—Feast of St. Leonard of Noblac
I've been having a rollicking good time reading Flannery O'Conner's Wise Blood. I've finished the first seven chapters and the cast of characters is setting us up for the the main event.Did you know director John Huston, the voice of Gandalf the Grey in the animated The Hobbit, adapted this novel to film? That is where this photograph of Hazel Motes (Brad Dourif) comes from.
So far we've met our "hero" Hazel, of Eastrod Tennessee (for sound effects, read this as Tannersee), and everyone he meets pegs him for a preacher. He hates that, by the way, and has a brilliant idea to be a preacher (after all) for "The Church Without Christ." As Hazel grapples with this idea though, his thoughts can't seem to escape the impossibility of such a thing.
But look, I've been real busy lately and although I am enjoying this book (my first taste of Flannery), I haven't been able to think much on it and write about it. But I found that Roy Peachey, of The Catholic English Teacher blog has posted a link to a couple of podcasts he found given by Amy Hungerford of Yale University.
So head on over to Roy's blog and check out Ms. Hungerford's lectures in the interim. And while you're at Roy's place, see what else he has to offer. You'll be glad you did. But absolutely do not watch the John Huston film until you've finished reading the book. I'll know if you did.
After the dust settles around my area, I'll punch out my impressions of Wise Blood shortly. I can't wait to see what Hazel, Enoch Emery & company have in store for us.
