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Buy The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Oprah's Book Club) by Carson McCullers available and for sale on Brightsurf
| View Larger Image | The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Oprah's Book Club)
by Carson McCullers
| | List Price: | $12.95 | | Price: | $10.36 | | You Save: | $2.59 (20%) |  | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours | | | | | Sales Rank: | 4908 | | Studio: | Mariner | | | Binding: | Paperback | | Number Of Pages: | 368 | | Publication Date: | April 21, 2004 | | Publisher: | Mariner |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
With the publication of her first novel, THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, Carson McCullers, all of twenty-three, became a literary sensation. With its profound sense of moral isolation and its compassionate glimpses into its characters' inner lives, the novel is considered McCullers' finest work, an enduring masterpiece first published by Houghton Mifflin in 1940. At its center is the deaf-mute John Singer, who becomes the confidant for various types of misfits in a Georgia mill town during the 1930s. Each one yearns for escape from small town life. When Singer's mute companion goes insane, Singer moves into the Kelly house, where Mick Kelly, the book's heroine (and loosely based on McCullers), finds solace in her music. Wonderfully attuned to the spiritual isolation that underlies the human condition, and with a deft sense for racial tensions in the South, McCullers spins a haunting, unforgettable story that gives voice to the rejected, the forgotten, and the mistreated -- and, through Mick Kelly, gives voice to the quiet, intensely personal search for beauty. Richard Wright praised Carson McCullers for her ability "to rise above the pressures of her environment and embrace white and black humanity in one sweep of apprehension and tenderness." She writes "with a sweep and certainty that are overwhelming," said the NEW YORK TIMES. McCullers became an overnight literary sensation, but her novel has endured, just as timely and powerful today as when it was first published. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER is Carson McCullers at her most compassionate, endearing best. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 154 reviews)
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Shades of gray 
This book deals with life in shades of gray, and my feelings about this book are also in shades of gray. Carson McCullers tackles issues that were prominent in the 1930's, including socialism, poverty, and racism. The writing is excellent, but I found this book dreary. Pretty much, it is about disappointment in life. If a positive message was tucked in, I couldn't glean it. It was hard to read - I would put it down and avoid picking it back up. The author did a good job of drawing her characters in an interesting way, and at a book club we had a lively and riveting discussion on the meaning of the deaf-mute character. I have thought about this book a lot since finishing it - a characteristic that I usually consider the mark of a great book. Nevertheless, I wouldn't recommend it to just any casual reader.
July 14, 2008 | |
Left me cold 
Maybe I'm just not a fan of the Southern Gothic genre to which this novel belongs, but man oh man, did I not "get" this book. I found it horribly tortuous and plodding in its pace, and felt that it all ultimately amounted to nothing special or remarkable at all. I had to force myself to finish it, and was always loathe to pick it up. I never felt invested in the characters or engaged in any of their stories, and the whole thing just left me feeling hollow inside. At times I would find particular storylines intriguing, but because of the way in which the story is told, all too soon I'd be tracking someone else's tale, and just as it got interesting, you'd have to switch gears and follow someone else's journey. Lather, rinse, repeat. None of the stories wind up being very meaty and left me incredibly hungry.
Not sure why this book is a classic or why it has received so much praise. Yes, people in very different walks of life and situations can be lonely, and loneliness can even bring people together and provide a common comfort. It's not that the message there is trite, it's just that the delivery was really not spectacular or moving at all. I couldn't help drawing parallels to "To Kill a Mocking Bird" the entire time I was reading this, and while I don't love that book either, I think you'd probably be better served reading it than this.
July 10, 2008 | |
Still a great read 
This book was on many high school reading lists and I decided to re-read it 40 years after my first time. It's still a great read, evocative of an interesting period, like stepping backwards in time. The message on the other hand is timeless, reminding those who think we live in a difficult period that all times are challenging. Readers sensitive to racial stereotyping would do well to remember that, when this book was written inclusion of African-Americans in a novel, much less one who is a doctor, was very unusual. Well worth the time.
May 22, 2008 | |
never received it, or response to e mail- or a call from amazon. 
never received it, or response to e mail- or a call from amazon. bad all the way around.
May 20, 2008 | |
A Book for All Ages
This is a great story for people of all ages. As a teenager, I felt at one with the antagonist of the story. As an adult I see her transition more clearly than before. It is also a reminder of the power of the emotions of adolescence and those first real learning experiences, something I hope I will never forget.
April 11, 2008 | |
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