The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

This book had been on my ToBeRead list for a long time then a friend gave me a copy with a strong recommendation. McCullers is a gifted writer (reminded me of Faulkner, in many ways) but her underlying view of the world is just too grim for me to appreciate. The characters are fascinating, a deaf mute on whom everyone projects their expectations but no one actually knows, a young girl who is apparently a musical genius growing up in poverty and low expectations, an itinerant traveler who sees all the injustice in the world and is driven to spread this message however futile, a black doctor who struggles with his treatment by whites in his southern town and is frustrated that all his friends and family don't see what he does. Each one of these people rage against their situation and try to reach out to each other but they are ultimately alone and inconsolable. There seems to be no hope for anything better.