The True Country: Themes in the Fiction of Flannery O'Connor

by Carter W. Martin

Book Overview

Intended for a general audience as well as the scholar and student, this first full-length study of Flannery O'Connor's fiction available again in a paperback edition.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826512496
• ISBN13: 9780826512499
• Release Date: March 1969
• Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press
• Length: 258 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Must for Understanding O'Connor's Writing

Martin's THE TRUE COUNTRY:THEMES IN THE FICTION OF FLANNERY O'CONNOR is a first tier evaluation of the themes of the great Southern writer. Particularly enlightening is Martin's analysis of the characters of WISE BLOOD. Enoch Emery is the neo-pagan embodiment who ends up in bestiality, lonliness, and spiritual bankruptcy. Sabbath Lily Hawks and Leora Watts are straight-up heathen who feel no guilt at all in corrupting others. Asa Hawks models cynicism and hypocrisy, while Hoover Shoates's sweet preaching undoes Motes reverse morality. Martin's overall conclusion is that O'Connor writes from an orthodox Christian point of view but grinds no theological ax. I think he is right.

Best overall book of criticism on O'Connor's fiction

When I was researching my thesis at Vanderbilt on O'Connor, Thomas Daniel Young, my advisor, recommended this book as the best book on O'Connor, and I can think of no better authority than Dr. Young. It was invaluable to my understanding of her work.