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Loading... Wise Blood (1952)by Flannery O'Connor
![]() » 27 more Southern Fiction (50) 1950s (86) Books Read in 2022 (465) Top Five Books of 2022 (482) 20th Century Literature (539) First Novels (107) Literary Witches (18) Read This Next (112) Books Read in 2003 (76) E's Reader (6) AP Lit (176) Greatest Books (27) Books (67) No current Talk conversations about this book. I believe that a book should alter me is some way - just to have read it. This book didn't touch me. The story is numb and leaves the reader with nothing. ( ![]() I listened to all of Wise Blood yesterday - it was so weird that I just could not stop listening. It was narrated by Bronson Pinchot who was full of fabulous with all of the characters and somehow managed over the top without going, well, too over the top with it. My first foray into Flannery O'Connor, and it was like reading something that William Faulkner and Neil Gaiman collaborated on as a companion piece to A Confederacy of Dunces - Southern gothic with all of its tragic glory, laced with dark humor, irony, and a definite sense of place. It's brilliant, and just when you think it can't get any weirder, it does. Somehow, Flannery wrote a carnival. I already want to listen again with the book in front of me so that I can mark quotes, but part of me fears that the entire book would be marked. Holy cow this was one strange story. Funny in spots but kinda nightmarish overall. Not terrifying but disjointed and sad and a more than a bit crazy. A good novel but I’m surprised it was considered publishable in the early 50s. I’m going to have to look into the history of the book, contemporary reviews, etc. My wife tells me there was a good movie made of the book - as I was reading it I thought it would have been a good Elia Kazan movie but it turns out that John Huston made the movie. I listed to the audiobook - I thought the voice actor (Bronson Pinchot) went overboard on weird southern accents, but maybe that was appropriate to the book. Didn't care for this at all I couldn't put it down. I love Flannery O'Connor's short stories so it's no surprise that her novel drew me in. The protagonist, Hazel Motes, the son of a preacher, returns home from war. His finds his family homestead abandoned and he has no one left. Hazel struggles with his religious convictions, claiming to be an atheist. After trying to convert others to his "new church" - Church without Christ. He single-mindedly devotes his life to his unbelief. In some ways this book reminded me of Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - the father as minster, the prodigal son, the heavy themes of beliefs. But Wise Blood is much harsher and is told from the point of view of the prodigal son unlike Gilead which is told from the point of view of the minister. One with a loving family and one with no family. Highly recommended to those who enjoy classics, southern literature, or Flannery O'Connor. no reviews | add a review
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HTML: The American short story master Flannery O'Connor's haunting first novel of faith, false prophets, and redemptive wisdom. No library descriptions found. |
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