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49th out of 99 books
—
45 voters
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe
Amelia, the proprietor of the Sad Cafe, throws her new husband out of their bedroom on their wedding night. Torn between anger and desire the husband finally leaves town only to return some years later to find Amelia showering all her affection on a dwarf cousin who has come to live with her. At their first meeting the dwarf is hopelessly attracted to the husband. In turn,...more
Hardcover, 160 pages
Published
August 28th 2001
by Scribner Book Company
(first published 1951)
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There are seven stories in this volume – of them I would guess that in six month time I will remember only two. Those are the title story and the story called The Sojourner. And to celebrate, those are the only stories I’ll talk about here except to say that one of the problems I found with the other stories was that they lacked a real sense of place.
McCullers's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter has been one of the most remarkable books I’ve read all year – perhaps it will become one of my favourite...more
McCullers's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter has been one of the most remarkable books I’ve read all year – perhaps it will become one of my favourite...more
Freaky love triangle, turned on its head. Eric Berne, he of Games People Play fame, dubs the eternal triangle 'Let's You And Him Fight', which presupposes a female egging the two men on to compete for her favours. Hardly. Miss Amelia shares her name and many qualities with our cat: tough, self-sufficient, uninterested in sex - although in our Miss Amy's case this has a lot to do with an operation in her youth. Here the Miss A is a Wise Woman who can Cure Ills as long as they are not Female Compl...more
7 likes · like · see review
Dec 10, 2012
Tfitoby
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Tfitoby by:
Melanie
Shelves:
lit,
short-stories
Carson McCullers is beloved of those Southern Literary Trailers who flow through my Goodreads timeline, receiving regular glowing praise. I've never felt the urge to read Lonely Hunter, but on finding this intriguing (and slight) old Penguin I knew it was my time to meet Ms McCullers.
The titular novella is quite something. A haunting tale of a human triangle that culminates in an astonishing brawl, the story of Miss Amelia, a formidable southern woman whose cafe serves as the town's gathering pl...more
The titular novella is quite something. A haunting tale of a human triangle that culminates in an astonishing brawl, the story of Miss Amelia, a formidable southern woman whose cafe serves as the town's gathering pl...more
6 likes · like · see review
“Any number of wicked things could be listed against him, but quite apart from these crimes there was about him a secret meaness that clung to him almost like a smell.”
Sometimes I pick up a book, read it, and realize with a kind of fear that there are just too many great writers I’ve never heard of and too many wonderful books I’ve yet to read. The fear stems from the fact that many of these books I’ll never discover; their language will never speak to me.
I picked up The Ballad of the Sad Café (...more
Sometimes I pick up a book, read it, and realize with a kind of fear that there are just too many great writers I’ve never heard of and too many wonderful books I’ve yet to read. The fear stems from the fact that many of these books I’ll never discover; their language will never speak to me.
I picked up The Ballad of the Sad Café (...more
Questo volume raccoglie un romanzo "La ballata del caffè triste" e sei racconti di Carson McCullers.
Il pezzo forte è senz'altro il romanzo, novella sulla natura sfuggente dell'amore, che troppo spesso si concede proprio a coloro che finiranno per calpestarlo. Come ci dice la scrittrice:
"Il valore dunque e la qualità dell'amore vengono determinati unicamente da colui che ama. Per questo motivo si preferisce, nella maggioranza, amare più che essere amati. Quasi tutti vogliono amare. E la cruda ver...more
Il pezzo forte è senz'altro il romanzo, novella sulla natura sfuggente dell'amore, che troppo spesso si concede proprio a coloro che finiranno per calpestarlo. Come ci dice la scrittrice:
"Il valore dunque e la qualità dell'amore vengono determinati unicamente da colui che ama. Per questo motivo si preferisce, nella maggioranza, amare più che essere amati. Quasi tutti vogliono amare. E la cruda ver...more
I I'm reading this novel as the third novel of the "McCuller's Complete Novels"edition of The Library of America.
Quote....
"what sort of thing is love? It is a joint experience between two persons, but that fact does not mean that it is a similar experience to the two people involved. The most outlandish people can be the stimulus for love. Yes, and the lover may see this as clearly as anyone else–but that does not affect the evolution of his love one whit.
