Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

Somehow I’d gone this long without reading this classic. I’m thankful I finally got to it — and it got to me. Such a brilliant book! I’m in awe of McCullers’ writing talent.I highly recommend it to all those who have not yet read it.

`The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter', published in 1940 when Carson McCullers was just twenty-three, is set in a small Georgia town and tells the story of five isolated and spiritually-frustrated characters. There's Mick Kelly (based on McCullers herself), a young girl who is always writing music in her head and dreaming of travel to foreign lands. Dr. Benedict Copeland is an African-American doctor who struggles to make others of his race see the truth about their plight as he sees it. Jake Blount is a potentially violent drifter who rants about socialism and fruitlessly tries to inspire the working class to rise up and demand more from their employers. Biff Brannon is the sexually-ambiguous café owner who spends hours on end thinking through his muddled thoughts. And finally, there's John Singer, a deaf-mute who the other four befriend because, as an intelligent and kind man who cannot talk himself, he is a good listener.The story revolves around Singer who, more than just serving as a symbol of their mutual incomprehension through his handicap, acts as an almost God-like figure to the other four. He is to each whatever they want him to be. They all go to him to tell him of their problems as a Christian goes to church to pray. Meanwhile, all he really cares about is his friend, also a deaf-mute, who sits miles away in a hospital bed. His whole existence revolves around periodic pilgrimages to see this friend. The other four pout when he's gone, as one might when God doesn't answer a prayer. I found myself wishing they could seek solace amongst themselves, especially Copeland and Blount who shared similar views. But even when they do intersect, they are unable to fully connect. It is only Singer who can bring them solace.The characters are drawn in a mostly unsympathetic light, except for Singer and Mick who, because of what they are, could almost not be portrayed any other way but sympathetically. Brannon is just too odd; there were times I wondered if he were a pedophile. Blount is too angry to care about. I rooted for Copeland a little bit, but once he and Blount failed to reach a détente, I was left feeling that they weren't interested in compromising their views and thus were really just selfish people, unwilling to live in a world that didn't fit their specific ideas.McCullers's writing is a cross between the Russian realists of the 19th century and Flannery O'Connor. Like the Russians, she writes to reflect real life. Like O'Connor, she writes about the edges of society. There isn't a traditional plot: the narrative just follows their struggles with isolation and need for self-expression. McCullers has said she based the format of the book on a fugue, which explores various themes through repetition and development. Thus in place of a plot is the examination of these themes to their fullest extent, at which point the book can resolve. The themes she examines are noble themes, some timely (racism, communism), others universal (the need for self-fulfillment, the feeling of isolation from society), which makes this a worthwhile book. Others have written reviews asking why such a `boring' book without a standard plot or happy ending would be considered a classic. It's the universal themes of the book and the beautiful prose that make it a classic. Life doesn't always end up the way we want it to, nor do the books we read.

I read this for book club and only struggled halfway through before the meeting, when the ending was spoiled. I pushed myself to finish it, reading a chapter each sitting. Took me nearly two months, but I got resolution.One star is purely for the author's accomplishment at such a young age. That's very impressive and I'll always be a bit jealous. Another star for a very lived-in and well realized world. I felt the grime and sweat and poverty keenly. And while it took me a long time, this book was still much shorter than most novels...but I still think it would've fared better as a short story. Like Ethan Frome.I felt like Singer, the deaf-mute "protagonist", was used by the people around him. In much the same way that stories had the wise black character or a sweet damsel. Singer was just a fixation to make these people feel better. They never knew him or cared to, they just wanted someone to listen to them.Because of the oddly vague and yet detailed style of writing it was hard to keep people and their relationships straight. Peoples' names changed midway through the book, many people's names started with B or M. I had to highlight and lookup more old times words than in any book ever before.Overall, this was a failed attempt at moralizing, a downtrodden snapshot of the South in the Great Depression.

