Flannery O'Connor's fiction are not books you understand, they are books you experience. The writing is deep and rich and could never be duplicated. She wrote only two novels, several books of short stories, and a couple works of non-fiction, but you could put her head to head against any writer in the English language and she would dominate.
Her books are dark, violent, troubling, confusing, unresolved, and of course, deeply Christian. Traditionally she is labeled as Gothic, Southern, or Catholic, all of which are applicable, but helpful only to those people who would rather dismiss her writing than sit down and read it. If you do not hold to strict literary categories and are able to loose yourself from the desire to understand and open yourself to the desire to experience you may scare yourself when you empathize with some of the more disturbing characters in her works.
Many books that I've bought, read, and shelved I have (or would be willing to) given away. This includes some books that I have enjoyed very much. But I will hold onto O'Connor's books, especially Mystery and Manners, which should be read by every aspiring writer and every aspiring Christian.
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