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The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

Carson McCullers

Start date: May 1, 2026

Finish date: June 1, 2026

Discussion: Classics Corner

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What Members Thought

Jun 20, 2020 Ken rated it it was amazing

Shelves: finished-in-2020, classics-newly-read

This one took me by surprise. Quite simply I grabbed it from the library based on positive reviews among GR friends AND the hole in my reading resume. Must read a Carson McCullers book, the wind whistling through that hole said. And so I did.

From the get-go, I thought I was reading Sherwood Anderson. The voice and the diction reminded me mightily of Sherwood's Winesburg, Ohio.

But it went one better than that. The characters were mostly down-and-outers, reminding me of Anderson's "grotesques" in This one took me by surprise. Quite simply I grabbed it from the library based on positive reviews among GR friends AND the hole in my reading resume. Must read a Carson McCullers book, the wind whistling through that hole said. And so I did.

From the get-go, I thought I was reading Sherwood Anderson. The voice and the diction reminded me mightily of Sherwood's Winesburg, Ohio.

But it went one better than that. The characters were mostly down-and-outers, reminding me of Anderson's "grotesques" in Winesburg. Quite simply, a "grotesque" is defined as just another person living a life of quiet desperation. No one likes that Thoreau quote better than me. It could be on many of our gravestones and work nicely.

Anyway, I was stunned that this book was written by a 23-year-old. Holy Toledo Ohio, could she write. Gifted. And what a collection she put together -- Biff "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" Brannon, the cafe owner; Jake the Radical Drunk; Copeland, the black doctor whose anger anticipates today's news (in fact, Carson McCullers herself anticipates it in general -- that's how sensitive her prose is to the oppressed black community); Mick Kelly, the teenaged girl who must've been based on CM herself; and finally the seer of them all, the deaf mute John Singer.

Singer gives heart to all of these lonely hunters, but he was an enigma to me. I could not for the life of me understand his attachment to fellow mute Spiros Antonapoulos, who isn't a very sympathetic human being. For Singer the attachment is a driving force, so much so that the reader wonders why. It's a question that never gets answered, perhaps by design.

Anyway, so-called Southern Literature generally causes me to break out in hives (see Faulkner, William), but this novel with its deep characterization, sensitive political and philosophical themes, and just-enough-plot, was an exception to the itch. As the old song goes: I did not need an ocean of Calamine lotion (thank God).

Hole mended, then. And heart happy. ...more

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Aug 22, 2014 Eric Wojcik rated it it was amazing

I find myself trawling back to this one, having read it a couple years ago, perhaps as a lonely sort. It means too much to me for a blithe, quickly written review, but I feel it should be more renowned. For me it's a grown up, more sober companion to the resolutely adolescent To Kill a Mockingbird. They are both great, but the McCullers leaves wounds where the Lee makes sure everything feels better. ...more

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Jul 30, 2023 William rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2023

Deserving of all the praise it has received. There are 4 plot streams, each based on a different character with different issues, each of whom gravitates to a Christ-like deaf man living in their small southern town. Each is lonely in a crowded space. None consider the plight of their messiah. All of the issues affecting The American south of the 40’s and 50’s are exposed. The dialogue is spot on.
Some have criticized the book saying that the different plot lines never really come together but I ...more

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