Wise Blood: A Novel (FSG Classics)

Flannery O'Connor was, first and foremost, a Catholic. She made this plain in how she lived her life, and in her letters her deep commitment to the faith of her fathers becomes very evident. It is impossible to correctly understand her work from any other paradigm. In one letter she writes that she feels most people who read Wise Blood see her as a "hillbilly nihilist." Rather, she would hope, they would see her as a "hillbilly Thomist." Her references to the work of Jacques Maritain (combined with the fact that she read the Summa as a youngster) give proof to her mindset. With this backdrop in mind, reading O'Connor's work becomes an exercise in the best sort of exegesis. Her use of symbol, the grotesque, and even violence, as ways to talk about and analyze Grace and God's actions in our lives (usually soteriological) are profound. Wise Blood is no exception. Her brilliance is on full display here. Haze's commitment to nihilism as a philosophy, and the rejection of Christ that is at its core, is clear. Utilizing this rejection (and employing symbol and imagery) O'Connor shows Haze's denial of Christ, and Christ's constant outpouring of love and grace in pursuit of Haze. Ultimately, Haze is saved, although given O'Connor's brilliant writing, it is hardly sappy or obvious. The characters are rich, interesting, and yes, grotesque. These characters are classic O'Connor, and one does not struggle to find empathy for them, even in their brokenness. We find a "blind preacher" who is not blind, who had resolved to blind himself as a witness to Christ's passion and justification of his sins, but lost his nerve and his faith. Enoch Emory is a fascinating and sympathetic character. It is crushing what rejection by one's father can (but not necessarily will) to do a soul. Yet there is hope for him still. This is a book that I finished a week ago, but has been "with me" constantly since. The writing is absolutely amazing, deep and polished. O'Connor did not write quickly. She wrote, re-wrote, crafted, and re-crafted. Every word that is there is there for a reason, and one must read carefully to get at it all. O'Connor, in all her Scholastic brilliance, is on full display here. This is probably one of the greatest novels I have ever read. Coming to grips with Flannery O'Connor will enrich your life. Don't wait. Read this author now.

"Wise Blood," by Flannery O'Conner, was required reading in the best college course I took - "The American Novel Since 1945", taught by the most accomplished teacher I had in college, Don Noble. We read 13 books in 13 weeks, many of them among the best books ever written, with Don pointing out the things that made these books these books pertinent and special. Don's unofficial description of the course was "A Survival Guide," as he thought these books were especially instructive. So how does "Wise Blood" stand up after all these years? It's still laugh out loud funny in several passages, despite being consistently and austerely bleak throughout. On the down side, the major characters seem to be smitten with Asperger Syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder, while the secondary characters all seem to be scheming rednecks. But O'Conner consistently hits the nail on the head in her observations of human behavior. Also, her portrayal of grace and faith as unpleasant, inescapable afflictions hit home, and are of a piece with verses from Jeremiah and Isaiah.

