Carson McCullers: American Author Challenge

Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was born in Columbus, Georgia. She was "an American writer of novels, short stories, plays, essays, and poetry. Her first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, explores the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts in a small town of the U.S. South. Her other novels have similar themes and most are set in the deep South.

McCullers’ oeuvre is often described as Southern Gothic and indicative of her southern roots. However, McCullers penned all of her work after leaving the South, and critics also describe her writing and eccentric characters as universal in scope. Her stories have been adapted to stage and film.

She lived the last twenty years of her life in Nyack, New York, where she died on September 29, 1967, at the age of 50 after a brain hemorrhage."

**This is part of our American Author Challenge 2015. This author will be read in January. The general discussion thread can be found right here:

Welcome to the AACII! I will have the General Discussion thread up in the morning. I have read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and I was very impressed. I will be reading The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, which I will be starting in about a week.

You??

I've read four of the five novels that Carson McCullers wrote, namely The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Reflections in a Golden Eye, The Ballad of the Sad Café, and The Member of the Wedding, which are all included in the Library of America book Complete Novels. I'll finish the collection with Clock Without Hands, but I'd love to re-read The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter this year if I have time.

I'll be reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.

I have The Member of the Wedding all ready to go.

Mark, yestetday I picked The Ballad Of The Sad Cafe (in German) from our local library. So I'm ready to start.

I'm another for The Heart is a lonely Hunter and it is... check, ready to go.

Pulling tomes off the shelf this year and I'm so excited to pull down The Heart is a Lonely Hunter for the January challenge.

I read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter last year and loved it. I have Ballad of the Sad Cafe on audio and Reflections in a Golden Eye in print - don't know if I'll get to both, but I will definitely read one of them. Thanks, Mark for setting this up!

I adored The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and envy those of you reading it for the first time. I'll be reading The Member of the Wedding sometime in January. I look forward to another year of American Authors. Thank you, Mark!

I'll be reading The heart is a Lonely Hunter. A completely new author to me!

I have The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter queued up as well. This is my first Carson McCullers. The AAC exposed me to several great new-to-me authors last year, and I'm looking forward to discovering more.

>13 porch_reader: I agree!

I started The Heart is a Lonely Hunter last night. (That's not cheating, right?) I'm reading it from the LOA volume Darryl featured in >4 kidzdoc: above. I have previously read The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and A Member of the Wedding, but it's been a long time since I visited with Carson McCullers. I'm looking forward to it.

I'd planned to read The Ballad of the Sad Café but I seem to have misplaced my copy so I checked Clock Without Hands from the library today so I may go with that.

I read The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter in high school. Liked it.

I have The Heart is a Lonely Hunter on reserve at the library. This is a new author for me as well!

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is one of my all-time favorite novels.
For this challenge, I'll read The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and (time permitting) Clock Without Hands.

I just reserved my copy of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter from the library so I should be ready to go come the New Year. Thanks for organizing everything, Mark.

I'm so blonde. For some reason I kept thinking Carson was a male writer. Boy are these challenges a great learning experience for me..... :)

>19 jolerie: "Boy are these challenges a great learning experience for me." LOL!

I'll be reading A Member of the Wedding in January.

I have The Heart is a Lonely Hunter in my TBR pile, so I'll join in.

I have The Heart is a Lonely Hunter queued up on my Kindle.

>19 jolerie: I'm so blonde. For some reason I kept thinking Carson was a male writer.

To be fair, the name Carson is more likely to be given to a boy than a girl in the United States. Carson was her middle name, as she was born Lula Carson Smith, and she kept the surname McCullers from her first husband. At least one other LTer also thought that Carson McCullers was a man, as she is far less well known both within and outside the US.

>24 kidzdoc: And in further fairness, she wasn't what you'd call a girlie girl! (I'd have chosen Carson over Lula myself.)

Cracked open The Heart is a Lonely Hunter this morning and I'm already feeling an attachment.

Thanks for that tidbit of info Darryl! Perhaps Carson was her mother's maiden name? quite often that happens when the maternal side wants to feel involved, as if giving birth wasn't enough.

I am also reading Heart is a Lonely Hunter...on my Kindle.

>25 laytonwoman3rd: Right, Linda. Carson McCullers was often photographed in suits, sportscoats and slacks, which was unusual for women in mid 20th century America, especially ones from the Deep South:



I agree, I would have chosen Carson as a given name over Lula if I was her.

>26 Carmenere: You're welcome, Lynda. Having lived in the Deep South capital of Atlanta since 1997, I can say that it's very common for traditional Southern families to refer to their children by their middle names, rather than their given ones. I routinely care for kids, usually boys but sometimes girls, whose parents use their middle names, a practice that is rare outside of the Deep South. I don't know if her parents called her Lula or Carson as a child, though.

