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The Violent Bear It Away cover art

The Violent Bear It Away

By: Flannery O’ Connor
Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
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Publisher's Summary

First published in 1960, The Violent Bear It Away is now a landmark in American literature. It is a dark and absorbing example of the gothic sensibility and bracing satirical voice that are united in Flannery O'Conner's work. In it, the orphaned Francis Marion Tarwater and his cousin, Rayber, defy the prophecy of their dead uncle - that Tarwater will become a prophet and will baptize Rayber's young son, Bishop. A series of struggles ensue, as Tarwater fights an internal battle against his innate faith and the voices calling him to be a prophet, while Rayber tries to draw Tarwater into a more “reasonable” modern world. Both wrestle with the legacy of their dead relatives and lay claim to Bishop's soul.

O'Connor observes all this with an astonishing combination of irony and compassion, humor and pathos. The result is a novel whose range and depth reveal a brilliant and innovative writer acutely alert to where the sacred lives and where it does not.
©1960 Flannery O'Connor (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Classics Historical Fiction
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Critic Reviews

“There is very little contemporary fiction which touches the level of Flannery O’Connor at her best.” ( New York Herald Tribune)
“I am sure her books will live on and on in American literature.” (Elizabeth Bishop, American poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner)

What listeners say about The Violent Bear It Away

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Dark and powerful, beautifully read

I hadn’t read anything by O’Connor before and didn’t know what to expect. It was very dark and truly excellent. I’ll be pondering it for a while. I intended to read it over the course of a week but it was so gripping that I finished it in a day. The narrator has a wonderful voice for the writing style.

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Flannery O’Conner is a genius

What an extraordinary writer,so contemporary, evocative and bloody scary. This is MAGA America in full stupidity. I feel for Bishop and the teacher.

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