Flannery O'Connor on Fiction
I recently read several of the essays included in the O'Connor collection Mystery and Manners, where I ran across this relatively simple quote that I especially liked. O'Connor was describing her views on writing, but this can easily translate to films.
A story that is any good can't be reduced; it can only be expanded. A story is good when you continue to see more and more in it, and when it continues to escape you. In fiction, two and two is always more than four.
Amen, sister.
Labels: Flannery O'Connor
posted by Diane @ 12:23 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Great quote; thanks for posting it. "Two and two is always more than four"--I love that! I've really come to appreciate the inner process of engaging films/books/whatever. Works that do all my thinking for me frankly bore me.
Fantastic, Diane. I've got the complete works of Miss Flannery, and I treasure them. I've got a bunch of quotes written down in my quote book from not only her essays, but her letters as well. There's plenty of great stuff in both.
I love this particular quote though. It reminds me of my favorite moment in those great extras on the Mouchette disc, right at the end of the little show, the interviewer asks Bresson if he could sum up in about 10 seconds what his film is all about. He offers a fantastically subtle look, and then responds with something like, no, if I could do that, it [the film] would be terrible. I love it.
Oh, that's a terrific Bresson story, John! Thanks for sharing that.
I may have to just routinely start posting Flannery quotes here--she gave us so many gems. Mystery and Manners is the only one of her books I don't own. I got it from the library this time, but I'll have to add it to my collection someday. I've read all of her letters and everything else--a treasure, indeed. During December, I reread almost all of her short stories. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I read them--I never tire of them.
John, have you ever seen any of the film adaptations of her works? I guess the most well-known is John Huston's Wise Blood (still not out on DVD). I've never seen it. Doug, I think you have?
It's hard to believe that a TV version of "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" aired in 1957, starring...Gene Kelly! Of course, they gave it a happy ending.
I've got it on VHS and I'd be happy to send it around...
I've read the novel so many times and have all of the imagery worked out in my head--I'll admit that I feel a bit nervous about seeing the filmed version. But that is a kind offer, Doug. I may take you up on it. I've always been curious about whether or not the film's intent matches O'Connor's.
I have seen Wise Blood, and found it pretty intriguing. I'd like to go back and spend more time with it and especially the novel. I'm at the point where it's coming together for me, but I have a hard time articulating a coherent response to it. I'm kind of surprised Wise Blood's not gotten a DVD release, being John Huston and all. And I have to say that I would be wary of any film adaptations in general, precisely for the Gene Kelly/happy ending factor!
I feel like a total sap. I bought Wise Blood, maybe a year ago, maybe more, and I think it might have been based on Diane telling me about it. Alas, it sits on the shelf unread.
That's it. Me and Flannery, we need to make a date.
I know we've talked about her before, Stef, so it probably was because of me telling you about it. I try to sell Miss O'Connor wherever I go. :)
You've got no excuses, my friend. If you don't want to start with a novel, how about a short story? For you, I might recommend "A Good Man Is Hard to Find."
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