I also agree with the previous praise about The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. It's the best debut novel I've ever read, and it's easily one of my top 10 American novels of all time. It's one of the few books that completely blew me away when I first read it, especially considering that McCullers was only 22 years of age when it was first published.

>25 laytonwoman3rd: "I'd have chosen Carson over Lula myself."
Not being a girly-girl myself, I fully concur.

>24 kidzdoc: As much as I loved The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, I had not done much research about the woman herself. Thanks for the information, Darryl.

See, Valerie? We are all learning all the time around here! A gentler space in which to expose one's lack of knowledge and have it kindly addressed could not be imagined. It's better than therapy. :-)

>29 EBT1002: You're welcome, Ellen! As you can probably tell, Carson McCullers is one of my favorite American novelists, and I'm pleased that Mark chose her to open the AAC 2.0 Challenge.

You are so right Ellen....another reason why I love this group so much. You guys are all awesome and made this girl feel not so bad about her lack of knowledge :)

>28 kidzdoc: "I agree, I would have chosen Carson as a given name over Lula if I was her"

But, Darryl, you would have certainly been distinctive with Lula as a first name!

Back to >26 Carmenere: Perhaps Carson was her mother's maiden name? quite often that happens when the maternal side wants to feel involved, as if giving birth wasn't enough.

That's very possible, Lynda. It happens routinely in families from Spanish speaking countries, e.g., Mario Vargas Llosa and Gabriel García Márquez, and I'm certain that traditional Southern families do the same thing.

I did find this bit of information about Carson McCullers:

Marguerite Waters Smith believed that her daughter, Lula Carson Smith McCullers, would be a genius even before she was born. Reading the secret prenatal signs cultivated in her own sizzling brainpan, Mrs. Smith believed the baby would be a boy, a musical genius, and she would name him Enrico Caruso. When she gave birth to a daughter on February 19, 1917, she was only slightly deterred. She changed the child's name to Lula Carson Waters after her maternal grandmother, but she would be destined for greatness still. Soon she was pressing her daughter's tiny fingers on the piano keys and telling her to play. “Don't you know”, she said, “you'll be a genius someday”.

>32 streamsong: But, Darryl, you would have certainly been distinctive with Lula as a first name!

Definitely! And, similar to the worst given name that I've ever seen for a boy (Precious), I would either end up getting my tail kicked on a daily basis by my friends or classmates, becoming strong enough so that I could defend myself from them, or changing my given name at the first possible opportunity. :-)

>33 kidzdoc: Thanks so much for all the updates abou the author. Now I've some idea who was writing all those books.

After a little digging on Ancestry.com, I've concluded that Carson McCullers was probably named after her maternal grandmother, Lula Carson.

Since I found a copy of Clock Without Hands that I didn't even know I had, I will be reading that one!

So glad to see all of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, love here! That is the McCullers book I have chosen to read and it will be my first McCullers read.

I read The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter back in my freshman year of high school (40 years ago, yikes!!). I really don't remember it and am considering a re-read.

I think I liked it but I wasn't a good judge of that sort of thing back then. If not, I've also got a library copy of Clock Without Hands.

Wow! I love all this McCullers chatter and the month hasn't even started yet. Smiles...

Go Lula! Go Lula!

>33 kidzdoc: "...and I'm certain that traditional Southern families do the same thing."
Yep. My sister carries our maternal grandmother's maiden name as her middle name; my middle name is our paternal grandmother's maiden name. As a child, I rankled because I was the only girl I knew whose middle name was not Ann or Lynn or Jane. As an adult, I love my middle name and the sense of connection to family history it gives me.

So our January author was also named after her maternal grandmother. So much the better.

>39 msf59: Mark, you did a great job selecting her for our first author of the year!

I have got The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe to choose from which I both picked up in my fave charity shop!

I'll be giving The Heart is a Lonely Hunter a try in a couple of days.

I thought I'd skip all challenges in 2015 for more easy reading afte a stressful year... but here I am on December 30th, already 10% into The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and completely fascinated with it. And I bought The Ballad of the Sad Cafe as well.

Thank you Mark, for setting up another AAC for us! :)

>43 Deern: Looks, like we have choosen the same books Nathalie!

I also thought Carson was a man until I saw her picture!

>28 kidzdoc:, >33 kidzdoc: Those who visited my threads in 2014 will have seen that picture as the topper on Chapter 3, and may remember that I noted that Carson McCullers planned to study at Julliard before turning to writing. I love her style --suit, oxfords, argyles. Reminds me of Katherine Hepburn.

That middle name thing is very common in my family, and none of us have any kind of Southern roots. My dad and his brother (Charles Lynn and George Harvey) were both called by their middle names. My husband, the @flamingrabbit, was too, until he went into the Coast Guard, where they don't hold with such nonsense. He has mostly used his first name ever since, but in the family we still call him by his middle name. Several others in his family back through the generations have used their middle names as well. Now, double first names (Billie Sue, Jerry Jim, Alice Lee) is something I definitely associate with the South.