Therefore, the quality and value of a...more
Quote....
"what sort of thing is love? It is a joint experience between two persons, but that fact does not mean that it is a similar experience to the two people involved. The most outlandish people can be the stimulus for love. Yes, and the lover may see this as clearly as anyone else–but that does not affect the evolution of his love one whit.
Therefore, the quality and value of a...more
As metamorfoses do Self (Si-mesmo), talvez toda a literatura não trate de outra questão, talvez a única coisa que esteja em jogo nas narrativas seja a tentativa de capturar uma identidade. Foi Milan Kundera, salvo erro, que fez o curto-circuito que mostrou, no âmbito da cultura europeia, a existência de dois projectos, praticamente contemporâneos, de processamento da identidade. Por um lado, aquele que se estriba no cogito cartesiano, onde a subjectividade se mostra como fundamento de todo o con...more
Apart from the title story and "Madame Zilensky," I don't know how many of these pieces will really stick with me (and the latter is mainly because I read it for a class). I didn't find myself connecting with any of the characters in any of the stories, apart from Miss Amelia in "Sad Cafe" and to some extent, Madame Zilensky, and not enough happened in any of the stories to really be engaging beyond that. In particular I want to focus on "Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland" because we just...more
This was totally weird. It was like no Carson McCullers I've ever read. I mean it was beautifully written of course, and I really enjoyed the description passages. But the plot was totally strange, and seemed like a total anomaly from the rest of her work. I did not gel with the character of Miss Amelia, she was this ballsy, amazonian woman whose motivations were super unclear. Also Cousin Lymon just turned on her! Why did he do that!? Anyway, something kind of interesting was that most of her o...more
I'm not a huge fan of this novella, although I am a fan of McCullers's writing style. She's got this talent with imagery and character descriptions that's hard to describe. She gives her characters quirks and idiosyncrasies that make them understandable through action instead of exposition, which is something difficult to accomplish and amazing when it works. You are able to see Miss Amelia, in all of her physical awkwardness and emotional detachment from the rest of the town, and watch her chan...more
Here I am, working my way through the Carson McCullers canon. She is my current New Favorite Author, and I'm trying not to be weird about this. Sometimes I really get into the writing of so-and-so and read their books obsessively and then end up getting sick of them and wonder, months later, what the appeal was in the first place (the literary equivalent of one night stands?). But I really think that McCullers will enter my stable of Favorite Authors That Stand the Test of Time. Her books are ju...more
The title story (almost a novella at 87 pages) is an odd one that didn't connect with me. It's very different from the six excellent short stories that follow it in this collection. The story 'The Ballad of the Sad Café' is about an unusual love triangle between a wealthy but solitary divorcee, Amalia, her hunchbacked cousin, Lymon, and her hellraising ex-husband, Marvin. Unlike the McCullers I've read before, this story is told with an almost whimsical, indeed ballad-like attitude to its lovelo...more
I have to say, I'm a sucker for the "grotesque" genre, especially when it's combined with Southern literature. I love Flannery O'Connor and even though McCullers isn't really the same as O'Connor, there is definitely a similar feeling from both authors.
I loved "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe." McCuller's writing is fluid and lovely and she has a talent for making the most unusual characters come alive. I felt enveloped in the story and I love that feeling.
The other shorts were good but I particula...more
I loved "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe." McCuller's writing is fluid and lovely and she has a talent for making the most unusual characters come alive. I felt enveloped in the story and I love that feeling.
The other shorts were good but I particula...more
Mar 16, 2013
-Marimar-
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemporary,
drama
La forma de narrar me ha parecido muy bella y comprensible, es una historia placentera a pesar de que no hay grandes giros ni sobresaltos, no es una trama que enganche pero es muy agradable de leer. Me han gustado las personalidades tan definidas de cada uno de los personajes, en especial el personaje de Amelia, y el ambiente general que se respiraba en el pueblo.
El final me ha dejado buen sabor de boca y lo recomiendo.
El final me ha dejado buen sabor de boca y lo recomiendo.
A highly original tale that contains, as do most of McCullers's other words, a fine cast of eccentric characters. The narrative voice in this work is especially engaging--sometimes funny, sometimes, candid, sometimes irreverent, always strong. The plot works well, and, although I saw the ending coming, it was still appropriate and satisfying.
