The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor

 

Did you have any favorite short stories that you read in high school?  I read a few Flannery O’Connor short stories in both high school and college American Literature classes and enjoyed them.  They were well written and had surprise endings that were unlike most other stories.  I picked The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor for the July pick for my Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  We watched the movie Wildcat (2023) in August about the life of Flannery O’Connor.

My thoughts on the short stories and movie:

·       I don’t think the ladies of my book club enjoyed the stories as much as I did, but I enjoyed reading it.  The movie was strange and hilarious in ways.  I learned a lot about Flannery O’Connor and enjoyed seeing some of her short stories on the screen.  We enjoyed watching the movie as a group.  I did not think a Flannery O’Connor story could make me laugh, but it did.  One member said that the stories reminded her of The Twilight Zone and that is a great description.  Another recommended looking up each story online to really understand the religious subtext of the stories, which is a great recommendation.

·       O’Connor seemed to really target mothers and grandmothers in her stories that try to control their offspring or are stuck in their old ways and unable to adapt to a changing world.  I found this to be fascinating.

·       The stories really seemed to focus on the Southern myth and how people were stuck in their own thoughts of past grandeur and are unable to move on to the present (example their ancestor had a plantation and 200 slaves, but they themselves live in poverty).

·       The stories pick on the racist thoughts that were prevalent at the time and bring them to the forefront for the reader to really think about.  People say her works are racist now because of her use of the N word.  The stories instead made me really think about race.

·       The stories tend to focus on that people or things were not what they appeared to be.

·       Hypocrisy was a major theme.

·       Pride, idolatry over family heritage were also themes and people thinking they are better than others.

·       The stories overall really made me think.  Some of the stories stood out more than others.  My favorite is still A Good Man is Hard to Find.

·       I thought it was interesting that it appears that the Boomer generation in my book club did not read her in school.  My children (Gen Z) also did not read her.  I did as a Gen X.  O’Conner did discuss race frankly and use the N word.  As she says in the movie, that is how people talked in the South at that time.  Her stories on race ring true sadly still now, but minus the N word.  Unfortunately, I have heard people I know talking about classifying people based on race and economics as is discussed in the stories.

·       I also listened to the audiobooks, A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories narrated by Marguerite Gavin and Everything that Rises Must Converge narrated by Bronson Pinchot, Karen White, Mark Bramhall, and Lorna Raver.  Both were excellent and well worth listening to.

·       I kept a notebook with notes on each story so I could go on for quite a while, but this is my general review of the book.

Overall, I have thought about The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor long after I have turned the last page.  They are brilliantly written and unique Southern Gothic short stories.

Book Source:  I purchased The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor at a used book store many years ago.  I also purchased two short story collections on audible this summer.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

 

Title:  The Wind in the Willows

Author:  Kenneth Grahame

Narrated by:  Callum Hale with music by Dylan Allcock

Publisher: Findaway Voices

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 8 minutes

Source: Checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library through Hoopla

If you were represented by an animal in fiction, what would you be?  I would like to be represented by a cat.

The Wind in the Willows is the story and adventures of Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad.  Toad is incorrigible and gets into lots of scraps.  Luckily, he has friends to help him out in times of trouble.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I loved the audiobook version.  It had a great narrator, sound effects, and music.

·       This book had a lot of songs in it, and I liked how they were sung in the audiobook.

·       This was the May selection for the Back to the Classics Book Club, although we did meet the first week of June this time.  I finished just in time!

·       We all agreed that this was a nice, mellow, and happy book.

·       Kenneth Grahame told these stories to his son while he grew up.  He didn’t write any other books after this.  I was hoping for a The Wind in the Willows book two.

·       It was strange when the animals eat a stew and list all the various creatures in it.  Aren’t you eating your friends?

·       I read that either you are a toad fan or a everything else fan.  I like the book, but I really felt the story lighted up whenever Toad entered the room with his escapades.

