Saturday, September 11, 2010

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

This story deals with the isolation that is common to people no matter what their income or race or status.  It centers around a deaf-mute, John Singer, in a southern mill town in the 1930's, and the various people who are drawn to him:

Mick Kelly, a 14 year old tomboy who loves music.
Dr. Copeland, a well-educated African American doctor.
Jake Blount, an alcoholic carnival worker and labor organizer.
Biff Brannon, a cafe owner and silent observer of his patrons.

The book was very well written and I rate it 4 out of 5.  It is my fifteenth book for the New Author Challenge 2010 (my goal was 15 books - so I met my goal!) and my book club's current month's selection.

2 comments:

Kathy A. Johnson said...

Congratulations on meeting your goal, and on tackling this book which is considered a classic. I haven't read it, because I saw the movie version and cried and cried and cried. I was a teenager, prone to depression and very impressionable, I guess.

sisa said...

I read that book too a few years ago. It made me curious about the woman behind the book, so I read Virginia Spencer Carr's biography http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Hunter-Biography-Carson-McCullers/dp/0820325228/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284410257&sr=1-1 too and I can only recommend it to any Carson McCullers fan!
Suzanne