The Ballad of the Sad Cafe & Other Stories by Carson McCullers (1951)

The title novella and six other stories written from 1936 to 1951, by the underrated and under-known Southern Gothic writer.

Book Review: The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories is a wonderful introduction to the far too overlooked writer from the American South, Carson McCullers (1917-67). The stories are brilliant, traditional and modern at the same time. Traditional in the sense that she uses intense observation and description to make her stories real and realistic. But modern in that nothing is simple, nothing is explained, and right or wrong have little to do with conclusions. Which means, yes, it's going to be depressing more than cheerful. Throw in that McCullers writes of misfits, freaks, and failures and the reader isn't getting a lot of sunshine in these pages. If the reader can't take that (meaning life) then this isn't your cup of soup. Some might say McCullers is a writers' writer, in that she writes so darn well. I want to call her a reader's writer, however, because if you're a talented and hard-working reader, willing to work to enjoy and understand how a story functions, then you'll find this worthy and rewarding. If you're willing to meet the author halfway, understand the thought and work involved, each of these stories is a gem and a treat. Not for the lazy.

Her vision consists of immense powers of observation intimately tied to immense powers of description. All of the people in these stories are important, and especially important to Carson McCullers. And though she gives no easy answers and nothing is clear, all of the stories are about love. Her many lessons, much more richly embroidered, are: we can't help who we love, love may provide endless comfort and it may hurt, unbearably; we want to love people, to please those we love, and sometimes we can't no matter how we try; love is more than the other rewards of life; let us love our illusions; love can linger beneath and then rise above other emotions, all unwilled; we love in different ways, some we love may hurt others we love, but we still love; when love has hurt us, we can try to learn to love again, which is still better than being without love. Those we love are those we love and that may be without reason. If those are thoughts worth thinking of, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe may be for you. The gang of Southern Gothic writers includes those such as Tennesee Williams, Flannery O'Connor, Faulkner, Capote, and Harper Lee. Carson McCullers can hold her head high in that group. This is a brilliant and wonderful book for those willing to try.  [5★]