Flannery O'Connor and 'Wise Blood'

[Jack_Aubrey]

An uncle of mine just recommended her to me, and I was wondering if any of you guys have read her and what you think about her stuff.

[Basil]

I think she's great. O'Connor is generally considered a master of the short story form, but her first novel Wise Blood has always been my favorite. One of my favorite short stories by her is "Good Country People." (http://www.geocities.com/cyber_explorer99/oconnorgoodcountry.html) If you like that, you'll probably like her other stuff as well.

[Scheherazade]

Hi Jack,

Nice to see you back! :) I have been recommened O'Connor's stories by a friend who is rather fond of her as well. I would like to give her a try. If you like, we can pick something and read it together?

(Promise no quizes or deadlines! :D)

[Jack_Aubrey]

That sounds excellent, why dont we just read her first novel?

[dellacor]

O'Connor lived and wrote on a farm on Georgia; raised peacocks, died at age 39 (I think) of a long-debilitating illnes. A devout Catholic. In one novel, woman plucks out one of her eyes because of Biblical verse "If one of your eyes troubleth thee, pluck it out before it (damages?) the other."

[Scheherazade]

That sounds excellent, why dont we just read her first novel?Great! I have ordered Wise Blood today, which means I can get it sometime next week (hopefully).

Thanks for the suggestions, Basil! I will read "Good Country People" soon as well.

[mono]

With no exaggeration, if you read short stories by Flannery O'Connor, you will find some of the best, most thought-provoking, and intelligent short stories in short fiction literature. A few terms ago, in a college English class, we read a series of her short stories, and I have felt attached ever since.

[Jay]

Scher & Jack, if you wait till some September 19, I should be able to join as my uni library owns two! copies of Wise Blood. Though by then you'll have read it. Never mind, so I'll be late... again :p
It's funny I've got the most 'free' time to read while at school... ah well :D

[Sancho]

Hi guys,
I’d like to join in on this fray myself. I’ve been a long time Atlanta resident, and an almost permanent Southerner, and of Irish decent, and yet I’ve never read Flannery O’Conner. So, I’m off to the county library to pick up a copy of Wise Blood.

[mono]

Hi guys,
I’d like to join in on this fray myself. I’ve been a long time Atlanta resident, and an almost permanent Southerner, and of Irish decent, and yet I’ve never read Flannery O’Conner. So, I’m off to the county library to pick up a copy of Wise Blood.
How ironic, as I think that Flannery O'Connor also came from Georgia, if I remember my last term of American literature correctly. She lived a very short, mysterious, but fascinating life. A brief biography, for anyone interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannery_O'Connor

http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/bailey/flannery.jpg

[shortysweetp]

i read one of her short stories cannot remember the title but it was good very interesting

[Scheherazade]

I have got my copy from the library today; will start reading tomorrow! :)

[Jack_Aubrey]

Might take me a while to go out and get it. I just started school so I'm a little busy. Also, did you edit my thread title?

[Scheherazade]

I finished reading Wise Blood over the weekend. I was expecting to read a story about another Blanche DuBois, told from a female perspective, possibly quite femininely.

Well, I was wrong.

O'Connor's style of writing 'had me from "Hello"':
Their hands were resting on the table, red-speared at the tips.I loved her acute observations and almost raw, painfully realistic style. As much as I love the way she tells her story, I won't be able to say that I understand all she has to say. The misery and sadness of the characters left me quite upset and I am wondering if I am able to appreciate it as it should. Maybe being a Southerner or a Christian would have helped.

All said, I loved the book. I will re-read it again sometime soon, along with her short stories.

*edit*

Also, does 'yellow jacket' mean something special here?
[Sabbath] had the disposition of a yellow jacket and you could hear her a block away, shouting and screaming at him, and him never opening his mouth.

[Sancho]

Hi guys,
I finally picked up my copy of Wise Blood today and I’m anxious to sink into my big ‘ole reading chair tonight and get started but first I have to paint a bedroom - yuk.

Scheherazade, I’m assuming that by “yellow jacket” she was simply referring to a type of native bee. Yellow jackets build their nests in the ground and they are angry and aggressive. They’re sort of a miniature version of a hornet (we’ve got them here too).

My last encounter with a yellow jacket nest was last summer. I was digging a hole in my yard to plant a Japanese maple when my shovel bisected a yellow jacket nest. After running around my yard, swatting and hollering for about five minutes, I went into my house, took a Benadryl, laid down on the floor, and waited to puff up like Michelin Man. I did.

Also, as far as Blanche DuBois is concerned, Atlanta is a long ways from New Orleans in both miles and attitudes.

[Jack_Aubrey]

Might take me longer than I thought. I'm planning on reading 'Look Homeward, Angel' when I'm done with 'Trop of Cancer'.

[Scheherazade]

I’m assuming that by “yellow jacket” she was simply referring to a type of native bee. Yellow jackets build their nests in the ground and they are angry and aggressive. They’re sort of a miniature version of a hornet (we’ve got them here too).Thank you, Sancho. It makes much more sense now why O'Connor compares Sabbath to a 'yellow jacket'! :p
Also, as far as Blanche DuBois is concerned, Atlanta is a long ways from New Orleans in both miles and attitudes.Well, I wouldn't know! To me it is like 'Potato/potato', 'grass/grass', 'tomato/tomato' - It doesn't make much sense in writing but you know what I mean... When I think of an American woman from the South, I think of either Scarlet or Blanche! :D

*revels in her ignorance*