After reading The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, which is perfect but very short, I knew this was the main course. Jeremy has a great review and rated it as sublime.
http://excelsiorforever.blogspot.com/2012/07/heart-is-lonely-hunter-carson-mccullers.html
I had intended to draw the characters, but only got as far as Mick Kelly. I have a condition which has limited my ability to draw apart from abstractions as you will see. Any ideas of concentrating were out of the window. I sympathize with those who say that fiction is better served by non literal illustrations, and that is where I'm at once again. Let the images compliment the text, not guide the readers vision.
I have learned to appreciate the act of making marks with no motive. This story is rich with profound conversations and observations of life, astonishing for the 23 year old Carson. Like all great books it leaves an indelible mark. Its curiosity is universal, it has the power of the truth. It almost made sense to go into space, seeking nothing and as it turned out, a star being born by the end of the drawings.
It truly is a remarkable novel. Are these abstractions based on the way each chapter made you feel? - Jeremy
ReplyDeleteThe way that Singer draws the different folk to him is so hopeful for as long as it lasts. The way he listens without reaction or judgement is so rare it is almost a miracle, it's something that came to me in Krishnamurti's discussions about how to listen. The other week I listened to the voice of someone who was training someone to do complex work over a whole day. They were constantly using their voice to reassure the trainee, not what they were saying, as much as tone, timing and a calmness. As I listened I found myself going beyond the words to the heart of the person talking. If that is what the townsfolk felt when talking to singer it is a miracle. So many lessons, it is a rare commodity. So after so long and after all the terrible pain hopefully the experience of their time with Singer can have some hope. The drawings, it takes so long for anything to happen but perhaps Singer is the star pulling everything toward it. Or the star is the shreds of hope for Mick's future.
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