{"id":356960,"date":"2017-01-31T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-01-31T15:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/?p=356960"},"modified":"2017-01-30T21:36:27","modified_gmt":"2017-01-31T03:36:27","slug":"review-a-good-man-is-hard-to-find","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2017\/01\/review-a-good-man-is-hard-to-find\/","title":{"rendered":"Holiness and Horror (Review: &#8220;A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories&#8221;)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Everyone loves a happy ending, but the sad ones are way more interesting. That&#8217;s the basic premise of every story by the incredibly talented Flannery O&#8217;Connor. She was one of the greats of Catholic fiction, so for my last regular review for ATX Catholic, I encourage you to give her a try.<\/p>\n<p>The first of her stories I read was either &#8220;Good Country People&#8221; or &#8220;A Good Man Is Hard to Find.&#8221; I read them both for one of my English major classes back in undergrad, and they helped me see that short fiction is not just for fat English textbooks. Those two stories are the standout features of the collection <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Good-Hard-Find-Other-Stories\/dp\/0156364654\/\">&#8220;A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories,&#8221;<\/a> although each story shines and shocks on its own.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/sxc-angel-525x700.jpg?resize=525%2C700\" alt=\"A review of &quot;A Good Man Is Hard to Find,&quot; at ATX Catholic\" width=\"525\" height=\"700\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-356986\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s difficult to review short stories without giving away the endings, and with O&#8217;Connor, the endings are the best. She has the most skillful way of dropping the reader into the story, building up the characters and the intensity, and finally bringing the whole thing crashing down into rubble. Yes, every story has a twist. Some are twistier than others, and some are more horrible than others, but every story fits into O&#8217;Connor&#8217;s beautiful Southern gothic style.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In the title story, O&#8217;Connor introduces the collection with the perfect balance of limited omniscience. We know exactly what we need to of what runs through each character&#8217;s head and not one word more. The sharp turn toward relentless violence indicates what kind of stories you&#8217;re reading. Right off the bat, if you were looking for happy stories, you know after this one that you have picked up the wrong book.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;A Stroke of Good Fortune&#8221; employs a bit of Ernest Hemingway&#8217;s iceberg method, hinting with tiny clues at the immense depth under the surface. It reminded me of his story &#8220;Hills Like White Elephants&#8221; in particular. The twist is both bold and subtle at the same time, and we&#8217;re left wondering what the protagonist will do.<\/li>\n<li>One of my favorite characters is 104-year-old General Sash in &#8220;A Late Encounter with the Enemy.&#8221; I am terrible at figuring out what&#8217;s going to happen in any story, but I figured this one out, and the ending <em>still<\/em> had a surprise waiting for me. It illustrates the way that obstinately living in the past can collide with the reality of the present and the uncertainty of the future.<\/li>\n<li>The lines about &#8220;Jew singing&#8221; and martyrdom are worth the price of admission for &#8220;A Temple of the Holy Ghost.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Finally, &#8220;Good Country People&#8221; might be tied with the title story for the most horrifying ending. It&#8217;s just so good.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The collection does carry some significant negatives for the modern Catholic reader. It has numerous and initially alarming uses of &#8220;the N-word,&#8221; including in one of the story titles. It is never used in any of the senses it is today, and its impact was different in the 1950&#8217;s when the collection was published. Your mileage may vary. There are also some offensive Catholic references. None are specific enough to be malicious, and none come from characters we&#8217;re supposed to like. They are more eye roll-inducing than &#8220;close the book&#8221;-inducing.<\/p>\n<p>Personally, I feel that the positives outweigh the negatives. O&#8217;Connor&#8217;s stories are dark and violent, but they are told elegantly and gracefully. There are numerous complimentary references to Catholic and Christian spirituality, some of which I honestly would not have understood if I weren&#8217;t a churchgoing, old-school Catholic myself. In &#8220;The River,&#8221; a young boy sees a picture of carpenter in a white dress with a circle on his head, but he doesn&#8217;t know who it is. There is a mention of St. Raphael visiting Tobit, and even Eucharistic adoration makes an appearance.<\/p>\n<p>O&#8217;Connor does an amazing job of illustrating the ways that old-fashioned life and values meet the horrors of contemporary reality. She died young, so the world will never know what a longer contribution to the literary world might have done for the broad artistic acceptance of Catholics. She shows us that you don&#8217;t have to say &#8220;Jesus&#8221; all the time or write stories where everyone converts at the end to write like a Catholic. You need only stick to the truth, suffering and all.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>This is my last regular review for ATX Catholic. It has been a wonderful experience to work with so many publishers and with you, dear readers. You can always find me at my personal blog, <a href=\"http:\/\/lindsayloves.com\">Lindsay Loves<\/a>. Grace and blessings!