I see my mind as a tapestry woven through with memories, dreams and thoughts.

Sunday 27 February 2011

Sunday Snippet

I have just begun to read Flannery O'Connor's 'Complete Stories'.

Here is a snippet from the first one, entitled 'Geranium'. It is an old man thinking. He has been moved from the country to live in a city apartment with his daughter.

'The apartment was too tight. There was no place to be where there wasn't somebody else. The kitchen opened into the bedroom and the bathroom opened into everything else and you were always where you started from.'
p7

8 comments:

K said...

Great descriptions of claustrophobia in this snippet.

steven said...

aguja - that's a superb snippet! it got me to thinking of a couple of places i lived in as a a student. steven

aguja said...

The stories are actually wonderful cameos rather than tales, and the descriptions are vivid.

Unknown said...

Oh, I am a huge Flannery O'Connor fan! I've read every short story - there only 30-some-odd and Wise Blood, the novel.

I vaguely remember Geranium. I'm trying to think of what my favorite story by her is. A Good Man is Hard to Find and Everything That Rises Must Converge are two excellent, well-known ones by her. The very first I read.

I remember one called Greenleaf, which has a brutal ending, as a lot of her stories do.

L'Adelaide said...

after reading this, i felt it was a bit hard to breathe... great little snippet. xx

aguja said...

Yes, I felt this too, Linda.

Pagan Sphinx - this book that I sent for has the whole lot in it so I shall enjoy the experience, brutal endings or not. I love discovering authors whose work I have not read.
Geranium is the old man sitting waiting for the geranium to be put out each morning, on the window sill opposite that of his daughter's apartment.

Olga said...

This reminds me of the Canadian artist Colville, and his recent works, which are mostly dedicated to the aging process.

aguja said...

Do you have pictures of Colville's work, Olga?? Think I should look this up.