Carson Mccullers's Reading List

"Tolstoy is considered by almost everyone as the greatest novelist that ever lived, and I can only say, me too. From his first beautiful book on [war] and [Sebastopol,] all through his long and marvelously productive life he stands alone as a writer…It is interesting to me to think of the seeds of his stories, ‘his illuminations.’ Anna Karenina was evolved because he had heard of a woman who had jumped in front of a moving train and died. The grandeur of [ War and Peace ], a historical novel,..."

"The next and possibly one of the strongest influences in my reading life is [Dostoevsky] – Tolstoy, of course, is at the top… One is just swept away from one incredible scene to another incredible scene. The scene when [Nastasya] lights a fire to burn up the bank notes in front of [Ganya] is almost like a [ True Story ] fiction, but in spite of it, the emotions of the scene make it so real."

"This week I’ve been reading [ Dubliners .] How such a spasm of poetry could have come out of the grimy Dublin streets of that time is miraculous to me. [ A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ,] I also read every year or so. … Whenever I think of artists having a hard time I think of James Joyce. He had one hell of a time to earn a living for himself and his family. [ Dubliners ] was suppressed, and at one time burnt, I believe [ Ulysses ] was suppressed and pirated all over the world, and..."

"…Another lesser writer who is also dear to me. Scott Fitzgerald, always in debt to his agent; with a wife that was mad and confined to institutions. Scott, extravagant, [lovable,] playful and impossible. His genius flourished, and he wrote [ Tender is the Night ,] in the most appalling psychological situation."

"It’s a bleak white January day, and I’ve been drinking cup after cup of hot tea and reading Henry James. I’d never realized how really good he is. One is quite willing to stumble through pages of ambiguities for those sudden, exquisite lines, those almost unexpected revelations. I’d never realized how deeply he has influenced the present poets—Eliot, Auden, etc. I want us to read the Beast in the Jungle together."

"Another writer who was particularly dear to me is Richard Wright. … Dick and I often discussed the South, and his book, [ Black Boy ,] is one of the finest books by a Southern [Negro.]"

"After the postman comes this afternoon I’ll read Proust. Today I was thinking of the immense debt I owe to Proust. It’s not a matter of his ‘influencing my style’ or anything like that—it’s the rare good fortune of having always something to turn to, and great book that never tarnishes, never become[s] dull from familiarity."