Rating: 
Summary: Heart Wrenching
Review: Light reading, whimsical - no! Realistic, introspective, entertaining, a wonderful enlightment into the soul - yes! Don't pick up the book if you don't want to think. Otherwise, experience, enjoy and appreciate the brilliance of the characters, the story and the author.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written but not what I expected
Review: McCullers certainly has a way with words; the writing is beautiful. The story is more driven by characters than by plot and there is no doubt that it is a sad, slow story where race, politics, and poverty converge.
My disappointment is not with the book itself, but with its placement on the The Publishing Triangle's list of 100 best lesbian and gay novels. Modern readers expecting gay/lesbian content will be disappointed. It is possible to construe Singer's behavior as motivated by same-sex affection, but that is the only portion of the story with a gay subtext; many readers may not even read Singer as gay. Granted, at the time the novel was written, gay content was often coded, but there are other novels from the same period with much clearer gay/lesbian content. While it appears McCullers had feelings for another woman that does not qualify her works as gay/lesbian "novels"; perhaps a list of gay/lesbian novelists is a more appropriate place for McCullers works
Rating:
Summary: Art born of pain
Review: Novels can be nourishing and Oprah picks some interesting authors to share with us. If you know of Oprah's bookclub you know she picks books that are of often dysfunctional and torturous topics. This book of human disassociation and people who are cast aside and misunderstood is really on the same psychologically interesting level. "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" is set in an uncomplicated southern town in Georgia during the Depression where a girl named Mick (the author's name is Carson and she's also female)grows up emotionally abandoned. She befriends a deaf mute named John Singer who has a emotionally disturbed companion until the situation is intolerable.
Carson McCullers was a fascinating writer whose crisp prose was quite popular during the Second World War. This is a compelling read from the library of fine American Literature. A well worthwhile read.
Rating: 
Summary: A BEAUTIFUL GLIMPSE OF THE SOLITUDE THAT TIES US ALL
Review: Some books take a certain station in life to be savored fully, and McCullers' epic has got to be one of the most depressing coming-of-age novels I have ever read. Unsurprisingly, it had bored me to death as I trudged through it in my teen years. But when I re-read the book now, it touches my heart and soul. The book's southern American characters lead simple, seemingly joyless lives. Their hopes and ambitions are stymied by circumstances and human foibles, mostly of their own making. It is a very laid back novel, despite occasional spurts of violence. But it is McCullers' fluent prose that makes this book absolutely worth the ride, as does the wide sweep of thoughts and emotions covered in the book --- our struggle against isolation, religion as self-delusion, valorm, our search for connection and redemption, society's repression of the individual. It is not the most cheerful of novels, but will definitely strike a clangy chord with people who enjoy solitude but also know its pitfalls.
Rating:
Summary: This is a great book
Review: The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter is one of the best novels I've read in a while. I loved the way Carson McCullers develops the characters in this book. Loneliness and racial injustice are two timeless themes in this novel that McCullers presents so well. McCullers was a white woman writing about how black people were mistreated and felt oppressed in 1940. She was an author truly ahead of her time in that way. All the characters are so memorable in this book. Biff Brannon is a compassionate cafe owner. He helps anyone in need by giving them either food, money or a job. Brannon becomes a widower when his wife dies suddenly of a tumor. Mick Kelly is a lonely but intelligent 12 year old girl from a poor family with a passion for music. Doctor Copeland is a black physician. He becomes a crusader for racial justice when his son goes to jail. McCullers explains the basic principles of Karl Marx's economic theory in the novel by putting in a lecture by Copeland in the novel to show how society is divided between the rich and poor people. I knew nothing about Karl Marx's ideas, so I thought this part of the novel was very interesting. Another memorable character is John Singer. He is a man who does not have the ability to speak. However, he becomes the person all the characters eventually confide all their problems to. Singer communicates with his long time room mate and only deaf friend by using sign language. The relationship and love between these two deaf friends is one of the best things about this novel. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter is one of the best books Oprah has ever chosen for her book club. The themes of loneliness and racial injustice are timeless and universal. The characters are very memorable too. I loved reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: VERY BORING!
Review: The reviews of this book are indicative of one thing: either you love this book or you hate it. I fall into the latter group, and I can't even say I "hated" the book. I was intrigued by the beautiful title, and the desolate-looking girl on the cover of the Oprah edition. However, the story turned out to be so dreadfully boring that I had no desire to find out what happened to the characters. I could not finish the book. I paged through the last half, looking for something interesting to grab my attention, but it appeared to simply go on and on in the same drab fashion. The book takes place in the Depression Era in the South, centering on a few residents of a small Southern town, all of whom are misfits to one degree or another. The book starts out promising enough, as we are introduced to two deaf-mutes who are best friends and roommates. Their close friendship, created by their shared disabilities, is quickly established. Then one of the deaf-mutes is shipped to an asylum by his family. This is sad, but unfortunately it is the last interesting thing to happen in the book and it occurs in the first few pages of the book! We are then introduced to other townfolk who interact with the remaining deaf-mute and each other. None of the characters interested me. I did not read far enough to learn why the black doctor was so bitter. I did not care about the 13-year-old girl and her obsession with music. I certainly did not care about the alcoholic who preached about Karl Marx when he became intoxicated. The character of the alcoholic alone was probably the number one reason I was turned off by this book.
Rating:
Summary: So Sad
Review: This is a very good book that is well written and well developed. However, this is one of the saddest books I have ever read. It seemed that nothing good happened to the characters. Nonetheless I really liked how all the characters were all tied together in this one little town, especially with the use of a mute person.
The book is about several different characters a deaf mute man who longs for friendship and for someone like himself, a little girl who loves music but because her family is poor always struggles to keep that love for music, a store owner who has somewhat feminine tendencies and possibly be a pedophile, a black doctor who wants to help his people, and a communist man who wants to spread his knowledge.
Some of the minor characters are interesting too and include an obese deaf mute, the little girls family, and the doctors daughter.
Well thoughout and developed book. I recommend is highly.
Rating:
Summary: Oprah should have left this book alone
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Should come with a warning :)
Review: Yes, this is a brilliant book. No, I did not 'enjoy' it! Matter of fact, it ruined my holiday. Nothing has ever made me feel so lonely. It is a life changing book, but not good for your emotional equilibrium!
| 
