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malinck's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
nassoro's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tildahlia's review
2.0
I think I did something wrong with this book because I just couldn't get into it. I had no specific quibbles, the writing was fine etc etc but at just over 3 months of reading and still only 50% through I still felt like it was a chore. I decided to abandon ship, life's too short and all that. Sowwy.
roswall's review against another edition
4.0
I knew nothing of the author or the book except its intriguing and beautiful title. It's in many ways a calm and carefully written depiction of the life of a couple of persons and their materialistic reality. The struggles of poverty, race and how all of them in their hearts are searching for something.
It's interesting how Mr. Singer, by being different and a man of few words, becomes the surface of all kinds of projections and fantasies.
I'm mostly touched by the story of Mick though, which seems to be autobiographical.
Three quotes:
"Maybe when people longed for a thing that bad the longing made them trust in anything that might give it to them."
"Mick sat on the steps a long time. Miss Brown did not turn on her radio and there was nothing but the noises that people made. She thought a long time and kept hitting her thighs with her fists. Her face felt like it was scattered in pieces and she could not keep it straight. The feeling was a whole lot worse than being hungry for any dinner, yet it was like that. I want— I want— I want— was all that she could think about— but just what this real want was she did not know."
And the last one, when Mick is in a rush, her father calls her to his room...
"She was in such a hurry that it was hard to stand still. Her Dad noticed this. He tried to say something— but he had not called to tell her anything special. He only wanted to talk with her for a little while. He started to speak and swallowed. They just looked at each other. The quietness grew out longer and neither of them could say a word. That was when she realized about her Dad. It wasn’t like she was learning a new fact— she had understood it all along in every way except with her brain. Now she just suddenly knew that she knew about her Dad. He was lonesome and he was an old man. Because none of the kids went to him for anything and because he didn’t earn much money he felt like he was cut off from the family. And in his lonesomeness he wanted to be close to one of his kids— and they were all so busy that they didn’t know it. He felt like he wasn’t much real use to anybody. She understood this while they were looking at each other. It gave her a queer feeling. Her Dad picked up a watch spring and cleaned it with a brush dipped in gasoline. ‘I know you’re in a hurry. I just hollered to say hello.’ ‘No, I’m not in any rush,’ she said. ‘Honest.’ "
It's interesting how Mr. Singer, by being different and a man of few words, becomes the surface of all kinds of projections and fantasies.
I'm mostly touched by the story of Mick though, which seems to be autobiographical.
Three quotes:
"Maybe when people longed for a thing that bad the longing made them trust in anything that might give it to them."
"Mick sat on the steps a long time. Miss Brown did not turn on her radio and there was nothing but the noises that people made. She thought a long time and kept hitting her thighs with her fists. Her face felt like it was scattered in pieces and she could not keep it straight. The feeling was a whole lot worse than being hungry for any dinner, yet it was like that. I want— I want— I want— was all that she could think about— but just what this real want was she did not know."
And the last one, when Mick is in a rush, her father calls her to his room...
"She was in such a hurry that it was hard to stand still. Her Dad noticed this. He tried to say something— but he had not called to tell her anything special. He only wanted to talk with her for a little while. He started to speak and swallowed. They just looked at each other. The quietness grew out longer and neither of them could say a word. That was when she realized about her Dad. It wasn’t like she was learning a new fact— she had understood it all along in every way except with her brain. Now she just suddenly knew that she knew about her Dad. He was lonesome and he was an old man. Because none of the kids went to him for anything and because he didn’t earn much money he felt like he was cut off from the family. And in his lonesomeness he wanted to be close to one of his kids— and they were all so busy that they didn’t know it. He felt like he wasn’t much real use to anybody. She understood this while they were looking at each other. It gave her a queer feeling. Her Dad picked up a watch spring and cleaned it with a brush dipped in gasoline. ‘I know you’re in a hurry. I just hollered to say hello.’ ‘No, I’m not in any rush,’ she said. ‘Honest.’ "
khornstein1's review against another edition
5.0
Just wow. If someone had told me, or tried to tell me what this book was about, I probably wouldn't have read it. This is what you might have told me the books is about: racism, sexism, homophopia, Marxism, class divisions, the South, Jews, suicide, prisons. Here are the characters: a mute, his Greek "friend," a 12-year-old girl, an African-American doctor, a poor white man who owns a cafe, a carnival worker/would-be labor organizer. And I would have said, "Oh G*d...someone trying to make a point with a bunch of quirky characters...yuck."
But this is what the book is really about: loneliness, the complexity of people's lives, peoples' fallibility, the power of friendship.
I have read a lot and I am a pretty hardened reader at this point, but I felt Mick's anticipation: would the kids she wanted to be friends with show up at her party? Would the interlopers destroy her parents' house? And I felt the mute Singer's anxiety: what would happen when he set up his film projector in the mental ward? I'm thinking I don't want Mick to get pregnant! And I am sickened by Willie's treatment in prison.
Carson McCullers wrote effortlessly at the age of 23. And she wrote this timeless story in 1940. Just wow--one of the absolutely best books I've ever read.
But this is what the book is really about: loneliness, the complexity of people's lives, peoples' fallibility, the power of friendship.
I have read a lot and I am a pretty hardened reader at this point, but I felt Mick's anticipation: would the kids she wanted to be friends with show up at her party? Would the interlopers destroy her parents' house? And I felt the mute Singer's anxiety: what would happen when he set up his film projector in the mental ward? I'm thinking I don't want Mick to get pregnant! And I am sickened by Willie's treatment in prison.
Carson McCullers wrote effortlessly at the age of 23. And she wrote this timeless story in 1940. Just wow--one of the absolutely best books I've ever read.
vampirehelpdesk's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
rhonifoni's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
mossfacts's review against another edition
3.25
Not bad at all, just didn't do much for me? When I found out she wrote this at 23 it made a lot of sense (not like I could do any better)