Does anyone know if the character of Mick, in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, is based upon Carson, herself?

>47 Carmenere: Well, they both had the early passion for music. Carson's upbringing was quite different, and unlike Mick, she did study music from the time she was very small. There is that predilection for wearing boys' clothes in both girls, as well.

This information about McCullers's five novels comes from the Library of America's page on Complete Novels:

This volume contains five novels by Carson McCullers that were first published between 1940 and 1961: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940), Reflections in a Golden Eye (1941), The Ballad of the Sad Café (1943), The Member of the Wedding (1946), and Clock Without Hands (1961). This volume prints the texts of the first American editions for each of these novels. Although these novels were published in England, McCullers's involvement in the preparation of the English editions was minimal, and her editors made changes based on British conventions of spelling and usage.

McCullers began writing The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, using the working title "The Mute," in 1936. In "The Flowering Dream: Notes on Writing," published in Esquire in December 1959, McCullers wrote: "For a whole year I worked on The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter without understanding it at all. Each character was talking to a central character, but why, I didn't know. I'd almost decided that the book was no novel, that I should chop it up into short stories. But I could feel the mutilation in my body when I had that idea, and I was in despair. I had been working for five hours and I went outside. Suddenly, as I walked across a road, it occurred me that Harry Minowitz, the character all the other characters were talking to, was a different man, a deaf mute, and immediately the name was changed to John Singer. The whole focus of the novel was fixed and I was for the first time committed with my whole soul to The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter." After completing several chapters, McCullers sent an outline of the novel to Houghton Mifflin as part of a fellowship application. McCullers won second prize in the competition and received $500 and a guarantee of future publication; her outline was later published in the first biography of McCullers, Oliver Evans' Carson McCullers: Her Life and Work (London: Peter Owen, 1965 ). McCullers finished "The Mute" in April 1939. At the suggestion of the publisher, the novel was retitled The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. It was published on June 4, 1940, by Houghton Mifflin. An English edition was published by the Cresset Press in January 1943. The novel was later included in The Ballad of the Sad Café: The Novels and Stories of Carson McCullers (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1951); the text printed there followed the 1940 Houghton Mifflin edition, which is the text printed here.

McCullers wrote Reflections in a Golden Eye, using the working title "Army Post," while living in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in.1939. She completed a draft of the novel in two months. She made revisions to the novel in the summer of 1940. It was sold in August 1940 to Harper's Bazaar, where it appeared in the October and November issues. Reflections in a Golden Eye was published by Houghton Mifflin on February 14, 1941. An English edition was published by the Cresset Press in May 1942. This volume prints the text of the 1941 Houghton Mifflin edition of Reflections in a Golden Eye.

The Ballad of the Sad Café was written in 1941, mostly during McCullers' summer residency at Yaddo. The novella was sold in January 1943 to Harper's Bazaar, which printed it in August of that year. McCullers did not revise the work when it was collected in The Ballad of the Sad Café: The Novels and Stories of Carson McCullers, published by Houghton Mifflin on May 24, 1951. An English edition of this collection appeared in July 1952. This volume prints the text that was published in the 1951 Houghton Mifflin The Ballad of the Sad Café: The Novels and Stories of Carson McCullers.

The Member of the Wedding originated as a short story, "The Bride and Her Brother," which McCullers began writing in the fall of 1939. In February 1942 she finished Part I, "The Listener," and began the middle section, "The Nigger with the Glass Blue Eye" (these section titles were dropped from the published book). The following month, she told her friend David Diamond that the novel was finished but she soon began revising and expanding it. She finished The Member of the Wedding in August 1945. In January 1946, Part I was published in Harper's Bazaar. The Member of the Wedding was published by Houghton Mifflin on March 19, 1946. The novel was collected in The Ballad of the Sad Café; this version follows the text of the 1946 Houghton Mifflin edition. An English edition was published by the Cresset Press in 1946. McCullers adapted the work for a stage version that was first produced in December 1949. This volume prints the text of the 1946 Houghton Mifflin edition of The Member of the Wedding.

McCullers began working on "The Pestle," which would become Part I of Clock Without Hands, in the fall of 1951. "The Pestle" was published simultaneously in Mademoiselle and the Italian journal Botteghe Oscure in July 1953. McCullers completed Clock Without Hands on December 1, 1960, and she finished reading galley proofs in February 1961. Part II of the novel, "To Bear the Truth Alone," was published in the July 1961 issue of Harper's Bazaar. Clock Without Hands was published by Houghton Mifflin on September 8, 1961, and the text of this edition is the text printed here. An English edition was published by the Cresset Press in October 1961.

http://www.loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=173&section=notes

I appreciate this background information; have started reading A Member of the Wedding and will focus on it after the new year begins. I've shifted over to my real life book group's book so I can finish it before they meet on the 12th. "So many books, so little time". sigh.

