classics

Thank you, Oprah! I read this book as a college freshman in 1976 and still remember its startlingly honest, quietly devestating portrait of five women from a small Southern town and how, despite their individual loneliness, they fail to connect. Written when McCullers was only 23, it was the emotional and intellectual touchstone for all her other works. Still a pleasure to read and new generations of women will be mezmerized. My other two favorite recent books: "I Sleep At Red Lights: A True Story of Life After Triplets," by Bruce Stockler, an amazingly funny and fresh memoir about marriage, manhoood, love, career, parenting and juggling. And "Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books," by Azar Nafisi, an immensely moving portrait of the power of words and books in a closed society (and how we take books for granted).

I bought this book because it was part of Oprah's Book Club. This is the first one I've read since she changed her selections to classics. I saw her promoting the book after everyone was already finished reading it. She spoke mostly about the mute character in the book and had Marlee Matlin on her show to speak about being deaf. What surprised me was that Oprah did not speak about the racial aspect of the story, which I found to be far more interesting than that of the deaf character.

I do feel that Carson McCullers put all of her eggs in one basket and it may have been more suitable to have two separate books. One dealing with life as a deaf man, and the other dealing with race in the South. She obviously had great knowledge on both topics, but reading about them in the same book took something away from the whole context of the story.

As far as character development is concerned, I really only enjoyed reading one of the five characters that were followed. She made the men almost indestructible at times, and so grounded in their beliefs that to sympathize with any of them was difficult. Even when the worst of situations befell them, I really couldn't have cared less.

I was drawn into the book because of the character of Mick Kelly. Mick was a feisty teenager on the outside, but terribly lost on the inside. She was the only character I related to, and the only one that I felt was the most rounded.

I assume this book is considered a classic and is required reading in schools, because of the racial tones to the book. While it does give a glimpse into the world of the 1930's racially divided South, I think there are other books that document it much better.

I was disturbed to read so many negative reviews of Carson McCullers' The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter. This book is one of the finest works of literature in the American canon. Oprah's bookclub has lately been doing the admirable work of resurrecting old classics - McCullers WAS, in fact, quite the sensation among her contemporaries. I feel that Heart' is the book around which all of McCuller's other pieces orbit. I'll agree with a few other reviewers in saying that this is not an action book, it is not "funny train station" literature, and the impetus is psychological, and often quite intangible.

As a master's degree student in writing at Sarah Lawrence College, I love this book. As a high school student, I adored it. People picking up something for fluffy entertainment value should probably not read this book. People looking to experience a different kind of life, to read a beautifully written social commentary, to experience psychological empathy pertaining to the human condition...those people should read this book.

It's great writing. Don't bash it because it's not your type of reading material.

To drive my point into the ground, people who enjoy authors in the vein of Flannery O'Connor, Katherine Anne Porter, Tennessee Williams, Anne Tyler, Annie Proulx, Katherine Dunn, William Faulkner, Harper Lee, possibly Jeanette Winterson...these readers, and readers looking for great literature, should sample Carson McCullers.