Four principal characters pursue their dreams consumed with frustration that they can't achieve them. Mick Kelly is a 12-year-old musician who can't play anything but a radio. Biff Brannon is an impotent romantic. Jake Blount is a revolutionary who can't lead. Mady Copeland is a civil rights leader who can't convince his own people to follow him.All four of them find some comfort in sharing their dreams with John Singer, a deaf-mute, who befriends all of them between summer 1938 and summer 1939. They only imagine that Mr. Singer understands them, of course; although he's a good enough lip reader to pick up some of what they tell him, on the whole all he does is nod and smile. The depressing thought is that maybe that's as good as it gets - for any of us. Anyway, with his death (though not as a direct result), the dreams of his friends all collapse.People have complained that "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" fails to offer any solutions to the problems it portrays, but sometimes a book doesn't need to offer an answer. This work reminded me somewhat of "Grapes of Wrath" in that respect. The characters are beautifully detailed, their problems range from comical to desperate, but there are ultimately no solutions. Both books excel making their world very real, and the problems of the protagonists become your problems too.There are no answers here, as there are none in "Grapes of Wrath," but sometimes it's enough just to outline the problem clearly. And one can take some comfort in the fact that our world is much improved over the one McCullers depicts, so there is hope.On a side note, the modern reader is constantly surprised how little concern for safety they had in the 1930s. Giving the baby a hard candy to quiet him down - or giving him a "good shake." Letting a 7-year-old play with a rifle. Or letting a 12-year-old watch an infant unsupervised. Another surprise is that the injustice of Jim Crow figures so prominently in a pre-World War II book; I had assumed the Civil Rights movement dated from after the war.

John Singer shares his life with his one friend, Spiros Antonapoulos. They are both deaf mutes and, while Singer can lip read, only Antonapolous understands his sign language. With all other people, Singer can only communicate by writing short messages on slips of paper. So when Antonapolous is committed to an asylum, Singer is left profoundly alone. He moves from the small apartment the two men had shared to a boarding house and takes all his meals at a local café, and gradually he attracts to him a small group of broken and lonely people, each of whom finds his silence allows them to talk openly to him in a way they can’t to other people.Biff Brannon owns the cafe along with his wife, Alice. Lonely in his unsatisfactory marriage and childless, Biff watches the people who frequent the cafe and offers a kind of rough kindness to some of the misfits who happen along. Jake Blount is one such misfit – a drunk with Communist leanings who longs to meet others who share his politics. Mick Kelly is the daughter of the owners of Singer’s boarding house, a young girl whose life is circumscribed by the poverty of her circumstances, but who secretly longs to write music. And lastly of Singer’s little group of disciples is Doctor Benedict Copeland, a black doctor who has devoted his life to leading his people out of ignorance but has failed, even with his own family from whom he is now mostly estranged. Each sees in Singer someone who seems to understand them and gives them the courage to face the obstacles in their lives. But Singer, though he listens, cannot speak and lives for the rare occasions when he can take a break from work and visit his friend Antonapolous, where he frantically pours out all his pent-up thoughts through sign, to a man who seems neither to understand nor care.For me, the stories of Biff and Jake didn’t work quite so well, though each had some points of interest. But Dr Copeland’s story is very well done, highlighting the poverty and cruel injustice experienced by black people, and the gulf between his ambition and the reality of what he could achieve within a system rigged against him. His character is also an excellent study of a man who is respected and even loved by the people he serves and leads in his wider community, but who fails utterly in his domestic life, taking his disappointments and frustrations out on his wife and children; a man so consumed with the desire to improve humanity that he fails to understand and connect with the individual needs of the humans around him.Mick is a wonderful character and the one who gives a small glimmer of hope amid the general bleakness. McCullers’ description of her sneaking around to listen to music through the open windows of those wealthy enough to own radios and record players shows the real disparity of opportunity in this society where even the simplest cultural opportunities are available to only a fortunate few. Mick’s efforts to teach herself first to play piano and then to find a way to write down the music she hears inside her are beautifully written. Although the desperate poverty of her family means that her education has to give way to the need to earn money, there is the feeling that maybe she will somehow find a way to lead a more fulfilling life in time.And Singer himself, for much of the book a silent background against which the stories of the others are played out, gradually becomes more vivid as the true loneliness of his life is shown – a loneliness caused, in his case, by physical rather than emotional barriers. Seemingly stable, holding down a job and surrounded by people who read into the blankness of him whatever they need and lack and then value him for that, he just wants that simple thing they see in him – a willing listener, someone who seems to understand.While the premise is a stretch, with Singer’s deaf-mutism a rather contrived vehicle to bring this disparate group together, and while some of the stories work better than others, overall this is a profound and moving study of the ultimate aloneness and loneliness of people in a crowd, and of the universal human desire to find connection with another. The writing is beautiful, emotional but never mawkish, with deep understanding of the human heart and sympathy for human fallibility – a book that fully deserves its classic status.

