The Lonely Hunter: A Biography of Carson McCullers
by Virginia Spencer Carr
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"The Lonely Hunter is widely accepted as the standard biography of Carson McCullers. Author of such landmarks of modern American fiction as Reflections in a Golden Eye and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, Carson McCullers was the enfant terrible of the literary world of the 1940s and 1950s. Gifted but tormented, vulnerable but exploitative, McCullers led a life that had all the elements - and more - of a tragic novel."--BOOK JACKET.Tags
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It takes an extraordinary person to write such remarkable literature, and Carson McCullers was extraordinary to say the least. She has a complicated personality that ranged from vivacious and sweet to cold and sullen. She was an indulged child and an over-protected adult who lived as much in her own fantasies as she did in reality. She had an unusual number of friends who went to extreme lengths to prove their friendship, among them such notables as Tennessee Williams. She fed off of people and belonging, but I wonder if she ever felt a true part of anyone outside of herself.
She could sometimes seem very fragile, but her determination was limitless. Plagued by bad health and bad habits, she navigated her life like it was a story with show more an ever-changing plot, but belonging to someone else. After having known her husband Reeves for almost her entire life and having divorced and remarried him, and despite his attentive care during her illnesses, she dismissed his death as if it were just an inconvenience to her. That relationship seemed to me to speak volumes about her true character.
I do not think I would have liked her at all. She was far too needy and egotistical. Had she not been a brilliant writer, I doubt she would have garnered the love of so many. She was excused so much by everyone because of her genius and she seemed to take for granted that everyone else's needs would, by right, come in line behind her own. I would have loved to have had one ounce of her talent, however, and we could all do with some of her perseverance.
Carr managed to approach a very difficult subject with a great deal of care and honesty. She did not paint McCullers as anything other than a complex human being, neither good nor evil. I particularly enjoyed the section that dealt with the production of The Member of the Wedding for Broadway. So many of the people who made up McCullers friends and colleagues were well-known in their time, which made the reading all the more interesting. By the end of this thorough biography, you cannot help feeling that you know much of what made McCullers tick and have a deeper understanding of how her own life influenced her subjects and her work. show less
She could sometimes seem very fragile, but her determination was limitless. Plagued by bad health and bad habits, she navigated her life like it was a story with show more an ever-changing plot, but belonging to someone else. After having known her husband Reeves for almost her entire life and having divorced and remarried him, and despite his attentive care during her illnesses, she dismissed his death as if it were just an inconvenience to her. That relationship seemed to me to speak volumes about her true character.
I do not think I would have liked her at all. She was far too needy and egotistical. Had she not been a brilliant writer, I doubt she would have garnered the love of so many. She was excused so much by everyone because of her genius and she seemed to take for granted that everyone else's needs would, by right, come in line behind her own. I would have loved to have had one ounce of her talent, however, and we could all do with some of her perseverance.
Carr managed to approach a very difficult subject with a great deal of care and honesty. She did not paint McCullers as anything other than a complex human being, neither good nor evil. I particularly enjoyed the section that dealt with the production of The Member of the Wedding for Broadway. So many of the people who made up McCullers friends and colleagues were well-known in their time, which made the reading all the more interesting. By the end of this thorough biography, you cannot help feeling that you know much of what made McCullers tick and have a deeper understanding of how her own life influenced her subjects and her work. show less
This is a voluminous, comprehensive, well-written book.
Carson was a precocious, musically gifted child who played the piano with prowess from an early age. She originally intended to study music at an illustrious college but when she lost the tuition money, she turned to writing instead.
Carson had always talked about how she was going to be rich and famous, though she didn’t know how; she thus proved the power of the spoken word. (Ok, I don’t know whether or not she actually became rich, but she certainly became famous.)
As a child, she was a prolific reader, reading all the classics – the books of Chekhov, Tolstoy, D.H. Lawrence, Flaubert, James Joyce, etc. etc.
The book tells of Carson’s marriage and bisexual proclivities, of show more her female crushes, including on Greta Garbo, and her various friends, famous and otherwise.
I wasn’t able to get through the totality of this work, and skimmed through most of it. It is packed with information and I found it rather dense and not easy-to-read.
We are provided with many photos of Carson at various ages and of her family, friends and husband, Reeves.
Looking at the various photos of Carson, I found her astoundingly familiar, as though I’d known her well in a past or parallel life. I had never experienced this sort of thing before, strange!
Carson smoked excessively and constantly drank alcohol, so it was not surprising that she suffered severe health problems including several incapacitating strokes.
She died in 1967 at the age of 50.
The author presents us with detailed information about Carson’s life and relationships. I borrowed the book from the library, but you would need to own it to have the time and opportunity to fully appreciate it. show less
Carson was a precocious, musically gifted child who played the piano with prowess from an early age. She originally intended to study music at an illustrious college but when she lost the tuition money, she turned to writing instead.
Carson had always talked about how she was going to be rich and famous, though she didn’t know how; she thus proved the power of the spoken word. (Ok, I don’t know whether or not she actually became rich, but she certainly became famous.)
As a child, she was a prolific reader, reading all the classics – the books of Chekhov, Tolstoy, D.H. Lawrence, Flaubert, James Joyce, etc. etc.
The book tells of Carson’s marriage and bisexual proclivities, of show more her female crushes, including on Greta Garbo, and her various friends, famous and otherwise.
I wasn’t able to get through the totality of this work, and skimmed through most of it. It is packed with information and I found it rather dense and not easy-to-read.
We are provided with many photos of Carson at various ages and of her family, friends and husband, Reeves.
Looking at the various photos of Carson, I found her astoundingly familiar, as though I’d known her well in a past or parallel life. I had never experienced this sort of thing before, strange!
Carson smoked excessively and constantly drank alcohol, so it was not surprising that she suffered severe health problems including several incapacitating strokes.
She died in 1967 at the age of 50.
The author presents us with detailed information about Carson’s life and relationships. I borrowed the book from the library, but you would need to own it to have the time and opportunity to fully appreciate it. show less
Prompted by Paul's review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/39230176?utm_content=A&utm_medium=email....
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Virginia Spencer Carr was born in West Palm Beach, Florida on July 21, 1929. She received a bachelor's degree from Florida State University, a master's degree in English from the University of North Carolina, and a doctorate from Florida State University. She is best known for her book The Lonely Hunter, which was published in 1975 and was the show more first full-length biography of Carson McCullers. Her other works include Dos Passos: A Life, Paul Bowles: A Life, and Understanding Carson McCullers. She was also the editor of Flowering Judas: Katherine Anne Porter. She died of liver disease on April 10, 2012 at the age of 82. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- People/Characters
- Carson McCullers
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- Georgia, USA
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