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Wunderkind
'A Wunderkind - a Wunderkind a Wunderkind. The syllables would come out rolling in the deep German way, roar against her ears and then fall to a murmur...'Writing about outcasts, dreamers and misfits in the Deep South, Carson McCullers was acclaimed for her sympathetic depictions of loneliness, the need for understanding and the search for love. These four masterly stories of eccentrics, failed prodigies, injustice and hope, written when she was in her twenties, explore the human condition with humour and pathos.This book includes Wunderkind, The Jockey, Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland, A Tree, A Rock and A Cloud.
68 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
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About the author
Carson McCullers
185 books3,212 followersCarson McCullers was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts in a small town of the Southern United States. Her other novels have similar themes. Most are set in the Deep South.
McCullers's work is often described as Southern Gothic and indicative of her Southern roots. Critics also describe her writing and eccentric characters as universal in scope. Her stories have been adapted to stage and film. A stage adaptation of her novel The Member of the Wedding (1946), which captures a young girl's feelings at her brother's wedding, made a successful Broadway run in 1950–51.
McCullers's work is often described as Southern Gothic and indicative of her Southern roots. Critics also describe her writing and eccentric characters as universal in scope. Her stories have been adapted to stage and film. A stage adaptation of her novel The Member of the Wedding (1946), which captures a young girl's feelings at her brother's wedding, made a successful Broadway run in 1950–51.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
July 19, 2023
One of the most remarkable aspects of "Wunderkind" is its narrative voice and vantage point. While it is that of the third person, with its omniscience limited to Frances's thoughts and perceptions, McCullers communicates her young protagonist's mental and emotional states by rendering the narrative voice almost neutral where the other characters' judgments are concerned. Moreover, because she portrayed Frances's personality at a critical moment of her development—the fact that her identity does not fix precludes her from judging others for what they are or are not. In such a transitional state, Frances is critical of no one but herself.
April 22, 2020
4,5*
“If she passed the evening bent over a table in the library and later declared that she had spent that time playing cards, it was as though she had managed to do both those things. Through the lies, she lived vicariously. The lies doubled the little of her existence that was left over from work.”
Não há inadaptados como os de Carson McCullers. As suas personagens revelam sempre alguma inadequação face ao mundo que as rodeia, tanto pela confusão típica da idade quando são jovens, como por alguma perturbação a raiar a neurose nas personagens adultas. Estes quatro contos são um exemplo cabal disso mesmo.
Wunderkind – 4*
The Jockey – 3*
Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland – 5*
A Tree, a Rock, a Cloud – 5*
“There were these beautiful feelings and loose little pleasures inside me. And this woman was something like an assembly line for my soul. I run these little pieces of myself through her and I come out complete."
“If she passed the evening bent over a table in the library and later declared that she had spent that time playing cards, it was as though she had managed to do both those things. Through the lies, she lived vicariously. The lies doubled the little of her existence that was left over from work.”
Não há inadaptados como os de Carson McCullers. As suas personagens revelam sempre alguma inadequação face ao mundo que as rodeia, tanto pela confusão típica da idade quando são jovens, como por alguma perturbação a raiar a neurose nas personagens adultas. Estes quatro contos são um exemplo cabal disso mesmo.
Wunderkind – 4*
The Jockey – 3*
Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland – 5*
A Tree, a Rock, a Cloud – 5*
“There were these beautiful feelings and loose little pleasures inside me. And this woman was something like an assembly line for my soul. I run these little pieces of myself through her and I come out complete."
May 15, 2020
It was difficult to read Wunderkind without thinking about growth and fixed mindset. Frances, the protagonist, had always been described as a wunderkind. At this point, however, she doubted her skills, as did her teacher. This doubt became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Why was it Heime had done so much better at the concert than she? At school sometimes, when she was supposed to be watching someone do a geometry problem on the blackboard, the question would twist knife-like inside her. She would worry about it in bed, and even sometimes when she was supposed to be concentrating at the piano. It wasn’t just the Bloch and her not being Jewish—not entirely. It wasn’t that Heime didn’t have to go to school and had begun his training so early, either. (p. 65)
Carol Dweck would describe Frances as having a fixed mindset: she sees herself as a wunderkind (or not). Frances perceived mistakes as indicative of problems in her abilities rather than as opportunities to learn from. She saw admitting her insecurities as dangerous and threatening and, going back to work on an early piece, as her teacher asked her to do, was particularly difficult:
‘Today I expect something from you. Now this sonata—it’s the first Beethoven sonata you ever worked on. Every note is under control—technically—you have nothing to cope with but the music. Only music now. That’s all you think about.’ (p. 68)
It is difficult to be mindful and present only with the music when self-doubting. In Wunderkind, McCullers does a lovely job describing this process of self-doubting, alienation, and self-absorption. Of course, this self-doubting also alienates the reader.
