tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11787852.post2269348280886316471..comments2007-12-26T13:55:17.148-08:00Avi Abramshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12550929795356812957abramsv@gmail.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11787852.post-81167862313205837402007-12-26T13:55:00.000-08:002007-12-26T13:55:00.000-08:00Flannery O'Connor is a writer about still-flawed future saints, and a God-haunted world awaiting its remaking by God. The grandmother story, for example, is the story of what it's like to suddenly be in the position of a martyr, from the point of view of the outside world. It is a naked sort of faith, shining in shards against the darkness, but with tons of darkness. She was pretty much sick, dying, and/or in pain during the bulk of her writing life, and she apparently had no taste for writing about people not in such condition. <BR/><BR/>O'Connor's letters are a great deal more approachable and gentle, although still challenging. Probably her most famous quote from them was her emphatic denial that the Eucharist was a symbol. "If it's a symbol, to hell with it!"<BR/><BR/>I am profoundly grateful that I did not read any O'Connor short story until middle age. She is all about hard grace. Hard like rocks upside the head.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11787852.post-46669473845116074892007-12-22T05:43:00.000-08:002007-12-22T05:43:00.000-08:00Nice work. I prefer the near-future fiction pictures-- lots of great ideas. The retro future pic of the pyramid skyscrapers is really inspirational-- because it's actually feasible... with some urban planning-- what a skyline!philossifurnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11787852.post-56877967094287350292007-12-21T01:46:00.000-08:002007-12-21T01:46:00.000-08:00About Flannery O'Connor: "a view of the world that mocks justice, that mocks philosophy, that mocks marriage, that regards these and all other human aspirations as not merely vain, but corrupt."<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannery_O%27Connor" REL="nofollow">Flannery O'Connor</A> was a devout Christian. Her fixation of human baseness and the vanity of human wishes is most likely a reflection on our fallen nature or something like that. <BR/><BR/>Or maybe, as a fervent catholic living in the South, she just disliked protestants!Tim R. Mortisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00202497971909513168noreply@blogger.com