Play Book Tag discussion

Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor - 2* - My Review

This book is a Southern Gothic farce. It is the story of Hazel Motes, a twenty-two-year-old man who returns from military service after World War II to find his home empty. Due to what he has seen in war, he has become alienated from religion and now considers himself an atheist. He takes a train to Taulkinham, Tennessee, where he meets a rival (sham) preacher (and his teenage daughter) and decides to compete with him by establishing a “Church of Christ Without Christ.” He meets a variety of other cartoonish characters and engages in debauched behavior.

In the introduction, this book is called a comedy. I am apparently missing something since I found nothing funny about this at all. It is populated by mean-spirited people, and only one even remotely comes close to caring about anyone else. I think it is intended to show that even though Hazel denies his religion, he cannot ever truly get away from it. Needless to say, it was not a pleasant experience for me. I am glad it was short.

Joy, I agree with you there's no "comedy" here!

I found this description of the book from the Encyclopedia Brittanica on line: The main character Hazel Motes travels to a town populated by a grotesque cast of itinerant loners, false prophets, and displaced persons on the make. And from there the story becomes increasingly violent and phantasmagorical.

I gave this one 4 stars, but I like dark and strange books. And I'm counting this as THE strangest book I've ever read.

It is certainly strange! If the introduction hadn't called it a "comedy" I might not have been expecting it to be humorous. I'd call it more tragedy than comedy. It definitely will appeal to those who like dark subject matter.