The heart is a lonely hunter

Wow, I just finished this amazing novel about this deaf-mute man called Singer and four different people of a small town in the American South. The heart is a lonely hunter is situated in the 1930's, during the Great Depression, in the wake of the Second World War. It was published in 1940. The main theme is, I think, loneliness. All these people are looking for someone who understands them and they think Singer does. But he doesn't and those four people never know that. He just listens to them and nodds. Singer in his turn thinks that only his deaf-mute Greek friend understands him, but the Greek is locked away in an asylum and seems to be a loony. When the Greek dies, Singer kills himself. You would think this book is very depressing, but it isn't. At least, not too much. Because it's also about hope. The girl Mick for example dreams of becoming a musical composer, which is almost impossible, because she and her parents have no money to buy a piano and are always in debt. It is her dream of a better future that keeps her going, even after Singer dies. She thought Singer understood her craving, but how could he, when he could not hear? There's many more to this novel, like the beautiful symbolism, but I don't really have the words for it. Maybe I will get better at this after I have written some more of these kind of posts here. ;-) In a way, writing about a book, helps to understand it better. Anyways, anyone who wants to read a wonderful story about life in the South during the Depression, should read this novel!

The next book I'm going to read is probably The turning of the screw by Henry James.

Now I'm listening to some songs of this wonderful cd:



It's definitively one of the most beautiful records I own. I don't remember how I discoverd this band, but I'm glad I did. I guess you can describe their music as Americana.

I sometimes wonder whether you should try to explain why you like a certain record or that you should just listen and admire. Music is so hard to describe... Could you ever put it's beauty in words? And is it necessary to do so? The ironic thing is that I write reviews myself...