Several years ago, a family friend recommended that I read The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. After reading the premise of the novel, about a man who is deaf-mute and living in a small town in isolation due to his disability, I was excited to read it. However, I quickly found my mind wandering as I read and it was one of those books I ended up fighting my way to the end. In a strange way, it has been a book I enjoyed discussing more than I enjoyed actually reading.So when another Carson McCullers book came heavily recommended, I decided to try again. This one is a bit shorter and explores one of McCullers' common themes of difficult adolescence. Though I struggled a bit to get through this one as well, I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. The family relationships represented are rich and the children are accurate in both their humor and disappointments.
I think I struggle with McCullers so much because she writes in incredibly great detail. Chekhov once said, "If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off." McCullers either never heard this or completely disagrees because her details, for me at least, frequently cover up the plot and characterization. While it works for some readers, it is precisely the reason that this is the last book by McCullers that I will read.
For more information:
Excerpt from NPR's Summer Reading 2007
Today in Literature
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