Flannery O'Connor's short stories were on the list of set texts when i did my teacher training in France. The racism didn't frighten me as much as the pitiless fundamentalist catholicism. Her depiction of humans as these pathetic, fallen creatures, flailing around in our own muck, and the way she suddenly withdraws her empathy from them, to remind us that even when their sins may be comprehensible they remain unforgivable, is terrifying, but the writing is so compelling that i found myself entertaining her point of view for longer than i would ordinarily be able to justify.
After reading O'Connor you can safely take a dip into the writings of a violent psychopath and come out feeling less unsettled.
After reading O'Connor you can safely take a dip into the writings of a violent psychopath and come out feeling less unsettled.
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