Global Catholic Literature Seminar on Flannery O'Connor's Why Do the Heathen Rage?
05/01/2024
In case you're interested, this is the next GCL seminar.
I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I didn't even know this book was being released. Moreover, now that I've heard of it and looked around for a bit for information about it, I am not sure I even want to read it.
Why not? Well, as far as I can tell, it doesn't even rise to the level of "unfinished novel," as the book's cover calls it, but is rather just a parcel of sketches and drafts of scenes. The book's subtitle is more modest: "A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress." The Collected Stories includes a very short one called "Why Do the Heathen Rage?" which seems to be one of these sketches, and it can hardly be called a story at all--some characters are introduced, a stage is set, but that's about all.
Still, my experience with these seminars makes me willing to give it a try. It's not very expensive--$65 before May 10, $75 after. It consists of four 90-minute sessions on consecutive Monday nights beginning June 3. You can register at this link. It isn't mentioned in that announcement, but in the past the cost of these seminars has included a copy of the book or books to be discussed.
UPDATE: You do get a copy of the book, either paper or electronic, though if you register late electronic may be the only way you can get it in time for the first session.
I read a review of it somewhere a few weeks back, and a lot of the commentary seems to revolve around O'Connor's views on race, which is not something I'm greatly interested in.
Posted by: Rob G | 05/01/2024 at 12:28 PM
I’ll have a follow up post on that in a few days. I decided to separate the announcement.
Posted by: Mac | 05/01/2024 at 02:31 PM