Wunderkind was McCullers' first published work and seems to be semi-autobiographical. According to the Library of America's introduction, McCullers, herself, had been a prodigy on the piano and had expected "a brilliant career as a concert pianist." However, when she became ill with rheumatic fever (misdiagnosed as pneumonia), she began to doubt her talent and endurance and appeared to attribute her physical problems to her talent or lack thereof rather than the illness. When her skill "waned" (due to her illness), so did her faith in herself, and she concluded that she was unsuited to a life as a concert pianist.
What if Frances'/McCullers' teacher had focused on the process of learning rather than the skilled output, an approach fostering a more resilient growth mindset? Maybe McCullers would have continued as a pianist, focusing on emotion or interpretation rather than finger dexterity as she recovered.
McCullers' "loss" is our gain, but how many people become discouraged and give up rather than moving on?
I read this story as part of the short story challenge for GR's Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) group.
Why was it Heime had done so much better at the concert than she? At school sometimes, when she was supposed to be watching someone do a geometry problem on the blackboard, the question would twist knife-like inside her. She would worry about it in bed, and even sometimes when she was supposed to be concentrating at the piano. It wasn’t just the Bloch and her not being Jewish—not entirely. It wasn’t that Heime didn’t have to go to school and had begun his training so early, either. (p. 65)
Carol Dweck would describe Frances as having a fixed mindset: she sees herself as a wunderkind (or not). Frances perceived mistakes as indicative of problems in her abilities rather than as opportunities to learn from. She saw admitting her insecurities as dangerous and threatening and, going back to work on an early piece, as her teacher asked her to do, was particularly difficult:
‘Today I expect something from you. Now this sonata—it’s the first Beethoven sonata you ever worked on. Every note is under control—technically—you have nothing to cope with but the music. Only music now. That’s all you think about.’ (p. 68)
It is difficult to be mindful and present only with the music when self-doubting. In Wunderkind, McCullers does a lovely job describing this process of self-doubting, alienation, and self-absorption. Of course, this self-doubting also alienates the reader.
Wunderkind was McCullers' first published work and seems to be semi-autobiographical. According to the Library of America's introduction, McCullers, herself, had been a prodigy on the piano and had expected "a brilliant career as a concert pianist." However, when she became ill with rheumatic fever (misdiagnosed as pneumonia), she began to doubt her talent and endurance and appeared to attribute her physical problems to her talent or lack thereof rather than the illness. When her skill "waned" (due to her illness), so did her faith in herself, and she concluded that she was unsuited to a life as a concert pianist.
What if Frances'/McCullers' teacher had focused on the process of learning rather than the skilled output, an approach fostering a more resilient growth mindset? Maybe McCullers would have continued as a pianist, focusing on emotion or interpretation rather than finger dexterity as she recovered.
McCullers' "loss" is our gain, but how many people become discouraged and give up rather than moving on?
I read this story as part of the short story challenge for GR's Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) group.
February 10, 2023
This isn't McCullers at her best.
March 31, 2016
I liked this little collection of Carson McCullers's stories for the most part, but honestly I don't think this was a great place to start for me. I enjoyed McCullers's writing style, and her ideas for stories were very unique and had a cast of interesting, quirky characters, but the plots for the most part I found a little dull. I'm looking forward to getting into some of her novels though.
April 1, 2018
Wunderkind - 4*
The Jockey - 2*
Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland - 4*
A Tree, a Rock, a Cloud - 4*
The Jockey - 2*
Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland - 4*
A Tree, a Rock, a Cloud - 4*
May 21, 2017
A small high-quality selection of short stories. Loneliness is the recurring theme that all others are filtered through. There is anger, fear and love too amongst the effortlessly evoked southern settings. 'Madame Zilensky and the King Of Finland' was the stand out for me and 'A Tree, A Rock and A Cloud' aches beautifully.
December 10, 2017
Four short stories. Wunderkind, The Jockey, Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland and A Tree, a Rock, a Cloud. An amazing collection of well crafted short stories about loneliness, anger and hope.
I think we all know someone with the characteristics of Madame Zilensky who embellish their lives unknowingly with fantasy or exaggerations. The last story about love lost and making sense of it was enthralling.
