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sheltoneezer's review against another edition
dark
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
taxideadaisy's review against another edition
2.0
Depressing, dreary, creepy, but educational... a lot of people love her work so good to be exposed to it....
maryehavens's review against another edition
5.0
What is the most horrific emotion you can experience? Helplessness? Pity? Foolishness? Hopelessness? O'Connor describes all of these emotions throughout her complete stories.
I didn't know what Southern Gothic really was until I read 500 pages of it. Now I know. And it's that stomach-churning, squirmy feeling you get when you watch someone making terrible mistakes and repeating the same pattern, fruitlessly, because they are trapped in circumstance/behavior or just sheer stupidity.
Her stories are rife with racism, social and economic depression, and just about all the nasty sides of human behavior. All her intellectuals are mean and nihilistic, mostly towards their own mothers. All the mothers are shrews that hen-peck their sons and tenant farmers while gossiping about their neighbors and trying to jockey for a feeling of self-importance. All the neighbors are also striving for their place in the world while stepping on the necks of everyone else around them. Everyone is kind of swirling around in this big ball of the South, with nothing and everything to do.
Now, after reading that, you probably think: this sucked. It did not, at all. Each story goes in a direction I would not necessarily have predicted. But the journey getting there is one of the hardest train wrecks I've had to witness.
If you are interested in O'Connor's work, I recommend starting with a smaller short story collection, perhaps "A Good Man is Hard to Find." No reason to flog yourself throughout the whole thing like I did :)
I didn't know what Southern Gothic really was until I read 500 pages of it. Now I know. And it's that stomach-churning, squirmy feeling you get when you watch someone making terrible mistakes and repeating the same pattern, fruitlessly, because they are trapped in circumstance/behavior or just sheer stupidity.
Her stories are rife with racism, social and economic depression, and just about all the nasty sides of human behavior. All her intellectuals are mean and nihilistic, mostly towards their own mothers. All the mothers are shrews that hen-peck their sons and tenant farmers while gossiping about their neighbors and trying to jockey for a feeling of self-importance. All the neighbors are also striving for their place in the world while stepping on the necks of everyone else around them. Everyone is kind of swirling around in this big ball of the South, with nothing and everything to do.
Now, after reading that, you probably think: this sucked. It did not, at all. Each story goes in a direction I would not necessarily have predicted. But the journey getting there is one of the hardest train wrecks I've had to witness.
If you are interested in O'Connor's work, I recommend starting with a smaller short story collection, perhaps "A Good Man is Hard to Find." No reason to flog yourself throughout the whole thing like I did :)
catrink's review against another edition
4.0
Flannery has a way of getting under your skin in her stories. They evoke a different time and place.
t_thekla's review against another edition
stories about the fugliest people known to man
drbarton's review against another edition
5.0
I love, love, love Flannery O'Connor! Her work is sharp, witty, and grotesque enough to keep me intrigued even after several rereads. She is truly a gem of the south, lost much too early, but her wit, beliefs and southern charm will live on through her words for generations.
emilyknap's review against another edition
3.0
I had to read Flannery O'Connor in high school and I became very interested in the symbolism so I read all of her stories. Some are very interesting while others are not.
cj82487's review against another edition
4.0
The first O'Connor short story I have read, and one to be remembered. The ending was a surprise considering the build-up and had me laughing a little bit at the naivete of the characters. If all of O'Connor's stories grab my attention as quickly as this one did and end with a slightly humorous ending, I am more than willing to read further.
utah_mustacheman's review against another edition
5.0
Funny, Insightful, Ironically Eschatological
O’Connor creates simple, sardonic characters who give readers an insight into the 1950’s south but also the cynicism and bitterness of human nature. While depressing in some moments, the stories always have a paradoxical upshot where the rich are not redeemed but the meek enter into peace.
Recommend for anyone who enjoys more challenging short stories and not your run of the mill romance or mystery novels.
O’Connor creates simple, sardonic characters who give readers an insight into the 1950’s south but also the cynicism and bitterness of human nature. While depressing in some moments, the stories always have a paradoxical upshot where the rich are not redeemed but the meek enter into peace.
Recommend for anyone who enjoys more challenging short stories and not your run of the mill romance or mystery novels.