Flannery O'Connor discussion thread.
>>7839672
The frog posters will vent their usual bile, but she's a wonderful author
What have you read?
>>7839672
P R O B L E M A T I C
>Worse, she actively goaded another friend, deeply committed to the civil rights movement, with racist jokes. Not only did O'Connor tell the jokes, she apparently relished them, saving them up and spinning them out in a series of letters that have never been published. That she was (at times grudgingly) in favor of equality herself doesn't lessen the blow of this disclosure.
>>7839693
All of her short stories, Wise Blood and I'm almost done with The Violent Bear It Away. Love how she plays with symbolic meanings and how excessive she is when it comes to her plots and characters.
>>7839672
On top of the to-read list
>>7839726
Is she better in novels than in short stories?
>>7840153
Dunno what to say desu. Both of her novels are expansions of short stories.
In the case of Wise Blood, it expands a short storie which semt kinda cryptic by its own when I first read it.
The Violents Bear It Away continues the story of "You Can't Be Any Poorer Than Dead" and builds up a whole new motif from a character that is only mentioned in the original story.
>>7839708
B A S E D
>>7839672
She was an unironic Catholic and it made all her fiction sentimental trash.
>>7840222
Says the guy who would probably suck Cervantes dick
Reading Wise Blood right now. Pretty solid.
o
>>7840222
>There are no good Catholic writers
I wish mods actually banned people on this board.
>>7839672
I'm reading All that Rises Must Converge, 3/4 in and I'm stunned by how amazing she is. This is probably the best characterisation I've ever read. Dostoevsky wasn't as good at it, neither was Chekov nor Gogol or any other author known for it. All the sickness of the characters made me actively nauseus. Simply amazing.
The Violent Bear it Away is one of my favorite novels, and she was a great short story writer, too.
Read her two short story collections and Wise Blood. Didn't like any of it. Her stories have that annoying MFA feel. Wise Blood is just plain stupid.
I've only read the one in that Richard Ford Granta edition: The American Short Story. Would be good to hear some thoughts on it?
> Good Country People
>>7840153
many people say short stories (which range from good to great) but my favorite is wise blood. I think it's her masterpiece. it delivers a lot of her ideas of man wrestling with ideas of faith in a powerful way.
I've actually heard that O'Connor can't be truly appreciated by non-Catholics. How true do you think that is? One of the few times I've felt lucky to be raised Catholic.
>>7843322
empathy is at the heart of most religions.
I imagine television or facebook is the extent of your interaction with religious people which is stupid.
>>7843330
>I've actually heard that O'Connor can't be truly appreciated by non-Catholics.
I heard that toenail clippings cure cancer. seriously, O'Connor is for anyone with an open mind.
>>7843322
many of the greatest works of art...be it literature, visual art in paintings/sculpture or music (think bach, vivaldi, handel etc) are all people who were inspired by religious texts.
you are clueless about western civilization's history, yes?
>>7843335
Actually from small-town Alabama where there are a half-dozen churches in the town center, but okay.
Christianity as described in the Bible is all about empathy, but Christianity as preached by the Catholic church and all mainstream denominations has dispensed with that in favor of mean-spirited, tight-fisted nods to propriety and loopholes to allow the faithful to be as greedy as they please.
>>7843355
Confirmed at being shit at theology and not understanding the bible
>>7843351
>connection to spiritual feelings and planes of thinking
>rank and file Roman Catholic
Not the same thing. Pretty much mutually exclusive, in fact.
Thing is, I actually love the Christ of the Bible and his teachings. If it were all real I would be on board 100%.
>>7843362
Interesting that I never addressed theology, but okay, if you think that the gross corruption (indistiguishable from the un-churched) that is the church must necessarily reflect accurately on God, then I guess go worship that horrible God.
>>7843375
>Interesting that I never addressed theology
Not directly, but the comment spoke enough
>but okay, if you think that the gross corruption (indistiguishable from the un-churched) that is the church must necessarily reflect accurately on God, then I guess go worship that horrible God.
You do that
>>7843376
>Then Jesus said, "God into the world and amass capital so that the poors will know that I am Lord. It's going to be the best religion ever. It's going to be huuuge."
not
My real problem is that the Bible assures us that a holy spirit of wisdom and brotherly love will guide the church, and that this will be the only sign to look for going forth. This sign eludes me.
>>7843376
both of her novels deal with religion. I'm sure there has to be more than one short story that deals with religion at least indirectly in themes. last time I went through her short stories (the complete collection) was 5-6 years ago.
>>7843366
>Not the same thing. Pretty much mutually exclusive, in fact.
not to flannery O'Connor. why would anyone believe in any faith if they didn't consider it spiritually relevant/realistic?
>>7843399
I'm still going through one collection and even the one dealing with religion is ambivalent about it in a way.
>>7843395
The church is pretty much that. Having capital to build churches, universities and give priests enough money to have a decent life is completely fine.
I mean after all that as far as charity goes it's more active than the UN and runs most hospitals in the 3rd world. People constantly go to missions all the time.
>>7843423
>as far as charity goes it's more active than the UN and runs most hospitals in the 3rd world
They sainted a nun (making her a saint is a big deal, remember, that's the whole Church's authority behind someone) who ran a horrific death cult in those "hospitals" and RC hospitals in Latin America at least are notorious for hunting you down forever if you owe them. Those hospitals are a business, not a charity.
>People constantly go to missions all the time.
Somebody has to remind the residents of violent African nations that the local homosexuals deserve a little extra violence and that AIDS is preferable to condom use.
>>7843436
ARE YOU KIDDING ME???????
O'connor = pure pwnage of Protestants. Catholics FTW!
I haven't read anything by her, but she hated Ayn Rand, so I like her.
>>7839672
Just one of many ingenious Hibernian wordsmiths
