Welcome to Litsy!

The biggest thing that strikes me about this novel is the richness of the internal lives of the characters. It's an excellent example of how each of us is the star of our own life and how much work it takes to break out of focusing on ourselves to even begin to grasp the experiences of others. There are huge cultural critiques here that McCullers makes through her portrayal of the lives of a handful of people in one fictional Southern town.

I‘m posting one book a day from my massive collection. No description, no reason for why I want to read it.

#ABookADay2025

#Lonely ♥️

#FeelinTheLove 🍓🍰💌🧸💝🍫❣️🎀

#BookNerd 🤓📚💙

This is an annoyingly good book. You‘ll be annoyed that a woman so young and sheltered can be so wise and insightful, you‘ll be annoyed that she can articulate that insight so beautifully, and you‘ll be annoyed most of all that her name isn‘t held aloft alongside Hemingway‘s and Fitzgerald‘s when it comes to the best writers of the 20th century. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-heart-is-a-lonely-hunter-carson-mcculle...

This Atlantic list of 136 Great American Novels of the past 100 years is pretty interesting. Not only for the exclusions but for what was selected:
https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2024/03/best-books-american-fiction/67...

This is a classic book I‘ve never heard of and I don‘t know why because it was great! This is a story of 4 misfits who all gravitate towards a deaf guy using him to fulfill something for themselves. There‘s so much meat to this story with all the characters interwoven with their own stories. It‘s a great historical representation of life in the 1930‘s. The author was wise beyond her years. Definitely a recommended read!

I came across this book in the second book of the Pentecost & Parker series and wanted to read it ever since. And wow - what a book! This goes right into the feelings. McCullers has a way to portrait deep characters. They're not flawless, but they're human. Only one stays silent... It's also a portrait of a troublesome time that doesn't shy aways from talking about important topics. A book like To Kill A Mockingbird and just as impressive.

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join in if you want!

#ABookADay2023

“How can the dead be truly dead when they still live in the souls of those who are left behind?”

Remembering Carson McCullers on her birthday.

Carson McCullers was born on this day in 1917. “Falling in love is the easiest thing in the world. It‘s standing in love that matters.”

I selected this book at random from my bookshelf. I know nothing about this book other than it is a well known older novel. I found the first two chapters intriguing and like the restaurant owner Biff‘s approach to handling his more difficult customers. I can‘t wait to see what develops from this point on.

Tackle the TBR 🤓📚 #boleybooks #theheartisalonelyhunter #carsonmccullers #bookbeast #bookjoy #bookbuds
What are you reading? 😊

My neighborhood book club gave me a chance to revisit this classic and it‘s even better than I remembered. It might be my favorite book, definitely in the top five.

It‘s the birthday of Carson McCullers, born on this day in 1917. This book is easily in my top favorite novels of all time.

I picked this for book club and I disliked it. -_-

Found it irritating. Don't really have a reason.

Everything goes together too neatly. Makes it seem hollow and false.

“We are torn between nostalgia for the familiar and an urge for the foreign and strange. As often as not, we are homesick most for the places we have never known.”

Remembering Carson McCullers on her birthday.

Image : NY Books

Carson McCullers came into this world on this day, 1917.

I love her writing- it‘s urgent, reflective and very gothic.

So glad i took the time to read this properly after roughly skimming it when I was younger. I loved this compassionate picture of so much of human nature in a poor, small time. This had immense soul and for one of the first times in my reading experience I definitely agree that it‘s a ‘Great American Novel‘ for sure.

Beautiful writing and an interesting story looking at inhabitants of a poor area in southern states.
Whilst it was horrid in the poverty description, it was also really fascinating to read how each flicked to the deaf mute to confess and blurt out.

Interested to start this one today. 😊😊

I want - I want - I want - was all that she could think about - but just what this real want was she did not know.

Maybe when people longed for a thing that bad the longing made them trust in anything that might give it to them.

Like most Canadians, I can‘t resist a reference to Canada in an unrelated work.

I put this book down and a nagging feeling in me had to finish this book. Now I am hooked.

A heartbreaking story about “deaf-mute” John Singer, who finds himself alone in a small town without his former companion. Four characters gravitate toward Singer, confiding in him and projecting whatever they want onto his silence. This book is all about how hard it is to communicate with and know other people. It also includes some of the best descriptions of music I‘ve ever read. #modernlibrarytop100

#bfcr2 week 2 check in time (although I think I‘m a bit late) @wanderinglynn

📚 Finished the other book that I had started before the challenge, so I‘m at a total of 1 out of 7. Should get more reading in this week as it‘s my summer holiday. We‘ll see.
🏊🏻‍♀️ Was stymied in my activities this week by a persistent headache but I managed a swim this morning so I‘m close to on track. Again, we‘ll see how next week goes.

Well, my 1.5 week summer holiday officially started about an hour ago. Lots of stuff to get done this afternoon but I‘m taking a quick reading break first. Considering I‘ve read a total of one out of seven books so far for #bfcr2, this is much needed!

