Book Review: Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor

Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor

Hazel Motes has just left the army and is wandering, looking for his place. He takes a train ride south, near to his home town but not quite there. He decides to become a preacher in Taulkingham, the small town he winds up in. But he doesn't preach Jesus, rather he proclaims the "Church without Christ," and looks for a new jesus that isn't all wrapped up in sin and redemption and forgiveness. Haze wants the freedom to behave the way he wants. He runs into a blind preacher, Asa Hawks, who has a young daughter. Asa is much more successful as a preacher and Haze follows him around. Haze is also befriended/stalked by Enoch Emery, a slightly younger man who also wants to live his own way but thinks he has a greater destiny. His destiny is written in his blood (the "Wise Blood" of the title) and his blood often leads Enoch along without letting him in on what the plan is. This story is Haze's, though, so it all comes down to him and his spiritual crisis in the end.

The tale spirals around, coming from different character's perspectives as the chapters change and the story progresses. The book reads quickly and is fascinating but also opaque. Few obvious explanations or interpretations are handed to the reader. The ending is fairly clear and perhaps sheds light on the preceding events. This book would definitely reward re-reading, which I will have to do after some time to mull it over.

Recommended (maybe highly recommended after I re-read it?).

Book Review: Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor

Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor

Everything That Rises Must Converge is a set of short stories published after the death of Flannery O'Connor's death in 1964. At face value, characters in her stories are hard to sympathize with. If the main character isn't a know-it-all, he or she is holier-than-thou. Often, characters (main or minor) are a mixture of the two. They think of themselves as pleasant and well-mannered but their preening is hardly justified. Delusions of goodness are often supported by daydreams that reinforce their egotistical world view. The stories end with a comeuppance or a moment of shocking self-awareness for the main character.

Most of the stories are set in the rural south of the United States. The conflicts arise from the intersection of the richer and the poorer, the educated and the uneducated, Christian and atheist, Caucasian American and African American. Both sides of the conflict have their weaknesses and errors that are invisible to them because of their self-assurance. The writing is even-handed if a bit pessimistic. Resolution comes at least with harsh words but more often with harsh violence.

The bittersweetness of the stories' endings is amazing to me. They show a moment where the character's ego is broken and he or she is opened to the truth about themselves and the world around them. Conversion of heart or mind, so necessary for these damaged people, is suddenly possible. Whether they embrace that moment of grace or not varies. But it is always fascinating.

The stories are a bit unpleasant but they are so well written and give so much food for thought, they are definitely worth reading.

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