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doctortdm's review
5.0
Reading Carson's books is very fatiguing, she wrote so well the reader could feel the character's emotions.
manwithanagenda's review
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-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
5.0
I rated each novel individually
'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter': 5 Stars
What a brilliantly sad novel, I'd read this once before in college, but I was still drawn in and captivated from the first lines. McCullers has created a real melancholy here, describing the four townspeople: a young girl, a shop-owner, a drifter and a black doctor, all drawn to the deaf-mute Singer with precision. Even reading it a second time I couldn't quite catch the subtle changes in narration when the novel shifted perspectives that identified the individuals for me before they were identified by name.
The center of the novel is the transference of each characters hopes and dreams onto Singer, pouring their hearts out to him while- with the slight exception of the shop-owner - never trying to see through to his heart.
'Reflections in a Golden Eye': 4 Stars
Very good, well-laid out - I especially liked her characterization of Alison Langdon and Captain Penderton. It was beautifully done, set up almost like a mystery, naming a crime and those involved so that the entire time one was reading it theories and revelations circled the brain. I might be docking points only because it was so brief (though I can't see it being any longer than it was)...
'The Ballad of the Sad Cafe': 2 Stars
There just wasn't much here, an interesting stock of characters with Miss Amelia and Cousin Lymon at the front. I just never got into this particular sad world that McCullers created. All I felt was irritation and frustration at their actions.
'The Member of the Wedding': 4 Stars
McCullers captured Frankie's, excuse me, F. Jasmine's restlessness and sadness in only a few pages, only a few gestures and her sullenness. Reading this made me remember how I felt at that age, 12 going on 13, how stagnant the world suddenly became, changing dynamics with friends and I especially sympathized with that reluctance to stop playacting and playing.
That seeking out of something to replace that, finding a 'we' to become, is a huge thing to encompass and McCullers for the most part accomplishes it. The story did drag a little bit in the middle but the ending was satisfying, and has one of my favorite closing lines in any book.
'Clock Without Hands': 4 Stars
McCuller's final novel, begun in the early 1950s and taking most of the decade to complete, is of its time and a passionate look at the turmoil in the South as the Civil Rights movement mounted and a harsh portrayal of the hypocrisy of the old order. It's also about death and how the knowledge of it can bring out the best and worst in individuals.
Overall, McCullers is worthy of all the praise she's received. There are ups and downs in her writing of course but as a single entity these novels are so insightful and absorbing that I can't give this collection anything less then full marks.
'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter': 5 Stars
What a brilliantly sad novel, I'd read this once before in college, but I was still drawn in and captivated from the first lines. McCullers has created a real melancholy here, describing the four townspeople: a young girl, a shop-owner, a drifter and a black doctor, all drawn to the deaf-mute Singer with precision. Even reading it a second time I couldn't quite catch the subtle changes in narration when the novel shifted perspectives that identified the individuals for me before they were identified by name.
The center of the novel is the transference of each characters hopes and dreams onto Singer, pouring their hearts out to him while- with the slight exception of the shop-owner - never trying to see through to his heart.
'Reflections in a Golden Eye': 4 Stars
Very good, well-laid out - I especially liked her characterization of Alison Langdon and Captain Penderton. It was beautifully done, set up almost like a mystery, naming a crime and those involved so that the entire time one was reading it theories and revelations circled the brain. I might be docking points only because it was so brief (though I can't see it being any longer than it was)...
'The Ballad of the Sad Cafe': 2 Stars
There just wasn't much here, an interesting stock of characters with Miss Amelia and Cousin Lymon at the front. I just never got into this particular sad world that McCullers created. All I felt was irritation and frustration at their actions.
'The Member of the Wedding': 4 Stars
McCullers captured Frankie's, excuse me, F. Jasmine's restlessness and sadness in only a few pages, only a few gestures and her sullenness. Reading this made me remember how I felt at that age, 12 going on 13, how stagnant the world suddenly became, changing dynamics with friends and I especially sympathized with that reluctance to stop playacting and playing.
That seeking out of something to replace that, finding a 'we' to become, is a huge thing to encompass and McCullers for the most part accomplishes it. The story did drag a little bit in the middle but the ending was satisfying, and has one of my favorite closing lines in any book.
'Clock Without Hands': 4 Stars
McCuller's final novel, begun in the early 1950s and taking most of the decade to complete, is of its time and a passionate look at the turmoil in the South as the Civil Rights movement mounted and a harsh portrayal of the hypocrisy of the old order. It's also about death and how the knowledge of it can bring out the best and worst in individuals.
Overall, McCullers is worthy of all the praise she's received. There are ups and downs in her writing of course but as a single entity these novels are so insightful and absorbing that I can't give this collection anything less then full marks.
savaging's review
4.0
"He waited for the black, terrible anger as though for some beast out of the night. But it did not come to him. His bowels seemed weighted with lead, and he walked slowly and lingered against fences and the cold, wet walls of buildings by the way. Descent into the depths until at last there was no further chasm below. He touched the solid bottom of despair and there took ease."
-[b:The Heart is a Lonely Hunter|37380|The Heart is a Lonely Hunter|Carson McCullers|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1168914678s/37380.jpg|860196]
Read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, and if you also fall in love with these characters -- the brilliant little imp-tomboys and the enraged, intelligent black men -- then sit longer with these lesser-known works of McCullers. Her stories may be despairing, but the characters that she animates are complex and wonderful.
A joy to find an American book from the 40s with great instincts and ideas on gender, race, class, without being a self-consciously 'political work.'
-[b:The Heart is a Lonely Hunter|37380|The Heart is a Lonely Hunter|Carson McCullers|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1168914678s/37380.jpg|860196]
Read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, and if you also fall in love with these characters -- the brilliant little imp-tomboys and the enraged, intelligent black men -- then sit longer with these lesser-known works of McCullers. Her stories may be despairing, but the characters that she animates are complex and wonderful.
A joy to find an American book from the 40s with great instincts and ideas on gender, race, class, without being a self-consciously 'political work.'
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