Thoughts on Flannery O'Connor? I read and immensely enjoyed a couple of her short stories so I decided to start 'Wise Blood' tonight. Liking it so far.
I dont read roasties
>>7791057
Reading the Complete Stories volume is a fantastic experience since it's arranged chronologically.
Complete Stories is excellent. I'm excited to read the rest of her output.
>>7791057
Wise Blood is amazing.
Yesterday I noticed something I found weird, I saw the cover of her book 'The Violent Bear it Away' and thought it looked weirdly familiar and reminded me of something I'd seen on /lit/ before. Then I realized that John Green used almost the exact same cover for his book 'Looking For Alaska.' This struck me as particularly odd because the first time I saw Green's work it felt like the antithesis of O'Connor's. While the intention of O'Connor's writing seems to be to make you feel like a naive little bitch and show you how harsh the world really is, Green talks down to you and tells you that you're special and that all of the cliche teenager-bullshit in your head is profound and has worth.
Was the resemblance between the covers intentional? Because I can imagine Green as a pussywhipped Christian being fan of O'Connor but him intentionally associating his work with hers seems to be much more of a stretch. He might write garbage but he's not stupid, I imagine he'd know that he'd be inviting some harsh comparisons by bringing to mind O'Connor.
>>7791066
She's like the ultimate anti-roastie though. She spent her whole life living in the country writing about how stupid everyone else is. She'd probably post here if she lived long enough.
>>7791057
Wise Blood is so fucking dope.
I ended up reading it in like a day cause I couldn't put it down.
It is hilarious and dark and insightful and clever and just... perfect.
>>7791127
>Green
>Christian
Wew lad that's a bit of a stretch
Could this thread please not die?
>>7791553
I didn't read any of her work so I can really only bump
>>7791553
What do anon's think was O'Connor's intention behind writing Wise Blood?
I see it as a harsh lesson for young people who think they know anything about anything. The protagonist has a chip on his shoulder and wants the whole world to know it but he never really seems to realize that the world doesn't give a shit and he's only hurting himself out of spite towards something he supposedly doesn't care about.
The zoo guard who loses it is a bit harder to get my head around though, his story was funny and sad but that's about all I got from it. The way that O'Connor writes about cities makes them feel like the most awful and alienating places in existence and I think that the zoo guard's story was a really strong example of how she can do that.
Posting some instagram whore who says 'lol fuck the canon John Green is the best writer eva!' can get 400 replies in a day surely a Flannery O'Connor thread at least deserves 40 before it dies.
>>7791562
Thanks anyway.
>>7791564
The thing is hate mobilizes more people than love. All of us can hate John Green and want to hatefuck the insta whore, but relatively few can participate in a discussion of an author few here have read.
I plan on reading her some time this year, but I'll seriously need to take a break from Catholic stuff because I'll turn my reading into a confirmation bias.
>>7791127
Is that really what you get from it? That she's writing about how stupid everyone is? I'm reading the a good man is hard to find shory story collection right now and I feel it's written with immense love for all of the characters in it not comparable to angry shitposting.
>>7791564
Did you read Fear And Trembling by Kierkegaard? I read it a few books after Wise Blood and it kinda completed the story tho.
>>7791599
No actually, that's interesting. I've never actually looked at any of Kierkegaard's work before, would you put his work on the same track as O'Connor's?
>>7791604
Only read Fear and Trembling, will start with The Concept of Axiety soon.
>would you put his work on the same track as O'Connor's?
When it comes to his views on faith in Fear And Trembling, yes. His analysis of Abraham explains Hazel's behavior.
>>7791611
Groovy, I'll look into that. Need to read more bible first though, as far as Catholics go I'm among the lapsedest.
>>7791651
Sacramental life>bible for understanding O'Connor as well as other Catholic authors.
>>7791656
Sacramental life?
>>7791686
Yes. Mass, confession, baptism, marriage, prayer and so on. Prevalence of Bible as core of spirituality is a protestant thing since Catholicism predates the bible and most forms of spiritual life were fit for illiterate people.
And due to the strong sacramental life you can notice how the very foundation of a work is specific to all other types of works, it's metaphysical and sacramental. You can really notice this in just about every Catholic writer of value, even in lapsed ones like Joyce in Portrait.
>>7791723
So the best way to understand the Catholics isn't anything I can read, I actually have to live like one?
No wonder Protestantism caught on.
>>7791727
Well yes, although reading certainly helps. It's a different type of mindset. Probably the best specific author who is both introductory and high quality would be Ratzinger, so Introduction to Christianity and Jesus of Nazareth trilogy.
>>7791611
OP here, ended up reading about half of Wise Blood last night. The comparison to Fear & Trembling is a very interesting one that I did not think of. I read that a long time ago, and was probably too young for it, but I see the connection you're making.
>>7791604
>I've never actually looked at any of Kierkegaard's work before, would you put his work on the same track as O'Connor's?
At the very least, they are both devoutly religious and seem to prefer the brutality of the old testament. Fear & Trembling is a philosophical work about Abraham's faith and sacrifice of his son. It's short and definitely worth a read if that sounds interesting to you.
>>7792001
I'm a big O'Connor fan, but Wise Blood is definitely her toughest work to get a full sense of because it touches on so many different themes (even though they all fall ultimately under the category of faith). I've only read it once though, I should start it over soon but I have a long reading list.
As far as her short stories go A Circle in the Fire and The Temple of the Holy Ghost are my favorites.
Has anyone seen the film adaptation of Wise Blood? It's on Hulu currently...
>>7792082
>How old were you when you read it?
18? It was a long time ago and before I read the actual story in the old testament. Needless to say, it was before I had the benefit of an older mind, more rigorous approach, and a philosophy degree, so the experience was more or less wasted on me. I still have the book and plan to re-read it eventually.
>Do you think The Concept Of Anxiety is a good one if a want to continue reading Kierkegaard?
I have only read Fear & Trembling by him.
Also what should I expect from The Violent Bear It Away? I already read her Complete Storied and Wise Blood.
Asking the wrong guy, you've read more of her stuff than me. I'd be curious to know this is as well though.
>>7791057
she's amazing. her short stories are great. wise blood is cool as fuck. I won't spoil the ending but i'll say I had to re-read it a few times. wise blood is one of my favorite novels for sure.
check out the old movie by john Houston. it's also great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtvjLdwEBMM
>>7791564
there are a lot of ideas tackled in wise blood but the main one to me washazel motes has no idea that he only pushes away from the idea of God and starts the church without Christ because of how desperate he is to have faith in his life.
>>7791727
You could also read about sacramental life.
>>7791057
I hate the phrase immensely enjoyed
>>7791564
The ultimate point of Wise Blood was that Hazel ultimately realized that he must become what he hated. He had to eliminate the selfishness and pride in his own being to truly come to understand and accept grace. Once he accepted that grace, the revelation that the only true way to live was through monastic and ascetic suffering. Essentially, the only thing that could give his life any meaning was the complete opposite of what he stood for. The Church of Christ Without Christ is a total Oxymoron, and once Hazel recognized and received this revelation he was able to realize how he must live to achieve peace (namely, denial of the self in service of God). Hence why he blinds himself. His name is a play on Matthew 7:5 Where Hazel has hazy vision because of the Motes in his eye and can not realize how hypocritical and contradictory his nature truly is. His self inflicted blindness is paradoxical in nature, for by burning his eye's out he has 'removed the mote' and can now 'see' more clearly than ever. Sacrifice and suffering remain for Hazel the only way to achieve salvation.
One of the best white writers of that time. The Enduring Chill is hilarious and bitter
