GANC: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Hmm. The more I consider The Heart is Lonely Hunter, the more I want to read it again and pick up on more of the small moments, the subtlety of it. And I am not even sure how well I liked the book. So I sit here trying to write a review with a furrowed brow and a cup of tea. I will start off safe with the plot, because that usually helps in analysis. See, all those English classes do come in handy!

The stories of this book revolve, but are not focused on, the life of a a deaf-mute, John Singer. After having lost his best friend, also a deaf mute, he begins to be out in the community more and people begin to talk to him and visit his apartment. Four people from the town get the focus in the narrative- a cafe owner, a young girl, a black doctor, and an alcoholic outsider. Each talk with Singer separately, in time believing he agrees and empathizes with their problems. In a way, Singer becomes their sounding board, their affirmation of cause. Each person, including Singer, wishes to be accepted. The cafe owner, not having children of his own, wants to be accepted as uncle by some of the children in town, including Mick, the young girl who speaks with Singer. Mick, in turn, is figuring out how to be herself, a tomboy, and be accepted by the girls in town who are not interested in climbing to the highest tree and rooftops. The black doctor wishes for whites to accept him and his black brethren as equals, and to not expect black to fit into stereotypes whites make for them. The outsider wants to be heard as he goes about town ranting, at times drunken, about socialism and the cause of justice. He wants people to see him as smart and a leader.

Once again, this book lacks a large, singular plot. Instead, it jumps from one of Singer's "friends" to another, with an occasional overlap of characters. I believe Carson McCullers did this intentionally, so the reader too can feel the isolation of the characters. Even the times when they speak to Singer, Singer cannot respond to what they say, much like the reader cannot. The reader must place themselves in the character of Singer in order to comprehend the frustration he feels of understanding parts of these people's conversations, but not being able to contribute to it any more than smiling or offering something to drink. This isolation also mirrors the time the book is set - 1939 on the cusp of the US involvement in World War II, as the policy of isolationism and nonintervention was lauded. McCullers shows that even these isolated people, isolated events, are inextricably linked and force action and reaction upon one another.

Wow. I did not even see that completely until I sat down and wrote it just now. I am beginning to appreciate this book more and more. Even if I did not enjoy the book, I cannot help but tip my proverbial hat to McCullers ability to meld her weaving of the story with the themes of each of the characters. It shows a purposefulness many authors do not attain or even seek to attain.

The question now is - great American novel or no? Yes, I think so. McCullers was able to write in an honest and quietly resounding way about a time in our history where world war was imminent and segregation was simmering about to boil over. Many critics point out that she was able to write about the black culture and tension in the South elegantly even though she was not herself immersed in it. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is a book that, should you read it, you may feel let down at the end. But, as I have found while writing about it, if you allow yourself a moment to ponder and consider the story, it may be found to be richer and more lustrous than you perceived initially.

Great American Novel Challenge Booklist:
July 2009: Absalom, Absalom! - William Faulkner, publ. 1936
August 2009: Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry, publ. 1985
September 2009: Moby Dick - Herman Melville, publ. 1851
October 2009: For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway, publ. 1940
November 2009: Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston, publ. 1937
December 2009: The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath, publ. 1963
January 2010: Rabbit, Run - John Updike, publ. 1960
February 2010: East of Eden - John Steinbeck, publ. 1952
March 2010: The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton, publ. 1920
April 2010: Giants in the Earth - Ole Edvart Rolvaag, publ. 1927