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A review by jamesdanielhorn
Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers
3.0
Reflections in a Golden Eye is a awkward title for what I think was and awkward book. This is one of those times where I am feeling guilty about a 3 star rating because there is plenty to like about this book. I think its a “good” book, it’s just there’s some “not so good” as well that even things out.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is one of my all time favorite books, and if you are here in search of what McCullers to start with, stop right here and just go read that. Her minimal style from that masterpiece is still intact as is her proclivity towards eccentric and complicated people.
Her commentary here on repressed desires and misogyny are clear and heartbreaking. She is also particularly heroic for not only writing about them in the 40’s but getting them published in Harper’s Bazaar (this book was initially serialized in the publication). There’s a wonderful dichotomy between the very closeted homosexual captain and the much less so “houseboy” Anacleto. The peeping Tom private “Elgee” acting simply on impulse is a particularly realistic touch.
The hardest hitting commentary for me was the sickly and ignored housewife, Alison’s story. She is not only dealing with the death of a young child her husband's affairs, but also physical difficulties that compound the. Both her husband and her doctor write her off as "morbid and female," to which their solution is to give her drugs and pay a servant to do the “women’s work.” Devastating.
There are also some moments of beautiful prose, particularly a conversation between two men that sums up a lot of the repression that goes on in the book and its opposition. The Major begins the conversation here, talking about his interest in enlisting Anacleto (the aforementioned houseboy) into the army and the conversation proceeds as such:
“Anacleto wouldn't have been happy in the army, no, but it might have made a man of him. Would have knocked all the nonsense out of him anyway. But what I mean is that in a way it always seemed to me terrible for a grown man twenty three years old to be dancing around to music and messing with water colors. In the army they would have run him ragged and he would have been miserable, but even that seems to me better than the other.
You mean,' Captain Penderton said,’ that any fulfillment obtained at the expense of normalcy is wrong, and should not be allowed to bring happiness. In short, it is better, because it is morally honorable, for the square peg to keep scraping about the round hole rather than to discover and use the unorthodox square that would fit it?'
'Why, you put it exactly right,' the Major said. 'Don't you agree with me?'
'No,' said the Captain, after a short pause With gruesome vividness the Captain suddenly looked into his soul and saw himself. For once he did not see himself as others saw him; there came to him a distorted doll like image, mean of countenance and grotesque in form. The Captain dwelt on this vision without compassion. He accepted it with neither alteration nor excuse. 'I don't agree,' he repeated absently.”
Unfortunately, the book has some flaws. My largest issue being how much of a “Sophomore Slump” this book feels at times. The book moves to action very quickly and is hard to follow, as we switch between characters very quickly. We don’t get a lot of character development up front beyond some quirks or relationships to differentiate them. Then by the time we have enough interest in the characters, they either leave the story or are involved in the climax which closes the book abruptly.
This book also uses a mild amount of racist or derogatory terminology which in the context of the book is likely how these characters would have talked, and was unfortunately the way the world was when this book was written. I say this a lot in my reviews of older books, but to me these things are acceptable in that we should not erase history, but that we should see them for what they are and point out and condemn them.
It’s a little dated, but there are some really worthwhile aspects if you decide to read it. Reflections of a Golden Eye is still worth your time, and it won’t take much of it. Just know that you will leave wanting another 100 pages and that you might feel a little let down having read her other work. And if you have not read her other work, for the love of all things good, do not miss her first book.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is one of my all time favorite books, and if you are here in search of what McCullers to start with, stop right here and just go read that. Her minimal style from that masterpiece is still intact as is her proclivity towards eccentric and complicated people.
Her commentary here on repressed desires and misogyny are clear and heartbreaking. She is also particularly heroic for not only writing about them in the 40’s but getting them published in Harper’s Bazaar (this book was initially serialized in the publication). There’s a wonderful dichotomy between the very closeted homosexual captain and the much less so “houseboy” Anacleto. The peeping Tom private “Elgee” acting simply on impulse is a particularly realistic touch.
The hardest hitting commentary for me was the sickly and ignored housewife, Alison’s story. She is not only dealing with the death of a young child her husband's affairs, but also physical difficulties that compound the. Both her husband and her doctor write her off as "morbid and female," to which their solution is to give her drugs and pay a servant to do the “women’s work.” Devastating.
There are also some moments of beautiful prose, particularly a conversation between two men that sums up a lot of the repression that goes on in the book and its opposition. The Major begins the conversation here, talking about his interest in enlisting Anacleto (the aforementioned houseboy) into the army and the conversation proceeds as such:
“Anacleto wouldn't have been happy in the army, no, but it might have made a man of him. Would have knocked all the nonsense out of him anyway. But what I mean is that in a way it always seemed to me terrible for a grown man twenty three years old to be dancing around to music and messing with water colors. In the army they would have run him ragged and he would have been miserable, but even that seems to me better than the other.
You mean,' Captain Penderton said,’ that any fulfillment obtained at the expense of normalcy is wrong, and should not be allowed to bring happiness. In short, it is better, because it is morally honorable, for the square peg to keep scraping about the round hole rather than to discover and use the unorthodox square that would fit it?'
'Why, you put it exactly right,' the Major said. 'Don't you agree with me?'
'No,' said the Captain, after a short pause With gruesome vividness the Captain suddenly looked into his soul and saw himself. For once he did not see himself as others saw him; there came to him a distorted doll like image, mean of countenance and grotesque in form. The Captain dwelt on this vision without compassion. He accepted it with neither alteration nor excuse. 'I don't agree,' he repeated absently.”
Unfortunately, the book has some flaws. My largest issue being how much of a “Sophomore Slump” this book feels at times. The book moves to action very quickly and is hard to follow, as we switch between characters very quickly. We don’t get a lot of character development up front beyond some quirks or relationships to differentiate them. Then by the time we have enough interest in the characters, they either leave the story or are involved in the climax which closes the book abruptly.
This book also uses a mild amount of racist or derogatory terminology which in the context of the book is likely how these characters would have talked, and was unfortunately the way the world was when this book was written. I say this a lot in my reviews of older books, but to me these things are acceptable in that we should not erase history, but that we should see them for what they are and point out and condemn them.
It’s a little dated, but there are some really worthwhile aspects if you decide to read it. Reflections of a Golden Eye is still worth your time, and it won’t take much of it. Just know that you will leave wanting another 100 pages and that you might feel a little let down having read her other work. And if you have not read her other work, for the love of all things good, do not miss her first book.