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The Heart is a Lonely Hunter @ Sissy's Southern Kitchen

11/20/2015

4 Comments

 
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Robert's back from his travels! He joined us for The Heart is a Lonely Hunter at Sissy's Southern Kitchen. Sissy's is pricey, but the food is spectacular. We had fried green tomatoes to start, and Megan and I shared their tasty fried chicken bucket with mashed potatoes and squash. The decor is charming--if you consider buck heads interspersed with ornate saucers charming. All in all, we couldn't have met in a more fitting place for the book.
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2929 N Henderson Ave, Dallas, TX 75206

Book Review

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter has been on several of our bookshelves for a while, and since our former member David keeps pushing it on us, I thought I'd finally pick it. The book opens with "In the town, there were two mutes and they were always together" and proceeds to give us the unlikely friendship of Mr. Singer and Antonopoulos. When Antonopoulos is committed to an institution, Mr. Singer, an engraver in a small Southern town has to deal with his solitude. His proper and humble appearance draws 4 diverse characters from the town who each talk to him separately about their problems. The more memorable of these characters are Mick, a poor, fourteen-year-old tomboy obsessed with one day composing classical music and Dr. Copeland, a lonely intellectual in the African American community with children who have dissapointed him.

The novel is more character than narrative driven, and each of the characters is coping with isolation and secrets. Though Mr. Singer becomes a sort of friend to each as they unburden themselves before him, none of the characters ever is able to make a significant, human connection with another in the disjointed group. Even their friendships with Mr. Singer are one-sided, and all of them fail to understand the acute loneliness and longing of their dearest friend.

Overall, the book was a fast-paced read, but, at least for me, something was lacking in its style. The novel's author is often touted as a genius for composing her work at the age of 23, but her images fall far short of Faulkner's, and, in the end, her story lacks something of the apocalyptic darkness and intensity of other writers in the Southern Gothic mode.

Star Count

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Megan--4
Natalie--4
Robert--3
Kim--2
4 Comments
David
12/2/2015 11:00:18 pm

Seriously so glad you guys read this.

Reply
Kim
12/3/2015 10:38:12 am

Now it's time to discuss. Why are you so crazy about this book? I'm gonna be honest, it wasn't as dark and intellectual as I was hoping.

Reply
David Robson
12/3/2015 01:57:15 pm

I suppose I owe you an explanation. First of all, these were not the ratings I was expecting. My prediction was more like:

N: 3 (because she digs narrative)
M: 2 (because she scoffs at sentimental stuff)
R: 5 (because he read Infinite Jest and should just get it)
K: 5 (because your Austinian philosophy prefers a fluff-free prose style and would happily ax a quick narrative movement in exchange for character head-space...or so I thought)

Secondly, when I first read this thing I was eighteen, depressed, and almost constantly high—so consider the lens. No, it doesn't get too intellectually heavy, and no, most 23-year-olds cannot produce Faulkner-grade prose. It's not even that dark, really, just sad.

Why I liked it: I just found that it captured in one effortless sweep the isolation of everyday people—good-natured, strong-willed, moderately self-aware people—who want to connect but cannot. I thought there existed a perfect mesh of the quirky and the ordinary. Mostly though, I just find myself thinking about these characters all the time, even eight years later; it's just one of those few books that sort of lives in my head and follows me around everywhere, I guess.

Still really glad you read it. Wish I could disappoint you on a similar level with my Austin reading, but right now I'm actually kind of enjoying it. I'll keep you posted.

Megan
12/3/2015 06:39:19 pm

Reposting this. Re: Southern Gothic genre.

"Identifying herself as a Southern writer, she was interested in the so-called "gothic" quality that many critics indiscriminately applied to Southern fiction. In an article entitled "The Russian Realists and Southern Literature," McCullers reacted against overuse of the term "gothic," saying she thought the Southern fiction of her generation was, on the contrary, rooted in realism and therefore did not depend on supernatural incidents or explanations." - SparkNotes

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