I think we all know someone with the characteristics of Madame Zilensky who embellish their lives unknowingly with fantasy or exaggerations. The last story about love lost and making sense of it was enthralling.
September 26, 2025
بلافاصله بعد از آواز کافه غمبار خوندمش ولی به نظرم خام بود بخشیش بخاطر ترجمه ولی در کل چیزی کم بود شاید نویسنده لازم داره چیزی رو بیشتر توضیح بده یا روش تاکید کنه و داستان کوتاه بهش این فرصتو نمیده چون واضحا توی آواز کافه غمبار این خامی رو نداشت و تونسته بود کاراکترهای جالبی رو خلق کنه ساده و پیچیده و فراموششده همزمان
May 18, 2020
I wish this was longer, this has me on the verge of tears. What amazing writing.
April 15, 2018
this is the first time that i have read carson mccullers's work. i loved her prose. her prose is for the sad and lonely people, her prose talks about the people who need love, because they are alone for the lack of it in their lives.
but, this short-story collection consists of her stories which are okay. yes, the materials are decent but her writing speaks very very differently. her writing is so strong and intense that you feel immersed in it. and, some of the stories, specially the last one, are like that. i want to read more of her works, but this was a nice start.
but, this short-story collection consists of her stories which are okay. yes, the materials are decent but her writing speaks very very differently. her writing is so strong and intense that you feel immersed in it. and, some of the stories, specially the last one, are like that. i want to read more of her works, but this was a nice start.
September 5, 2013
Peopled by an assortment of harried, lost, ethereal, and absorbed characters, a cast of musicians, jockeys, drunks, and children, McCullers four short stories in this collection are at once thoughtful as they are neat and bittersweet. The stories exhort the reader to feel the human breadth that exists in the parochial and even the smallest of towns, and act as a healthy reminder that wonder exists in every nook and cranny, if only we care to look with the right and sympathetic eyes.
December 10, 2017
Powerful use of language. Vivid, heart-warming/freezing descriptions. Delightful.
April 6, 2015
I like the writing. The stories couldn't hold my attention though.
January 9, 2017
The first two werent my piece of cake but I quite liked the second two, and I really liked McCullers' writing style.
January 31, 2019
فکر می کنی می تونی یه زره بپوشی و از خودت دفاع کنی، اما خاطره هیچ وقت روبروی آدم ظاهر نمیشه، اون از گوشه و کنار بهت حمله می کنه
April 8, 2025
#Binge Reviewing all my past Reads:
Yentl the Yeshiva Boy by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Yentl the Yeshiva Boy is a poignant and provocative tale that explores identity, gender, and the thirst for knowledge in a world bound by tradition. Set in an Orthodox Jewish community, the story follows Yentl, a young woman with an unquenchable desire to study Torah — a pursuit forbidden to women. After her father’s death, she cuts her hair, dresses as a man, takes the name Anshel, and enters a yeshiva to follow her intellectual calling.
Singer unfolds Yentl’s inner turmoil with masterful restraint. Her disguise grants her access to sacred texts, but it also entangles her in emotional and moral conflicts — especially when she forms a bond with a fellow student and becomes engaged to a woman. The tale becomes a meditation on freedom and deception, where the lines between self-realization and self-denial blur.
Singer does not offer easy answers. Instead, he invites us to consider the cost of defying boundaries — religious, societal, and personal. Yentl emerges as both rebel and exile, driven by a noble yet lonely pursuit of truth.
Layered with irony, compassion, and existential depth, Yentl the Yeshiva Boy is a quietly radical story that remains hauntingly relevant in its questions about who we are and who we are allowed to be.
Give it a go. One of the finest short stories ever penned.
Yentl the Yeshiva Boy by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Yentl the Yeshiva Boy is a poignant and provocative tale that explores identity, gender, and the thirst for knowledge in a world bound by tradition. Set in an Orthodox Jewish community, the story follows Yentl, a young woman with an unquenchable desire to study Torah — a pursuit forbidden to women. After her father’s death, she cuts her hair, dresses as a man, takes the name Anshel, and enters a yeshiva to follow her intellectual calling.
Singer unfolds Yentl’s inner turmoil with masterful restraint. Her disguise grants her access to sacred texts, but it also entangles her in emotional and moral conflicts — especially when she forms a bond with a fellow student and becomes engaged to a woman. The tale becomes a meditation on freedom and deception, where the lines between self-realization and self-denial blur.
