Reviews

So first off, thanks to Ethan for giving me this collection. What a guy!

I really loved reading these. If you're looking for more about Wiseblood, I did a separate review of that.

Wiseblood - Probably my favorite out of the three and I good start for new readers of O'Connor. The main character is griping and ultimately the story resolves in that perfect O'Connor Southern Gothic way.

The Violent Beat It Away - Also very good, but perhaps a little slow at parts. Even saying that is being a little too critical but if I didn't, my review would be full of nothing but glowing praise. This one continues the theme of characters trapped in their own perspectives, seeking meaning through religion (Christianity). There's a really intriguing and profound way O'Connor cultivates these characters who see the world through the lens of their upbringings (through Christianity, through cultural norms of the South) and how this leads to conflict, contradiction, or tragedy. This one in particular focuses on three generations of the same family so there is a thread of familial bonds that runs through the novella. Definitely worth the read, but perhaps not quite as compelling as Wiseblood.

Everything That Rises Must Converge - Where these short stories lack in substance and development, they more than make up for in their dramatic shifts and powerful characters. It doesn't take much for O'Connor to detail a character before you feel a certain kinship or at least a striking familiarity. But this may be a personal disposition I have towards her setting and writing in general. I thought at first they would not be able to compensate for the short length, but I was proved wrong for every story. Even now, I can't pick out certain ones that I found better than the others because they were all such magnetic portraits of people or situations. Again, each ends with a dramatic flair or a sort of anticlimactic cynicism. But a few also added in creative descriptions of landscapes or images that became a cryptic symbolism for the characters struggling to move forward with their lives. And many fruitfully aligned a resolute "I know what's right" in the face of a looming "you must decide" with southerners struggling against changing social and cultural norms.

I read the three in the order of my book (WB, TVBIA, ETRMC), but I almost think it might be better to read the short stories first, to get a feel for O'Connor's world and then move to the novellas. But I could be persuaded otherwise.

Here's another general comment I made on a separate occasion:
"She talks about peoples drive for meaning in a meaningless word through religion and I can feel it in my bones. Her characters are very alive even if they are exaggerated caricatures of our darker sides."
I think there's some truth to this, but I would add that the characters at times are less exaggerated and hit closer to home than you (or I) may realize. And as far as meaning goes, well that's where the tragedy steps in. Even if the characters aren't romantics lost in idealism, they are seeking and yearning for something. Assurance? Assurance about what to do? Assurance that what they're doing is right? Or perhaps affirmation is another way to think about it.

lindseygwilson's review against another edition

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Now I'm working on Everything That Rises. I have read this before, or perhaps this is the one that a short story was made from, and I've read the short story.

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I just read The Violent Bear It Away. I've previously read Wise Blood. Still need to read Everything That Rises Must Converge at some point, but I prefer to take my Flannery in small doses at a time.