The title of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter comes from the poem "The Lonely Hunter" written by William Sharp, who sometimes used the pen name Fiona MacLeod. (How often does that happen?)

The Lonely Hunter by Fiona MacLeod

Green branches, green branches, I see you beckon; I follow!
Sweet is the place you guard, there in the rowan-tree hollow.
There he lies in the darkness, under the frail white flowers,
Heedless at last, in the silence, of these sweet midsummer hours.
But sweeter, it may be, the moss whereon he is sleeping now,
And sweeter the fragrant flowers that may crown his moon-white brow:
And sweeter the shady place deep in an Eden hollow
Wherein he dreams I am with him -- and, dreaming, whispers, " Follow! "
Green wind from the green-gold branches, what is the song you bring ?
What are all songs for me, now, who no more care to sing?
Deep in the heart of Summer, sweet is life to me still,
But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill.
Green is that hill and lonely, set far in a shadowy place;
White is the hunter's quarry, a lost-loved human face:
O hunting heart, shall you find it, with arrow of failing breath,
Led o'er a green hill lonely by the shadowy hound of Death?
Green branches, green branches, you sing of a sorrow olden,
But now it is midsummer weather, earth-young, sun-ripe, golden:
Here I stand and I wait, here in the rowan-tree hollow,
But never a green leaf whispers, "Follow, oh, Follow, Follow !"
O never a green leaf whispers, where the green-gold branches swing:
O never a song I hear now, where one was wont to sing.
Here in the heart of Summer, sweet is life to me still,
But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill

That is lovely. Thank you for posting it.

Thanks >49 kidzdoc: and >51 laytonwoman3rd: for sharing the information. I am starting Clock Without Hands now.

I'll be reading The Ballad of the Sad Cafe in this version:

>51 laytonwoman3rd: Thank you Linda. I started reading Heart late last night and could scarcely put it down. Long after midnight I finally decided enough - so this morning I'm short on sleep and gulping coffee down. I am amazed at what I was reading last night.

general FYI: Country-folk singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith was a huge fan. She even has an album titled "Clock Without Hands"

I'll be reading The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, too.

>51 laytonwoman3rd: Oh, thanks for posting that, Linda. What a lovely poem.

I'm really impressed with Heart, as well. To me, it seems her writing is in the style of Steinbeck. I'm so happy I'm finally reading McCullers, who knows how long it would have remained on the shelf without some prodding.

Ah, that's why so many people are planning to read several of her books this month. I would love to join in but I doubt I'll make it this month, lots of books to read for review. I look forward with interest to some vicarious reading here.

I'm about one-half way through The Member of the Wedding. I can feel the southern summer heat even in the cold Pacific Northwest corner of the USA.

I'll start The Ballad of the Sad Cafe after I finish my current main read, which should be in a day or two. I'm enjoying the discussion here. The only other McCullers I've read is The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, which I thought was very good.

I've started reading The Ballad of the Sad Cafe this evening. It's beautiful.

Wow! So happy to see all the positive comments for The Heart is a Lonely Hunter! Can't wait to get to it.
This is a new author for me.

>51 laytonwoman3rd: Lovely poem. Thanks for sharing.

I posted this on my own thread but thought I should cross-post here.
This, to me, is a classic example of Carson McCullers' descriptive style:

"As he watched, the jockey raised his chin and tilted his head back to one side, his dwarfed body grew rigid, and his hands stiffened so that his fingers curled inward like gray days."

The emphasis is mine. It's that last passage that I particularly love.
This is from the first paragraph of "The Jockey" in the collection The Ballad of the Sad Cafe.

Hi! I'm really not "doing the AAC" or any challenges except for the "basic" 75, but I've been wanting to read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, so I'll probably join in with you here.

I'm loving all the information and thoughts on Carson McCullers. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter is one of my favorite books, and I've read it three times. (It was a fairly good movie with Alan Arkin too). For this challenge I've just completed The Member of the Wedding, shorter and less complex than The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, but nevertheless an amazing book. I reviewed it on my thread. I'm tempted to track down a copy of Reflections in a Golden Eye, even though I had only intended to read one book by McCullers this month.

Edited to clear up the confusion about who starred in the movie. I mistakenly originally typed Alan Alda. It is actually Alan Arkin. Still--a very good movie.

I finished reading The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers. You can read what I said on my thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/185046#4986196

Ms. McCullers can write! That is one thing for sure. I was captivated by her descriptions more than once, feeling the feelings, smelling the smells, and being there. The angst of the 13 year old girl reminds me a lot of the term used by some now: emo. I assume that means overly emotional. Yup, that is what I think about that. I am glad I read the book but don't really feel I want to write a review.

