Customer Reviews

Collected Stories of Carson McCullers, including The Member of the Wedding and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book contains a wealth of moving stories by a great writer, including a well-written introduction by her biographer. This would definitely be one of my desert island books.

The Kindle edition contains a large number of errors, in the hundreds, likely reflecting poor or non-existent proofing of scanned text. Most are obvious and distracting ("1" for "I", for instance); occasionally, they render sentences incoherent, and it is not clear what the originals were. Rarely, but non-negligilby, they change meaning--we have "Wonderland" for "Wunderkind" in the story--yes--"Wunderkind".

I have always read stories in the past that gave me feelings right away. After reading these short stories, I was somewhat confused why McCullers didn't elaborate, or why she ended the story where she did. It was only after reading her biography, that I began to reread the stories and became obsessed with all of them. The meanings became clearer, the ideas behind them were revealed, and she has become my favorite author. I would recommend this to anyone, and I would also recommend her novels too. Enjoy.

What strikes me most about McCullers is the simple yet rich complexity of her characters. While some of the earlier stories in this book felt too incomplete for me, as if they were more vignettes than stories, the tales grew stronger as I read on. The Haunted Boy is my favorite because it resonates with a sad truthfulness as a boy struggles to cope with a tragic event from the past which he's yet to deal with emotionally.

I think any true fan of literary storytelling will admit that, though perhaps not always perfect, Carson McCullers' writing as a whole is a sample of this genre at its best.

There is no finer story in the English language than "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe." The technique of the unknown narrator is a wonderful device and once you've identified the identity of this narrator, the story becomes more enriching and, alas, more mysterious. The unusual triangle of characters trapped in love is, at first, depressing, but when reread and then again reread, the eternal theme becomes enlightening and the lessons learned become permanently embossed in your mind. This story is truly an experience to treasure. Carson McCullers' other stories are as enriching, but this is her masterpiece.

I've loved Carson McCullers for years, and her complete works have only been sporadically available. Her miniatures are near perfectly realized works of literary art, and this collection is a fine introduction to a great writer from the south who seems to have dropped of the critical radar. Her output is quite small, finely honed, and the prose is like a clear blue sky. Her longer works are worth searching for, and I recently noted that The Library of America has been hard at work making sure that Carson will continue to be read....!

I needed a small paperback to take on a weekend hiking trip, and this fit the bill. Frankie is a 12-year-old in the 1940's who is extremely naïve by today's standards, thinking that she can join her brother and his bride on their honeymoon after the wedding. This fantasy is the focal point of the story, as it represents an opportunity for Frankie to escape her friendless, motherless life. Frankie innocently imagines a future of exotic travels with the newlyweds and bestows on herself a level of pseudo-sophistication, renaming herself F. Jasmine in Part 2 of the book. (She is Frances in Part 3.) I found this novel much more enjoyable than The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. This book is almost humorous, in an embarrassing coming-of-age sort of way. My favorite paragraph is in the first few pages where the author describes a biscuit man (like a gingerbread man from biscuit dough) that has been taken from the oven. The biscuit man's features have all run together as it baked and expanded. Perhaps this is a metaphor for gaining maturity and leaving childhood quirks behind. Or perhaps it's just a dandy piece of writing.

If you've looking for a book that shall give you the best of her wonderful writings then this is that book. It presents major works from a cross section of her life span. There is another collection of her works on the market, but this one simply is better. It does NOT contain 'heart is a lonely hunter'. But makes up with 21 other great writings.

No need for me to expound upon the genius of this author. You already know that!

I'm not a fan of the open-ended short story, being a tale that is redolent with symbolism that I'm certain is there but just don't "get." Unfortunately McCullers' tales seem to fall into this category so I was not terribly thrilled with the stories. However, as a body of work they were interesting--the themes of lost childhood, changing sibling relationships, disgruntled musical prodigies, and general loneliness / rejection emerge and give a nice sense of continuity to the works. The inclusion of two of her novellas is nice; I appreciate the longer story format for the ability to get to know the characters and setting a little better.

Overall I'd recommend picking up McCullers' novellas and if you're thrilled with those, tackle her short stories.