A review by aliciagriggs
The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor

3.0

Nearly a year later (started May 2022) I've finally finished it!!! And I feel ecstatic because I nearly gave up on this book many times. I am also so surprised that I rated in 3 stars because for most of my time reading this, it was going to be 1 star; I couldn't stand it! But I persisted and I'm glad I did because about half way through, things perked up and some of the stories were okay, good, or very good. Here were the ones I liked:

•"The Artificial Nigger" (she uses this word a lot throughout, which takes some getting used to). My interested increases a bit with this one.
•"Good country people". One of my faves.
•"You can't be poorer than dead". Okay, liked the ending.
•"A view of the wood". Good; interesting and surprising.
•"The Enduring Chill". Good; thought- provoking.
•"The Comforts of Home". Very good.
•"Everything that rises must converge". Good. I liked the ending.
•"The Partridge Festival". Good; amusing.
•"The Lame shall enter first" very good; my favourite to the point where I said, "woah, that was good".
•"Revelation" mix of good and okay; interesting but didn't really get the ending.
•"Parker's Back" good.

Overall, I'm surprised that I finished this book because the first half did absolutely nothing for me; I really disliked it. However, the second half redeemed the book and though there were plenty I didn't like, there was also enough to keep me going and to warrant a surprising 3 star.