The Member of the Wedding

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Summary: A magnificent work of art
Review: Carson McCullers is a writer of such exquisite sensitivity and humane compassion, and all these qualities shine through every page of this wonderful work. Truly one of THE greatest works of American fiction, and one which, once read, will haunt you for the rest of your life. A masterpiece.

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Summary: beautifully yet simply written
Review: My mother first bought me this book when I was 13. Now I'm 18 and I still love it, and I'm still amazed by the beauty in its style everytime I read it. It's the story of Frankie, a twelve year old girl without a mother who does not belong in her town. She feels like an outsider everywhere she goes. It's a concept that I totally related to when I first read the book. Frankie's older brother is planning a wedding, and the novel takes place in the days leading up to the wedding. Frankie, who longs for a way out of her small town and an escape from her life, can hardly wait for the wedding, which will take place in a town called Winter Hill. Frankie imagines how beautiful Winter Hill will be, and she begins to imagine that when her brother and the bride leave for their honeymoon after the wedding, they will take her along. This idea builds up so much in her mind that she can barely stand the anticipation, and she gets into some trouble. Overall, this book conveys Frankie's emotions and confusion so realistically that it's almost painful. But it's a wonderful book. The writing is beautiful, and there is so much imagery. One can picture the sweltering heat, the humidity, and it really helps the reader to get a sense of Frankie's inner frustration. This book is definitely worth reading.

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Summary: A Great Piece of Symbolic Literature
Review: Frankie's struggle with existence throughout McCuller's novel may have appeared a bit dramatic, but in reality it conveys the typical teenage/adolescent experience of feeling awkward and lacking a sense of belonging in the world, which I recognized as the key theme. The fact that her over-powering physical growth greatly conflicted with her immature inner-growth of emotions added to her struggle. She was reluctant in accepting the fact that she was on the verge of entering adolescence, bordering on the fine line between the innocent, yet confusing age twelve to the more mature age of thirteen. It was interesting how McCuller was able to incorporate both drama and humor in her novel, both of which had a lasting effect on the outcome of the story. I enjoyed this novel, as I was able to relate to it's symbolic portrayal of the emotional maturation process that each individual experiences at one time or another during his or her life.

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Summary: "Frances wanted the world to die."
Review: I bought this book when the book store was out of the "Heart is a Lonely Hunter", remembering a friend who said that it was just good as that book. It looked like an easy read, it was cheap, so I bought it. Now, just from looking at the cover I thought "Oh no, another boring southern gothic coming of age story..." But I bought it anyway. I was halfway through when I discussed it with said friend, who said: "Oh, isn't it good? Just like the Bell Jar." That just about stopped me. "NO!!! Pseudo feminist histrionics!! " But I read on. It only took me two afternoons to read, was very accessible, and very, very, good. I won't pile on the superlatives, but this book expressed very honestly the need of a teenager to leave the seeming small mindedness of their homelife, which I could have definitely related to as a teen. Whether presenting these thoughts in realistically poetic conversations between F. Jasmine and Berenice, or in simple, stubbornly cold and straightforward sentences(a good example is the one above), Carson McCullers relates detachment very truthfully and compassionately, while still keeping her critical eye glued on Frankie.

And I mean it. Really!

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Summary: Doesn't this girl ever shut up???
Review: Frankie Addams aka F, Jasmine has got some serious problems. Not only does everyone treat her like a baby but she fantasizes about traveling the world with her brother and sister-in-law. The majority of the book covers 3 days prior to the wedding, which is just a lot of talk. The wedding is covered in two pages which is a disapointment considering the other 99/100 of the book build up tension toward thus very unclimatic climax. With the exception of a couple passages (I ejoyed theare "they we of me") the book is full of useless mumble jumble.
Don't waste your brain energy!

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Summary: AWFUL BOOK!
Review: I had to read this book this past May in my American Literature Class... I thought it would be a fairly easy read, but I was very wrong. Carson McCullers is not a very good writer, for many reasons. This book takes place during World War One, yet many of the ideas that are discussed relate to the post World War Two era. McCullers also rambles on for pages about one thing, and then all of a sudden, out of the blue, she changes to another thing which really iritated me. To make a long story short, this book took me the whole two weeks to read, when I thought it would take me two hours. I really did not look forward to reading this book because it was terrible!...

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Summary: Review for "The Member of the Wedding"
Review: The book that I read was Carson McCullers's "The Member of the Wedding". The protagonist in this book was Frances (Frankie) Addams. This story took place in a small town during World War I. The major conflict of this story is that Frankie is searching to find herself. She finds her life very insipid, and she is looking to change that. Frankie believes that everyone she knows is her adversary. However, the true antagonist is Frankie herself. There are plenty of themes in this story, but the major theme is that life is not fair. You can not run away from your problems, and you will not always get your way. McCullers uses a lot of symbolism and metaphors in this book. The neon lights of the Blue Moon restaurant/hotel show how scary it is to her, and how intimidated she gets from this. Winter Hill, where her brother gets married, is easily tied in with the fact that he has spent the past year or so in Alaska. Frankie loved the thought of living in a barren and icy land, and that was shown by Winter Hill and Alaska and her snow globe in her room. There were many more metaphors and a lot of symbolism in this book in other areas. The situations that Frankie gets into shows that she really doesn't know what she is doing. She gets into very adult situations and doesn't understand what she is doing until it is already done.

