September 29, 2008 9:31 AM
What's your experience of Flannery O'Connor?
Will someone please talk to me/enlighten me about Flannery O'Connor?
She was someone I really wanted to read and thought I would like. But I just finished Wise Blood and honestly, it reminded me of a Coen Brothers movie (No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading. Mmmm. Maybe they should consider her writing. . . .
I guess I just don't like Southern Gothic. Anyone want to recommend something else by her I might like?
Comments
I admire HER greatly. But her stories give me nightmares...although I do recognize that faith is their answer.
What I'd recommend is a book ABOUT her (and three other Catholic writers): THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN (I think the author is David Elias). It puts her writing in the context of her life.
Posted by: Kalynne Pudner | September 29, 2008 10:04 AM
Flannery is not for everybody, but I wouldn't put Wise Blood in the same category as No Country for Old Men. Her stories are quite striking and violence is certainly there, but there is such a deep level to her novels that truly make them Catholic novels despite the fact that Southern Protestantism is the usual narrative of her characters.
There is a reason she is seen as one of the greatest Catholic writers and I would certainly giver her another shot, perhaps "The Violent Bear It Away"
Posted by: Jeff Miller | September 29, 2008 10:05 AM
Since I share a hometown with Ms O'Connor I thought I'd chime in:) I haven't read it in awhile, but I think you might find Evereything That Rises Must Converge more interesting. It's about a mother and son, the old south vs the new south. It's one of those stories where you can almost recognize the characters.
I like A Good Man is Hard to Find, too. But it's a little like the pleasure you get from picking a scab...
Southern Gothic is not really my cup of tea either, but there is a little dark side to me that appreciates O'Connor.
Just as a side note, there are two little Flannerys in my homeschool group and a little boy we know is named O'Connor - she's certainly a local legend:)
Posted by: Shannon M | September 29, 2008 10:29 AM
Barbara,
Flannery O'Connor is pretty much consistently dark. The first thing I read by her was the short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" in my Comp II class last year. It was good, but at the end, I was like, "OH, my goodness!!!". They don't generally have happy endings. However, the points she makes are generally very good. You might like "Revelation". I enjoyed it.
All that said, I read "Wise Blood" this summer, and I found it to be pretty profound. I thought the message that she illustrated without actually preaching was this: If you preach the church without Christ, while you might find temporary freedom, you also take away the only way to redemption. Motes tried awfully hard to atone for his sins, but to no avail...because, without Christ, there was no atonement for his sins.
She's definitely not a cheery writer, but I have appreciated a lot of her writing.
Posted by: Rachel | September 29, 2008 11:01 AM
She's pretty brutal in all her writing. As you know, she was a devout Catholic who was keenly interested in our inherent sin, redemption, the collision of life and death.
Really, she'll depress the heck out of most people---but I love her writing.
I wrote my senior seminar paper on her work in college.
I've been trying to think of something more cheery and a little less surreal from her...the first piece that popped in my mind is "A Stroke of Good Fortune" which is a short story. Nobody dies! Ultimately life-affirming. You can finish it in 15 minutes. You'll find it in her short story collection, A Good Man is Hard To Find.
"A Late Encounter with the Enemy" is another short story with a good deal of humor (in my opinion), but it still manages to have a bleak, shocking ending.
I don't think she's for everyone. Could be the genre, definitely. McCullers, Faulkner, O'Connor and their ilk can be troubling on many levels.
Posted by: gretchen from lifenut | September 29, 2008 11:16 AM
Try her letters.
Posted by: Julana | September 29, 2008 12:12 PM
I second Julana-her collected letters are very good and you'll get to know Flannery.
Posted by: Betty | September 29, 2008 2:54 PM
Also . . . her short stories need, IMO, to be re-read and re-read, and discussed with another reader. I love assigning my favorites to my children as they hit high school, as they are astonished by all that is there, and our discussions peel back more layers. I remember being shocked at the darkness my first exposure, but I don't see it anymore for all that is there.
Posted by: kimberly | September 29, 2008 10:51 PM
They're pretty much all like that. But I read all her letters (a book collection) years ago and really loved it. I also like dark fiction, so did read all of her fiction twenty years ago (I go through these periods), even though I didn't "get" it.
Anyway, she's not for everyone. A college professor I admired told me she hated her, which made me feel better because I was mystified by her fiction when I read it.
Posted by: Mel | September 30, 2008 2:53 AM
Can't believe you posted on this, because it leads to a question I was going to ask you. First though, I just finished reading "The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature,"(a book I would highly recommend) and found it a great overview and interesting bit of education. Here is what the author said about Flannery O'Connor:
"If the theme of Faulkner's fiction is that you can never really get a fresh start, the theme of Flannery O'Connor's is that you can-- but only at an enormous price." and "O'Connor was a Catholic--she called herself a hillbilly Thomist--who found in her native Bible Belt the perfect setting for stories in which God's grace pierces through human defenses to offer self-satisfied, stiff-necked human beings one last chance to repent." and "The grace O'Connor wrote about was not a comfortable thing." and finally, under the heading "What They Don't Want you to Learn From Flannery O'Connor," "Even modern liberals aren't immune to original sin."
Now for my question: Our entire canon of wonderful literature was written by many people, mostly men,who were not particularly virtuous. Kind of a "love the writer,hate the sin" thing. Are you aware of any book that highlights the works from writers of great integrity? Or who later converted? If not, I thought it would be a great book project for you :)
Posted by: Marie | September 30, 2008 8:53 AM
This is a very belated thank you to all of you who took the time to share your experience and thoughts about what other Flannery O'Connor writing I might turn to next.
I will definitely check out her personal writings.
I think sometimes we have things embedded into our psyches from our individual pasts that cause us to respond strongly to some things in a way that is beyond rational grasp. I can walk into a room sometimes and feel overcome by depression because of the color of paint or the lighting. I can meet people and feel a gothic sadness/darkness. Gothic and I do not mix :)
I never liked William Faulkner, though in my more literary pretentious days I was careful to read him. And some of my best friend (hello Mel) love the Poisonwood Bible, but I could not get past 30 pages.
Right now I am back to reading novels about Chinese women - a fancy Maddy and and I share. And have Ann Rice's book Called Out of Darkness waiting in the wings.
Then, I resolve to give FO another chance.
Posted by: barbara | October 17, 2008 4:02 PM
