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

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Oprah's Book Club) | Carson McCullers | Still a great read

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The Heart Is a Lon...

	The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Oprah's Book Club) Carson McCullers Mariner, 2004 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 154 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

With the publication of her first novel, THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, Carson McCullers, all of twenty-three, became a literary sensation. With its profound sense of moral isolation and its compassionate glimpses into its characters' inner lives, the novel is considered McCullers' finest work, an enduring masterpiece first published by Houghton Mifflin in 1940. At its center is the deaf-mute John Singer, who becomes the confidant for various types of misfits in a Georgia mill town during the 1930s. Each one yearns for escape from small town life. When Singer's mute companion goes insane, Singer moves into the Kelly house, where Mick Kelly, the book's heroine (and loosely based on McCullers), finds solace in her music. Wonderfully attuned to the spiritual isolation that underlies the human condition, and with a deft sense for racial tensions in the South, McCullers spins a haunting, unforgettable story that gives voice to the rejected, the forgotten, and the mistreated -- and, through Mick Kelly, gives voice to the quiet, intensely personal search for beauty. Richard Wright praised Carson McCullers for her ability "to rise above the pressures of her environment and embrace white and black humanity in one sweep of apprehension and tenderness." She writes "with a sweep and certainty that are overwhelming," said the NEW YORK TIMES. McCullers became an overnight literary sensation, but her novel has endured, just as timely and powerful today as when it was first published. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER is Carson McCullers at her most compassionate, endearing best.

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A Book for All Ages

This is a great story for people of all ages. As a teenager, I felt at one with the antagonist of the story. As an adult I see her transition more clearly than before. It is also a reminder of the power of the emotions of adolescence and those first real learning experiences, something I hope I will never forget.

Still a great read

This book was on many high school reading lists and I decided to re-read it 40 years after my first time. It's still a great read, evocative of an interesting period, like stepping backwards in time. The message on the other hand is timeless, reminding those who think we live in a difficult period that all times are challenging. Readers sensitive to racial stereotyping would do well to remember that, when this book was written inclusion of African-Americans in a novel, much less one who is a doctor, was very unusual. Well worth the time.

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Shades of gray

This book deals with life in shades of gray, and my feelings about this book are also in shades of gray. Carson McCullers tackles issues that were prominent in the 1930's, including socialism, poverty, and racism. The writing is excellent, but I found this book dreary. Pretty much, it is about disappointment in life. If a positive message was tucked in, I couldn't glean it. It was hard to read - I would put it down and avoid picking it back up. The author did a good job of drawing her characters in an interesting way, and at a book club we had a lively and riveting discussion on the meaning of the deaf-mute character. I have thought about this book a lot since finishing it - a characteristic that I usually consider the mark of a great book. Nevertheless, I wouldn't recommend it to just any casual reader.

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