The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
by Carson McCullers

Our book club happened upon this novel rather by accident, looking for a Southern author (other than Faulkner) and putting our trust in Google. And I’m so glad we did because this is one of my favorite reads in a long time. Published in 1940 and set in a small town in the deep South, the prose has all the simplicity of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, but addresses complex issues with greater depth and nuance than Lee.

The story centers around a deaf-mute man named John Singer, and four individuals who feel alone and isolated come to depend upon Singer’s friendship and counsel. Each of them creates their own perception of who Singer is, and because Singer cannot speak, he cannot (or does not) refute their perceptions. The irony is that Singer is also susceptible to one-sided adoration, and demonstrates this towards a selfish lazy man named Antonapoulos.

According to SparkNotes, “Singer’s devotion to Antonapoulos is McCullers’s means of exploring the human struggle to be loved and to express oneself” and in the end, “we see that all the major characters are deluding themselves by believing only what they wish about John Singer. Nonetheless, the very fact that they believe it gives them peace.”

And in the midst of the heartbreaking story, McCullers addresses racism, religion, sexuality, Marxism, poverty and much more. I found the whole story to be moving, and it kept me reading late into the night.

Have you read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter? What did you think of it? I would love to hear your thoughts.