Book Review: “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” by Carson McCullers

{ Book Reviews }

January 4, 2010

Yearning, melancholy, loving and sad: the more McCullers I read, the more I realize her genius for her gentle understanding of the lonely, the freakish and the isolated.

McCullers understands the panicky void that gapes around those who are alone, who cannot express the complications of their minds. Each character here, floating alone through life in a miserable southern mill town, each one shares two things in common.

One: their inner life is impossible to express to those around them. Two: a messiah-like reverence for deaf-mute John Singer, who is for all of them an apotheosis, a summation of everything they need him to be.

There is a lot of aching and yearning here. A profound understanding of humanity. A gripping story. Tragedies, a moment caught like a fragile insect of history. Beautiful.

5.0 stars
Older
Newer

Leave a Reply

Get the Book!

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Oprah's Book Club) by Carson McCullers

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Oprah's Book Club) by Carson McCullers



Buy the books mentioned in this post from Amazon.com now and help me maintain my rock 'n roll lifestyle.

Related Posts

Scipio the Computer has deemed that these might be similar in content!

Recent Comments

Europe 2010, Or, How I packed everything for a monthlong international journey in a carry-on

Newest comments regarding this post:

  • Scott said Thank you! Ok, now I need to order the Sunpack because it’s actually 10” taller and folds 2” shorter than the Sprint Mini II tripod I just... (More)
  • scott said Thanks for this very useful post. I purchased this REI bag (after a few weeks of research) for a month trip in September to Central/Eastern Europe. Now I’m... (More)

Christmas Valley, Oregon: Creepy Site that Means Something or Quite Possibly…Green Energy?

Newest comments regarding this post:

  • RB said And my comment above pertained to the generalized comments made by the previous two posters about Christmas Valley residents. I disagree with the stands taken by... (More)
  • RB said ^^The previous two replies are examples of douchery existing on the west side of the Cascades. Nothing like good old fashioned generalizations based on perceptions. (More)
  • B H said I’ve been to the backscatter site multiple times also. It’s pretty impressive the amount of money they dumped down the drain to develop this station and... (More)

My Ongoing Narrow-Rule Obsession

Newest comments regarding this post:

  • Emily said I too came across this blog based on a search for narrow ruled filler paper. I guess I’ll just have to try the university’s bookstore to see if they... (More)
Wonderful games with Caslon