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Loading... Everything That Rises Must Converge: Stories (original 1965; edition 1965)by Flannery O'Connor (Author), Robert Fitzgerald (Introduction)
Work InformationEverything That Rises Must Converge: Stories by Flannery O'Connor (1965)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. FYI Stephen Colbert reads this here. ( ) Book on CD performed by by Bronson Pinchot, Karen White, Mark Bramhall, and Lorna Raver. 3.5*** I’ve been meaning to read O’Connor for quite some time, and a challenge to read a book published the year I was fifteen, led me to this collection of short stories published posthumously, after O’Connor died at age 39 from complications of lupus. I like Southern literature, and particularly Southern Gothic literature. The dark themes explored in such works intrigue and interest me. O’Connor excelled at this. She gives us characters with flaws (both obvious and slightly hidden) and forces them to interact with others frequently against a backdrop of racial tension. (In this collection, the title story Everything that Rises Must Converge and the final one Judgment Day focus on the changing perceptions in 1950s-1960s America.) O’Connor also frequently includes religion, and her characters sometimes show a change in their religious adherence. While her characters may be blind to their (and others’) faults, the reader has a clear view. There are occasional bits of … well, not exactly “humor” but lighter observations which lessen the tension and give the reader a short break from the frequently bleak story. The audiobook features a quartet of talented voice artists. Unfortunately, I cannot clearly tell which person narrated which story, other than the men taking on those stories that primarily featured a male point of view; while the women voiced the tales with a female point of view. Assigning stars proved to be a challenge for this title. This collection of short stories bears little resemblance to my limited exposure to O'Conner's writing, namely "The Gift of the Magi". She writes with confidence shaping believable characters creating places and situations that ring true. However, these stories lack a single sympathetic character. Each one -- man, woman, child or adult -- is uniquely blind, bigoted, selfish, calculating, arrogant, and often sinister. As a reward some unique death or living death awaits them all. I have become interested in Southern writers so I listened to this on my afternoon commute. The stories were dark with deeply flawed characters. My mother has given me her collection of Flannery O'Connor books. I think I need to read a bit more to be able to provide any useful commentary. Interesting side note is that independently of this listen, my morning devotional reading has introduced me to the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin from whose work Omega Point" contains the following quote. "Remain true to yourself, but move ever upward toward greater consciousness and greater love! At the summit you will find yourselves united with all those who, from every direction, have made the same ascent. For everything that rises must converge." I am working to see the connection between this Chardin's and this collection of stories. no reviews | add a review
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This collection of nine short stories by Flannery O'Connor was published posthumously in 1965. The flawed characters of each story are fully revealed in apocalyptic moments of conflict and violence that are presented with comic detachment. The title story is a tragicomedy about social pride, racial bigotry, generational conflict, false liberalism, and filial dependence. The protagonist, Julian Chestny, is hypocritically disdainful of his mother's prejudices, but his smug selfishness is replaced with childish fear when she suffers a fatal stroke after being struck by a black woman she has insulted out of oblivious ignorance rather than malice. Similarly, "The Comforts of Home" is about an intellectual son with an Oedipus complex. Driven by the voice of his dead father, the son accidentally kills his sentimental mother in an attempt to murder a harlot. The other stories are "A View of the Woods," "Parker's Back," "The Enduring Chill," "Greenleaf," "The Lame Shall Enter First," "Revelation," and "Judgment Day." Flannery O'Connor was working on Everything That Rises Must Converge at the time of her death. This collection is an exquisite legacy from a genius of the American short story, in which she scrutinizes territory familiar to her readers: race, faith, and morality. The stories encompass the comic and the tragic, the beautiful and the grotesque; each carries her highly individual stamp and could have been written by no one else. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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