The Member of the Wedding

Rating:
Summary: Frankie's Life
Review: This was an easy book that still had a lot of emphasis and meaning to it. Frankie, a confused 12-year-old girl is desperate to get out of the town she lives in and believes she is destined to be with her brother and the bride. Even though she thinks she is about to have good luck ahead of her, she ends up getting raped by a drunk soldier, she runs away in need of finding Honey, a guy who was in jail most of the time and finding her best friend who moved away to Florida and gets caught by the police.Worst of all she doesn't get to go with her brother. These series of events lead to the future where she is a matured 16-year-old who has been through the absolute worst by losing her young pal John Henry. To conclude the story, Mary Littlejohn, a 16-year old girl who she met at a raffle becomes her best friend and Frances and her decide to travel around the world together.

Rating:
Summary: Adolescence in a Nutshell
Review: Carson McCullers captures the awkward stage of adolescence and places it into one novel, The Member of the Wedding. The title of the novel may make it sound as if the entire novel takes place at a wedding. The novel actually takes place in a small southern town where Frankie Addams, a twelve year old, struggles with the process of growing up. Throughout the novel, McCullers wonderfully portrays the difficulties of lingering between childhood and womanhood. Frankie can no longer play with the children and she cannot relate to the world of women. Any woman can relate to this experience. I found myself reflecting on my own feelings as a twelve year old. These confusing feelings strongly resembled those of Frankie. At this age, a girl struggles with the awkwardness of learning how to dress, how to wear makeup, and how to act like a woman. Frankie realizes that she must leave the freedoms of her childhood and displays a reluctance to do so. She rejects a doll that her father brings home as a gift. Her reluctance sprouts from the restricted nature of life as a woman in society. Frankie's foolish actions and moodiness create delightful humor within the novel. At one point, Frankie places more importance on the wedding than on the death of her Uncle Charles. Frankie plans to live with Jarvis, her brother, and Janice, his fiancee, after she attends their marriage. She falls deeply in love with the idea of the wedding. Thoughts of the wedding give her shivers. A person falling in love with a wedding? This struck me as extremely amusing. Her love for the wedding illustrates her desire to be the part of a "we" and to leave behind her lonely "I" existence. As an adolescent, she feels that her own life is the center of the universe. As a result, Frankie Addams feels an extreme isolation from the world and constantly struggles to overcome it. Her isolation is a major theme of the novel. She feels as if no one else could possibly understand her. We've all felt this way at some point in our lives. When Frankie attempts to share her feelings with Bernice, a hired black cook, Bernice does not understand. This novel illustrates the adolescent search for identity. Frankie changes her name to F. Jasmine and gives herself an entirely new personality. This new identity represents a new level of maturity in her life. As F. Jasmine, Frankie possesses the ability to discuss love with Bernice, yet she refuses to see Bernice's hidden advice within their conversations. McCullers use of music to symbolize Frankie's feelings lends beauty to the novel. Unfinished songs and piano scales convey her fear of being alone. As the novel progresses, Frankie matures and makes her way toward womanhood. By the end of the novel, Frankie's name is Frances, her real name, and she no longer feels lonely in the world. Whether you are currently an adolescent or were an adolescent in the past, this novel is a great book to relate to.

Rating:
Summary: A jewel of a work, exquisitely written
Review: This is one of the most effective evocations of a child's view of the world I know. Very carefully crafted prose and a very satisfying read.

Rating:
Summary: This book has a heart
Review: This story is about a 12 year old girl looking for some sence of herself and thinks she found it in her brothers wedding. Mccullers is not the type of writter to put a plot into a book simply to entertain you this book has raw emotion planted in it. I had to read this for a report and it moved me. Those people who put down this book are looking for the wrong qualities in it. A plot? (look closely at the story) it is beutifully written.

Rating:
Summary: A well-written, interesting mood piece
Review: Readers who are familiar with Southern literature from the mid- 20th century know all too well that many of these books are character-driven mood pieces. As such, the "Member of the Wedding" accurately chronicles some of the painful situations that all of us experience as youg adolescents. The plot is aside the point, and the anguish of growing up is front and center. The book is well-written and makes me want to read additional works by Ms. McCullers.