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Summary: They Went Away and Left Me
Review: In The Member of the Wedding, by Carson McCullers, Frankie's wish to be with her brother and his wife-to-be symbolized her frantic need to escape the stagnant monotony her young life had become. Trapped in an awkward world of adolescence, Frankie no longer fit in. School was out and she had no friends her own age with whom she could associate. She felt isolated. John Henry was too young for her to relate to and though Berenice was in many ways her only source of emotional support, she was a permanent fixture of the kitchen from which Frankie so desperately wanted to flee. Somehow, someway, Frankie was going to leave.

There was, however, one problem. Frankie knew, perhaps subconsciously, that she was too young to take charge of her own life. In a desperate attempt to find a solution to her dilemma, Frankie dared to dream. Janice and Jarvis were going to sweep her off her feet and take her with them to far off lands. With them, she would meet all the people she believed they knew. Though her fantasy was very obviously absurd, it served to fill her with hope, anticipation and joy. Her conviction in the realization of this dream was so persistent that she did not hesitate to verbalize her plan.

Thus, the reader is drawn into Frankie's storybook fantasy, discovering at the same time her inconsolable need to feel connected. If read at face value, many would surmise that Frankie's behavior simply merited stricter discipline; that she was way out of line; a spoiled child who had to have her way or knives would fly. Tennessee Williams stated, "Frankie's attempt to take out a membership in love is the main theme of the novel." If by love he meant the need to be accepted, then Frankie proved Tennessee Williams right in more ways than one.

The onslaught of adolescence can be brutal. Seemingly overnight, we are too tall or too short, too skinny or too chubby and what we are unexpectedly left with is what we perceive as a bloated, distorted image of what we once were. Frankie's height made it impossible for her to play under the boardwalk with the other children, who now taunted her with such remarks as, "Is it cold up there?" In all likelihood, Frankie supposed her new height meant she was an adult. She certainly was tall enough to be one, but the older girls in the neighborhood did not accept her in their club. Her own father distanced her when he told her that she was too old to sleep in the bed with him, tenderly calling her, "a great big long-legged twelve-year-old blunderbuss." Hurt by multiple rejections, Frankie changed her name to a more mature, feminine one. She doused herself with perfume and scrubbed the dirt off her elbows. She even accepted a date. Yet, when F. Jasmine listened to the news on the radio, she could not fully comprehend everything. Even the dress she had purchased for her brother's wedding was too large and sophisticated for her and met with Berenice's stern disapproval. However, none of this mattered much as long as F. Jasmine had her dream to cling to, but when Janice and Jarvis told her she simply could not join them, shattering the dream she had meticulously built, F. Jasmine broke. Stranded between two worlds in which acceptance was off-limits, she was forced to learn what loneliness meant.

One could easily consider F. Jasmine's need to feel connected as the mere folly of a bored 12-year-old child, yet it is painfully clear that her "attempt to take out a membership in love" was not superficial. When she cried out, "They went away and left me," she meant more than just the physical loss of Janice and Jarvis. F. Jasmine had lost the little child within her. Frankie was gone and along with her, so were those carefree days spent under the boardwalk with the other children; so were the safe nights tucked away in bed with her papa. What Frankie would soon learn, however, was that only time would heal her broken spirit. A new beginning lay just around the corner, one that promised bigger dreams. As Berenice had stated, "Things will happen."

Rating:
Summary: I HATED THIS BOOK
Review: okay so i thought this book was going to be an easy read, since it looked so short. it was perfect for getting some end of the summer reading cramming done. i thought it'd be done with in an hour, which is usually how long it takes me to read books this length. WRONG. the story was so confusing that i read the same page over and over, it had absolutely no plot, and the whole thing was just so dull that before i could turn one page i would be falling asleep. And then, at sometimes, things are just so sudden and outrageous its like,"whoa, where did THIS come from! " that i just wanted to throw it against a wall, and that is exactly what i did. please, please do not read this book. its not worth your time!

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Summary: The Member of the Wedding: a review
Review: "The Member of the Wedding" is a story of a lonely thirteen-year-old girl searching for a place to belong. Everyone around her seems to belong to something, a group or set, except for Frankie, the main character. When her older brother announces his wedding, Frankie believes she has found a place to belong. The use of light and dark imagery to accentuate and foreshadow events and moods throughout the story add to the overall feel of the story and help to convey the characters feelings. Before Frankie becomes a "member of the wedding" the weather is always dark and rooms and places are dark, she says the world is a "confusing place" but when she becomes a "member" the world becomes a light and fun place once again. By seperating the book into two sections, Book 1 and Book 2, it serves to show just how important the wedding is to Frankie, so important that she divides her life into sections of before the wedding and after the wedding. Even so, the future of her travels and experiences are foreshadowed throughout the novel, such as when Frankie visits Big Mama to have her fortune told and Big Mama can not tell where she will end up or even be specific on what she has already told Frankie. This book is interesting, but I would not recommend it simply because of the plot. The story is very ho-hum and slow-paced, but as a psycological novel it is very interesting. When Frankie