truly is by getting the reader to stare at it long enough to recognize the uncanny.
A section that I found surprisingly helpful is her comparison of sentimentality with pornography and violence; all three of these things exploit feelings because they force the readers to feel for feeling's sake, which is ultimately empty. A good writer, however, will cause feelings to erupt in the reader as a byproduct of stunning him with truth.
A section that I found surprisingly helpful is her comparison of sentimentality with pornography and violence; all three of these things exploit feelings because they force the readers to feel for feeling's sake, which is ultimately empty. A good writer, however, will cause feelings to erupt in the reader as a byproduct of stunning him with truth.
kateraed's review
3.0
Although there are some great gems and much can be extrapolated to other contexts, for the most part it's specific to Catholic writers in the South. And really redundant; a couple essays could have been entirely removed because they were stated within other essays.