·       The hard cover copy illustrated by Michael Hague had beautiful pictures.

·       This book had great friendships between the animals.

·       This novel was first published in 1908.

Overall, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame is a perfect book to read to unwind, relax, and escape to another world.

 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

 

Title:   I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Author:  Maya Angelou

Narrated by:  Maya Angelou

Publisher: Random House Audio

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 11 minutes

Source: Audiobook Purchased from Audible

Do you like audiobooks narrated by the author?  I love them, especially when they are memoirs. I have read a physical copy of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou in the past, but it was especially wonderful this time to listen to Maya Angelou narrate her own story.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was Maya Angelou’s debut memoir, and it details her childhood until the age of seventeen.  This memoir is unique in its structure, prose, and depth of feeling.  She changed the way that memoirs were written.

Other thoughts on this novel:

·       I reread this novel in March for the Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  We had a great discussion about it.

·       This book is frequently banned.  I was dismayed to see it back in the news again recently as it has been removed from the shelves at the Naval Institute.  This is a travesty.

·       Maya and her brother Bailey were sent on a cross-country train alone from California to Arkansas when they are very young by their parents.  I just can’t imagine this!

·       I loved how Maya is always reading such great books at an early age.

·       Horrible things happened to Maya as a child, and she stops speaking. I loved that a teacher, Mrs. Bertha Flowers helps her to get her voice back.  She said you can not truly love poetry until you speak it.  She helped to introduce her to great authors.

·       Maya experienced so many things in her life up to age 17:  rape, being the first black streetcar operator in San Francisco, living in a junk yard, driving for the first time when she had to get her drunk father home from Mexico, etc.  It culminated with her having a baby.

·       This memoir soars with love and laughter, but also pain and neglect.  Angelou tells her story in a raw and honest way.

·       In her raw and honest way, Angelous discusses her feeling on sexuality as she grew up being confused during puberty.

·       Angelou’s parents angered me.  While her mother does help her with self-confidence and determination as a teenager, neither were there for their children and put them in awful situations.

·       “Mama” their grandmother, was truly a greater person raising her grandkids as best as she could.

Overall, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is a compelling memoir that is great for a book club discussion.  Angelou tells her amazing story in an authentic and sincere way.  This classic should not be missed.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

 

Title: A Tale of Two Cities

Author:  Charles Dickens

Narrated by:  Simon Vance

Publisher: Tantor Audiobook Classics

Length: Approximately 13 hours and 39 minutes

Source: Audiobook Purchased from Audible (free on Audible)

Are you a fan of Charles Dickens?  If so, what is your favorite Dickens novel?

Dr. Alexandre Manette is wrongfully imprisoned in the Bastille for eighteen years.  After his release, he is reunited with his daughter, Lucie.  She marries Charles Darney and life is good, until the family is tricked into going to Paris during the French Revolution.  They will learn the truth of their past and the value of sacrifice and friendship.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was the January pick for the Back to the Classic Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  It prompted a good discussion.

·       I had not read this book since high school, so it was due for a reread.

·       I listened to the audiobook and read along in a physical copy. 

·       This was different than other Dickens novels as this was written as historical fiction during this lifetime.

·       It appeared that everyone at book club enjoyed this book, although we had troubles at times with following the actions of all the characters throughout the novel.  Especially as some characters shared the same name.  This was especially confusing while listening to the audiobook!

·       This novel as the best opening and closing lines of a novel of all time.  “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”  “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

·       The two cities of the novel are London and Paris, but the Paris scenes to me were the most memorable.

·       This was a great story.  Why was Madame Defarge so vengeful?  The reader finally gets the reasons behind her vengeance at the end of the novel.  It took Madame Defarge from being a cartoon villain to a woman who deeply loved her family and wanted vengeance for their abuse and death.

·       It was a great story of the French Revolution.  It really explains why average citizens were so mad and took their vengeance.  Unfortunately, vengeance can go too far and innocent people got swept up in the fury.

