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mehsi's review
4.0
Wow, that was disturbing. o.0 I had kind of expected that ending, but I was hoping it would just turn out to be different.
eleitner's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
libellum_aphrodite's review against another edition
3.0
I wish I had gotten the addition with the "other stories" that I am seeing should have come with this from the other editions. I was not really looking for critical essays to read on it, but was more interested in O'Connor's content.
However, since this is the edition that I found in the library...
As with Wise Blood, the text to me very much demonstrates O'Connor's disillusionment with religion. The grandma continually tries to convince the Misfit to pray, and get Jesus to help him. Grandma, however, has no concern for the Misfit, but only her own self-preservation. This could be applied to organized religion (focusing on Christian religions, especially in the light of sects strongly persuing converts) in a wider context. When you press another person to be "good" and behave a certain way, you preserve youself by preventing them from threatening you. Convincing someone that doing you don't like will lead to their damnation is a great deal. You are guaranteed safety or comfort because you have eliminated the threat of said person's action. Whom does conversion save for certain but the missionary?
Also, the pig symbolism of Wise Blood crops up with Bobby Lee reminding June Star of a pig. (will touch upon this more in a moment)
At the end of the story, the Misfit says, "She would of been a good woman...if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." Looking back to the idea of missionary work simply as self-preservation for the missionary, and thinking of a "good" man or woman as one who tries to bring people to Jesus, the Grandma would only be a good woman in the case that she is threatened. When there is the danger of dying, she tries to act like a good woman to prevent others from harming her, either by telling them that what they wish to do will damn themselves or guilting them into not wanting to harm a good person.
Bobby Lee comments that shooting Grandma is "some fun." The Misfit contradicts him, however, and says "It's no real pleasure in life." Bobby Lee is the dirty character, the pig. The Misfit comes off as not so bad a man despite being the leader of a trio of bandits. I think the story questions what makes a good man or woman. Is a good man really hard to find, or does it all depend on our definition of a good man or woman? and can anyone objectively say what makes a good man, since it seems that inevitably, a good man is just someone who benefits us?
However, since this is the edition that I found in the library...
As with Wise Blood, the text to me very much demonstrates O'Connor's disillusionment with religion. The grandma continually tries to convince the Misfit to pray, and get Jesus to help him. Grandma, however, has no concern for the Misfit, but only her own self-preservation. This could be applied to organized religion (focusing on Christian religions, especially in the light of sects strongly persuing converts) in a wider context. When you press another person to be "good" and behave a certain way, you preserve youself by preventing them from threatening you. Convincing someone that doing you don't like will lead to their damnation is a great deal. You are guaranteed safety or comfort because you have eliminated the threat of said person's action. Whom does conversion save for certain but the missionary?
Also, the pig symbolism of Wise Blood crops up with Bobby Lee reminding June Star of a pig. (will touch upon this more in a moment)
At the end of the story, the Misfit says, "She would of been a good woman...if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." Looking back to the idea of missionary work simply as self-preservation for the missionary, and thinking of a "good" man or woman as one who tries to bring people to Jesus, the Grandma would only be a good woman in the case that she is threatened. When there is the danger of dying, she tries to act like a good woman to prevent others from harming her, either by telling them that what they wish to do will damn themselves or guilting them into not wanting to harm a good person.
Bobby Lee comments that shooting Grandma is "some fun." The Misfit contradicts him, however, and says "It's no real pleasure in life." Bobby Lee is the dirty character, the pig. The Misfit comes off as not so bad a man despite being the leader of a trio of bandits. I think the story questions what makes a good man or woman. Is a good man really hard to find, or does it all depend on our definition of a good man or woman? and can anyone objectively say what makes a good man, since it seems that inevitably, a good man is just someone who benefits us?
pizzapie's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
imme_van_gorp's review against another edition
3.0
|| 2.5 stars ||
This review contains some spoilers:
This story follows a family of two small children, a mother, a father and a grandma who decide to go on holiday to Florida. Nobody in the family really listens to the grandma or cares about her wishes (most likely due to a generational divide), which leads the grandma to often use manipulation to get her way. It doesn’t always work, but unfortunately, it does work near the end of the story when the grandma wants to take a quick detour to visit some mansion. This detour leads to a series of unfortunate events where the family is eventually confronted with a criminal who escaped from prison and who seems to have no qualms about putting a family in the ground if it comes down to keeping himself safe and hidden…
Personally, I wasn’t a big fan of the writing style, but the story itself was pretty good and interesting.
This review contains some spoilers:
This story follows a family of two small children, a mother, a father and a grandma who decide to go on holiday to Florida. Nobody in the family really listens to the grandma or cares about her wishes (most likely due to a generational divide), which leads the grandma to often use manipulation to get her way. It doesn’t always work, but unfortunately, it does work near the end of the story when the grandma wants to take a quick detour to visit some mansion. This detour leads to a series of unfortunate events where the family is eventually confronted with a criminal who escaped from prison and who seems to have no qualms about putting a family in the ground if it comes down to keeping himself safe and hidden…
Personally, I wasn’t a big fan of the writing style, but the story itself was pretty good and interesting.
nourbey's review against another edition
4.0
Read this a while ago but this book slayyyys (literally lol).