the heart is a lonely hunter
have anyone here read a book called the heart is a lonely hunter? i just came across the book in a bookstore yesterday and found the title and the introduction of it fairly interesting. so i decided to buy it and gave it a try, which is rather rare of me because until then in respect to novels i had only read those classic ones written by writers in the 19th and 18th century.i just want to know if anyone have read or even only heard of the book. if so, how do you like it?
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
One of my favorite books is The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers about the various lives of various people in a small southern town who don’t seem to fit in with the rest. I’ve always found those characters fascinating along with their attempts to connect with others, and one of the characters who’s remains close to my heart all the years since I’ve read it is the protagonist, John Singer, a deaf mute who wonders around town with a smile on his face and a business card that says, “I read Lips.” Singer’s smile grows on the people of the town, and as he smiles, nods, and “reads lips,” before long he is considered the wisest among them and all the people begin divulging their deepest feelings to his nodding grin.
What fascinates me is how can it be so simple. Is that what people really want, a smiling deaf mute to nod and listen to them talk? And the truth is, more or less, yes. Oh, they would prefer a few, “Oh, that’s so interesting,”s thrown in there, but listening and nodding works just fine. I tried it on a thirty hour plane trip back to the US last summer, Jakarta to Birmingham. Four different airplanes, over a solid day of travel, and all I did was put on my biggest grin and hold it until my mouth hurt. And before long, on every plane, every person sitting next to me, or even some a seat away, were telling me their life stories. By the end of the trip I knew about their families, their backgrounds, where they were going and what they were doing. I stayed as quiet as I politely could, although I threw in a bit of positive feedback from time to time. I’m sure an, “I read lips,” card would have sufficed just as well.
So there it is, smile, nod and don’t have much of an opinion of your own, and you will be able to get on with anyone. It’s the easiest thing in the world, the problem is when all the people want someone to smile and nod, it turns out that everyone is doing the talking, and nobody’s listening. So why can’t we just listen more? Here’s a clue, at the end of the book, John Singer shoots himself in the head. That’s about what I felt like doing after smiling and nodding for thirty hours on airplanes. That’s what I love about classic literature, you can learn so much from it.
The Heart is A Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers
Hello fellow literary enthusiasts!
I am independently reading The Heart is A Lonely Hunter by southern author Carson McCullers. Though I am halfway through there are many things I would like to discuss. If anyone is reading this book as well, or is interested in starting I would love to swap ideas and pose questions back and forth.
ONWARD (hopefully),
GinaMarie