·       The female main part was underwritten.  Lucie Manette is just pretty and simple.  It was hard to see why men were literally ready to die for her.

·       Sidney Carton was the best written character with shades of grey.  I wish that the reader was able to learn more about his background.

·       I was horrified by the Marquis carriage running over a child at the beginning of the novel and how he didn’t care at all.

Overall, A Tale of Two Cities is a must-read classic about the French Revolution with a great story and memorable characters and quotes.

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

 

Title:  Far From the Madding Crowd

Author:  Thomas Hardy

Narrated by:  Jamie Parker

Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks

Length: Approximately 17 hours and 28 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you.

If you could live in any book world, which would it be?

Gabriel Oak is a successful tenant farmer that raises sheep.  He falls in love with a beautiful young woman, Bathsheba Everdeen, that has come to the area to visit.  He has proposed, but she refused him and left that area.  After a devastating accident, Gabriel loses his sheep and tenant farm.  He travels looking for work as a shepherd and gets a job at a farm in a different county.  He soon learns that the farm is owned by none other than Bathsheba Everdeen.  Bathsheba has inherited the farm and is learning how to run everything herself.  She also finds time for romance with two other men with faithful Gabriel looking on.  Will Bathsheba find her soulmate?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       Far From the Madding Crowd was the June read for the Back to the Classics Book Club.  We had a good discussion and enjoyed the story . . . even if Hardy tended to get long winded in his descriptions.

·       Gabriel Oak had a tragedy early on with his 200 ewes when his young dog drove them over a cliff killing them all.  This caught my mind and my imagination.  There was insurance at the time for this type of catastrophe, but Gabriel had not purchased it.  This caused his to lose everything.

·       I liked how Hardy chose the names of his characters.  Gabriel Oak is a good man with a strong character.  Bathsheba Everdeen is fickle with her feelings and dealings with men.  She is young and doesn’t understand the consequences of how she treats others.  She grows up a lot in the novel.

·       I liked that Bathsheba was a woman with her own mind.  She was trying to run her farm herself and to learn how to do it on her own.  She was impetuous though and headstrong which caused her to make poor decisions at times.  She was a complicated character.

·       I liked the parallel story of a young servant girl who runs away with her suitor, but through an honest mistake, becomes a single pregnant woman.  Life was cruel to unwed mothers with no means to make a living.  She had to pay for her mistake.

·       The novel was beautifully written, and I enjoyed the descriptions and storyline.

·       Jamie Parker was a great audiobook narrator.  He had a lot of different voices for different characters and acted out the parts.

Overall, Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy was a beautifully written novel with great characters and an intriguing storyline.  It’s a good book to discuss as a book club selection.  It really made me want to visit Wessex!

So Big by Edna Ferber

 

Title:  So Big

Author:  Edna Ferber

Narrated by:  Laura Merlington

Publisher: Dreamscape Media

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 12 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you.

What classic book have you enjoyed rereading?  I enjoy rereading many classic novels, but I thought it was fun to reread a recent favorite, So Big by Edna Ferber for my Back to the Classics Book Club back in April.

So Big by Edna Ferber is the tale of Selina Peake.  She is orphaned at age 19 in the late 1880s in Chicago.  She takes a job as a schoolteacher in the Dutch farming community, High Prairie.  She finds beauty in life and marries a farmer, Pervus DeJong.  She dreams of their son, Dirk, finding both success and beauty in life.  She has affectionately nicknamed him “So Big” from telling him as a child, “how big is baby, so big.”  Will Selina and Dirk both fulfill their dreams?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       Edna Ferber wrote beautifully.  It was an enjoyable audiobook listening to the beautiful descriptions and language read aloud.

·       I loved the basket auction and how it was beginning of the love story between Selina and Pervus DeJong.  It reminded me of the basket auction in Oklahoma!

·       The description of farming and life in that time was vivid.  It was an interesting description of the history of Chicago.