I've finished Die Ballade vom traurigen Café. My thoughts can be found here.

I wrote my review of The Ballad of the Sad Café and it can be found here.

Wow...people are steaming through McCullers. The year is getting off to a wonderful start! I got a bit sidetracked with unexpected invitations and new baby in the family, etc. so I'm only about half through with The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, but it's gooood.

>66 arubabookwoman: (*Psst...it was Alan Arkin)

>66 arubabookwoman: There's a movie? I had no idea there was a movie.

"It is a face like the terrible dim faces known in dreams- sexless and white, with two-crossed eyes which are turned inward so sharply that they seem to be exchanging with each other one long and secret gaze of grief."

^This is from the opening page of The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and her dark edgy style, grabs you immediately.

Question: My version, also includes a few short stories, which I am sure most versions do. Since "Ballad" is so short, barely a novella, I plan on reading the rest of the stories too. Is everyone else?

>72 msf59: I'm planning on doing the same, Mark. I'm hoping to finish the actual Sad Café story/novella today and maybe read the other stories during the next week or so.

Laytonwoman--you're right. In my defense I was picturing Alan Arkin when I typed Alan Alda. :)

I finished Clock Without Hands this morning. It was very good, but The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter remains my favorite McCullers. I'll review it later today or tomorrow.

I finished Clock Without Hands last night and hope to review it tonight or tomorrow.

Wow! I might need to join in. Her writing is clearly captivating!

I finished The Ballad of the Sad Cafe last night and for those interested here is my mini review (of course no spoilers).

The Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers



Nathalie made a very interesting observation on her thread yesterday about American writers generally using less words than their British counterparts and how this perplexed at the outset of studying the language to a serious degree. I also remember a favourite english tutor of mine advising me to constantly re-read passages and excise unnecessary words in the aim of better english. Not sure that I have ever managed to do that effectively but the advice stuck.

Well here in this spare novella that opens this anthology of seven stories, Carson McCullers chooses her words craftily and creates a pitch-perfect atmosphere of the macabre. The events leading up to the major set-to of the story and its depiction are done so with a wondrous gift for the off-track and peculiar. I believe that this could only have been written by an American and a non-Yankee at that but this ability to identify source is not to decry but to celebrate the work of a writer in her pomp.

The other stories here don't quite meet the same standard but neither do they detract from or negate the success of the book. I particularly liked the "King of Finland" story which had all the element of skewed vision important in the genre.

Recommended.

8/10

I've posted my review of Clock Without Hands:

http://www.librarything.com/review/115195254

>79 kidzdoc: Thumbs up for that one, Darryl. I'll be reading it eventually, for certain.

Wow, everyone has really dived into this challenge and it's only the first week of the month. It's great to see and thank you Mark!

I read both The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (a lifetime favorite of mine) and A Member of the Wedding years ago and although I should probably reread them both sometime, I thought I'd read a new-to-me McCuller's, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe. I'm nearly finished with the title story and love her off-kilter style of telling what could have been a fairly simple story if it had been told in a more typical manner.

>66 arubabookwoman: I've started The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. I'm about 1/4 through it, and I am loving it. This is the first book by Carson McCullers I've read. My god, that gal could write!

I didn't know there was a film. I like Alan Alda- I'll have to track it down.

>82 jll1976: Alan Arkin. And Stacy Keach, and Cicely Tyson and Sondra Locke in her first film role.

I finished The Ballad of the Sad Cafe. I loved the simplicity of her writing but the title novella was just ok for me. I liked most of the other short stories in the collection a whole lot more.

I liked her writing in The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, too, but was less taken with the novella and stories. I did like the last two, with the man explaining the science of love to the kid in the diner, and the man struggling with his wife's new drinking problem.

>83 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks for clearing that up. Alan Arkin is good too. ;)

I finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and I liked it. I really loved Mick, the young teenage girl who was one of the central characters. I'm sure I did not get all of the symbolism, but it was interesting to me how all of these disparate characters looked to the deaf/mute Singer as kind of a god-like character. They each looked to him for all the kindness and understanding they were missing in the rest of the world, and in the meantime, he was just a normal guy who didn't really understand what they expected of him.

Review: Clock Without Hands by Carson McCullers
NO SPOILERS



Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I read The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter years ago but do not remember much of it so reading Clock Without Hands was like a fresh Carson McCullers experience for me. I had forgotten how absurd some of the actions of her characters can be. And I guess, depending on the reader, that absurdity can be a good or a bad thing. For me, it's not my preference. It leaves me feeling confused about why the characters are doing the things they are, what their motivations are, and ultimately I felt confused about what actually happened. What I thought I was understanding all along turned out to not be the case apparently.