Rating:
Summary: REALIZE THE POWER OF HER WRITINGS
Review: THIS BOOK WAS OF GREAT INTEREST TO ME. SHE HAS A CREATIVE AND SKILLFUL IMAGINATION WITH WHICH YOU CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO TOUCH IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE SUCH A BAD ATTITUDE. INSTEAD OF NAMING ALL OF IT'S FAULTS, TRY TO IMAGINE THE POINT WHERE SHE HAS PUT HER HEART AND SOUL INTO THIS BOOK. THE THINGS IN WHICH YOU FEEL ARE NOT IMPORTANT TO THIS BOOK, HAS BROUGHT HER MUCH SUCCESS. WHAT CAN YOU WRITE? MOST OF HER WRITINGS REFLECTED HER OWN LONGINGS FOR DIRECTION AND MEANING JUST AS WE DID WHEN WE WERE ADOLESCENTS.FOR ALL OF YOU WHO FEEL AS IF THIS WAS A STUPID OR BORING BOOK, TRY PICKING UP A NEWSPAPER OR WATCHING T.V. TO SEE HOW MANY OF OUR YOUTH ARE KILLED OR ARE KILLING EVERYDAY. THESE PEOPLE HAVE ISSUES THAT THEY FEEL THEY CAN SOLVE BY THEMSELVES. THEY FEAR GOING TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU BECAUSE THEY KNOW THEY'RE PROBABLY GOING TO BE TURNED AWAY. ANOTHER THING, GO TO THE LIBRARY AND READ THE BIOGRAPHY ON CARSON MCCULLERS THEN MAYBE YOU'LL STOP BEING IGNORANT AND TRY TO UNDERSTAND HER NOVELS. ANYWAY, THIS WAS A GREAT BOOK AND I READ IT FOR MY TERM PAPER. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO PEOPLE WHO WANT TO READ SOMETHING TO BRIGHTEN THEIR HORIZONS NOT JUST TO GIVE THEM A THRILL!

Rating:
Summary: Good, but could have been better
Review: This book, though it had a good story, was not very well written or developed. It didn't stay with one idea for long enough, just as I became interested in one thing it would jump to another. The overall story idea is wonderful but it is not relayed to the reader in an interesting way. It also had a rather open ending that left me hanging. It ended when I wanted to know more. The synopsis on the back was totaly different from the actual book. Not a very good read if you like details.

Rating:
Summary: It Was For Me A Host Of Transcending Interludes
Review: From cover to cover, I was held enthralled for every moment of leisure time I spent in it's reading pleasure. Frankie is indeed many of us as we were at one time or another. I had seen the movie only once, and that was so many years ago, when I was very young. I had managed to catch the remaining portion of it where Frankie was unceremoniously dragged from the wedding couple's car, though I never learned the name of the movie itself. That unforgettable scene was etched in my mind all through my formative years, drifting in and out of my subconscious from time to time. I had recently learned the name of the movie and the book quite unexpectedly, and in anticipating it's much-awaited reading, I was treated to a world of lastingly memorable delights. Every nuance of it's sentence structure, every enduring length of it's grammar and rhetoric both offered and afforded me the most precious insights into the interior workings of my own youthful experiences, conceptualizations and reflections. It has truly supplied a necessary and essential component to my life. Everyone should read this book at least once in their lives. This is a work of literary excellence. I would recommend it enthusiastically. Thank you.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: This is probably one of the worse books I ever read. The plot was totally undeveloped and it kept changing tones. Whatever, McCuller was trying to portray was totally useless information. The book was terrible and I would not want to recommend this book to anyone unless they wanted to really wanted to waste some time!

Rating:
Summary: In Defense of Wedding
Review: McCullers expressively expands on the nuances of adolescence in a plot that primarily spans over three days. Her style is exquisite and achingly realistic; after all, what does happen in a twelve-year-old's life in reality? The meaningful emptiness proves to be a tired meaningfulness. Final inferences on the meanings of the work are left to the readers, however. And what a life McCullers led!