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louisenikoline's review
4.0
"The Haunted Boy" - 4 stars
"The Sojourner" - 3 stars
"A Domestic Dilemma" - 4 stars
"The Sojourner" - 3 stars
"A Domestic Dilemma" - 4 stars
lottelikesbooks's review
4.0
I think the best word to describe the three stories in this volume (The Haunted Boy, The Sojourner and A Domestic Dilemma) is "melancholic". In all their briefness, they each conveyed a certain emotional depth and the different struggles at the heart of these stories felt entirely graspable and real to me. Now I definitely want to read more by Carson McCullers!
kari6f3fc's review
dark
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
callum_mclaughlin's review
4.0
This slim volume collects three short stories by McCullers, often described as a master of the Southern gothic. The prose throughout is sensitive and observant, yet highly readable, and though this was my first taste of her work, it certainly won’t be my last.
The title story, The Haunted Boy, was far and away my favourite. In it, a young boy arrives home from school with a friend. Unsettled by his mother’s inexplicable absence, he determines to keep his friend there as long as possible. What unfolds is an unbearably tense and poignant look at why the boy fears being alone, and why his mother’s disappearance causes so much anxiety. Exploring love, trauma, mental health, and the pain of things left unsaid, it’s a truly fantastic example of short fiction at its best. [5*]
The Sojourner is a melancholy though charmingly hopeful read about the unique nostalgia that comes from reconnecting with an ex-lover, and seeing them well established in their new life. far less impactful, but still a pleasant read. [3*]
A Domestic Dilemma is a snapshot of a family’s private crisis, unfolding behind closed doors. It explores a father’s fear for his children’s wellbeing and his own reputation as his wife slips into the grip of alcoholism. It’s a perceptive look at how fine the line between love and hate can be in domestic situations. [4*]
The title story, The Haunted Boy, was far and away my favourite. In it, a young boy arrives home from school with a friend. Unsettled by his mother’s inexplicable absence, he determines to keep his friend there as long as possible. What unfolds is an unbearably tense and poignant look at why the boy fears being alone, and why his mother’s disappearance causes so much anxiety. Exploring love, trauma, mental health, and the pain of things left unsaid, it’s a truly fantastic example of short fiction at its best. [5*]
The Sojourner is a melancholy though charmingly hopeful read about the unique nostalgia that comes from reconnecting with an ex-lover, and seeing them well established in their new life. far less impactful, but still a pleasant read. [3*]
A Domestic Dilemma is a snapshot of a family’s private crisis, unfolding behind closed doors. It explores a father’s fear for his children’s wellbeing and his own reputation as his wife slips into the grip of alcoholism. It’s a perceptive look at how fine the line between love and hate can be in domestic situations. [4*]
thereadinghobbit's review
5.0
'His hand sought the adjacent flesh and sorrow paralleled desire in the immense complexity of love.'
I read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by McCullers a long time ago, but I still remembered it vividly. It made a big impression on me and I'd recommend it to anyone to likes modern fiction of people's lives (don't be putt off by the sappy sounding title. The book is everything but. The original title was The Mute, which is much better in my opinion). I've been meaning to read more of her work, but I never got around to it. So when I saw Penguin published some of her short stories in this collection, I simply had to have it. The stories are grim and melancholic, but also in a way life affirming. Some have called is 'Southern Gothic', and I think that describes it just right. Three amazing stories full of life and emotion and sorrow and hope. The darker sides of life, but still with a glimmer of hope.
I read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by McCullers a long time ago, but I still remembered it vividly. It made a big impression on me and I'd recommend it to anyone to likes modern fiction of people's lives (don't be putt off by the sappy sounding title. The book is everything but. The original title was The Mute, which is much better in my opinion). I've been meaning to read more of her work, but I never got around to it. So when I saw Penguin published some of her short stories in this collection, I simply had to have it. The stories are grim and melancholic, but also in a way life affirming. Some have called is 'Southern Gothic', and I think that describes it just right. Three amazing stories full of life and emotion and sorrow and hope. The darker sides of life, but still with a glimmer of hope.
booksbynoe's review
4.0
Really enjoyed the three stories included in this little book. Won't be my last McCullers
blackwater's review
5.0
These stories touched me in a way few others have. So melancholic, my heart ached for the protagonists.
balancinghistorybooks's review
5.0
The forty-fifth publication on the Penguin Moderns list is one which I was particularly looking forward to - The Haunted Boy by Carson McCullers. Whilst a huge fan of her fiction, and of the Southern Gothic genre in which she wrote, I have only read a handful of her short stories to date. The blurb states that 'these moving stories portray love, sorrow and our search for happiness and understanding.' All of the tales here - 'The Haunted Boy', 'The Sojourner', and 'A Domestic Dilemma' - were published between 1950 and 1955.
As with her longer works, McCullers' writing is fantastic - multilayered, perceptive, and admirable. She captures moods particularly so well in the first story, 'The Haunted Boy': 'It was then, in the unanswering silence as they stood in the empty, wax-floored hall, that Hugh felt there was something wrong'. McCullers also marvellously explores her characters and their psyches. From the same story, she writes of young protagonist Hugh: 'Confession, the first deep-rooted words, opened the festered secrecy of the boy's heart, and he continued more rapidly, urgent and finding unforeseen relief.'
McCullers also fantastically captures the essence of memory; from 'The Sojourner', for instance: 'The twilight border between sleep and waking was a Roman one this morning, splashing fountains and arched, narrow streets, the golden lavish city of blossoms and age-soft stone. Sometimes in this semi-consciousness he sojourned again in Paris, or war German rubble, or Swiss ski-ing and a snow hotel. Sometimes, also, in a fallow Georgia field at hunting dawn. Rome it was this morning in the fearless region of dreams.'
McCullers writes of some very dark topics in this selection of her work, and contrasts this darkness with a series of glorious descriptions. Her character portraits are always sharp and varied. All three stories here are rich, thoughtful, and searching, and I enjoyed every single word of them. I am very excited to read the rest of McCullers' short work at some point very soon.
As with her longer works, McCullers' writing is fantastic - multilayered, perceptive, and admirable. She captures moods particularly so well in the first story, 'The Haunted Boy': 'It was then, in the unanswering silence as they stood in the empty, wax-floored hall, that Hugh felt there was something wrong'. McCullers also marvellously explores her characters and their psyches. From the same story, she writes of young protagonist Hugh: 'Confession, the first deep-rooted words, opened the festered secrecy of the boy's heart, and he continued more rapidly, urgent and finding unforeseen relief.'
McCullers also fantastically captures the essence of memory; from 'The Sojourner', for instance: 'The twilight border between sleep and waking was a Roman one this morning, splashing fountains and arched, narrow streets, the golden lavish city of blossoms and age-soft stone. Sometimes in this semi-consciousness he sojourned again in Paris, or war German rubble, or Swiss ski-ing and a snow hotel. Sometimes, also, in a fallow Georgia field at hunting dawn. Rome it was this morning in the fearless region of dreams.'
McCullers writes of some very dark topics in this selection of her work, and contrasts this darkness with a series of glorious descriptions. Her character portraits are always sharp and varied. All three stories here are rich, thoughtful, and searching, and I enjoyed every single word of them. I am very excited to read the rest of McCullers' short work at some point very soon.