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everyone loves a happy ending, but the sad ones are way more interesting. That&#8217;s the basic premise of every story by the incredibly talented Flannery O&#8217;Connor. She was one of the greats of Catholic fiction, so for my last regular review for ATX Catholic, I encourage you to give her a try. The first of&#8230;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2017\/01\/review-a-good-man-is-hard-to-find\/\">[Read&nbsp;More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4,90,87],"tags":[1749,163,2114,3282],"class_list":{"0":"post-356960","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"category-faith-blog","8":"category-reviews","9":"tag-book-reviews","10":"tag-books","11":"tag-fiction","12":"tag-southern-gothic","13":"entry","14":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":180704,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/review-new-testament-basics-for-catholics\/","url_meta":{"origin":356960,"position":0},"title":"The Story of the King and His Kingdom (Review: &#8220;New Testament Basics for Catholics&#8221;)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"December 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks to a few years of Bible studies, I could easily tell you that the \"plot\" of the Bible is the fulfillment of the covenant between God and his people. Now I can tell you that the New Testament has its own \"subplot,\" so to speak. A few summers ago,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Faith&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A review of \"New Testament Basics for Catholics\" at AustinCNM.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/acnm-newtestamentbasics-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/acnm-newtestamentbasics-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/acnm-newtestamentbasics-550x367.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":136347,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/08\/review-bible-basics-for-catholics\/","url_meta":{"origin":356960,"position":1},"title":"From Old Adam to New in 7 Easy Sketches (Review: &#8220;Bible Basics for Catholics&#8221;)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"August 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"You can learn the story of the Bible in seven easy stick figures. Several summers ago, I took a weekly crash course on salvation history. It absolutely changed the way I see the Bible. Have you ever heard the prophets or psalms talking about Israel and Judah as though they're\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Faith&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"My bible with a \"walking\" globe toy on the story of Noah's covenant.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Bible_study_globe-550x550.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Bible_study_globe-550x550.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Bible_study_globe-550x550.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":313045,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/10\/literature-teaches-us-what-it-means\/","url_meta":{"origin":356960,"position":2},"title":"Literature Teaches Us What It Means to Be Human (Review of Laura M. Berquist)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"October 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Forgive me for geeking out a little bit here. I studied English and education in college, and I used to be an English teacher, so it's safe to say that I like reading. In particular, I like stories. For my writing here at ATX Catholic and for much of my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"books on staircase","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/books-1185628_1280-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/books-1185628_1280-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/books-1185628_1280-550x367.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":145339,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/09\/review-arriving-at-amen\/","url_meta":{"origin":356960,"position":3},"title":"Mathing Up the Faith (Review: &#8220;Arriving at Amen&#8221;)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"September 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I love a good conversion story. I've made a few attempts at writing my own, but I have never found quite the right angle of approach. It's not the struggle to find something other than God in which to place my happiness, like it was for Jen Fulwiler. It's not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Faith&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Review of \"Arriving at Amen,\" by Leah Libresco, at AustinCNM.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/bossfight_womanjump-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/bossfight_womanjump-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/bossfight_womanjump-550x367.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":127473,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/running-slowly-up-the-ramp-review-unsouled\/","url_meta":{"origin":356960,"position":4},"title":"Running Slowly Up the Ramp (Review: &#8220;UnSouled&#8221;)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"July 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It takes incredible skill to be a master storyteller. After Unwind and even UnWholly, I would have easily put Neal Shusterman on that list. I read UnSouled, though, so I'm withholding final judgment for now. I'm not as encouraged to keep reading, but I'm glad I did. I have to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"\"It never ceases to amaze [him] how far society will go to protect the children it loves and to discard the ones it doesn't.\" \u2014Unsouled, by Neal Shusterman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/acnm_unsouled.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":48025,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/05\/review-something-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":356960,"position":5},"title":"Naming Your Antagonist (Review: &#8220;Something Other Than God&#8221;)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"May 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The world is actually quite small. I'm a military brat, and I've lived in multiple U.S. cities and states for non-government reasons, as well, so I know a few things about incredible connections. Being part of the Catholic blogosphere adds an additional dimension to those connections. I followed Jen Fulwiler's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"sotg-acnm","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/sotg-acnm-630x424.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356960\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}