Regarding Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood, one Amazon reviewer wrote, “Like Being Inside a Fun House That Wasn't Fun.” That comment made me want to revisit this author. Other reviewers have described Wise Blood as “‘low comedy and high seriousness’ with disturbing religious themes.” In the Author’s Notes to the 1962 edition, she wrote, “The book was written with zest and, if possible, it should be read that way. It is a comic novel about a Christian malgré lui [in spite of himself], and as such, very serious, for all comic novels that are any good must be about matters of life and death.” She continues, “Does one’s integrity ever lie in what he is not able to do? I think that usually it does, for free will does not mean one will, but many wills conflicting in one man. Freedom cannot be conceived simply. It is a mystery and one which a novel, even a comic novel, can only be asked to deepen.” I’ve always considered myself a fan of O’Connor’s work, but it’s been a very long time since I’ve immersed myself in one of her books. I discovered Wise Blood, O’Connor’s first novel published in 1952, was on Boxall’s 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, along with Everything That Rises Must Converge. The Violent Bear It Away was removed from the list in 2008. I got the Kindle, opened it up, and tried to keep an open mind about what lay ahead, knowing some have found the book appalling. The book opens with a young discharged WWII veteran riding a train home to Tennessee, only to find the home abandoned, he continues his travels to the fictional city of Taulkinham, Tennessee, believed to be in the western part of the state known for fields and hills, vs the mountains in the east. He determined, like his grandfather before him, to become a preacher, “had known since 12 years old he would be a preacher,” but it turns out he’s now the anti-Jesus kind, as he later explains, “If you believed in Jesus, you wouldn’t be so good.” Some suggest the horrors of war which included an injury may inform his worldview about organized religion and the inhumanity of civil society. He is plagued by bad dreams involving death, which might suggest PTSD, and describes an almost mistrust of faith, “Later he saw Jesus move from tree to tree in the back of his mind, a wild ragged figure motioning him to turn around and come off into the dark where he was not sure of his footing, where he might be walking on the water and not know it and then suddenly know it and drown.” The supporting cast of characters as well as the protagonist, seem the type of “grotesques” usually lurking in Southern Gothic fiction, and one was described: “Enoch kept wetting his lips. They were pale except for his fever blister, which was purple.” These characters are usually close to destitute, the underbelly of society, struggling just to survive, and those who interact with them, often profiting at their expense. Sometimes uneducated with few marketable skills, they are like peasants from a Peter Bruegel painting transported from their raw and earthy town lives into the future. It is an unblinking look with society’s jaundiced eye at those not normally populating palatable fiction. Bridgett Marshall describes the mood of such books, “Some of these characteristics include exploring madness, decay and despair, continuing pressures of the past upon the present, particularly with the lost ideals of a dispossessed Southern aristocracy and continued racial hostilities.” It’s fair to say a young man returning from the ravages of war would struggle with lost ideals, a crisis of faith, and “the many wills conflicting in one man,” which may include the vestiges of racism. One of O’Connor’s great strengths is her ability to create unforgettable, if unsavory, morally flawed characters, who move through their unvarnished lives in often ill advised ways, forcing us to contemplate the human condition, often far from ideal. I ended up with 40 highlights from the book, powerful passages and images, and a respect for O’Conner’s ability to articulate humanity’s struggles. In The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor, editor Sally Fitzgerald notes, “However grotesque the setting, she tried to portray her characters as open to the touch of divine grace. This ruled out a sentimental understanding of the stories' violence, as of her own illness. She wrote: ‘Grace changes us and the change is painful.’" O’Connor was a devout Catholic, and raises this in her Author’s Notes: “That belief in Christ is to some a matter of life and death has been a stumbling block for readers who would prefer to think it a matter of no great consequence.” O’Connor’s characters teach us much about our own sense of compassion, the power of forgiveness, and redemption by a higher authority who reaches out to those who understand mistakes they’ve made, like the King in Edward Rowland’s “A Fool’s Prayer.” Rowland writes, "Earth bears no balsam for mistakes; Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool That did his will; but Thou, O Lord, Be merciful to me, a fool! The room was hushed; in silence rose The King, and sought his gardens cool, And walked apart, and murmured low, ‘Be merciful to me, a fool!’" O’Connor’s struggling characters’ lives often appear as Shakespeare’s depiction of life’s drama, “Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.” But if we pay attention to the artists’ words and the stories they weave, the significance is ours to learn.

作品としての価値は置いておいて、このエディションは最悪。表紙の題名が間違っていることに気づかず、買ってしまったのが運の尽き。前書きと本文は全ての単語がハイパーテキストになっており、大変に読みづらい。

This is a brilliant novel written by a Catholic writer who thoroughly understood her craft! I was glad when it arrived on time and in such good shape.

Dark and disturbing, but really powerful. This is a great book, and an author I will be happy to return to, though she didn't write many books before her early death. Kind of reminds me of Cormic McCarthy, in that the writing is stripped back and not a word is wasted. There is no judgement on the characters actions, those actions are just described. Loved it.

Very interesting book about South in (1950s?) Fascinating characters and quirky relationships.

Diese Lektüre hat mich genauso gefesselt wie verstört. Atemlos und staunend blätterte ich von Seite zu Seite, hatte das Gefühl, so etwas noch nie gelesen zu haben. Die Romanhandlung wurde hier schon gut zusammengefasst - so das denn geht, denn es ist kaum in Worte zu fassen, mit welchen Charakteren und Einfällen O'Connor auffährt. Das ist surreal, absurd, manchmal unheimlich oder verzweifelt - und alles sehr bedeutungsschwanger. Ich bin überhaupt nicht bibelfest, und ich wehre mich auch dagegen, diesen Roman ausschließlich auf sein religiöses Thema hin zu lesen, aber natürlich ist diese Thematik sehr stark (z.B. Schuld, Leiden/Passion und Erlösung), und viele Namen und Symbole verweisen auf Bibelstellen. Schon allein der Name des Romanhelden: Hazel Mote (Haze=Dunst, Nebel; mote=Splitter; Staubpartikel), ein Verweis auf seine Verwirrung und Verblendung und auf einen Satz aus der Bergpredigt: "Was siehst du den Splitter im Auge deines Nächsten, aber den Balken in deinem Auge nimmst du nicht wahr?" (Matthäus 7,3) Warum ich 5 Sterne vergebe? Man bleibt zwar mit dem Gefühl zurück, sehr Vieles nicht verstanden zu haben, und trotzdem war ich absolut fasziniert von diesem Buch! Bei mehrmaligen Lesen und auch Lesen über die Autorin entdeckt man sicher jedes Mal neue Bedeutungsebenen. Leider ist Flannery O'Connor in Deutschland so gut wie unbekannt. Drauf gekommen bin ich durch die Aufzeichnung der Online-Vorlesung von Prof. Amy Hungerford an der Yale University, die mir schon viele litearische Entdeckungen beschert hat!