So I liked this book well enough. It did draw me in. I was interested in the characters and I love McCullers' writing. She made me not despise some of the most despicable characters because I actually just found them to be kind of pitiful and funny.

I also thought this was a timely read considering the book's focus on racial equality in the American South and what has been happening across America with racial relations recently. I am interested enough to want to read more by Carson McCullers eventually.

I finished The Member of the Wedding. My comments are here.

The main novella in The Ballad of the Sad Cafe is among the saddest fictional stories I ever read, it really depressed me although the writing is brilliant. I preferred the other short stories in that collection, although they were probably not as deep. Found "Wunderkind" extremely intense.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter however was an absolute winner.

I was originally planning on reading The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter but when I went to pull it from the shelves, I couldn't find it. So I have switched to The Ballad of Sad Cafe which I hope to start this coming weekend.

>72 msf59: Mark, my copy also had a few short stories in accompaniment. I read them all and loved the collection as a whole.

>87 Cobscook: I'm still working through Heart, but your comments pretty much match my feelings.

After my initial burst of reading into the novel I've slowed it down to small bits - it really is a sad almost depressing novel - I'll need a "medicine for melancholy" when I finish it I think. Great book, but sad.

I've only Part III remaining in THiaLH and I'm completely blown away by McCuller's writing. Such perception for a young woman and to express it in story form is remarkable. There is so much more in this novel than taken at face value. I hope I can express this when I write my review.

>94 Carmenere: That's what's striking me, too, Lynda...she was SO young (23?) when she wrote this masterpiece. Definitely an Old Soul.

I finished The Ballad of the Sad Cafe. My review is here.

Yep. Me, too. My review is here

I *finally* started The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter yesterday and I'm definitely hooked. Gorgeous writing, excellent characters. I'm loving it.

On Mark's suggestion I'm pasting the pics I had included on my thread to illustrate what 1940's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter rural Georgia looked then and today. So here goes....

(similar to Kelly's boarding house?)

Also....I posed two questions on my thread that perhaps someone who visits here may have insight. They are: Questions to those who "Know": I'm blown away by McCuller's astute narrative and Dr. Copeland's desire to lead a group of "colored" people to Washington DC. This was written 20 years before Dr. MLK went to Washington DC. Was Dr. King influenced by this book? and another deeper question, does Dr. Copeland personify the struggle of "colored" people in the US during the early half of the 20th century?

I finished The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and although Carson McCullers is not going to be an author that resonates with me, I can certainly admire her writing style. I saw a certain similarity between her and Flannery O'Connor, who was a featured author last year. I have posted my review to the book's page.

I was also reminded of Flannery O'Connor (I felt extremely sad and like I'd lost all hope) when I was reading The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, while The Heart is a Lonely Hunter reminded me more of Steinbeck.

>99 Carmenere: I can't even say why, but I'd really like to walk over that bridge.

>99 Carmenere: Thanks for the pictures!

>99 Carmenere: I have to say that's what parts of Georgia still look like today. In fact, I think the picture on the top right is my town, lol. Parts of our downtown are frequently used in movies for a period look.

McCullers grew up in Columbus, GA which is across the river from Alabama. It's also home to Fort Benning. While she never mentions what state The Member of the Wedding is set, it's probably Georgia. Most of the towns mentioned I can't track down, but Opelika is across the border in AL and the oft mentioned insane asylum in Milledgeville is a state of Georgia facility and still exists.

I am going to start The Member of the Wedding today. I loved The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter when I read it in 2002. It made my Top Ten that year, and I gave it 4.5 stars.

Thanks to Darryl and others for providing background info on this talented author. Linda, the poem was great…and other Lynda, so were the pictures. Having all these comments and aids will make my reading a more enriching experience.

Okay- this may be a spoiler for some of you. Or it may be so obvious that you're all like duh! But I just had a revelation about some of the symbolism in The Heart is A Lonely Hunter. The character Jake- who is an alcoholic, wasn't jake the slang name for a type of alcohol that was prevalent during the prohibition years? If I remember my history right people that were reduced to drinking jake were in a pretty sorry state and the substance would in all probability kill them.

Also- this raised a question re: when did prohibition end? It seems that alcohol is readily available in this particular town. Singer regularly has a beer at the New York Diner, and he and Jake drink beers in his room. It doesn't seem to be clandestine at all. So, was prohibition over by then? Or did they not have prohibition in the South?

Prohibition was nationwide; it was instituted by an amendment to the Constitution, and the people who enforced it were employees of the Federal government. It was in effect from 1920 to 1933. So it was over when this story takes place. "Jake" was a slang term for certain patent medicines that did have a high alcohol content, and were sometimes used as substitutes for drinking alcohol. It was implicated in nerve damage and paralysis because of adulterations done to the solid source material used to make it (Jamaican ginger) by bootleggers.

>107 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks!

