Enjoyed your discussion. On Flannery O’Connor: Her subject matter was poor Southern whites, and some of her characterizations, as in “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” are pretty unflattering, even savage. How she thought about black people is not surprising, as John said, and really beside the point when considering her writings. Ironic she is being attacked for her racial views. Southern whites (I am one) would have better cause to be offended, but I doubt enough of them have read her amazing fiction to matter. On Rushdie: He too is considered a great literary artist, and like O’Connor, not many of the people he is purported to be offending will ever read his books. Another irony, and a tragic one in his case. I am a reasonably well read person and I struggled to get through The Satanic Verses, although I recognized the brilliance of some of his passages. A very difficult read. After I finished I thought, not one Muslim in a million would ever actually read, much less understand, this novel of “magic realism.” Which makes the vicious, violent campaign against this poor man doubly stupid.
Enjoyed your discussion. On Flannery O’Connor: Her subject matter was poor Southern whites, and some of her characterizations, as in “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” are pretty unflattering, even savage. How she thought about black people is not surprising, as John said, and really beside the point when considering her writings. Ironic she is being attacked for her racial views. Southern whites (I am one) would have better cause to be offended, but I doubt enough of them have read her amazing fiction to matter. On Rushdie: He too is considered a great literary artist, and like O’Connor, not many of the people he is purported to be offending will ever read his books. Another irony, and a tragic one in his case. I am a reasonably well read person and I struggled to get through The Satanic Verses, although I recognized the brilliance of some of his passages. A very difficult read. After I finished I thought, not one Muslim in a million would ever actually read, much less understand, this novel of “magic realism.” Which makes the vicious, violent campaign against this poor man doubly stupid.