Sunday, January 24, 2010

Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor by Brad Gooch

Last fall I read a review of this biography which made me realize that I have never read anything by Flannery O'Connor, so I resolved to read the biography and some of her work.

I started by reading her collection of short stories, "A Good Man is Hard to Find." I wouldn't say that I enjoyed the book, but the stories were well written. The stories were rather depressing and filled with all sorts of horrible events. I wasn't sure what to think.

I then borrowed "Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor" hoping that learning more about her life would help explain her writing, and it did.

I really enjoy reading autobiographies and memoirs, but I have found that I struggle with biographies (this one took me about 3 weeks to read). The beginning seemed a little slow and uninteresting, going through her childhood, but once I got about 1/3 of the way through and to where she was writing professionally the book became much more interesting. It was very interesting to see how her life and beliefs tied into the stories she wrote. I would definitely recommend reading this biography in order to better understand Flannery O'Connor and her stories. I look forward to reading her first novel, "Wise Blood" and well as re-reading "A Good Man is Hard to Find."

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