Russell Shaw has a piece on Flannery O’Connor commemorating the 40th anniversary of her anthology Everything That Rises Must Converge.
For those who may not be famliar with her, Flannery O’Connor is commonly regarded as one of the greatest American Catholic authors of the 20th century.
Her own stories contain chills as horrible as those of H. P. Lovecraft’s–made more horrible by the fact that hers aren’t supernatural. Also unlike Lovecraft, her horrors are redeemed by her staunchly Christian and Catholic worldview.
Quoth O’Connor: "All of my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it."
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Author: Jimmy Akin
Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."
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Russell Shaw has a piece on Flannery O’Connor commemorating the 40th anniversary of her anthology Everything That Rises Must Converge.
LOVE Flannery. I highly recommend Habit of Being – the collection of her letters.
Flannery O’Connor is commonly regarded as one of the greatest American Catholic authors of the 20th century.
One of the greatest? Who’s better? 😉
Another good book on O’Connor: “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” by Paul Elie. Examines the ties between O’Connor, Merton, Day and Percy.
Still remember the cold chill up my spine the first time I read “A Good Man is Hard to Find”.
Can anyone recommend a book by O’Conner to someone who’s never read her before (me)?
I won’t argue that he’s a better author than Flannery, but Walker Percy is right there with her when it comes to great American Catholic authors of the 20th century. They had great respect for one another, but they apparently only met once, briefly and somewhat awkwardly. A nod also goes to J.F. Powers, another master of the short story.
As for starting to read Flannery, I say start with any of the short stories, then move on to the novels. For what it’s worth, my CatholicExchange.com article on Flannery, from a couple of years ago, can be read here…
Actually I’d recommend reading her letters before any of her works — they provide a view of her depth and character and her strong orthodox Catholic faith. They are available in the book “Habit of Being,” as mentioned above, but also in their entirety (including letters not contained in Habit of Being) in the book “Flannery O’Connor: Collected Works” published by Library of America (available on Amazon).
Her life was brief, but her candle burned brightly.
‘thann
Her short story “Revelation” was required reading in a foundational theology course I took once.
Flannery’s “Mystery and Manners” is, I think, one of the finest books ever written about the art of fiction. A must read for any author (regardless of what you write) and really for any reader. Everyone should read it! Jerry B. Jenkins and Dan Brown, are you listening?
I did my final term paper on ‘Wise Blood’–longest, yet easiest paper to write! I cannot wait to meet her in Heaven.
A Good Man is Hard to Find is one of the most frightening things I’ve ever read because it’s a scnenario that could happen on any lonely stretch of road.