5 ‘lonely hearts’ for a book that portrays the heavy theme of loneliness, much of which stems from prejudice, intolerance in some form, and the inability to communicate effectively. So, what better way to depict the sobering effects of this strong message than to create a voiceless mute at the centre of the story. Singer is a man who struggles to cope with his own loneliness, and whilst at hand to listen to the troubled lives of the other four main characters, there is an innate ability for them to recognise Singer’s personal wilderness.Affecting, touching, evocative, and a little gem of a book that will take you through a symphony of emotions. A little book by a young author whose maturity and insight to have written this at the age of just 23 is just remarkable. An easy 5 stars.The Plot - John Singer shares an apartment and a habitual silence with his friend Spiros Antonapoulos, until Spiros is committed to an asylum. Only able to communicate via slips of paper, Singer moves to a small apartment and frequents a café, owned by Biff Brannon and his wife Alice. After a period of time Biff begins to open up about the loneliness he feels in his marriage that has yet to provide the couple with adoring children.Soon the friendships extend to Dr Copeland, a black physician in a predominantly white town. We also have Jake Blunt who is a heavy drinker, and who’s self-loathing often sees him fly into bouts of rage and anger, which only perpetuates the feeling of isolation as people distance themselves from his company. Thereafter he is caught up in this vicious circle of anger, rejection, and then isolation. Mike represents youth and the prejudices that come with age either being too old or too young to be taken seriously. A young girl who often feels misunderstood by those around her.The perfect cast to portray loneliness, solitude and the feelings engendered by isolation. Loneliness ultimately caused by racism, ageism, alcoholism, infertility, politics, religion, social division, and disability. All packed into this literary gem.Review and Comments - There is a haunting simplicity in the way this story is told. The reason I say ‘haunting’ is because you never shake off this ever-present sense that sorrow and fate will have their day, despite it not being a gloomy book. There is simplicity in the writing style too. The stripped back nature of the prose is incredibility effective in this very human portrayal of loneliness and rejection. Even the characters are deliberately uncomplicated or complex because the themes are.This book gets to the heart of loneliness that few books have achieved for me, nor does it shy away from these strong evocative themes to deliver this powerful message of loneliness, and the importance of communication. It is ironic that although Singer is there for his companions, when he reaches one of his lowest points, he feels more alone than ever despite amassing this unlikely band of friends because no one sees it.The character development is also superb. It is a book that gives a voice to the voiceless, A book that offers company to the repressed, lonely, or even rejected people. A book that warns of how we can become so engrossed in our own worries and consumed by our need to be understood that we might fail to see the anguish felt by those around us.Heart breaking – yes because Carson McCullers refuses to provide the utopian ending for all the characters, and so we as readers are not distracted from the core themes, she wanted to depict. Loneliness, tolerance, acceptance, and communication. Highly recommended.

This book seems revered by my American cousins, but as a Brit, I had barely heard of this.Upon reading this though, I can see the importance of this novel and how influential it has been.Indeed, without this book I'm not sure to kill a mocking bird would have existed, it is certainly a massive influence.The main theme of this book set in the South is oppression of the haves against the have nots. About the oppression of black people by whites and about needing to look up to someone.And therein lies the big hook - the people need a hero and they think they have one. However, what they actually have is someone that doesn't really want the responsibility, indeed he relies on someone we don't even know liked him.This is a poignant tale that resonates some 80 years after it was written and the writing is timeless. It won't be for everyone; there is not a story as such and there isn't much hope and some will find it depressing.I liked this a lot and would recommend it to those I think would like it.

Without doubt this book was one of the best I have read in a long time. A book of its time (1940) and probably too politically incorrect to form part of the English curriculum in our schools, it is sad that such talented writing skills and use of language cannot be appreciated by a young audience. I am indeed in awe that it was written by a 23 year old with such a remarkable writing talent, a terrific story from a superbly talented author.

An intriguing story written with varying styles that are appropriate to the shifting focus of the narrative.BUT, as with many Amazon e-books, the quality of the printing is unacceptably poor.Errors are numerous and, less than half way through the book, I've started to log them:"car" instead of ear"fed" instead of feel"die" instead of the"The" instead of . The"I" instead of !And I expect to be faced with more irritating mistakes that have to be unravelled in context.NOT GOOD ENOUGH AND MUST DO BETTER!