From the Bookshelf of Never too Late to Read Classics…

The Member of the Wedding

Carson McCullers

Start date: June 1, 2023

Finish date: June 30, 2023

Discussion: Lesser Know Classics

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What Members Thought

Jun 03, 2023 Francesca rated it it was ok · review of another edition

It didn’t impress me. Maybe it wasn’t the right time to read it.

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Sep 08, 2020 Anubha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

For a very long time I couldn't understand whether I was high or the people in the book were. I have read such a book after a very long time where at certain moments I just went " oh! I understand what you're feeling". Or at least parts which reminded me of feeling something similar. I was never a angsty teenager but somehow I found it all relatable--the oppressive boredom, not knowing what to feel, or how to feel, the anger at everyone else for trying to make you understand.

This book is about For a very long time I couldn't understand whether I was high or the people in the book were. I have read such a book after a very long time where at certain moments I just went " oh! I understand what you're feeling". Or at least parts which reminded me of feeling something similar. I was never a angsty teenager but somehow I found it all relatable--the oppressive boredom, not knowing what to feel, or how to feel, the anger at everyone else for trying to make you understand.

This book is about a 12 year old, tomboyish, girl Frankie, living with her widowed father and house help Berenice in 1930s Georgia. Frankie feels herself disconnected from everyone and desperately wants to belong to someone. As a result of this she gets fixated on the idea that her brother and his soon-to-be wife should take her with them after their wedding.

The way McCullers handles the desire of a 12 year old to fit in, to belong, without making it cliched and keeping it darkly funny as well is commendable. There are so many moments where we understand that something bad may happen even though Frankie doesn't and I grip myself waiting for the danger to pass. The contrast between Frankie's physical growth and her mental naivety also makes for some hilarious scenes. I loved the author's sensitivity in handling questions about identity, belonging, loneliness, fear, death. McCuller's writing has a lyrical quality and her descriptions are beautifully vivid. Her description of the surroundings have a keenness to it and a certain soothing feel. Like, the bright dizzy green trees, sundrunk-bluejays. You feel as if you are present in that hot, stifling afternoon in the back porch of the house, squinting at the glare of the sun.
Through the slow-afternoon kitchen conversations between Berenice and Frankie, McCullers also explores topics like race and sexual identity. Her views are fairly forward for the time in which the book in set. Frankie also tries to solve the puzzle of sexuality and puberty throughout the book. Many encounters and incidents, hinting at act of sex are misunderstood by Frankie who is confused by the way adults treat the issue.

Although the story doesn't involve a strong plot and to describe it to someone you'll use a lot of terms like a tomboy girl talks to her housekeeper and cousin in the kitchen and goes about town talking to strangers, this book is way more about feelings and has a philosophical feel at times. Go get it. You will thoroughly enjoy it. ...more

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