Clock Without Hands [Paperback]

Carson McCullers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1998

Set in Georgia on the eve of court-ordered integration, Clock Without Hands contains McCullers's most poignant statement on race, class, and justice. A small-town druggist dying of leukemia calls himself and his community to account in this tale of change and changelessness, of death and the death-in-life that is hate. It is a tale, as McCullers herself wrote, of "response and responsibility--of man toward his own livingness."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carson McCullers (1917-1967) was the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Member of the Wedding, Reflections in a Golden Eye, and Clock Without Hands. Born in Columbus, Georgia, on February 19, 1917, she became a promising pianist and enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York when she was seventeen, but lacking money for tuition, she never attended classes. Instead she studied writing at Columbia University, which ultimately led to The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, the novel that made her an overnight literary sensation. On September 29, 1967, at age fifty, she died in Nyack, New York, where she is buried.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (September 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395929733
• ISBN-13: 978-0395929735
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #408,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carson McCullers (1917-1967) was the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Member of the Wedding, Reflections in a Golden Eye, and Clock Without Hands. Born in Columbus, Georgia, on February 19, 1917, she became a promising pianist and enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York when she was seventeen, but lacking money for tuition, she never attended classes. Instead she studied writing at Columbia University, which ultimately led to The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, the novel that made her an overnight literary sensation. On September 29, 1967, at age fifty, she died in Nyack, New York, where she is buried.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good...definately good...reads fast and good..., November 29, 1999

By 

[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clock Without Hands (Paperback)

Geez...what can I say about this book? Well...I could start by saying that is was an excellent novel. Being 16 years old and all, this book really explained to me how some of the old southerners thought. They still had pride in the "old south" and it fascinated me that the old judge wanted Confederate money to be made redeemable into US dollars. I just could believe it. It portrayed racist, economic, and political issues in a very believable way. It was, all in all, emotional and it really had every emotion contained within it. At times it was funny. At times is was serious. Sometimes it was happy. Sometimes it was sad. It really gets you going once you read the first 10 pages. I liked it very much and do recommend it to everyone -- regardless of age.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Conflicts and brutality as the Old South slowly dies, April 26, 2003

By 

Linda Linguvic (New York City) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Clock Without Hands (Paperback)

Written in 1953, this book explores the racial tensions in a small southern town. The winds of integration are in the air and the Old South is dying. The story is told through several characters. There's a pharmacist dying of leukemia who struggles with the diagnosis. There's a elderly judge who's a former congressman who really believes that the confederate money hoarded in his attic will some day bring him riches. There's the judge's grandson who sees changes coming. And then there's a young blue-eyed Negro who tries to be accepted.

Carson McCullers is a master of setting the stage for this disturbing tale which is certainly not comfortable to read. Each of the characters is exaggerated but that is her intent. She lays out the conflict with surgical precision and creates a world that doesn't exist any more. It's a brutal world and all the sugar coated Southern niceties just don't help. There's violence in the air. I felt it coming throughout and hoped it wouldn't happen. But the conclusion is inevitable.

Fine book. Fine writing. Recommended.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is my favorite book by Carson McCullers., July 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Clock Without Hands (Paperback)

Not as well known as "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter", this is a beautiful story about small town politics and emotions in the South. McCullers has a talent for describing the dark side of humanity, what drives us and why. Emotions run high in this book where conservative judge, African-American piano player, local pharmacist, and others are connected to one another by unusual ties. It is a difficult book to find, highly recommended.