·       The novel referenced an “agricultural course” in Madison that Selina wants to take, not Dirk.  The City of Milwaukee was also referenced.  Living in Wisconsin, I thought this was interesting.  Author Edna Ferber grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin.

·       The theme of the book for me was that you can work hard and make a success of your own life, but your children, who had an easier time than you, and their distance from the hard work, may not be fully living their lives.

·       Should you live your life for art and beauty or for making the most money?  What is a successful life?

·       I liked how Dirt thought he would instantly start as a famous architect, and he didn’t like the mundane work of a beginning architect.

·       So Big won the Pulitzer Prize for 1925 and was also the bestselling book of the year.

·       So Big provided an interesting discussion for the Back to the Classics Book Club.

Overall, So Big by Edna Ferber is a lesser-known classic that deals with timeless issues.  It deserves to still be read and enjoyed today.  I highly recommend it.

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie

 

Do you like to curl up to the fire with a cozy mystery, romance, or other type of genre? 

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie is a collection of stories that was recently published in 2020 and contains a variety of stories that were originally published from the 1920s to the 1970s.  The stories have a holiday or winter theme. 

My thoughts on this collection of stories:

·       This was the November Pick for the Back to the Classics Book Club.  We all enjoyed it!  I’m also using it for a pick for #ReadChristie2024.  The challenge this year was exploring Christie’s works through the decades, which you can do with this collection as well!

·       My book club all liked the introduction which contained Christie’s memories of Christmas from her youth.  In the bibliography at the end, it looks like it was taken from her autobiography.

·       I enjoyed all the stories, but especially the first, “Three Blind Mice.”  It was longer like a novella and seemed to have more plot and character buildup.  Apparently, this later became Agatha Christie’s longest running play, The Mousetrap.  I still haven’t seen this play yet!

·       All the stories were different, interesting, and fun.

·       This was the first time I had read any stories involving Mr. Harley Quin.  We all thought he was interesting.  He only appears in Christie’s short stories but was apparently one of Christie’s favorite characters.  Two stories in this collection had Quin as a character.

·       While I was reading “The Plymouth Express,” it seemed very familiar to me.  It was later made into the full-length book, The Blue Train, which I had read earlier this year.

·       Tommy and Tuppence had a cute story in this collection and my fellow book club members enjoyed them as characters.  I highly recommend their full-length novels.

Overall, Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie was a great collection with stories that were unique, interesting, and fun.  It was a good Christmas read for my Back to the Classics Book Club.

Katherine by Anya Seton

Title: Katherine

Author:  Anya Seton

Narrated by:  Lorna Bennett

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 29 hours and 50 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible.

  Do you still have any fall color in your area?  I still have a couple of trees in my yard that are slowly turning color, while most other trees are bare at this time.

 Katherine by Anya Seton is a historical fiction classic.  It tells the story of Katherine Swynford, and her love affair with John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, son of the King.  This story is set during the 14^th century and the ripples of their love would affect the royal family for centuries to come.

 My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read this book as part of the Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library for our October read.  I had previously read this book around twenty years ago for my classics book club in Milwaukee.

·       Anya Seton is one of my favorite authors, but it has been a while since I’ve read one of her novels.  She writes unique historical stories that capture my imagination.

·       In Katherine, Seton paints a vivid picture of life in 14^th century England.  I felt like I was there.

·       The black death was brutal.  Katherine comes across a castle where the inhabitants are infected.  Instead of running away, she goes into danger to help.  Besides the black death, there is also the peasants’ revolt later in the novel.  She lived through very tumultuous times.

·       Katherine is a virtuous woman who does not give into the Duke’s affections until the death of her husband.  They IMMEDIATELY get together at his death, which seemed rushed to me.

·       The first half of the novel is Katherine’s early life, her marriage, having her first children, and it ends with her husband’s death and her getting together with the Duke.  The novel then skips forward a few years at this point and the second half of the novel covered a longer time period.