Very strange 50s American novella about a woman opening a cafe in Georgia and falling for her hunchbacked cousin after a 10 day marriage.
I read this before seeing a one-woman production of "Carson McCullers Talks About Love." Great build up to a crazy final scene! I love the idea of the lover and the beloved... both of which are cruel roles. Personally, I think the lover is the worse of the two.
I saw this review on a blog: "The princess in the metaphorical tower is a huge and masculine woman. Neither in looks nor personality is she obviously attractive. Her Prince Charming is a hunchback, with a charm perversely engineered by hi...more
I saw this review on a blog: "The princess in the metaphorical tower is a huge and masculine woman. Neither in looks nor personality is she obviously attractive. Her Prince Charming is a hunchback, with a charm perversely engineered by hi...more
One of those stories you can't stop thinking about and pondering the meaning. A real twist on revenge.
One of my favorites. I wrote my senior English term paper on this book. Such a bizarre set of characters.
I picked up this at a used bookstore - I'd never read any Carson McCullers, but had heard of "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe". I didn't read it right away. As it happens, the book I read just before this one was The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Notre Dame de Paris). I just think it's really weird that I ended up reading two novels, back to back, that involved hunchbacked characters and unreturned love.
The McCullers book I read was actually a collection of her short stories. I really enjoyed The Ballad,...more
The McCullers book I read was actually a collection of her short stories. I really enjoyed The Ballad,...more
My gosh...the South. That's all I can say about this surprisingly good story.
This is so beautifully written, that I could hardly pay attention to the story itself.
Sad Cafe is right. Boy, I hate that Cousin Lymon.
The titular story isn't great, but the final two are worth the price of the book alone.
sensazioni grigiastre
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A crazy story :)
Jun 10, 2008
Cecily
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favourites,
american-canadian
Poignant short story of repressed feelings, mystery and missed opportunity in a small impoverished southern community, concerning Miss Amelia, cousin Lymon the hunchback, and Marvin Macy. Also several even shorter stories in the book, several with a musical theme - like the title of this volume, much of her other work and indeed her life. In particular, Wunderkind probably echoes her thwarted plans to study at the Juliard (she lost the fees on the subway, so took a creative writing course instea...more
I decided to read this because 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" and "The Member of the Wedding" are two of my favourite novels. The Ballad of the Sad Cafe is similar in several ways (desolate Southern nowhere-town, achingly lonely misfits as main characters, shockingly sad ending). I've given this only three stars though because the story is undermined a little by some clunky narration e.g. "So compose from such flashes an image of these years as a whole. And for a moment let it rest".
There was a pervading sense of isolation in this collection of the title piece novella and other short stories … of people not connecting. It could have made me glum, except that McCullers manages to inject wry and quirky humour by populating her stories with oddball characters. I confess I often felt like I didn’t really know what the stories were all about – what the author’s intentions were, yet I always felt like I was in the hands of an expert and was glad for the ride.
"First of all, love is a shared experience between two persons-but the fact that it is a joint experience does not mean that it is a similar experience to the two people involved. . . Often the beloved is only a stimulus for all the stored-up love which has lain quiet within the lover for a long time. And somehow every lover knows this...Therefore, the value and quality of any love is determined solely by the lover himself."
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Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American writer. She wrote fiction, often described as Southern Gothic, that explores the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts of the South.
From 1935 to 1937 she divided her time, as her studies and health dictated, between Columbus and New York and in September 1937 she married an ex-soldier and aspiring writer, Reeves McCul...more
More about Carson McCullers...
From 1935 to 1937 she divided her time, as her studies and health dictated, between Columbus and New York and in September 1937 she married an ex-soldier and aspiring writer, Reeves McCul...more
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“Love is a joint experience between two persons—but the fact that it is a joint experience does not mean that it is a similar experience to the two people involved. There are the lover and the beloved, but these two come from different countries. Often the beloved is only a stimulus for all the stored-up love which has lain quiet in the lover for a long time hitherto. And somehow every lover knows this. He feels in his soul that his love is a solitary thing. He comes to know a new strange loneliness and it is this knowledge which makes him suffer.”
—
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Mar 17, 2013 12:05pm