I wasn't aware of this author until the last couple months and the reason I was aware of it was because I heard about her through a couple posts made by a blogger I really like. Thing was, Flannery O'Connor apparently had written things of a more specifically religious nature and while that's not really my thing, I was interested in her writing anyway.
I found this in the fiction section of my library totally by accident one day as I was wandering through the bookshelves. I saw her name on the spine and I figured, why not! This was her first book.
This one does have a religious bend to it, but it's fiction, and it's a story. I picked this up totally to experience her writing, which was totally great, but I think a lot of it went over my head.
It's about a guy named Hazel Motes who is basically looking to get away from God without actually being able to. He even starts his own church, but can't actually get away from God at all. He meets a blind man and his daughter, and a strange guy who has "wise blood". I don't want to say more really, because I don't know how much I'd be giving away that people may not want to know before hand. With this book, I don't even know what the spoilers are and what they aren't.
There was no doubt a deeper meaning to this story than I was getting, and I think maybe since I missed it, it left something to be desired once it was done. It felt almost like a book we had to read in school, one of those ones that feel intense but in an old time period that we can't connect with, about people who live lives we never will.
Coming out the other side I'm not sure what to make of it. It was dark, strange, and weird. Her writing was wonderful otherwise I don't think I would have finished this book based on the story. Her writing kept me glued to the page even though I had no clue what was really going on. I hopped over onto Goodreads to see what people were saying and I guess the consensus is its a Southern Gothic novel, and no one can say a whole lot about whats going on either.
Recommendations: If you want to read something out of the norm, looking to experience different writings, and different stories, then read this. This isn't the book for the usual book worm.