I just finished The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter and rated it ***. I thought it was a good story and a good first novel. My only complaint was that it dragged a bit in the middle.

I finished The Member of the Wedding earlier tonight. It's a short and quick read.

>100 Carmenere: I don't know the answer to your question, which I read before I reached that part of the novel. But I had already been startled by another instance of seemingly prophetic writing early in the book, when Mick was discovering the profound effect of music, and she imagined herself one day being a great inventor--she would "invent little tiny radios the size of a green pea that people could carry around and stick in their ears"!

>111 laytonwoman3rd: Good catch, that one went right over my head.

I finished The Member of the Wedding earlier this week.

While in some ways this is quite a comical novel--the core situation in which a 12-year-old presumes she can join her brother and his new wife on their honeymoon and in their lives is absurd--it bears McCullers' sad view of people.

I enjoy McCullers' work, but find it a bit creepy.

Btw, there's a small museum in Columbus, GA dedicated to her, and a tiny book festival every year. I live just over the state border, so the setting has a particular resonance for me.

Finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter yesterday. My thoughts:

I took this one along on a coast-to-coast business trip, and thanks to some mechanical issues with an airplane, had time to read it straight through; it's my selection for Mark's American Author Challenge in January. Others here have commented more thoroughly on it, so I won't do a plot summary.

McCullers was clearly very good at characterization, and at times her writing just knocked me back. But overall, my reaction was rather mixed. I never got to the point of caring deeply about the characters, and the deep insights on human character noted by others weren't so clear to me. I wouldn't call it a bad match for me, but I'm not likely to put her other books high on my priority list.

>114 drneutron: I think you very eloquently explained how I felt about the book!

I just got an email saying my copy of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is ready for pickup! :)

I finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers)- this girl can write. She started strong pulling me straight into her world. Her writing borders on poetry at times. (I ended up with a lot of highlighted passages in my Kindle copy.) It did drag a bit from about mid-way though. Also I think sometimes she showed her age and lack of maturity at times. This might actually have been better as a novella or short-story. A fabulous debut, I look forward to tracking down her other works to see how she developed as a writer.

Thanks Mark for introducing me to this wonderful writer.

>116 jolerie: Hooray, Valerie!

>117 jll1976: You are quite welcome! I think McCullers was a good place to start the AACII!

I finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and really liked it. Loved the way she built a picture of the community through a group of disenfranchised individuals. The only quibble I had, was I thought that she was rather heavy handed with the political commentary. What did others think of this? And, for people who have read more of McCullers, is this less prominent in later works?

I saw the picture up top today and thought, "Whoa! Carson is female?"

I have The Heart is a Lonely Hunter from the library.

I can't believe I only just saw this thread! McCullers is one of my favorite authors - I have Clock Without Hands and Reflections in a Golden Eye on my to-read shelf. The Member of the Wedding is my favorite of her books, I describe it to people as "a very To Kill a Mockingbird-esque coming of age story - if Scout were 13 and having regrettable sexual encounters."

>119 banjo123:
I would say she's more subtle in later works. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is beautiful in a lot of ways but has been criticized for aspects of its portrayal of deafness. She always deals with societal "outsiders" and racial justice, but it's more seamless later on when she draws those parallels.

I just finished and reviewed The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Dang! The lady is wise beyond her years. At 23 I couldn't get over myself, let alone ponder some very serious and universal issues..... Fantastic 4 stars! Thanks Mark! I know I wouldn't have picked this one up if it weren't for the challenge.
My review can be found here.

>121 KLmesoftly: Thanks, Kristin! The portrayal of deafness was interesting, but I attributed the objectional parts to the time it was written. I will put A Member of the Wedding on my TBR list, and hope to get to it later.

I finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and the short story "Sucker" (1962). Although I was impressed by many aspects of the novel (much of the writing, the sense of place, grappling with large social issues), it didn't all "come together" as a cohesive piece for me. The short story, however, was spot-on--in 10 pages McCullers lets us into the minds and hearts of a teenage boy and his younger cousin.

I finished The Member of the Wedding last night. It reminded me why Southern fiction will never be a favorite genre.

I finished up The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter today! Here's the tiny review I've put on my thread:

Well, what can I say about this one here amongst so many who have just read it themselves? Bleak and sad, stark and beautiful. The characters are so real, the writing fantastic. I *really* didn't like and at the same time absolutely loved each of the main characters, and to a writer who can draw out those conflicting feelings in me goes all kinds of respect. I loved it and I hope to read more of her soon. Many thanks to Mark for adding McCullers to the Challenge!

I've finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter So many people have read this book for the AAC, and clearly loved it, that I feel rather guilty in saying that until I was at least half way the book the reasons why that was so were a complete mystery to me. Then in the second half I did start to get glimpses of it, and there were times when there did seem to be flashes of brilliance and it did seem to be a very powerful read. But that feeling didn't last and the ending was less than satisfying. So I'm rating it three and a half for those flashes of brilliance, prior to that it would have been a three at most for me.

