Karen, last year, I read two short story collections based on your recommendation in 'On Reading Well', and one of them was Flannery O'Connor's collection featuring 'A Good Man is Hard to Find'. I was very impressed by her skill and truthfulness. Her work is deservedly remembered and worth reading, but it was also viscerally disturbing. I have been thinking about why and the word that came in explanation was "familiar". I might contrast Flannery with another Southern rural author, Wendell Berry. My rural childhood home, although not in the South, was/is in many ways the bucolic natural retreat that Berry extolls, but the violent world that Flannery depicts ran very close and at times has threatened our peace.
That is such a powerful picture: the two very different worlds being so near one another. I think that’s an insightful image of much of our experiences today.
FOC is viscerally distributing to the extreme. I don’t know why I’m drawn to that kind of literature. It wakes me up somehow. But I like Berry, too. Brings me back to peace and quietude.
Oh this does something to me! Thanks for sharing that insight holly! It reminds me of the southern gothic. I read about it long before I ever visited the Deep South. I was so entranced by experiencing the beauty and realizing the horror as we traversed Charleston and its charm, its slave markets, its plantations, its heat, and the willows. O’Conner and Berry do very much co-exist!
Karen, I am also looking for your post on I Cheerfully Refuse. Didn’t you write something about it? I just finished! It’s my second book of Enger’s. I could write to you for a long time on him, but I want to go back and see what you said!
Hey Karen, have you seen the new book of poems - Sonnets, no less - by Angela Alaimo O'Donnell, composed as response to O'Connor's life and work? It's called Andalusian Hours: Poems from the Porch of Flannery O'Connor. (Edit: actually, it's not new, released in 2020, so I'm guessing you have come across it).
Really enticing review - I'm not a movie buff but might see if I can track that one down sometime. Btw, underneath your review there are links to two more of your FOC articles on that site, plus a couple of pieces by other writers, which your readers might be interested in checking out.
I've read her Prayer Journal but have struggled to get into her fiction, despite being really keen to do so. Started to read Wise Blood a few months back but got bogged down. Her writing sounds like the literary equivalent to U2's Achtung Baby album so I really ought to enjoy it!
The Short Story is really her highest art. The novels aren’t as good. If you read Mystery and Manners (her essays) it explains her method. I wrote about two of her stories in On Reading Well. But, she is definitely not to everyone’s taste and that’s ok.
I should have mentioned: I have a chapter on O’Connor in my book On Reading Well: http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/on-reading-well/383354
Karen, last year, I read two short story collections based on your recommendation in 'On Reading Well', and one of them was Flannery O'Connor's collection featuring 'A Good Man is Hard to Find'. I was very impressed by her skill and truthfulness. Her work is deservedly remembered and worth reading, but it was also viscerally disturbing. I have been thinking about why and the word that came in explanation was "familiar". I might contrast Flannery with another Southern rural author, Wendell Berry. My rural childhood home, although not in the South, was/is in many ways the bucolic natural retreat that Berry extolls, but the violent world that Flannery depicts ran very close and at times has threatened our peace.
That is such a powerful picture: the two very different worlds being so near one another. I think that’s an insightful image of much of our experiences today.
FOC is viscerally distributing to the extreme. I don’t know why I’m drawn to that kind of literature. It wakes me up somehow. But I like Berry, too. Brings me back to peace and quietude.
Oh this does something to me! Thanks for sharing that insight holly! It reminds me of the southern gothic. I read about it long before I ever visited the Deep South. I was so entranced by experiencing the beauty and realizing the horror as we traversed Charleston and its charm, its slave markets, its plantations, its heat, and the willows. O’Conner and Berry do very much co-exist!
Karen, I am also looking for your post on I Cheerfully Refuse. Didn’t you write something about it? I just finished! It’s my second book of Enger’s. I could write to you for a long time on him, but I want to go back and see what you said!
https://open.substack.com/pub/karenswallowprior/p/the-tragical-history-of-the-life-216?r=90e4e&utm_medium=ios
THANK YOU!
I had a brief note about it in a previous newsletter here. Hold on…
My friend Cory Pyke produced this film, and I couldn’t be more excited to see it, and proud of his team’s efforts. So glad you enjoyed it!
Oh so cool! Please let him know the film is FANTASTIC!
Hey Karen, have you seen the new book of poems - Sonnets, no less - by Angela Alaimo O'Donnell, composed as response to O'Connor's life and work? It's called Andalusian Hours: Poems from the Porch of Flannery O'Connor. (Edit: actually, it's not new, released in 2020, so I'm guessing you have come across it).
I have not! I follow Angela’s work a little, but hasn’t seen that. Will check it out!
*hadn’t
This looks promising! I’ll have to plan a movie break for myself when it comes to streaming. Thanks for sharing your perspective. 🤗
Belly rubs to Ruby and Eva 😊
Ok, if you insist! 😅
Moose Tracks made me do it. He insists. 😂
🥰
Really enticing review - I'm not a movie buff but might see if I can track that one down sometime. Btw, underneath your review there are links to two more of your FOC articles on that site, plus a couple of pieces by other writers, which your readers might be interested in checking out.
Have you read any O'Connor, Richard? As Holly notes, she is the opposite of Wendell Berry in many ways.
I've read her Prayer Journal but have struggled to get into her fiction, despite being really keen to do so. Started to read Wise Blood a few months back but got bogged down. Her writing sounds like the literary equivalent to U2's Achtung Baby album so I really ought to enjoy it!
The Short Story is really her highest art. The novels aren’t as good. If you read Mystery and Manners (her essays) it explains her method. I wrote about two of her stories in On Reading Well. But, she is definitely not to everyone’s taste and that’s ok.
This just came into my inbox, an article on the value of short stories (you've maybe already seen it but others might not have): https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2024/05/94984/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-bookshelf-keep-it-short
When I read that chapter I thought, 'I really need to read her' and still hoping something might click someday.
Wonderful review! I hope this releases widely soon!