Complete Stories

To be honest I had never heard of Flannery O'Connor before seeing it advertised in the back of a copy of Jack Finney's `The body snatchers'.O'Connor's stories are mostly pretty short but she somehow managed to pour more feeling and description into them than many writers manage in a whole novel.Set in the deep south of an America now long gone. Her protagonists are poor, both white & black,(be aware that her reference to black Americans may have been seen as sympathetic and forward thinking for her day and although still sympathetic in viewpoint she used language that is distinctly racist in the modern world),. Often scrabbling to survive they all share common points. They are lonely, often confused, ground down by life or by the many selfish & harmful predators who they meet or share their lives with and hope is something long since extinguished in their lives.There are exceptions to those rules here and there but they are few and far between.O'Connor's ability to place her reader on a sweltering sidewalk in a fading main street in nowheresville or in the kitchen of a broken down shack is startling and is what at first keeps you reading. The detail somehow seems almost too much to take in yet takes up so little of the narrative that it's impossible not to be drawn in. Then the characters grow too so that although you move from story to story quickly the characters stay with you and their plight & that brief moment of their lives you've been shown lingers in the memory long after you've put the book down.Not every story appeals to everyone but so many do that the overall feeling of `being there' and the emotion you feel remains deep and affecting.This collection is testament to a talent that has, certainly in this country, been overlooked and really ought to be as feted amongst the classics.An excellent collection of stories that hold a magnifying glass over the human condition and leaves an indelible impression upon the reader.

Harrowing strories, dark and bleak.

Knowing how short and filled with pain Flannery O'Connor's life was (she lived mostly hidden away at her farm, and died at only 39, after long periods of excruciatingly painful illness), might, perhaps, explain the relentless misery her short stories amount to. Her novels, by the way, aren't any happier.As I struggled through this extraordinary book, I must admit I was torn. On the one hand, you can't help but gasp in admiration at the wonderful style: straight to the point, uncluttered, unsentimental prose; observations of places and people so detailed, and rendered in such original but unpretentious ways that puts "beautiful" writers like Updike and Bellow to shame; sparse but immensely powerful characterizations. On the other hand, the overall feeling the stories induce is one of unrelenting gloom and misery, and after a while you can't take it anymore - you put the book away, and dread coming back to it because it will only bring more literary punishment.Flannery, that young talented woman, picked, it seems, the worst of humankind as her subject. Sadism, including child-on-child cruelty; horrific murder, just for the sake of it; the killer effects of stupidity and cruelty combined; abuse and prejudice of all sorts; violence; racism so pervasive, you feel that not even the Apocalypse will dislodge it from people's hearts and minds; and, generally, all-around peril and the meaninglessness of life - this is the sad, sad vision this wonderful writer created. It's pure horror, albeit beautifully understated. Life really is like Hobbes described it ('solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short'), and the genius of Flannery perhaps was to show that life is made so not by living outside society, but by the very society we live in. She certainly did not let us avert our eyes!The saddest thing is that everything rings true. The worst thing is that, seeing what's happening in our world today, we have no choice but to conclude that human beings are, now, as inhumane and stupid as they were in the time and place of Flannery O'Connor, in the Deep South of the 1930s and 1940s. People's capacity to do evil unto others has no sell-by date. So, it's an aesthetically pleasing but unhappy, deeply uncomfortable read.

If you've never heard of this author then I would urge anyone to give her a try. The stories are short and as powerful as a punch in the stomach. These are worlds which, although seeming to be perfectly ordinary and everyday, are, in some ways are so strange and weird, they might almost be inhabiting science fiction territory

Bizarre: as you might expect from American Gothic. I love the insight into the hard lives of the poor. It makes me glad I am comfortable. It is also interesting on many other levels.

Every sentence so very rich. What a loss to the literary world when O'Conner died at a relatively young age. A thousand thanks to Robert Giroux for his enlightening introduction which enhances the book and helps the reader know a little more about Flannery O'Conner.Anne forrest

Bought as a gift...it was just what my friend wanted.

Fantastic deep southern gothic tales. Compulsive reading.

I am excited to read these stories. I have only read the introduction so far but as a woman I am delighted to know that another woman who loved to write even when she wasn’t sure what she was going to say stuck with it. Flannery O’Connor should be read by everyone.

I read a few Flannery O’Connor short stories when I was in college, and vaguely remember their quaintness and provocativeness. But revisiting her writing at this phase of my life (I’m in my 70’s), I appreciate her all the more. If I’m going to take time away from family and life responsibilities, I want that time to be spent in a worthwhile, even memorable way. And Miss O’Connor’s fiction more than justifies the time and effort.Her writing is exquisite. She paints verbal pictures of unique, unforgettable characters and situations. Being a Southerner myself, I identify with and savor the vivid locations in which most of her short stories are set. And yet she transcends her regional roots in the universal themes of good and evil, hypocrisy and self-delusion, among many others, that run through her characters and their lives.I also enjoyed tracking the themes of her devout Catholic faith as they wind themselves in and around her collection of admittedly odd and yet recognizable individuals. The many ways we humans ignore, embrace, or fail to see and appreciate the irruption of grace into our lives is prominent in her stories. And the shocking, often violent endings remind us of the fragility and unpredictability of life.This book contain 31 of her best known short stories. It is sturdily bound for a paperback and the print is legible to my aging eyes. It is modestly priced and well worth the cost. So it is a lot for a little. This is a wonderful opportunity to revisit this renowned writer or meet her for the first time. Each story can be read in an hour or two at the most. What a delightful way to spend valuable and all too elusive time for yourself.My two favorite authors of fiction are Flannery O’Connor and fellow Southerner and Catholic,Walker Percy. The captivating writing of both rewards the modern reader who has many choices, little time, and yet wants entrancing stories that almost “read themselves” because they are so darn good.

Very critical, at times funny, often tragic, insightful look at a culture.The racial aspect of the stories is at times hard to read and being honest (for me at least) was sometimes problematic but, apart from that, this book is a marvel. Beautifully written, as for the language itself and as for the structure, the construction of each story. Some of them are true knockouts. These were my favorites.A Stroke of Good FortuneThe Heart of the ParkA Good Man is Hard to FindThe RiverGreenleafA View on the WoodsThe Enduring ChillThe Patridge FestivalThe Lame Shall Enter First

Looking forward to reading this title. Despite the modern day criticism of O'Connor's style language and bias, this title has not been censored and sanitized and is an accurate, historical depiction of earlier times worth learning about.

southern perspectives, sensitive descriptions