alexandradelmissier

The stories from this collection for which O'Connor is famous (the title story and "The Life You Save May Be Your Own") I found to be absolute failures--wet firecrackers of narrative. "The River" is halfway decent but could have been good, but the last two stories are absolutely masterful. O'Connor sort of ruins "Good Country People" at the end, but "The Displaced Person" is simply too good for her to spoil. I wonder if the stories are arranged in the order they were written; there is a sense of maturation over the course of the book, of growing confidence in her ability as a writer and to take the kind of risks which make her stories truly meaningful, and not just things you can hand to an AP English class for a Symbolism-Scavenger-Hunt.

2022-09-03 13:24