Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Mariner Books (1998), Paperback, 416 pages
Description
Carson McCullers--novelist, dramatist, poet--was at the peak of her powers as a writer of short fiction. Here are nineteen stories that explore her signature themes: wounded adolescence, loneliness in marriage, and the tragicomedy of life in the South. Here too are two novellas that Tennessee Williams judged to be "assuredly among the masterpieces of our language."--Publisher description.
User reviews
LibraryThing member dreamingtereza
"First of all, love is a joint experience between two persons--but the fact that it is a joint experience does not mean that it is a similar experience to the two people involved. There are the lover and the beloved, but these two come from different countries. Often the beloved is only a stimulus
"Now, the beloved can also be of any description. The most outlandish people can be the stimulus for love. A man may be a doddering great-grandfather and still love only a strange girl he saw in the streets of Cheehaw one afternoon two decades past. The preacher may love a fallen woman. The beloved may be treacherous, greasy-headed, and given to evil habits. Yes, and the lover may see this as clearly as anyone else--but that does not affect the evolution of his love one whit. A most mediocre person can be the object of a love which is wild, extravagant, and beautiful as the poison lilies of the swamp. A good man may be the stimulus for a love both violent and debased, or a jabbering madman may bring about in the soul of someone a tender and simple idyll. Therefore, the value and quality of any love is determined solely by the lover himself.
"It is for this reason that most of us would rather love than be loved. Almost everyone wants to be the lover. And the curt truth is that, in a deep secret way, the state of being beloved is intolerable to many. The beloved fears and hates the lover, and with the best of reasons. For the lover is forever trying to strip bare his beloved. The lover craves any possible relation with the beloved, even if this experience can cause him only pain." - Carson McCullers, from "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe"
McCullers effortlessly provokes within me a beautiful and ineffable sense of homesickness.
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for all the stored-up love which has lain quiet within the lover for a long time hitherto. And somehow every lover knows this. He feels in his soul that his love is a solitary thing. He comes to know a new, strange loneliness and it is this knowledge which makes him suffer. So there is only one thing for the lover to do. He must house his love within himself as best he can; he must create for himself a whole new inward world--a world intense and strange, complete in himself. Let it be added here that this lover about whom we speak need not necessarily be a young man saving for a wedding ring--this lover can be a man, woman, child, or indeed any human creature on this earth."Now, the beloved can also be of any description. The most outlandish people can be the stimulus for love. A man may be a doddering great-grandfather and still love only a strange girl he saw in the streets of Cheehaw one afternoon two decades past. The preacher may love a fallen woman. The beloved may be treacherous, greasy-headed, and given to evil habits. Yes, and the lover may see this as clearly as anyone else--but that does not affect the evolution of his love one whit. A most mediocre person can be the object of a love which is wild, extravagant, and beautiful as the poison lilies of the swamp. A good man may be the stimulus for a love both violent and debased, or a jabbering madman may bring about in the soul of someone a tender and simple idyll. Therefore, the value and quality of any love is determined solely by the lover himself.
"It is for this reason that most of us would rather love than be loved. Almost everyone wants to be the lover. And the curt truth is that, in a deep secret way, the state of being beloved is intolerable to many. The beloved fears and hates the lover, and with the best of reasons. For the lover is forever trying to strip bare his beloved. The lover craves any possible relation with the beloved, even if this experience can cause him only pain." - Carson McCullers, from "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe"
McCullers effortlessly provokes within me a beautiful and ineffable sense of homesickness.
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LibraryThing member Tytania
McCullers is at her best when her stories are about adolescents (almost always motherless, often gender-bending, and with a father who's a jeweler) on the cusp of change. But I loved immersing myself in her world in every story.
This collection of short pieces culminates with MEMBER OF THE WEDDING;
"It is known that if a message is written with lemon juice on a clean sheet of paper there will be no sign of it. But if the paper is held for a moment to the fire then the letters turn brown and the meaning becomes clear. Imagine that the whiskey is fire and that the message is that which is known only in the soul of a man - then the worth of Miss Amelia's liquor can be understood."
"The atmosphere of a proper cafe implies these qualities: fellowship, the satisfactions of the belly, and a certain gaiety and grace of behavior." That should be put on a sign and sold to cafe owners everywhere.
"In order to come into the cafe you did not have to buy the dinner, or a portion of liquor. There were cold bottled drinks for a nickel. And if you could not even afford that, Miss Amelia had a drink called Cherry Juice which sold for a penny a glass... There, for a few hours at least, the deep bitter knowing that you are not worth much in this world could be laid low."
This collection of short pieces culminates with MEMBER OF THE WEDDING;
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but I've read that very recently, so it wasn't time for a re-read. For me it culminated with BALLAD OF THE SAD CAFE. This is a very sad piece (as the title warns) featuring a grotesque cast of characters and a miserable ending. It is not "my thing"; but it was still a story to grab me by the throat, and it provided all of the collection's best quotes. "It is known that if a message is written with lemon juice on a clean sheet of paper there will be no sign of it. But if the paper is held for a moment to the fire then the letters turn brown and the meaning becomes clear. Imagine that the whiskey is fire and that the message is that which is known only in the soul of a man - then the worth of Miss Amelia's liquor can be understood."
"The atmosphere of a proper cafe implies these qualities: fellowship, the satisfactions of the belly, and a certain gaiety and grace of behavior." That should be put on a sign and sold to cafe owners everywhere.
"In order to come into the cafe you did not have to buy the dinner, or a portion of liquor. There were cold bottled drinks for a nickel. And if you could not even afford that, Miss Amelia had a drink called Cherry Juice which sold for a penny a glass... There, for a few hours at least, the deep bitter knowing that you are not worth much in this world could be laid low."
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LibraryThing member fiadhiglas
I married a man from the South almost 20 years ago, but his family and culture remain utterly opaque to me. I thought perhaps literature by a Southern woman writer could help me grasp why they are the way they are. The stories contained here seemed dreary and dull and I couldn't figure out what the
(Previous attempts to read Eudora Welty also failed to please, but I have enjoyed Adriana Trigiani's work.)
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point was supposed to be. (Previous attempts to read Eudora Welty also failed to please, but I have enjoyed Adriana Trigiani's work.)
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LibraryThing member MSarki
Though I enjoy much of McCuller's writing, I prefer her novels more and consider them far-surpassing her shorter works. I felt I was running out of time and therefore had to abandon what still remains in this book for me unread.
Language
Physical description
416 p.; 8.42 inches
ISBN
0395925053 / 9780395925058
UPC
046442925051