Flannery O'Connor & short stories in general

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 9:26 am

I originally deleted this post but I decided to post it anyway.

I recently read Flannery O'Connor's "Revelation" for a religion class of mine. I caught the bug and I checked out A Good Man is Hard to Find. I'm half-way through it now.

I love Flannery O'Connor, especially how she was so chronically religious and chronically sick (lupus) and incorporated so many religious messages in with her stories. I identify with her a lot and I wish she hadn't died so young because she could have written so much more. All my favorite writers seem to have been very very sick and died young.

Anyway, do you have any other personal favorite short stories, short story collections, or short story authors?

And what is your opinion on the short story format? I've fallen in love because I can read it all at once (which I guess is the point).

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 9:55 am

Flannery O'Connor is one of my favorite people ever. I went and bought The Complete Stories and I've probably read it through three or four times, now. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" (the story) is awe-inspriring, as is "The Life You Save May Be Your Own." And you'll probably get a kick out of "The River."

When you're talking American short stories, the Great Triumvirate consists of Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, and Flannery O'Connor. I love them all.

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:05 am

My absolute favourite short story has to be "First Confession" by Frank O'Connor. He's not a woman. He's not even Irish! He's American! But his stories have a convincing Irish flavour. Very good short stories, all the same.

Any collection by Kipling. He's not a woman either.

Lately finished a collection by Eudora Welty. She's a woman. Nicely written.

Kate Mansfield always seemed a bit too artistic. I always wondered what I'd just read, when I'd finished.

Recently I picked up a book of Short Stories by Irish Writers from 1970s.
The first half-dozen stories were all by women and were all concerning rape. I thought I'd picked up something from the Women's Press. (I like the Women's Press! - Especially "The Adventures of Alyx" by Joanna Russ. But this was seriously creepy.) Then there were some by men, and stories dealing with other issues. Eeep.

Doris Lessing writes a good short story.

Neil Gaiman, too. (Male again).

carrie · Post by **carrie** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:20 am

Katherine Anne Porter is brilliant, in my opinion. "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" comes to mind (though I'm not sure you'd like the theme, Cran); her other stories are great, too.

Carol

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:30 am

Thank you people (especially to Carol, I will look for her upon my return to Kentucky).

The thing I think I love most about Flannery O'Connor's stories is how real they are to my own experiences in the rural South. I grew up in the rural South in a mix-raced (and pretty sharply segregated) apathetically religious family. This is what O'Connor wrote about.

Whenever I read reviews or critical pieces about Flannery O'Connor, they invariably speak of her and her stories in the vein of "how things were," especially with the use of the word flange being thrown around so much so casually. But they're all wrong.

Her stories do not show how things were in the South, they show how they still are. I think that's why I get captured so much. Flannery O'Connor only died a few decades ago and precious little has changed in the rural South. I find it kind of strange that the people who write about her and talk about the way things "were" seem to reside in New York or Atlanta. LOL.

I think I might change my name to Enoch Emery.

missy · Post by **missy** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:43 am

a good short story for this season is "The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke.

djm · Post by **djm** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:12 am

Look for collections by O. Henry.

djm

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:21 am

djm wrote:Look for collections by O. Henry.

djm

And Saki.

Both are masters of the very short story, the kind you can read all the way through in the bathroom, even if you do have enough fiber in your diet.

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:25 am

I've always been a huge fan of Thomas Hardy so here is a nice little collection of his short stories.

They are all wonderful but the last one is really something.

Slan,
D.

beowulf573 · Post by **beowulf573** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 12:16 pm

Susanna Clarke has a collection out called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ladies-Grace-Adie ... books">The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories</a>. I really enjoyed her first novel <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Strange- ... ">Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell</a> so I'm looking forward to picking this up.

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 12:43 pm

gonzo914 wrote:
djm wrote:Look for collections by O. Henry.

djm
And Saki.

Both are masters of the very short story, the kind you can read all the way through in the bathroom, even if you do have enough fiber in your diet.

If you like O. Henry and Saki, you should probably try Guy de Maupassant (he's French, but we forgive him) as well. They're all very clever writers.

djm · Post by **djm** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 12:47 pm

Wow! I can't remember how long it has been since I read The Withered Arm. And there goes half my afternoon, too. Thx, Dubh.

djm

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 12:51 pm

dubhlinn wrote:I've always been a huge fan of Thomas Hardy so here is a nice little collection of his short stories.

They are all wonderful but the last one is really something.

I almost feel bad saying this, but I don't care for Mr. Hardy's writing at all. I've read Jude the Obscure, and a good deal of his poetry as well, and none of it has struck me as particularly interesting or inspired. Let me try this "Withered Arm," then, just to see.

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 1:01 pm

And of course, there's Mark Twain. One of my favorites --
The "Jumping Frog" In English. Then in French. Then Clawed Back into a Civilized Language Once More by Patient, Unremunerated Toil.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 1:11 pm

djm wrote:Wow! I can't remember how long it has been since I read The Withered Arm. And there goes half my afternoon, too. Thx, Dubh.

djm

Ditto. I'll enjoy going through these.