I didn't really quite understand the relationships in this book: that between Singer, the deaf mute around which the book is structured, and his friend Antonopolous, seemed to be based on a willful misunderstanding of Antonopolous's true nature unlikely in someone who had shared an apartment with him for ten years. Those between Singer and the other lonely people in the town who gravitated too him seemed equally unlikely. Of these it was the character of Dr Copeland that seemed the most successful and powerful, and the portrait of the man who had worked all his life for the betterment of his people only to end it estranged even from his family was poignant.

So while this didn't altogether work for me I'd be prepared to try something else by the same author.

I really loved The Ballad of Sad Café, strong, unusual characters in a tight storyline. Beautifully written. It's only 85 pages, but it feels like a novel of 360 pages.

I shall read the remaining stories in the volume I have, during the next week.

An interesting woman, a friend of composer Benjamin Britten, poet Auden and Gypsy Rose Lee.

The February House tells the story of their time together.

I've finished The heart is a lonely hunter too and agree with most of the posts here about it. Great on character and feel for a time and place but not strong on pacing and plot. Well worth reading and beautiful in places, but sad too.

Thanks for the opportunity to try a new author a bit outside my comfort zone.

I’m not a sophisticated enough reader to see the literary merit. I just didn’t like it. She didn't make me care for her characters, and I can't stand soap-box books, anyway. Sense of place was strong, but that's all I cared for in this one.

I'm about 60 % through The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and while it is sad, it's a rewarding read for me so far.

>130 countrylife: hi you didn't say which novel you didn't like, unless I missed your entry, in which case apologies.

Finished The Heart is a Lonely hunter. Loved it. Beautiful writing, quirky characters. Yes a little heavy and slightly obvious on the social commentary, but it didn't bother me. All in all I'm very happy I read this.

In the last 24 hours I read the short and wonderful The Member of the Wedding. I was lukewarm in the early reading, but I ended up giving it four stars. The last third was exquisite.

Finished The Ballad of the Sad Cafe today. I liked some of the stories but it was not a favorite.

I finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and really enjoyed the story. I definitely will try some other works by her as well. Thanks Mark, for introducing an new to me author.

I really appreciated The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. There were so many themes in the book - isolation, gender and sexuality, poverty, race relations, overall, though sad, what a wonderful read!

On Saturday (just under the wire for January) I finished up The Member of the Wedding, which I "read" in an audio version with Susan Sarandon narrating. That was a treat, and although the book didn't blow me away as did The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, it was still a wonderful read. I am pretty sure I read this as a teenager, though I remember very little about it, but I have to say it is very different to read it as the mother of an almost twelve-year-old.

>138 AnneDC: Oh, I bet Sarandon is a wonderful narrator!

Realized I did not post my thoughts on The Heart is a Lonely Hunter here. I finished it in mid-January and posted on my own thread.

This is a novel full of lonely people, missed chances, broken dreams and bitter ends. Yet the author keeps us all at arm's length from her characters, who are very well drawn, but who do not draw us into their lives. This detachment is essential, because otherwise the sadness would be awfully hard to take. I believe we are meant to engage our minds, as the characters themselves do so extensively, to assess what's happening in their lives, without getting emotionally involved. This means, of course, as so many readers have pointed out, that it is difficult to "like" or "care about" any of the characters. As each of the main characters is isolated from society, we find ourselves isolated from them. John Singer is deaf, and communicates minimally with those around him. Mick Kelly is an adolescent who closely guards her inner life, and engages only as necessary with the outside world. Biff Brannon is utterly conflicted and confused, unable to connect with his wife, or himself. Jake Blount is lost, unstable, frequently drunk, convinced that Marxism is "the answer", but unable to apply that conviction even to bring about a coherent dialog with another like-minded individual. Even Dr. Copeland, who devotes his life to selflessly providing medical care for his people, fails to love and connect with his own children. Something about this reading experience reminds me of the way I felt when reading Russian novels for the first time in my teenage years--fascinated in a Spock-like, almost clinical way by the lives I did not recognize or sympathize with. Now, my human half wants to chide them out of their existential funk by urging them to look around at the beauty that's out there...to love something regardless of whether you get loved in return...to make life happen instead of waiting for it to happen to you. So, no...I did not have a lot of sympathy for McCullers' characters, although I will admit to a hope that Mick Kelly persists in her dreams, clings to her music, and never lets herself lose access to that "inner room". I was entranced with the wonderful writing, the fugue-like structure of the novel, and the not-quite fulfilled promise of genius.

I thought people might like this piece I found while trawling the interwebs.
A great interview with Carson McCullers- http://www.praguerevue.com/ViewArticle?articleId=6850