·       I kept pondering, what choice does Katherine have in any of this?  I realized at one point that Katherine really has little say if John of Gaunt wants her as his mistress.  She realized this in the book right after I did.  She tries to leave and go back to her own land, but she is roped back into being with the Duke.

·       Religion and faith play a big role in Katherine’s life even though she is most famously known as a mistress.

·       The fact that John of Gaunt eventually married Katherine and legitimized their children really showed to me that there was true love in their relationship.

·       I listened to this very long audiobook while traveling for work last month.  I found it very engaging, and it made my drives seem very short.

Favorite Quote: “Why does the whole world smell of blood and fire?  Why?”

Overall, Katherine by Anya Seton is a masterpiece of historical fiction and paints a vivid picture of the medieval life of an extraordinary woman.

 

Persuasion by Jane Austen

 

Title: Persuasion

Author:  Jane Austen

Narrated by:  Greta Scacchi

Publisher: Audible

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 13 minutes

Source: Available for free from Audible as a member.

Do you reread books?  I love to reread some of my favorite books.  I feel like I get something new out of them every time I read them.  I read all sorts of new things into a book when I read it in my forties compared to when I was in my twenties.

Persuasion is a book that I have read many times in my life.  I enjoy it every time I read it.  I listened to a new audiobook version this time from Audible that was narrated by Greta Scacchi.  Persuasion was Jane Austen’s final novel written before her untimely death at age 41.  In this novel, Anne Elliot’s family has fallen on hard financial times.  They must “retrench” and rent out their estate while they move to Bath.  Admiral and Mrs. Croft rent their home and Mrs. Croft’s brother, Captain Wentworth, comes to visit.  Eight years previously, Anne was persuaded by a family friend to reject Captain Wentworth as he did not have wealth or status.  Will Anne find her self-worth?  Will Anne and Captain Wentworth find their way back to each other?

My thoughts on the novel:

·       Persuasion is tied with Pride and Prejudice as my favorite Austen novel.  I love that Anne is a mature character (at the old age of 28) and can look upon her past decisions and grow from them.  She is relatable as the overlooked middle child who is a hard worker but taken advantage of and neglected by her family who do not see her true worth.

·       I love second chance romance.  The romance builds through the novel as Anne still has feelings for Wentworth, but it seems that he is moving on with the young Louisa Musgrove.  There are hints throughout the novel that Wentworth still loves Anne, but it’s not until his letter to Anne in the end that his true feelings are known.  I think his letter is one of the most romantic letters in literature. 

·       Austen writes such well developed characters that have both positive and negative attributes.  Her characters are so good that I recognize people that are like her characters in my everyday life.  I am secretly thinking to myself, that guy is Sir Walter Elliot.

·       Sir Walter Elliot, Anne’s father, always makes me laugh. He is so proud and conceited.  He is also a terrible father.   

·       I love her witty humor and her social commentary.  Should one marry for love or for money?  Do women have the luxury of that chose in the Regency era?

·       I think this novel is an interesting look into what life was like right after the Napoleonic wars had ended in Europe and naval men had returned flush with cash.

·       I really love Admiral Croft and Mrs. Croft.  They are two of my favorite Austen characters and have an admirable marriage.  Mrs. Croft is quite the independent and capable woman.  I love how she has journeyed through so much of the world with her husband. 

·       I read Persuasion with my Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee library.  We discussed it last month and will be watching the 1995 movie version next week.

·       Greta Scacchi was a good narrator that made the story an easy listening experience.

Favorite Quotes:

“But I hate to hear you talking so like a fine gentleman, and as if women were all fine ladies, instead of rational creatures.  We none of us expect to be in smooth water all of our days.”

“You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.  Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever.”

Overall, Persuasion is a masterpiece and a classic for a reason.  If you have never read this Jane Austen novel, it should be on your list.  I highly recommend it.

What is your favorite movie version of Persuasion?