Am I Sanctimonious?

The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am still thinking about these stories and I finished them a week ago.

These stories!

First,I am not generally a short story fan. But, I kept running into mentions of Flannery O'Connor in different articles, and her literary greatness,so I decided to give her a try. It helped that I only paid $1.99 through a Kindle book deal.

These are not warm, funny heartwarming stories. In fact, many of them are a bit macabre, and honestly, I don't know exactly why, but I was compelled to read them all. Of course, now I am just busting to talk about them and I can't find anyone who has read them.Bah!

These stories beg to be talked about. Why? Because you will come up against your own sanctimonious attitudes. Because they make you think! Because the stories make you realize it is just a reality that there are bad people and bad things in this world.

Perhaps you already know this. Perhaps you don't want to think the best of everyone you meet like I do. My family is forever telling me I am naive,and guess what -I think I prefer to stay that way.

The first bothersome thing for me in the book is the use of the word "nigger". It's as bad as that "f" word that authors want to overuse these days. Actually, worse. The author was from the South, so I'm sure she captured the dialect of the times, but it was hard to get used to. Then there's the fact that many of the main characters saw themselves as so superior to black people, to "white trash", or to their parents. The main character in most of the stories could find nothing amiss in themselves, but only in those around them. It was not possible that they were in the wrong. Stories included people who were mean spirited or just plain bad. The people in the stories did not have much patience with anyone who was not them.

O'Connor's stories made me think: How often am I, without even thinking about it, making a judgment about another person-thinking myself superior to them. I don't believe you would often catch me being unkind to someone, but what is going on in my mind, am I being unkind in there? Am I choosing to be part of that person's story, or am I distancing myself from them. Am I being religious instead of clothing myself with "compassion,kindness,humility, gentleness and patience"?(Col. 3:12). In other words, is my Christianity real?

Then there's the whole bad people thing. In one of the stories(The Lame Shall Enter First), a father befriends a boy (sadly to the detriment of his relationship with his own son), and nothing he does makes a difference in that boy's life. The boy remains bad. This story really has my wheels turning. What does that mean for me personally and as a Christian? What does that mean for the world? (I told you I was naive!)

For me, O'Connor's stories are making me take a look at myself and my attitudes about people. About what I believe and how I put that in play. They are bothering me. I don't think that is a bad thing, but be prepared if you choose to try them for yourself.

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Orphan Train

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Isn't it funny how well meaning people can disrupt the lives of the people they are trying to help?

The Orphan Train, although a novel, is based on a bit of American History, that helped some children, but perhaps other children not so much.

I liked how the author wove the story of Molly within the story of Vivian. We meet the child of today (Molly) and a child of yesterday (Vivian). We meet heartbreak and endurance. We meet love and hope. Their stories will touch your heart.

One of my favorite things is when history is woven into a novel and I learn something new. I not only make new friends through story, but it's framed in fact. Invariably this touches my heart and mind.

Can you imagine being an orphan and getting on a train and going from town to town to be "adopted"? Imagine the rejection when you are not chosen. Imagine the fear. Imagine being torn from all you know, perhaps even losing your name. It boggles the mind, and that is what the author helps us to understand.

There are some true orphan train rider stories at the end of the book,and those added to the depth of the story for me.

I would recommend this book to both the adult and young adult reader.

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Book Three of the Divergent Series

Allegiant by Veronica Roth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have liked the Divergent series, but towards the end of book 2, and throughout book 3, I've been disappointed in the relationship between Tess and Four. To my mind, their misunderstandings were turning into a lot of whining, and they didn't seem to learn from them. So, that part has annoyed me a bit.

I did, however, appreciate how the author used the thought processes of her characters, and Tess in particular. The characters were often uncomfortable with the violence they had to employ, and the choices that they made. I know it made me ponder the forces of good and evil and the choices that we make. We see violence all around us, particularly in the recent events in Israel, Palestine and Russia(killing of young/innocent people).

If you have teens reading this book, or if you are a person of faith, the entire series could lend itself to some good discussion. It is my understanding the author is a Christian. I would be interested to know why she choose this story line,and what, if anything, she hoped young people would learn from the series.


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Wyoming and Women's Suffrage

The Gentle Tamers: Women of the Old Wild West by Dee Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I give this book four starts for Chapter 13, Wyoming Tea Party.

While the entire book was interesting, particularly as how the westward movement of pioneer men and women liberated women in unexpected ways, the Wyoming chapter really brings it home.

Esther Morris, described as a self-reliant "55 year old lady of great charm, who enjoyed fierce battles and was accustomed to winning them", had a tea party on September 2, 1869. Esther invited 20 influential citizens to her party. Among her guests, two candidates for the legislature, Col. William H. Bright (Democrat)  and Captain Herman G. Nickerson (Republican). She asked each of them, if elected, to introduce a bill to give the women of Wyoming the right to vote. Both candidates agreed, even though at that time, no woman in the world had that right.

Bright won the election and kept his promise on November 9, 1869. Many saw the bill as a practical joke,or an opportunity to embarrass the governer. However the bill also passed the house, with the only change being to increase the age from 18 to 21. On December 10, 1869, Governor Campbell signed the bill. And for the first time anywhere on earth,women had won the legal right to vote. Additionally,Wyoming women could now be elected to office.

When Wyoming applied for statehood 18 years later (1889) the law was in danger of being repealed due to the woman's suffrage bill. Kudos to the Wyoming legislatures who sent a telegram stating

We may stay out of the union a hundred years, but we will come in with our women.

There are many more stories of our western women and how their lives changed, but this bit of history, of which I was unaware, made the book for me.

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