Singer does not offer easy answers. Instead, he invites us to consider the cost of defying boundaries — religious, societal, and personal. Yentl emerges as both rebel and exile, driven by a noble yet lonely pursuit of truth.
Layered with irony, compassion, and existential depth, Yentl the Yeshiva Boy is a quietly radical story that remains hauntingly relevant in its questions about who we are and who we are allowed to be.
Give it a go. One of the finest short stories ever penned.
May 30, 2022
I've read all of Carson McCullers's novels and this is the second short story I've read from my favorite American author.
I discovered years ago this great author thanks to books I borrowed from the public library in Casablanca. However, luckily for me I purchased this year from a bookstore a special edition In French language combining all of the author's novels and her 20 short stories in one book!!!
Like the other short story, this story is concise and detailed describing a scene where a leading character has strong emotion about something specific. Music is an important component in many of these short stories as it was important in the author's life.
I discovered years ago this great author thanks to books I borrowed from the public library in Casablanca. However, luckily for me I purchased this year from a bookstore a special edition In French language combining all of the author's novels and her 20 short stories in one book!!!
Like the other short story, this story is concise and detailed describing a scene where a leading character has strong emotion about something specific. Music is an important component in many of these short stories as it was important in the author's life.
December 27, 2021
بلافاصله بعد از کتاب آواز کافهی غمبار از همین نویسنده،این کتابو شروع کردم و برخلاف کتاب قبل اصلا خوشم نیومد و خوب نبود ..
September 29, 2023
i like this child prodigy pianist turned to mediocrity genre. 3.5/5
January 28, 2024
Wunderkind - 4*
The Jockey - 2*
Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland - 4*
A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud - 2*
The Jockey - 2*
Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland - 4*
A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud - 2*
November 25, 2024
Carson one of the all-time greats
April 24, 2025
عیدی جذاب همکارم مزدک، در یک نشست تموم شد و مثل همیشه به نظرم نوشتن ریویو برای یک فیکشن بی معنیه.
September 10, 2025
'Wunderkind' + 'Madame Zilensky and the king of finland' waren 4 sterren, 'the jockey' 2.5, die laatste was 3.
August 4, 2017
I picked this little volume up as an introduction to Carson McCullers' writing. Since I had never previously read her works I had no idea what to expect, other than that her writing is considered to be of the "Southern Gothic" genre.
The first two stories "Wunderkind" and "The Jockey" were very simply and precisely written. I felt as if I had been plopped down into someone's world for a few minutes and plucked back out again, feeling a little baffled at the ambiguous and unresolved endings of the stories. However, the final two stories "Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland" and "A Tree, A Rock,and A Cloud" Completely drew me in, carried me along with a sense of curiosity and foreboding,and took me to what I felt was a satisfying conclusion to the scene.
In hindsight I think it took me reading all of these 4 stories to get into the tone and rhythm of McCullers' writing. I love the empathetic tone of her storytelling. It's clear that she wants to tell the stories of everyday people and validate their struggles and feelings. I will definitely be reading more Carson McCullers in the future!
3.5 Stars
*The four short-stories in this book where taken from "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Works".*
The first two stories "Wunderkind" and "The Jockey" were very simply and precisely written. I felt as if I had been plopped down into someone's world for a few minutes and plucked back out again, feeling a little baffled at the ambiguous and unresolved endings of the stories. However, the final two stories "Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland" and "A Tree, A Rock,and A Cloud" Completely drew me in, carried me along with a sense of curiosity and foreboding,and took me to what I felt was a satisfying conclusion to the scene.
In hindsight I think it took me reading all of these 4 stories to get into the tone and rhythm of McCullers' writing. I love the empathetic tone of her storytelling. It's clear that she wants to tell the stories of everyday people and validate their struggles and feelings. I will definitely be reading more Carson McCullers in the future!
3.5 Stars
*The four short-stories in this book where taken from "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Works".*
September 15, 2011
I had never read any Carson McCullers before these, so I was really pleasantly surprised by how great they were. There's a lot of humor to these without being absurd, especially in how the peculiarities of the character come out.
December 22, 2011
I'm not usually a fan of short stories, and the ones in this collection were very, very short, but I absolutely loved them. McCullers introduced the characters in such a way that I immediately felt drawn into the stories and each stood alone perfectly. Lovely.
August 29, 2011
A grand little collection of short stories. McCullers is great at portraying characters in discomfort and there are many of those herein. The standout piece is 'The Jockey'.
April 22, 2012
A lovely little quartet of stories.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews