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

Sunday 3 July 2011

Sunday Snippet

I have returned to the stories of Flannery O'Connor simply because of her brilliant use of words. This incident describes the moment that Mr. Head and his grandson, Nelson, arrive at thier station, returning from an unpleassant visit to the city.

'Their train glided into the suburb stop just as they reached the station and they boarded it together, and ten minutes before it was due to arrive at the junction, they went to the door and stood ready to jump off if it did not stop; but it did, just as the moon, restored to its full splendor, sprang from a cloud and flooded the clearing with light. As they stepped off, the sage grass was shivering gently in shades of silver and the clinkers under their feet glittered with a fresh black light. The treetops, fencing the junction like the protecting wall of a garden, were darker than the sky which was hung with gigantic white clouds illuminated like lanterns.'


From 'The Artificial Nigger' to be found in the 'Complete Stories' of Flannery O'Connor

Does it not remind you of noticing the details when you have been away from home?

4 comments:

tinajo said...

Beautiful use of words, I like it! :-)

steven said...

so physical and then so otherworldly writing. thanks for remining me of flannery aguja. steven

Melissa Sarno said...

Beautiful images. You're right, it is like returning to a place and seeing it with a fresh perspective. Perhaps like returning to a writer you love but whose work you haven't read in a while :-)

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

I do love the vivid writing O'Connor uses.