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The Mercer-Williams House
This house was made famous by the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I've never read it (and I don't really intend to), but it is a big deal in Savannah where residents simply refer to it as "The Book". In fact, the statue found on the cover of the book is now kept at the Telfair Museum under a 24 hour guard.
This is the house where Southern writer Flannery O'Connor spent the first 13 years of her life. It wasn't open for tours when we went by, so I'll have to do that when I get back to Savannah. It sits on the lovely Lafayette Square and one can just imagine little Flannery playing there.
One cannot visit a city without checking out the local bookstore, and Savannah has a great one. E. Shaver, Bookseller is located in an old house on Madison Square and has 12 rooms stuffed with books. They have a wide selection ranging from local and regional history to children's books. They also have a pretty good selection of classic literature, almost as big as Barnes and Noble's selection. This is a must visit place for ALL readers. I promise, you won't leave empty handed.
While on vacation, I was also able to pick up some really good books:
-A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor. What better place to pick up an author's work than in their hometown?
-Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. My grandparent's Barnes and Noble was having a great sale (50% off most of their stock) so I couldn't resist picking up a few good reads.
-Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. Also 50% off.
-The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. Also 50% off.
-Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. Found an edition from the early 20th century in wonderful condition at an antique store. Couldn't resist.
-The Crossing by Winston Churchill. Okay, so I thought that this was a novel by THE Winston Churchill. Who knew that there was more than one? This novel is actually by an American writer named Winston Churchill who wrote historical fiction in the early 20th century. Oh well, still a good buy.
And finally I have a couple more things to update you about:
-I am going to begin The Complete (and Unabridged) Jane Austen series either this week or next week, so be on the lookout for that. I hadn't forgotten, I just wanted to get in a Flannery O'Connor review before my trip to Savannah.
-I just joined goodreads.com, which is a great (and FREE) website that lets you basically keep track of all the books that you have read and the ones that you want to read. You can also check out what other members are reading, and get ratings and reviews of different books. If you are already a member, let me know so I can check out your bookshelf. You can see my shelf here. There is also a link on the sidebar as well as a widget showing books that I am planning on reading.
-Today marks the 1 year anniversary of Complete and Unabridged. You can see my introductory post here. Thank you to everyone who reads and comments on this blog. I appreciate it.
Considered by many to be a master of short stories, Flannery O'Connor marks the end of the Southern Literary Renaissance that occurred from the 1920s through the early '60s. Along with other writers, including William Faulkner, Caroline Gordon, Tennessee Williams, Robert Penn Warren and Walker Percy, O'Connor helped change the way that the South was portrayed in American literature. Her stories, stripped of nostalgia and sentimentalism, are portraits of raw human nature and the overwhelming need for grace. A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories is a collection of 10 of these portraits that force the characters and the reader to see themselves as they really are and to accept their need for God.As someone who's main literary passion is 19th century British literature, I was a little hesitant to read these stories, especially considering some of the things that are associated with them (more on that later). Also, short stories have never been my "thing" so that was a bit of a put off as well. Despite all of this, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found between the covers. First off, O'Connor is a phenomenal writer. Her characters are complete and real and her insight into Southern culture is wonderful. The humor in the stories was also a surprise, and it was especially funny for someone who has lived in the South all of their life. Anybody who has ridden on I-95 can identify with the numerous signs advertising "Red Sammy's Famous BBQ" for miles before and after the actual location. And I found the fact that the Grandmother in the title story dressed up for the trip so that in case they were found dead on the side of the road, everyone would know that she was a lady to be hilarious, mainly since that reminds me of my own grandma. It was little comments like these that lightened up the overall tone of the stories.
