false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170296876m/45785.jpg 45785 1 When <i>The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter</i> was published in 1940, Carson McCullers was instantly recognized as one of the most promising writers of her generation. The novels that followed established her as a master of Southern Gothic.<br><br> "McCullers' gift," writes Joyce Carol Oates, "was to evoke, through an accumulation of images and musically repeated phrases, the singularity of experience, not to pass judgment on it." McCullers effortlessly conveyed the raw anguish of her characters and the weird beauty of their perceptions. Set in small Georgia towns that are at once precisely observed and mythically resonant, McCullers' novels explore the strange, sometimes grotesque inner lives of characters who are often marginal and misunderstood. Above all, McCullers possessed an unmatched ability to capture the bewilderment and fragile wonder of adolescence. <br><br> In <i>The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter</i>, an enigmatic deaf-mute draws out the haunted confessions of an itinerant worker, a young girl, a black doctor, and the widowed owner of a small-town café. Two shorter works, <i>Reflections in a Golden Eye</i> (1941) and <i>The Ballad of the Sad Café</i> (1943), use melodramatic scenarios and freakish characters to explore the disfiguring violence of desire. <i>The Member of the Wedding</i> (1946), on which the play and film were based, tells of a young girl's fascination with her brother's wedding and is perhaps McCullers' most moving and accomplished novel. <i>In Clock Without Hands</i> (1960), the story of a terminally ill druggist, McCullers produces some of her most forceful and indignant social criticism.<br><br> Edited by Carlos Dews. 44948 1 10 2001 Carson McCullers: Complete Novels: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter / Reflections in a Golden Eye / The Ballad of the Sad Cafe / The Member of the Wedding / Clock Without Hands (Library of America) total:189|5:121|4:50|3:15|2:2|1:1| 189 855 306 32 4 2 false false Thu Jul 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 11 17:43:15 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 17 18:41:24 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Apr 14 06:32:05 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 06:33:15 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Dec 04 19:10:44 -0800 2008 Mon May 25 18:15:19 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Sep 15 12:29:42 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 16 13:10:26 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Mar 04 08:06:54 -0800 2007 Thu Mar 29 07:53:12 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jan 05 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sun Jul 05 20:32:26 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 20:32:27 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1982 Thu May 21 18:19:05 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 18:20:01 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Oct 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 13:46:10 -0700 2009 Wed Nov 04 07:47:21 -0800 2009 The February House (and watching the weird movie of Reflections in a Golden Eye) motivated me to finally read McCullers. Quite a talented writer and amazingly perceptive for someone so young. Finished Heart..., which I really enjoyed, but definitely more character than plot driven. Going to ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Sep 03 07:30:57 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 03 07:35:04 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Dec 17 14:02:09 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 02 10:48:20 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Thu Feb 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 11 07:21:29 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 11 07:26:47 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Mon Oct 13 16:28:12 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 13 16:30:14 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun May 04 21:04:14 -0700 2008 Sun May 04 21:06:06 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Mon Mar 17 18:31:43 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 30 09:18:42 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Thu Apr 24 08:42:04 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 24 08:43:42 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Tue Mar 04 11:46:46 -0800 2008 Tue Jun 24 16:51:34 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Jan 02 13:27:16 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 02 13:29:16 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Wed Apr 30 07:26:28 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 30 07:28:12 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Thu May 01 22:51:39 -0700 2008 Thu May 01 22:52:32 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Mon Aug 27 19:46:31 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 27 20:04:31 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=45785