Daily Archives for: July 20th, 2017

Wise Quotes by Flannery O’Connor

By | On July 20, 2017 | Updated March 27, 2023 | Comments (5)

Flannery O’Connor (1925 –  1964) was an American writer best known for her short stories. Though she lived a somewhat sheltered life, O’Connor’s work explored human nature, sometimes its darkest side, and others with razor wit.

Today, her work is still much discussed thanks to its unique detail, symbolism, and imagery. Her work is categorized as “Southern Gothic,” and relies heavily on regional themes.

O’Connor famously said: “Anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it is going to be called realistic.” Though her themes were often serious and dark, her writing was imbued with wit. Read More→

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Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (1927)

By | On July 20, 2017 | Updated November 18, 2022 | Comments (2)

Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927) is often considered one of Willa Cather’s best novels, if not her masterpiece. It’s a fixture on numerous listings of best American literature of the twentieth century. It tells an almost mythic tale of a life simply lived in the American southwest.

Father Jean Marie Latour, the novel’s main character, arrives in New Mexico in 1851 to serve as the Apostolic Vicar. He has traveled there from Sandusky, Ohio, with his friend, Joseph Vaillant, a vicar. 

The novel is historically based, drawing from the life of Jean-Baptiste Lamy (1814 – 1888). The plot is inspired by the capture of the Southwest by the U.S. in the Mexican–American War, which took place from 1846 to 1848. Read More→

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