Carson McCullers
Collected Stories of Carson McCullers is a collection of nineteen short stories and two novellas, The Ballad of the Sad Café and The Member of the Wedding. McCullers stories plunge the reader in the atmosphere of the South. She captures the sights, sounds, smells, and texture of Southern life with immersive detail.
The thread that holds this collection together is McCullers consummate skill in depicting marginalized and alienated characters with authenticity and depth. She is particularly adept at depicting the interiority and dialogue of children. Some of the stories that stand out in this respect are “The Haunted Boy,” “Wunderkind,” “Like That,” and “The Member of the Wedding.” She treats her characters with empathy while underscoring the tragic circumstances of the human condition.
Many of McCullers stories focus on a single event or a moment in time that carry with them profound repercussions which haunt a character and impact his/her behavior and outlook. The tone throughout is melancholy, and although these are not uplifting stories, the consummate skill and delicacy with which she depicts her complex characters and their tragic circumstances will resonate profoundly with readers.