Reviews with content warning for Racism - A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories

I was assigned to read this book for a writing class. We read a short story in between classes and then discussed it.
I think this is probably the best way to enjoy this book. Each story is deceptively simple with lots of ways that it can be read into.
Definitely feels very English class in the way that you’re meant to analyze it, but would probably be really good for something like a book club too.

We looked at it a lot from a Christian perspective, focusing on the idea of the grace of God being something that is both grotesque and holy. Lots of the stories had a sort of Jesus-type character, although interestingly he was not always a moral person. Most of the characters aren’t moral people, the short stories discuss a lot of the human condition and this idea of innate sinfulness. Often the main character of a story gets ‘saved’ in some capacity, but not usually a positive capacity that you might expect. It was pretty interesting.

I was uncomfortable though because the book used the n word and other slurs a lot of times. I’m used to listening to rap and stuff, but it definitely is more weird when some white lady writes it down. I guess this book is pretty old but it still felt weird to me, even if the point was that the people she wrote saying those things were not moral people. To Kill a Mockingbird type beat I guess.

Content Warnings

menshouldread's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

dalstellar's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

theres no reason for this to be read in this day and age. nothing of value, just an egregious amount of racism

Content Warnings

phantomgecko's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Southern gothic with no Southern romanticism, which I mostly like. These stories are dark. Most the characters are detestable, but you can still feel sympathy for them. "The Displaced Person" was a particularly illuminating look into why people are afraid of people that are different from them.

idk, these were thought provoking stories, but they are not fun to read.

Content Warnings

hnnhkbk's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

Loveable characters? No

0.5

um…… not for me. I finished this but at what cost

Content Warnings

fjordpingvin's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

More...