The Heart is A Lonely Hunter (1940)

Oh, what a novel. Really this is about as perfect as they come. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter has that blend of story, character, setting, lyricism, insight, pacing, and so forth and so on that makes a wonderful read. Throw all that under a title likeThe Heart Is a Lonely Hunter and what more could you ask for?

There were certainly echoes of other great American novels of the era, most notably To Kill a Mockingbird and Native Son. In fact, once I had it in my mind that The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter was a more mature, grown up version of TKaM I couldn't shake it, even if it was only partially true. Having made these comparisons, I was expecting quite the tragedy. Mix in this amazing cast of characters McCullers has assembled and there is guaranteed to be quite an explosion at the end. Perhaps I set my self up for failure, because, while this story is certainly tragic, in comparison with what I was expecting, it was quite mild.

McCullers, whose age is forever attached to his book (she was 23), handles this novel with such experience. Craft-wise, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is nearly a perfect novel. For starters, she expertly shows how shifting third person voice is done. She goes into the minds of these five unique, equally interesting characters, and captures their voices with skill. Clearly she empathizes with her characters. She understands their view of the world, though, aside from their feelings of anger and loneliness, they are as different from one another as can be expected for a novel of this time and setting. What else? Well, the word choice is exquisite, the story is well paced, and then there's that title. And come on, that scene between Mick and Harry in the woods—perfect! God I loved the way McCullers reveals nothing and yet everything in that scene. It's beautiful and heartbreaking, profound and yet simple. How did she do it? ( )

This book leaves an ever present and haunting impression on everything you read from this point on. ( )

This story is interesting and well written. It is the story of several disparate characters who live in the same small southern town in the just prior to the US joining World War II. One is a restaurant owner, one is a teenage girl, one is an African-American physician, one is a journeyman with Labor and Communist sympathies. They share a fascination and friendship with a deaf-mute engraver, who "listens" to their various stories and passions with calm and apparent understanding. Most of them have a strong passion and want to share a message with the world, and they also all spend time questioning the meaning of life and events.

I found the story to be quite progressive for one written when it was. I kept checking the copyright date - yep, still 1940. The way the author approaches racial issues seems more like a 1960s attitude. The African-American physician even expresses a hope of marching on Washington to bring light to the injustice between the races. Knowing that it took more than 20 years for someone to actually fulfill that hope makes me sad.

Enjoyable, well-written, and thought-provoking book! ( )

I've been meaning to read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter for a long, long time -- prodded more recently by seeing Suzanne Vega live, singing some of the songs from Carson McCullers Talks About Love. It's hard to know what to make of this book now I've just finished it, though. With the introduction in mind, I can think of it as an English Lit student, analytically, looking at the symbolism and all of that. But I don't know how it makes me feel as a reader -- quiet and sad and lonely, I think, and a helping of angry in there too.

Carson McCullers was a good writer, if you judge by this, and I agree with everyone that there's something akin to Steinbeck here, and something that speaks of maturity far beyond her age when she wrote it.

I don't know that I strictly liked this or enjoyed it -- but I found it worthwhile and I'm interested in McCullers' other work, and in her life. ( )

John Singer is a deaf-mute living a solitary life in a Southern city. His best friend, Spiros Antonapoulos, has been taken away to the state asylum. But as Singer makes his solitary way through life, he draws a group of four lonely individuals to him: Mick Kelly, a poor young girl with dreams of being a famous composer; Jake Blount, an alcoholic trying to spread the word about the evils of capitalism and the glory of Communism; Dr. Copeland, an African-American doctor trying to lead his people to a better life; and Biff Brannon, a cafe owner who is trying to figure out what the others see in Mr. Singer.

I read this back in college but couldn't remember a thing about it when we decided to read it for book club. Time for a re-read! Now I know why I wiped it from my memory.

This is one of those novels that is probably classified as "Realism" and that I choose to call "Pessimism." No one is happy. No one will ever be happy. They are all going to die alone and misunderstood. And McCullers seems to be saying that's the way life is for everyone. I refuse to buy it. That's my biggest problem.

Another problem is that nothing really happens. Nothing. The book just drifts from character to character, each of whom just will not move on to another topic to think about. There's only so much I can read about Mick's "inner room" and how much she loves music. I can list about three or four events that are actual events. The rest of it is just repetitive introspection.

I will say that Carson McCullers' writing voice is perfect for the story. It just feels stark and lonely from the beginning. Perfect for this bleak novel.

I didn't like any of the characters. Mick could have been a great character for me. A dreamy Southern girl who loves music? I should have loved her. But she's too antsy and aggressive. She just won't let well enough alone. She's always picking at everyone in the family. Her tendency to yell at people to leave her secret treasure box alone had my elder sibling tendencies kicking; I was itching to open it up and taunt her with it. I never understood why no one else did. Blount is just an alcoholic. Dr. Copeland won't come down from his ideals to work with the real, living people around him. He sees "his people" the way he wants to see him rather than how they are and so he never reaches them. I still don't know where Biff Brannon was coming from. He's an observer, so maybe he was supposed to give me an outsider's perspective, but he just puzzled me with his motherly tendencies. I didn't even understand Mr. Singer. He was objective enough to realize that the others saw in him what they wanted to see but he couldn't see what a drag Antonapoulos was and move on.

If you like your books stark and bleak, you'll probably like this one. If you see any hope in the world, you should probably give it a pass. ( )