Customer Reviews
Audio Boost for "Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" 
2008-04-08
In rebuttal to Douglas Moran's review on this website, I have to admit I am listening to "Lonely Hunter" on audio cd. I chose it because it's quite a famous book & was pretty sensational in its day (I believe the early 40's). What makes it compelling to me is Cherry Jones's reading. I am Not Southern, therefore am both amused and admiring of her wonderful rendition of all the parts. The dialogue of the poor, blacks and whites, could get tiresome (as it does in "Tom Sawyer), but hearing Jones read the part of Portia, for example, makes you love this character. Same goes for even the crazy Jake. You can just see him!
Dark, depressing, but worthwhile 
2007-09-07
I thought I would be bored listening to an audio book and not pay attention. I listened to this while driving 1200 miles in one weekend. It was the nicest, incredibly long drive I've ever had. The book is a little dark but I was impressed with the writing, especially since Carson McCullers was only 23 when she wrote it. My book club had selected this book and I don't think I would have listened to it otherwise. Although, I like lighter Southern Genre books. Still, having grown up in the South, I thought it was a pretty realistic portrayal of the times and the people. But just one tragedy after another and from what I have read about McCullers, somewhat autobiographical.
Unremitting Bleakness of Life 
2007-09-03
I coudn't stop thinking while I was reading this, I couldn't stand more than a hundred pages, that it was a brilliant work for a very sensitive,depressed, lonely, highly intelligenttwenty something writer. Who wasn't made like other folks, and for many artists that's a necessary evil. I havent' read anything else by her, and I don't think I will, I have a feeling life doesn't get better in the works of Carson McCuller and that's too bad.
The writing is much better than OK, but,this work is amateurish in structure. There is no impelling story of any kind, just a wearing down, gets to be boring, pastiche of miserable and semi-miserable characters going nowhere except into a future of deepening misery and despair.
Yes there are pleanty of folks like that but nothing redeems them here.
McCullers is a southern grotesque who lacks the vitality of Flannery O'Connor and the enduring humanity and brilliance of William Faulkner.
Simple 2007-03-25
This is simply one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. It catches the rhythm of life for the lonely 'invisible' people, and its emotion is conveyed so forcefully that the tragedy becomes cathartic. Buy this book.
GOOD GAWD - this book leaves you breathless !!!!! 2006-01-16
This book came to me in a odd way. It was mentioned in the movie "A love song for Bobby Long". Never thought it was a real book. But googling for the title (just out of curiosity) I found it. Got very curious after having read a couple of reviews and bought it. It cost me a sleepless night. I couldn't put it down and read it in one breath. It has such an impact that it leaves one breathless. What an astounding story it is. It boggles my mind how such a young woman in 1940 (she was 23 at the time the book was published) could come up with such a novel.
My question is also: what has changed in the meantime, as to the social circumstances of the poor? Nothing whatsoever. It's frustrating that I cannot come up with anything original to add in this review, as far too many 5 star reviewers have already done that. It comes down to a repitition of words like:
astounding, remarkable, extraordinary, impressive, beautiful and bittersweet: ALL TRUE.
People who are looking for a plot, are looking for easy reading and have a totally dream-like idea of how life can be.
Wake up people and experience truth. Take up the book again after a couple of years, and see if it will make sense by then.
If you read this book, you will be totally shaken by this story of beauty and darkness.
Carson Mccullers is a genius to have written this story at such a young age.
If you like literature, you need to read this. 2006-01-02
When she was only twenty-three, Carson McCullers's first novel created a literary sensation. She was very special, one of America's superlative writers who conjures up a vision of existence as terrible as it is real, who takes us on shattering voyages into the depths of the spiritual isolation that underlies the human condition. This novel is the work of a supreme artist, Carson McCullers's enduring masterpiece. The heroine is the strange young girl, Mick Kelly. The setting is a small Southern town, the cosmos universal and eternal. The characters are the damned, the voiceless, the rejected. Some fight their loneliness with violence and depravity, Some with sex or drink, and some -- like Mick -- with a quiet, intensely personal search for beauty.
From the Paperback edition.
Cherry Jones +++ 2005-08-24
The thing about audio books is the reader, who can make or break the aural experience. Cherry Jones makes what would otherwise be a dated novel come alive. Her ability to portray multiple characters of both genders is astonishing.
