359 pages
English language
Published Jan. 5, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin.
An absolute classic. Devastating in its depiction of the hopes, aspirations and failures of a range of people in the Southern US. A very lively and depressing image of the era, unfortunately still valid in some respects.
McCullers seems to have fallen out favor even among the Southern Gothic cannon. That's a loss. Here she takes on the notion of being an outsider in a small town, in closed minded society. There are issues of class, race, and sexual identity all well played, really a head of her time.
The novel lacks a clear protagonist. Is it Mick or Singer or Biff? Singer seems to be at the center of this group of misfits but he's a canvas for the other characters to project themselves on and he doesn't effect change. Mick is McCullers alter ego, but she remains very much in utero of adolescence, Biff's vision on the last page is the most gripping scene and hangs with reader after the book is closed.
The novel also goes into too much talk about the common socialist ideology of the time, this confines the novel to the …
McCullers seems to have fallen out favor even among the Southern Gothic cannon. That's a loss. Here she takes on the notion of being an outsider in a small town, in closed minded society. There are issues of class, race, and sexual identity all well played, really a head of her time.
The novel lacks a clear protagonist. Is it Mick or Singer or Biff? Singer seems to be at the center of this group of misfits but he's a canvas for the other characters to project themselves on and he doesn't effect change. Mick is McCullers alter ego, but she remains very much in utero of adolescence, Biff's vision on the last page is the most gripping scene and hangs with reader after the book is closed.
The novel also goes into too much talk about the common socialist ideology of the time, this confines the novel to the time that it is written.
Why do I feel like I just finished a 359 page novelization of a depressing Seinfeld episode?
Why do I feel like I just finished a 359 page novelization of a depressing Seinfeld episode?
Wow, what took me so long to get to this! I am in love with Carson McCullers, and am putting on my list of "dead people I want to bring back to life" list.
Wow, what took me so long to get to this! I am in love with Carson McCullers, and am putting on my list of "dead people I want to bring back to life" list.
