I put off reading Flannery O'Connor for far too long. Enough said. 

 

Here's my original review.

Can we chat for a minute, fam? Good. I'll try and make it quick.

This is my favorite type of book. If stories like this were still popular, this would be the only kind of book I'd write. Strong opener and then loads upon loads of character development and realistic dialogue followed by a Holy-Shit! ending. I love getting to know a character and then witnessing the dismantling of that character. I'm a tinkerer at heart. I like to see the way things work. Show me a character's very soul, tear it apart, and let me watch them try to put it back together again. I can dig it, man. Books like this are why I became a writer.

If you need a comparison, I can only place Of Mice and Men and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in the same boat as The Violent Bear It Away. Powerfully bleak stories about folks just trying to get by and trying to stay sane while doing so.

This was my first sample of Flannery O'Connor's writing and it damn sure won't be the last.

In summation: Where has this woman's writing been all my life. I hate that I'm only now finding her work. The Violent Bear It Away has most definitely earned a spot on my Top Twenty list. Now I have to figure out who's getting bumped so I can make room for it.

Final Judgment: Get down from the cross, we could use the wood; Capital T--Terrific!

Can you ever escape the destiny laid out for you? This book would have us to believe that no, you can't. And even as you violently fight against it, you will still do that which is laid out for you.

I'm not sure how I feel about the book. On one hand, I really enjoyed how O'Connor showed the struggle between religion and secular beliefs. It's the pull between secularism and religion, you MUST baptize the boy vs. the boy is a useless burden, that causes the horrifying drowning/baptism. And then Tarwater himself is later victimized as he is struggling to figure out where he belongs, pulled still between the secularism of his uncle and the religion of his great-uncle. Ultimately, religion wins, because O'Connor was deeply religious. However, I am honestly horrified by the image of poor, crazed Tarwater going out to save the world. While I understand that O'Connor wants the reader to see his destiny as being fulfilled, I can't quite reach that point. And I can't get there because even though the religion side of the argument wins (the child is baptized while dying, his uncle was buried) Tarwater is so traumatized by the pull, and actually violated on his way home (a link back to the Jonah story), that I can't see him as a sane individual anymore. The pull of his destiny actually drives him crazy. In what sense is that religion winning?

If Tarwater is supposed to be a modern day prophet, he is tested to the point where he breaks. At what point then does the line between prophet and crazy get crossed?

I can see how Flannery O’Connor wouldn’t be everybody’s cup of tea. Her stories can be dark and bleak, and she has a way of writing about the most terrible people. Yet I love her. I absolutely love her. I don’t care how flawed or unlikeable her characters can be, there’s something about her prose and way of thinking that always has me going along for the ride.

 

The Violent Bear It Away is another success from O’Connor, and I wished she’d written more novels. While Wise Blood had more of a satiric bite to it, there is nothing satiric about this dark, haunting tale. You’ll have a helluva hard time finding a character you’ll like, but it’s so good. I was hooked as soon as I started it. This novel had me gasp aloud more than a couple of times. Even when I knew for sure something awful was about to happen, I still felt my heart pounding violently.

 

O’Connor’s world is dark and frightening. She’s not afraid to show you the ugly side of human nature. This book won’t be for everybody, but I loved it and it’ll go on my list of favorite books. I’ve always admired her short stories, and now I admire the talent she displayed with something longer. The Violent Bear It Away is ugly, but it’s also unforgettable.

 

4 and a half stars

 

(NOTE: I'm aware of O'Connor's religious background. I probably didn't take away any message the author intended, but that's okay. I still enjoyed the story, and because of that my take on it is most likely very different from that of the author's. You don't have to be religious to enjoy the story, IMO.)