Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Some pertinent quotes from Flannery O'Connor:

The average Catholic writer (and reader, we can assume)..."has become able to recognize nature in literature in only two forms, the sentimental and the obscene. He would seem to prefer the former, while being more of an authority on the latter, but the similarity between the two generally escapes him."

"Catholic readers are constantly being offended and scandalized by novels that they don't have the fundamental equipment to read in the first place, and often these are works that are permeated with the Christian spirit."

"As for fiction, the motto of the Catholic press should be: We guarantee to corrupt nothing but your taste"