Played out in many shades of gray 
2005-03-18
Besides this book, I have read "A Member of the Wedding" by Carson McCullers. It is very striking to me that when I read each of these books, my mental images of the characters and settings were in black and white. Well, really, I saw it all play out in shades of gray. The people and places in this book are dark, often dirty, lowly, depressed, depressing and teetering on the verge of hopelessness.
The title aptly states the novel's theme; the overriding feeling of the book is stark loneliness. The characters cannot connect with one another - even when they are trying very hard to do so. They don't have authentic relationships even when they think that they have found a soul mate. Each of them wants to share his or her inner-most truths, and without exception they are impotent in their attempts. They each have things that they want to do, talents that they want to express. In each case, they can't or don't overcome their personal burdens to reach their goals or to achieve any sort of success. In the end, they are each alone with little hope for a more fullfilling life.
The book is very well written. Each chapter is written as a stream of consciousness of one of 4 main characters who each move the story forward a (very tiny) bit. This book is all about characters. It is definitely NOT about plot. McCullers remains stylistically consistent throughout, which seems to be quite an accomplishment in this very ambitious first novel.
For me, reading this book is a literary accomplishment. I can check off another classic from my list of books to read. However, it was not a book that I found enjoyable. I would suggest that ambitious readers should tackle it. Its style, mood and characters are very effectively created and sustained. On the other hand, if you prefer plot, uplifting or hopeful themes, happy endings or characters that grow or overcome their limitations, you may not want to spend your reading efforts on this book.
Oprah should have left this book alone 2005-02-15
This is not the kind of book that the average Oprah-watcher likes to read and understand. That's why so many complains. Oprah-readers like fast and shallow books, and she has disappointed them picking profound and complex novels -- like this one and Anna Karenina. I think it is great that this lady want people to read, but she must realize that most of her audience is not able to read complex novels -- let alone classics.
And regarding the 'comunism' in this novel... please, the 50s are over. It is really narrow mind of a person to say such a thing a of book in the XXI century. Whitch hunting is over!
The Heart of the matter 2005-02-06
Not many writers are able to at his/her early twenties to have such a exquisite view of the world and complex subjects as Carson McCullers displays in her beautiful "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter". Maybe the fact that she was a sort of precocious genius she wrote the book helped her to sharp her senses to create a world apart inhabited by ordinary people, just trying to live their ordinary lives.
Her condition of being young also influenced her in the novel. As most young people, she didn't have many life experiences yet; therefore much of her inspiration comes from her own life and the people she knew. Her father was a jeweler, like Mick's father. She also studied piano -- and this is one of Mick's dreams. Moreover, Mick's coming of age has a lot in common with Carson's. She started working on this book when she was at the university and her idea was to make a novel about five isolated people, in which the narrative's structure would be inspired by a fugue (a musical composition featuring several repeating themes).
In the first part, she introduces the characters, the settings and the main thematic, which deals with of "man's revolt against his own inner isolation and his urge to express himself as fully as possible". Her main man in this case is the deaf-mute John Singer. The second part is the failure of each character, due to his options (and lack of them) and free will. The third part shows the faith of each character, and what they made of their lives after they met Singer.
Unquestionably the main theme is the isolation and the alienation of the human being. Each character -- even the supporting ones -- tries to break out their condition. The isolation is the result of the combination of personal and environmental factors. In this process, Singer -- who has the most difficult to communicate -- plays a key role to help each of the four main characters to find their own voice. He represents the hope throughout the whole narrative.
Carson has a hand to deal with the lost dream. Everyone in this novel cannot fulfill his/her dreams. The girl Mick, for instance, is too smart for her family, for her town; therefore she has to suffocate her talents and become an ordinary person. But, in her mind, she can keep the flame of her dream of becoming a musician alive.
Carson deals beautiful with language and character development. From the beginning one can notice that this is a writers who dominates her tool -- and not the other way round. Every character has his/her own motivations and these people change throughout the narrative. Because of it, "The heart is a lonely hunter" is a complex slice of life. More than a book, this novel X-rays ordinary lives and expose them, bringing us a little bit of hope to diminish our own sadness.
