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villagebooksmith's review
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Reading this after reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter was really interesting. There was definitely a lot of Carson in all the major characters in her first published novel, and I definitely want to read more of Carson McCullers’ work in the future.
While this book wasn’t a favorite, I’m glad to have read it. I wish it had gone a bit more in depth into Carson’s politics and how that related to her experience as a queer and disabled/chronically ill person, but I understand Shapland’s focus here, as this biography by means of memoir focused on Shapland’s own lived experiences.
While this book wasn’t a favorite, I’m glad to have read it. I wish it had gone a bit more in depth into Carson’s politics and how that related to her experience as a queer and disabled/chronically ill person, but I understand Shapland’s focus here, as this biography by means of memoir focused on Shapland’s own lived experiences.
ktaylorhurley's review
5.0
I bought this book because it was a National Book Award finalist. I knew nothing about it. And, before starting this book, I didn’t know who Carson McCullers was. Ultimately, none of that matters. This book is direct and honest, but with a lyrical quality. It’s not like anything I’ve ever read, but it’s not avant-garde. The approach is just so personal to the author, it’s impossible for it not to be unique.
pattricejones's review
Some people will like this a lot. I felt irritated on nearly every page.
The author rightly chastises previous biographers for turning Carson McCullers' female friends/lovers into minor characters in her story. And then the author makes Carson McCullers herself into a minor character in her own banal voyage of discovery, which doesn't even delve deeply into what led her to be so far behind her own times.
And then there are the incessant false comparisons between the author and McCullers, who was very much ahead of her own times. To have been closeted on campus at a time when nearly all colleges had LGBTQ centers or at least organizations, when LGBTQ struggles were on the front pages of newspapers, is exactly the opposite of being boldly queer anyway years before such cultural fixtures existed. I'd have liked this book a lot better if the author had honestly explored those differences rather than constantly seeing herself in someone so unique. In my view, she significantly flattened McCullers by stretching for such comparisons.
The author rightly takes previous biographers to task for presenting the relationship between McCullers and her abusive husband as a great romance. But then the author treats a subsequent relationship with her psychotherapist (!) as a great romance rather than yet another horrific abuse of power within an intimate relationship. Carson "fell in love with" her therapist Mary. Yes, that's what happens, very commonly, within therapy. It's called transference, and the ethical thing for a therapist to do is talk about those feelings in a way that furthers healing -- not act on them!!!
The tragedy, for me, was that the author really did make some amazing and useful discoveries about the life and relationships of Carson McCullers in the course of her research. If only her own preoccupations had not distracted her from doing so, she might have made a major contribution to our understanding of McCullers and her times. There are a few truly gleaming moments when it is possible to see what this book could have been, including but not centering author's own thoughts/feelings as she worked.
The author rightly chastises previous biographers for turning Carson McCullers' female friends/lovers into minor characters in her story. And then the author makes Carson McCullers herself into a minor character in her own banal voyage of discovery, which doesn't even delve deeply into what led her to be so far behind her own times.
And then there are the incessant false comparisons between the author and McCullers, who was very much ahead of her own times. To have been closeted on campus at a time when nearly all colleges had LGBTQ centers or at least organizations, when LGBTQ struggles were on the front pages of newspapers, is exactly the opposite of being boldly queer anyway years before such cultural fixtures existed. I'd have liked this book a lot better if the author had honestly explored those differences rather than constantly seeing herself in someone so unique. In my view, she significantly flattened McCullers by stretching for such comparisons.
The author rightly takes previous biographers to task for presenting the relationship between McCullers and her abusive husband as a great romance. But then the author treats a subsequent relationship with her psychotherapist (!) as a great romance rather than yet another horrific abuse of power within an intimate relationship. Carson "fell in love with" her therapist Mary. Yes, that's what happens, very commonly, within therapy. It's called transference, and the ethical thing for a therapist to do is talk about those feelings in a way that furthers healing -- not act on them!!!
The tragedy, for me, was that the author really did make some amazing and useful discoveries about the life and relationships of Carson McCullers in the course of her research. If only her own preoccupations had not distracted her from doing so, she might have made a major contribution to our understanding of McCullers and her times. There are a few truly gleaming moments when it is possible to see what this book could have been, including but not centering author's own thoughts/feelings as she worked.
samasteiner's review
reflective
fast-paced
1.5
The book can be summarized as this: wealthy author co-opts a Southern writer (she hadn't previously read) to meander through her own boring life and uninspired reflections of sexuality, and on the way makes some seriously classist and prejudiced comments and assumptions about the South.
lsparrow's review
5.0
I loved this book - part biography part memoir - an exploration of ourselves and what parts of us are untold/hidden/explained. About how in particular queer relationships and identity and chronic illness are retold. I am always interested in queer histories that get lost. And like all books I love - I ended this book with so many more books to read.
libcolleen's review
2.0
I do appreciate how this narrative is meaningful to many readers, but I find it difficult to enjoy as I have professional concerns. I don't know the state laws there governing access to these confidential documents but even if it is legally allowed, it feels ethically fraught with how notes from McCuller's private therapy sessions are used in service of the author's story, ultimately to gain prestige and profit. Memoir and research both would have been better served by separating the two.