Short Story Geniuses/Flannery O'Connor

[Rechka]

I recently picked up a copy of Harold Bloom's How to Read and Why. I've only read the first chapter on short stories. I thought it would be a little more theoretical but so far it seems nothing more than Bloom trying to sell you his favourite authors. But then again I should have known this.

Thanks to him though, I have discovered writers that I might not have been bothered to look for. For example: Guy de Maupassant. I didn't really care to read him but boy, was I missing something.

Borges. He's not read as much as you might think throughout Latin America. Perhaps because he can be a little overwhelming, with all his knowledge and references and so it's really the braniacs or wannabe braniacs who prefer him. When it came to him I always passed. However, last week I read Tlön, Uqbar and Orbis Tertius and I was completely blown away by this man who truly was nothing less than a genius.

I also have to thank Bloom for discovering Flannery O'Connor. According to him, "the best way to read her stories is to begin by acknowledging that one is among her damned, and then go on from there to enjoy her grotesque and unforgettable art of telling." *indifference*

He recommends reading A Good Man is Hard to Find as an introduction to O'Connor. It is the story of a grandmother, her son, his wife and their three children who are on a car trip when they run into an escaped convict and his two subordinate killers. When the grandmother sees the convict, she foolishly reveals his identity thus dooming herself and all her family. *Doom, eh?* He certainly had me there. :D I found the story online. It was funny, sad, and grotesque all at the same time, very much what life can be like. Oh, the ironies.

I ordered The Complete Stories and I'm really enjoying them. I find it hard to believe that she is almost completely unknown throughout Latin America. I don't know how much more popular she is in North America or elsewhere but she was a very gifted writer.

[IWilKikU]

Bloom has good taste in books, but alot of critics feel like 'selling his favorite authors' is all his critisism consists of. Terry Eagleton said in a review of How to Read and Why, "He's given us many reasons to read these great authors, but what he hasn't done is given us a reason to read Harold Bloom." :lol: His critisism tends to make HUGE statements, which are brilliant (such as his Shakespeare thesis), and than ramble on about how swell whatever author he's writing on is without getting to any descent critisism. He's a bit frustrating in the sense that you can't use his books for bits and pieces. In order to use them academically, you have to read them cover to cover and remember every little bit along the way :rage:. IMO How to read and Why could be just as easily summerized as a list of authors without saying ANYTHING about them and achive the same effect. He does like making lists of his favourite people, eg. Genious and The Western Canon.

[bouquin]

Guy de Maupassant is one of my favorites. I read his short stories over and over again; one that I will always remember is The Necklace.

[ellen c]

from my book of American Lit. -
she had a realistic intelligence, an ironic and unsentimental approach to lit. creativity. There is a simplicity in her novels and short stories, a basic acceptance of the human situation, that illuminates and justifies her choice of subject matter. She admitted to a preference for the vulgar and the grotesque, but her sympathetic detachment presents her characters in an appealing and unforgettable light.

one of my very favourite American writers

[bouquin]

I have just recently finished a story by Gogol. Literature Network has it on-line and the title is The Cloak. It is a fantastic tale in more ways than one!
I have also recently discovered the short stories of E. L. Doctorow and Sherman Alexie, they are excellent.

[Eagleheart]

I have just recently finished a story by Gogol. Literature Network has it on-line and the title is The Cloak. It is a fantastic tale in more ways than one! Brilliant story indeed...I am fascinated with Russian literature as a consequence of a long process of exploration, which started with this tale...

[muhsin]

Rechka,
This is nice of you.
Why nice? Through something you think isn't as good as you expected it might have been. I now too come to knowing authors that I had never heard of. And not because they aren't good ones but.....I don't know why. I'll, by God's grace, start reading them. They seem very brilliant from other replies.