My new literary obsession is Carson McCullers. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter was very good -- plain and to the point, with compelling, well-developed characters (especially Jake Singer and Mick Kelly). I'm eager to read The Member of the Wedding and the once controversial Reflections in a Golden Eye. In the meantime, I thought it might be a good idea to read a biography about McCullers' life. Seems I picked the wrong one. The fact that it was translated from the French should have served as a warning sign -- and it almost did, until I convinced myself that I was being ist-y. After all, doesn't a French woman have the right to write a book about an American Southern writer, strange as the combination sounds?And of course Josyane Savigneau has that right -- if only she actually wrote about McCullers. Fifty percent of Carson McCullers: A Life is spent refuting earlier biographers, especially a notorious Virginia Spencer Carr, who "seems to have interviewed every other witness to Carson McCullers' existence -- however minor or ephemeral" (Savigneau 3). This on page 3. If Savigneau spent half the energy expended on Carr's biographical downfalls to actually write about McCullers' life, it might have been an interesting book. Instead it just gave me a headache. Equally tiring was Savigneau's argument that, despite falling in love with various women throughout her life, McCullers wasn't bisexual or a lesbian.
posted by Empress Girl @ 3:26 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home