Which brings us to the main reason that I hesitated in reading these at first. When you look up reviews for O'Connor's works, most of the words that are used are "violent", "grotesque", "dark" and "disturbing". Not being one for blood and gore, this initially made me nervous. But though dark and violent things happen to the characters, the stories themselves are not. O'Connor doesn't use the violence to sensationalise the stories, but rather as a way to open up her characters to Divine grace. In The Habit of Being, a collection of O'Connor's letters, she writes "The stories are hard but they are hard because there is nothing harder or less sentimental than Christian realism... when I see these stories described as horror stories I am always amused because the reviewer always has hold of the wrong horror." Throughout these stories, O'Connor addresses the idea that being a "good country person" makes you good enough. Many of the main characters see themselves as better than other people (blacks, foreigners and poor people), yet still claim to be "good Christians" who give unselfishly. It is only through violence and darkness that they awaken to the fact that they, like every human on this earth, are in desperate need of grace.
That is probably the most prominent theme of all of the stories in this collection, though it was not always clear exactly how the characters came to that realization. I especially found A Temple of the Holy Ghost and A Late Encounter with the Enemy to be somewhat confusing. But most of the stories are pretty clear, with my favorites being The River and The Displaced Person.
If anything, O'Connor's stories should make you step back and think. I know that for me, it caused me to look at myself very hard and to see just what I am without the grace of God, and believe me, it was more grotesque, dark and disturbing than anything you'll find in the stories. So, if you're up for something different in your literary diet, this is something that I would recommend. You'll never look at yourself the same way again.
My Review (Caution-Spoilers!):
This story is one that I have heard so much about for many years but, for various reasons, had never gotten around to reading it. So, I guess the main question is, did it live up to my expectations? In a word, yes!
Though in the end, I think that The Hobbit was a more pleasant read (less complicated plot, fewer characters, faster pace, etc.), The Lord of the Rings certainly deserves much of the praise that it gets from critics and readers alike. One of the most amazing things about this book is that Tolkein didn't just make up a story, he created a world. His attention to detail shows forth in his meticulous creation of thousands of years of Middle-earth history as well as various languages, especially that of the elves. It was a little hard to pay attention to it all at first, but in the end, it is this detail that gives the story its richness.
Leo Tolstoy
On the surface, there is nothing really special about the vast majority of people who walk this earth. We move through life without distinction, doing the same things day after day. We are ordinary, commonplace and everyday beings. Or are we? What if there were something noble and courageous inside of us just waiting to get out? What if we were capable of many mighty things and were only waiting for the right time to do them? That is a question that is answered for Bilbo Baggins, the hero of J. R. R. Tolkein's classic tale The Hobbit: or There and Back Again.Perhaps it was Rayner Unwin who summed it up the best. As the ten year old son of publisher Sir Stanley Unwin, he was the first person to write up a review of The Hobbit in 1936. Here is what he had to say:
Bilbo Baggins was a Hobbit who lived in his Hobbit hole and never went for adventures, at last Gandalf the wizard and his Dwarves persuaded him to go. He had a very exciting time fighting goblins and wargs. At last they get to the lonely mountain; Smaug, the dragon who guards it is killed and after a terrific battle with the goblins he returned home — rich! This book, with the help of maps, does not need any illustrations it is good and should appeal to all children between the ages of 5 and 9.
Though I am no longer between the ages of 5 & 9, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and at times I liked it better than the more in depth LOTR. I only regret that I didn't read it sooner. So if this is one of those books that you have been putting off, don't wait. Read it now!
The Movie:
There is a live-action version of The Hobbit currently in the works. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is acting as producer with Guillermo del Toro directing. There is speculation on which actors will be reprising their roles from Lord of the Rings, but the names that are being tossed around include Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Ian Holm (Bilbo), Andy Serkis (Gollum) and Christopher Lee (Saruman). It is supposed to be divided into 2 parts to be released in December 2011 and December 2012.
There is also a 1977 animated version of the story starring Orson Bean, Cyril Ritchard, Hans Conried and John Huston. It has been simplified from the original story, but it does include many songs based on many of Tolkein's poems. It has been YEARS since I have seen it, so I can't give any real opinion of it.
Trivia: The Hobbit actors Cyril Ritchard and Hans Conried both starred as Captain Hook/Mr. Darling in Peter Pan; Ritchard in the Broadway version and Conried in the 1953 Disney Version.
