Lonely Hearts Club

Cold rain is falling and books are calling. So is my dishwasher--it wants to be emptied--but I am more faithful to books than I am to my kitchen.

This week I finished reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, which our church book club will be discussing in another week. As I mentioned before, my previously owned copy of this book has the signature of the previous owner, as well as the word "okay." I can only assume this is her evaluation of the book. As Barbara, a member of the Fab 5 Book Club, is famous for saying, "Classics are okay, if they're good."

You might think that it would be obvious to me that a book called The Heart is a Lonely Hunter would be a little more somber than, not quite as buoyant as, say, a book called The Heart Floats on Endless Happiness or some such thing. Still, I should've prepared myself more for this novel.

Published in 1940, when, according to my book, McCullers was 23 years old, this novel is full of unique characters, haunting writing, and well-described--you guessed it--loneliness. Each character suffers his or her own brand of isolation. The interesting thing about it is that you get to see what the characters think about themselves, what they think others think of them, and what others really think of them.

The novel is built around Mr. Singer, who is a deaf-mute man who attracts other isolated people. I particularly liked Mick, the restless girl heading into adolescence. I remember the feeling that I was ready to break out into the world, if only I could figure out how. It will be interesting to see what other people thought of the novel.

Currently I'm reading Eli the Good, a young adult novel by Silas House. I've read several of his novels for adults, and I heard him speak one time. I was impressed by him when he spoke--a gentle, thoughtful person--and my favorite novel of his so far is A Parchment of Leaves. He writes about characters who live in his own area of Kentucky mountains and coal mines.

I'm not far into Eli yet, but at this point it strikes me that the main character is retelling his tenth summer with a nostalgia that suits adults better than kids. That is only to say I'm not sure what kids would take from it, but I like it thus far.

Time to settle in with a warm blanket and a book. Sounds like the perfect Mother's Day to me!