Rating: 
Summary: Good Read.
Review: Very good group of short stories. Dark, Grotesque, great!!
Rating: 
Summary: A good man is hard to find in O'Conner's "A Good Man"
Review: When I first encountered Flannery O'Connor's writing in the collection "A Good Man Is Hard to Find (and other short stories)", I found it difficult to follow O'Connor's train of thought and was confused as to where she was headed in her stories. However, upon a second and even a third glance, the almost hidden themes and meanings behind the stories appeared and I was presented with a very vivid picture of Southern life, religion, and just life in general. In each of her stories, O'Connor explores human nature and the turns it can take. The religious undertones emphasize her beliefs that man cannot save himself by relying upon the arm of flesh.O'Connor portrays her ideas and beliefs through her characters. With effective use of imagery and intense detail, a moving scene is painted and the reader is show life and its challenges through the eyes of children, parents, vagabonds, and wanted criminals. With each story, O'Connor stresses the point that not only is human nature confusing and complicated, it destroys itself. While reading, I was struck by the obvious lack of characters that seemed moral in her stories. They all had flaws, and some more obvious than others. A good man truly is hard to find in these stories, but perhaps that is the point. Her religious background becomes apparent as the reader continually sees the lives of her characters ruined because they tried to rely too heavily upon the mortal things and became engulfed in pride. I really enjoyed reading Flannery O'Connor. Her stories and the ideas portrayed therein can be chilling at times and often disturbing, but their ability to make the reader sit back and ponder upon his or her life makes them truly outstanding. I would recommend this collection to anyone who is looking for not only good stories, but ones that require thought and have meaning.
Rating:
Summary: A good man is hard to find in O'Conner's "A Good Man"
Review: When I first encountered Flannery O'Connor's writing in the collection "A Good Man Is Hard to Find (and other short stories)", I found it difficult to follow O'Connor's train of thought and was confused as to where she was headed in her stories. However, upon a second and even a third glance, the almost hidden themes and meanings behind the stories appeared and I was presented with a very vivid picture of Southern life, religion, and just life in general. In each of her stories, O'Connor explores human nature and the turns it can take. The religious undertones emphasize her beliefs that man cannot save himself by relying upon the arm of flesh. O'Connor portrays her ideas and beliefs through her characters. With effective use of imagery and intense detail, a moving scene is painted and the reader is show life and its challenges through the eyes of children, parents, vagabonds, and wanted criminals. With each story, O'Connor stresses the point that not only is human nature confusing and complicated, it destroys itself. While reading, I was struck by the obvious lack of characters that seemed moral in her stories. They all had flaws, and some more obvious than others. A good man truly is hard to find in these stories, but perhaps that is the point. Her religious background becomes apparent as the reader continually sees the lives of her characters ruined because they tried to rely too heavily upon the mortal things and became engulfed in pride. I really enjoyed reading Flannery O'Connor. Her stories and the ideas portrayed therein can be chilling at times and often disturbing, but their ability to make the reader sit back and ponder upon his or her life makes them truly outstanding. I would recommend this collection to anyone who is looking for not only good stories, but ones that require thought and have meaning.
Rating:
Summary: Social Commentaries
Review: When I first started reading this book I thought that it was quite unusual. However, as I started to look more deeply at the stories and attemped to analyze them I found that the collection of short stories provided some very striking social commentaries. Flannery O'Connor included stories dealing with the subjects of relgion, race, and women. Every story indcluded in the work has one, if not all, of these ideas incorporated. Through her stories she tries to get people to think about the way things are. She tries to bring to light the darker sides of the issues she addresses. For example, The River tells about a little boy who ends up being baptized in a river. The rest of the story is focused on the boy's reaction to the experience and his actions as a result of the baptism.
This collection of stories, or commentaries, is also interesting because one isn't able to figure out the significance of the story until the very end. The ending of many of the stories is unexpected and even shocking. These are not "happily-ever-after" endings. The endings are very blunt and startling, yet they still leave the reader with a sense of closure. After I read the first couple of stories I realized how much my view of the story could change after reading the final paragraph or two. It made me very excited to get to the ending of each of the subsequent stories. The surprising endings usually helped to further eluminate O'Connor's view on the subject she was addressing. They were her final thoughts on the subject. They weren't words merely put down to effectively end a paragraph or story. They were words meant to cement an idea and leave a lasting impact in the reader's mind.
Additionally, the stories are very interesting when viewed in the context of the author's own life. It seems as if Flannery O'Connor put a part of herself into many of the characters in her stories. Many of the characters are middle-aged women who have some kind of disablity or sickness and are not married (they usually don't have any romantical partner). O'Connor was never married and she was sick for most of the time whe wrote these stories. Knowing some of her background information makes the stories interesting. One can try and find out how the stories and her life are interrelated.
Consequently, this collection of stories by Flannery O'Connor was very interesting. I would recommend this book. It is not, however, escape reading. It is reading that requires effort and thought. It does not end happily-every-after, but it does fill the mind with thoughts about people and society. It could cause one to more closely examine the world he/she lives in and the people he/she interacts with. I know that it made me think.
Rating: 
Summary: "A Good Man Is Hard To Find"-Not the Traditional Short Story
Review: When I read the first story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find," in Flannery O'Conner's book of short stories, I came away confused, dissatisfied, and alarmed. How could a story that ends with the heartless murder of an entire family be a good short story? Then, as I continued reading the other short stories in the book, I realized that the purpose of these stories was different from the traditional purpose of many other books that I have read. I found that O'Conner was not simply telling a story to entertain her audience and thrill them with a "happy ending" but she was making a commentary on life as she saw it. In "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" O'Conner is stating just what the title states; that these days, a good person is hard to find. This theme of good people is present in several of the other short stories in this book, particularly in "Good Country People." I noticed other themes that were present in many of the stories that relate to her own life; the presence of a somewhat uncaring or dysfunctional family or parent, the main characters having some illness or sickness (or missing body-part), and the characters fascination with changing their real name to some other name. These themes provide an insightful glimpse into O'Conner's life and her struggle with sickness.
Do not read this book with traditional expectations of literature, but read it as an inward look into the life of Flannery O'Conner. If it is read this way, than the reader will not only come away mildly entertained, but with a strong connection to the author.
Rating:
Summary: An in-depth journey into the south
Review: While reading her group of short stories, I saw a deep image of the south and of the southern people. O'connor uses the dialect of the south all throughout her stories, probably because she has grown up in it. She also uses characters that reflect southern life to help us relate to the people. I enjoyed reading about the grandma in A Good Man Is Hard to Find. She is a stubborn, old lady who has does things her own way, and she enjoys reflecting on the good old days. I loved reading about her because I could imagine being in the car with her for a long drive on vacation. She is also hypocritical about everything, such as her bringing the cat in the car even though this is being distrusting. This also shows in the Temple of the Holy Ghost; the little girl is very condemning and critical of the two girls staying with her. These characters are the 'good' ones yet they display weaknesses. I like to see faults in the main characters because it makes them more life-like. They aren't on a superman-type level that you can't connect with. O'connor has done an excellent job of making the characters real for everyone, while also having them fit into the southern scene. This made the short stories really interesting for me.
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