Reviews

The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

shimmery's review against another edition

5.0

A beautiful coming of age novel that aches with the intensity of being 13 during a long summer with not much to do; with the feeling that nothing will ever happen and the claustrophobia of having only been in one place despite beginning to comprehend how big the world is.

McCullers captures the intensity of adolescence so well and also the desperation of trying to empathise with people and never really being able to:

‘What I’ve been trying to say is this. Doesn’t it strike you as strange that I am I, and you are you? I am F. Jasmine Addams. And you are Berenice Sadie Brown. And we can look at each other, and stay together year in year out in the same room. Yet always I am I, and you are you. And I can’t ever be anything else but me, and you can’t ever be anything else but you. Have you ever thought of that? And does it seem to you strange?’

‘I see a green tree. And to me it is green. And you would call the tree green also. And we would agree on this. But is this colour you see as green the same colour I see as green?’

moiramacfarlane's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

4.0

Georgia, augustus 1945. De tijd staat stil, de zon brandt en de dagen lijken oneindig. Op de rand balancerend tussen kinder- en pubertijd kruipt angst en een akelig onbestemd gevoel Frankies leven binnen. In al haar eenzaamheid gaan haar gedachten met haar aan de haal.
Wat een indringend portret, misschien merkte ik pas hoe goed het in elkaar stak, hoeveel er tussen de regels school, de dag nadat ik het boek dichtsloeg.

'Soms, als het nog heel vroeg was, liep ze de tuin in en bleef dan lang naar het opkomende zonlicht staan kijken. En dan leek het alsof er een vraag in haar opkwam, maar ze vond het antwoord niet in het ochtendgloren. Dingen waar ze nooit veel aandacht aan had besteed, begonnen haar te irriteren: verlichte huizen waar ze naar binnen keek op avondwandelingen, een onbekende stem uit een steegje. Ze staarde naar de lichten en luisterde naar de stem, en dan verkrampte ze vanbinnen en wachtte af. De lichten doofden en de stem verstomde, en ze bleef wachten, maar er gebeurde niets. Ze was bang voor dat soort dingen, want ze ging zich dan opeens afvragen wie ze was en wat ze zou worden en waarom ze juist op dat moment een licht zag of iets hoorde of opkeek naar de lucht  —  alleen. Ze was bang en kreeg een vreemd beklemmend gevoel op haar borst.'

kneuk's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

cecile87's review against another edition

4.0

Lyrical. Lots of atmosphere. Painterly scenes. Melancholy when not downright sad. Claustrophobic. Accurate depictions of the frustration of trying to communicate and be understood. Although I found Frankie nervewracking, I understood the sense of being trapped and alone or disconnected.

I appreciate the literary history of this story, but I'm glad it was short. I found spots slow or overdrawn and repetitive, which may have been deliberate, but I was glad to be done with the story and on the other side of the wedding.

lvenning's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

ec_newman's review against another edition

4.0

This is the longest short book I’ve ever read methinks. It’s incredibly good, but there is a part of me that feels like I might have missed things. It’s literary in the way that descriptions and sentences go on, but there is some plot as well.

Coming of age is probably the best descriptor, but I can’t imagine recommending it to any but my most sensitive, literary-minded students.

It was a nice introduction to McCullers for me.

nichecase's review against another edition

5.0

something tragic and heavy is in the air of this book - and it's not an event, exactly (though the war looms ominously and the death of berenice's first husband, and the bad decisions she's made since, are ever-present), but the limitations placed on these characters. even frankie's attempts to escape society-as-she-knows-it (by taking on another identity) are ruinous and tragic and eventually fail. nothing turns out right in this book - though frankie chooses conformity and therefore happiness, the events of the book prior to this seem to confirm that this will not happen. not yet, at least.

pwc1919's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

martinento's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

zoe_maria's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75