april book reviews

As usual, I'm behind. And last month, I only made it through one book. And it was a collection of short stories at that. I will note that my excuses include being sick for a week, then celebrating a birthday, then working furiously on two final projects for class (which I hope to post about before my summer classes start).



I finally read Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find." This book and I first crossed paths my second year of college. I enrolled in a creative writing class that had assigned this book, but then dropped the class after our first meeting when the instructor told us we couldn't write any stories where the main character dies. Apparently I didn't like that rule. I sold the book back to the bookstore and went on my merry little way. A few months later I read about or someone told me about how marvelous the book was and then I was left with a pain of guilt for the next six years.

OK, maybe not so much, but I knew I needed to read it at some point. So I did, and it was good. Dated, but good. It was a little uncomfortable reading through all the instances of the n-word, but once I tried to let that go, I started being able to appreciate the great descriptive voice O'Connor has.

The good vs. evil theme of these stories was brought out in a dark and usually shocking way, and I loved being able to read every one not knowing at all what to expect when I went into it. I really enjoyed how much the countryside and the sun played big roles in these stories. It made this girl who hates heat and humidity crave a summer in the South. I'm looking forward to reading it again at some point, so that, knowing what to expect, I'll be able to appreciate the writing style more than the plots. Here were my favorite sun descriptions:

"The trees were full of silver-white sunlight and the meanest of them sparkled." - From A Good Man Is Hard to Find

"They emptied the plate at once and she picked it up and stood holding it, looking at the sun which was going down in front of them, almost on top of the tree line. It was swollen and flame-covered and hung in a net of ragged cloud as if it might burn through any second and fall into the woods." - From A Circle in the Fire

"She ignored the white afternoon sun which was creeping behind a ragged wall of cloud as if it pretended to be an intruder and cast her gaze down the red clay road that turned off from the highway." - From The Displaced Person

On tap for May's reading list: I'm hoping to complete "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" since I'll be going to see the musical at the end of the month. I've also got a summer class required reading list of 9 young adult books that I'll be working my way through this month and next.