The Member of the Wedding

By Carson McCullers

It the 1940s during WW II and Frankie is an unhappy kid. When she finds out her brother is getting married she concocts a ridiculous fantasy in which she joins her brother and his new wife on their honeymoon and together they will travel the world and have great adventures:

"Boyoman! Manoboy!" she said. "When we leave Winter Hill we're going to more places than you ever thought about or even knew existed. Just where we will go first I don't know, and it don't matter. Because after we go to that place we're going on to another. We mean to keep moving, the three of us. Here today and gone tomorrow, Alaska, China, Ireland, South America. Traveling on trains. Letting her rip on motorcycles. Flying around all over the world in aeroplanes. Here today and gone tomorrow. All over the world. It's the damn truth. Boyoman!"
"And talking of things happening," she said. "Things will happen so fast we won't hardly have time to realize them. Captain Jarvis Addams [Frankie's brother] sinks twelve Jap battleships and decorated by the President. Miss F. Jasmine Addams [Frankie] breaks all records. Mrs. Janice Addams [the bride] elected Miss United Nations in beauty contest. One thing after another happening so fast we don't hardly notice them."
"And we will meet them. Everybody. We will just walk up to people and know them right away. We will be walking down a dark road and see a lighted house and knock on the door and strangers will rush to meet us and say: Come in! Come in! We will know decorated aviators and New York people and movie stars. We will have thousands of friends, thousands and thousands and thousands of friends. We will belong to so many clubs that we can't even keep track of them all. We will be members of the whole world. Boyoman! Manoboy!"

This kid has gone off the deep end and totally lost touch with reality. And it's not like she is a baby, she is twelve and old enough to know better. And she sure is going to have a rude awakening when she finds out that the last thing her brother and his wife will want is his kid sister tagging along on their honeymoon.

This book just made me tired. Frankie is a loon and I just didn't have the patience to put up with her nonsense. Boring!