Wish I were reading #booksoutdoors this weekend but I‘m busy convincing myself to get things done.

And that‘s it for #riotgrams this month!

#BFCr2 Week 1 check in time! @wanderinglynn
📚 I was halfway through 2 books at the beginning of the challenge & finished 1 this week, so I‘m at 0.5/7. Not too concerned about being behind since I‘m anticipating catching up while on holiday the week after next.
🏊🏻‍♀️ An easy swim week for me. I usually get at least 3000m in at swim practice. But! We‘re now on break for the summer & it‘ll be up to me to get to the pool on my own as of tomorrow.

McCullers‘ debut novel, published when she was only 23, follows several inhabitants of a rural southern mill town in the 1930s as they grapple with loneliness, poverty, death, and change. A compassionate portrait of humanity.

I know this has already been used several times, but this was a given, as anyone who has followed my posts knows. McCullers' debut, published when she was only twenty-three years old (!!!) is a masterpiece of the human desire, & failure, to communicate & connect meaningfully. McCullers' breezy, yet self-assured, prose conveys loneliness like few others have ever managed. #OwnerOfALonelyHeart #AnglophileApril @Mdargusch @Reviewsbylola @emilyhaldi

#AnglophileApril
#ownerofalonelyheart

#ownerofalonelyheart #AnglophileApril @Cinfhen @Mdargusch @Reviewsbylola @emilyhaldi

Kindle says I've read this, however I don't remember it.

This is my second choice of book as the first was The Kiss Quotient again!

Also Havisham fits quite nicely with the prompt too!

Move yourself, you always live your life
Never thinking of the future
Prove yourself
You are the move you make
Take your chances win or loser

You, lose yourself , no not for pity's sake
There's no real reason to be lonely
Be yourself, give your free will a chance
You've got to work to succeed
#ownerofalonelyheart #anglophileapril

Not that it would've amounted to anything/contributed to the story itself, but would've loved to see more dialogue between the Doctor and Blount.

I‘ve (shamefully) yet to read either of these McCullers novels. 🤫

#LonelyLonely
#TimbitTunes

#lonelylonely #TimbitTunes @TheKidUpstairs @Cinfhen

It is nearly the end of January, and my first book of 2019 is complete.

The writing was beautiful, but I never felt personally invested in the characters and the story didn‘t seem to go anywhere. The way the author covers racial injustice, isolation of the characters, and the depiction of music is stunning. However this isn‘t a book I would choose to come back to in the future.

#LitsyAroundTheWorld #FirstBookOf2019 #Loneliness #MentalHealth

#quotsydec18 #symphony

Meine Urlaubslektüre!
Kennt ihr es? Hat es euch gefallen?
Genießt den tollen Herbst!
#buch #buchliebe #buchnerd #buecherwurm #lesen #leseliebe #bookstagram #ilovetoread #bibliophile #readingtime #autumn #sunndays #bookworm #booklover #buechernerd

An odd book, reminds me of The Things They Carried format-wise. What struck me is the massive selfishness of many of the narrating characters, how they all chose to use the Deaf character of Singer as a repository for their worries or annoyances without ever listening or truly trying to engage him in conversation. This is also a very lonely book, with characters that only connect to each other‘s lives in very superficial ways.

📚 Besides Harry Potter, the tagged book
👩 Charlaine Harris
🎬 High Spirits
🍔 Hamburger (kind of a cheat bc I usually wouldn't call it this since it must have cheese! 😋)

#manicmonday #letterh @JoScho

“By nature all people were if both sexes” - a fairly radical thought for 1939 #carsonmccullers #theheartsalonelyhunter #bookish #discoveringnewwomenwriters

#coolbooks day 9 #heart

This classic has a character with a #disability in it. John Singer is Deaf and this is all about how other characters project themselves through him. I LOATHE this book and most novels that have Deaf characters in them. They often are:
-stereotyped
-minor characters
-not fully developed
-objects of pity
-or, in attempts to try to “empower” them, have the amazing ability to lip-read every single word; usually to benefit hearing people
MORE 👇

Started this at airport on way home. Language is beautiful: Mick Kelly echoes of Scout Finch. Singer intriguing.

How can the dead be truly dead when they still live in the souls of those who are left behind?

#QuotsyMarch18 Day 28: What is it like to have a #Face of the Wise. Never mind the sorrowful. I have this book in my shelves, waiting to be read. Do let me know if any of you have read this? Must I bump it up my TBR stack?

Read this in IB in high school and hated it. Read it again as an adult and it speaks some serious truth.

One of my favorite novels also happens to be one of the most heartbreaking I've read. The residents of a mill town in Georgia desperately search for meaningful connections. McCullers cool style emphasizes, rather than undercuts, the overwhelming loneliness of many of the characters.
#GoodMorningHeartache
#fiercefeb day 22
@batsy
@Cinfhen