The Heart is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers: #book2movie

Carson McCullers, born February 19, 1917 was just twenty-three when her first novel The Heart is a Lonely Hunter was published. Following in the footsteps of William Faulkner, lifelong friends with Tennessee Williams, McCullers is known for her writing in the Southern Gothic tradition, best described as dark, and angst-ridden. Set in the American South, themes of racism and the patriarchy are built into the genre. 

The novel is on my TBR pile—yes, I'm appalled at myself for never having read it!

About the novel

‘With the publication of her first novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers, all of twenty-three, became a literary sensation. With its profound sense of moral isolation and its compassionate glimpses into its characters' inner lives, the novel is considered McCullers' finest work, an enduring masterpiece first published by Houghton Mifflin in 1940. At its center is the deaf-mute John Singer, who becomes the confidant for various types of misfits in a Georgia mill town during the 1930s. Each one yearns for escape from small town life. When Singer's mute companion goes insane, Singer moves into the Kelly house, where Mick Kelly, the book's heroine (and loosely based on McCullers), finds solace in her music. Wonderfully attuned to the spiritual isolation that underlies the human condition, and with a deft sense for racial tensions in the South, McCullers spins a haunting, unforgettable story that gives voice to the rejected, the forgotten, and the mistreated—and, through Mick Kelly, gives voice to the quiet, intensely personal search for beauty.

Richard Wright praised Carson McCullers for her ability "to rise above the pressures of her environment and embrace white and black humanity in one sweep of apprehension and tenderness." She writes "with a sweep and certainty that are overwhelming," said the New York Times. McCullers became an overnight literary sensation, but her novel has endured, just as timely and powerful today as when it was first published. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is Carson McCullers at her most compassionate, endearing best.

And the movie on my watch list. The film was made in 1968 and stars Sondra Locke and Alan Arkin, both of whom were nominated for Oscars. Watch the trailer—filled with late 60s angst—for the movie, available on iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, and GooglePlay, below. As always, search the ever changeable Netflix at the time of reading.