the violent bear it away

Finished it last week. The characters are brilliant -- not in the British sense but in the sense that they practically shine off the page. Much darker than Wise Blood, which was whimsical and funny despite its bitterness, and darker even than most of the stories in A Good Man Is Hard To Find.

The tension in each episode is palpable. This is true even when the outcome of a given scene can be seen from a mile away, in part because O'Connor doesn't let on until the very end which way the main character, Frank Tarwater, will go. I feel stupid and clumsy trying to say anything deeper, although there's a lot more still churning around up there in my brain.

At one point, there's a rather startling bit of homophobic stereotyping. O'Connor's treatment of race and class and gender and mental illness and religion is so insightful that I admit to being rather disappointed as the scene in question unfolded. Oh well. On the whole, a fabulous book. Will re-read someday.

wise blood and a good man is hard to find

Flannery O'Connor was a genius, plain and simple. Picked up these two books (and a third, The Violent Bear it Away, which I'll read next) at Normal's in Baltimore for $2.50 total. They are hilarious and beautiful and strange and powerful. I started off Wise Blood thinking, "Oh, Faulkner lite but easier to understand." And then it became clear that she's not Faulkner lite, she's a completely different beast. Gothic, sure, in the fascination with freaks and monsters and the dark view of Christianity. But funny and clever and light on her feet, too.

Wise Blood is great but the short stories in A Good Man is Hard to Find are even better. The title story is among her most well-known, I think -- Claire and Dad had both read it before. But the highlight for me was "The Artificial Nigger," a story about a grandfather who takes his 12-year-old grandson into the city to "see all there is to see" and teach the boy some humility. They live alone, far out in the country, and the grandson is prideful and puts on airs and this drives the grandfather crazy, so he decides to teach the boy how awful the city is and how dependent the boy is on him. It does not go well. At the climax I felt like I got punched in the chest.

Can't wait for The Violent Bear it Away.