Everyone seemed to really enjoy both books and we found a lot to talk about. Over the decades, people come and golovers, a gangster, a jazz musician, a flock of hippies, but finally homer and langley are irrevocably alone, prisoners in their fortress of rubbish, trapped in their warped form of brotherly love. Louis postdispatch, the kansas city star, and booklist homer and langley collyer are brothersthe one blind and deeply intuitive, the other damaged into madness, or perhaps greatness, by mustard gas in the. Langley was very paranoid and this paranoia grew as he aged. Jeden z nich byl niewidomy, lecz obdarzony gleboka intuicja, a drugi szalony z. Search hello select your address select your address. The narration is a bit monotone but completely fits the character of homer and only adds to the feeling of the book.
They live as recluses in their once grand fifth avenue mansion, scavenging the city streets for things they think they can use, hoarding the daily newspapers as research for langley. Slight bump to head of spine, still a tight fine copy in a fine unflawed dust jacket. Doctorows novels include the march, city of god, the waterworks, welcome to hard times, the book of. For decades, the two lived in seclusion in their harlem brownstone at 2078 fifth avenue where they obsessively collected books, furniture, musical instruments, and myriad other items, with booby traps set up in corridors and doorways to crush intruders. Homer s last thoughts were, i wish i could go crazy so i might not know how badly off i am. Well, that and the fact that the book is written by doctorow, the man who wrote one of my alltime favorite books, ragtime. In homer and langley, homer and langley collyer are the historical figures. He also won a library of congress prize and multiple pen awards. Part of his disability was the effects of that experience. In doctorows version of the myth, homer is also a trained musician, saying early that my skill as a pianist rendered my blindness acceptable in the social world. From ragtime and billy bathgate to the book of daniel, worlds fair, and the march, the novels of e. Homer, the narrator, progressively loses his senses, first sight, then hearing, as time passes, until his only means of communication is tapping at the keyboard that is. Signed by doctorow on a book plate which is affixed to the half title page. Why do you think the author chose homer to tell the story of the brothers.
Homer lusk collyer and langley wakeman collyer, known as the collyer brothers, were two american brothers who became infamous for their bizarre natures and compulsive hoarding. He goes to dinner parties with his older brother langley and often plays for the guests and the young women. Homer and langley lost their parents in a tragic accident. In march 1947, both were found dead in their home surrounded by over. Sep 14, 2009 homer collyer learns to see through sound and smell and texture. It imagines a version of the lives of the collyer brothers of new. Homer and langley provides a fictionalized redaction of the lives of the renowned collyer brothers, whose story became a new york urban legend. Mystery novelist daniel stashower, the winner of two edgar awards, is the author of the beautiful cigar girl. How did homers disability affect his telling of the story. I didnt lose my sight all at once, it was like the movies, a slow fadeout. Homer i langley, ktorzy nigdy sie nie ozenili, postanowili pozostac z matka. Doctorow was the winner of the national book critics circle award three times over and received a gold medal for fiction from the american academy for arts and letters. Homer i langley to niezwykla historia zmarlych w 1947 roku braci collyer.
Doctorow comprise one of the most substantive achievements of modern american fiction. Homer and langley collyer are brothersthe one blind and deeply intuitive, the other. In a city known for its tolerance of eccentric behavior, brothers homer lusk collyer 18811947 and langley collyer 18851947 surely rank among the manhattans strangest inhabitants. Doctorow ragtime, billy bathgate uses the reallife collyer brothers as a jumpingoff. A free imaginative rendering of the lives of new yorks fabled collyer brothers depicts homer and langley as recluses in their once grand fifth avenue mansion, facing odyssean perils as they struggle to survive the wars, political movements, and technological advances of the last century. Langley, this master novelist has once again created an. Among his honors are the national book award, three national book critics circle awards, two penfaulkner awards, and the presidentially conferred national humanities. The reader of a novel like this has the right to expect its author to provide a cogent explanation of the psyches and behavior of. Homer lusk collyer november 6, 1881 march 21, 1947 and langley wakeman collyer october 3, 1885 c.
From ragtime and billy bathgate to the book of daniel, worlds f. Mary rogers, edgar allan poe, and the invention of murder. Its the collyer brothers, homer and langley wealthy, reclusive manhattan pack rats who lived for decades in squalor in a fifth avenue. Homer and langley are both damaged men homer, who gradually lost his eyesight as a teenager, and langley in a mustard gas attack in world war i. It imagines a version of the lives of the collyer brothers of new york city, notorious for their eccentricities as well as their habit of compulsively hoarding a plethora of various bricabrac, newspapers, books and other items. Could homer and langley have been saved from themselves. Among his honors are the national book award, three national book critics circle awards, two penfaulkner awards, and the presidentially conferred. Doctorows finest novelssmall in scale, perhaps, but in homers phrase, all the more deliciously felt. Langley went fight in world war i and was zapped with gas. But the brothers lives touch on history, or its surface accoutrements, with a vengeance. Though he shifts the timeperiod up a few decades and reimagines the brothers, the bones of the narrative can be found in the headlines of decades past. Doctorow read by arthur morey published september 2009 by random house publishing source. The collyer brothers of doctorows novel, like many of his fictional characters, are based on historical personalities. Doctorow takes the story of the brothers, who were found dead in their 5th avenue apartment among mountains of newspapers and debris, and weaves in the history of the early twentieth century, including war, political and social change, and advancements in technology.
Doctorow uses the reallife collyers hermit brothers with a social pedigree and a fifth avenue address who died in squalor as a. Homer i langley collyer wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia. Homer collyer learns to see through sound and smell and texture. Langley, this master novelist has once again created an unforgettable work. Doctorow is known for dropping his fictional characters into historical events among historical figures. We follow pianist homer and veteran langley in the years after their parents death.
How did homer s disability affect his telling of the story. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. Sep 01, 2009 homers musical ambitions never come to much. Homer and langley collyer are brothersthe one blind and deeply intuitive, the other damaged into madness, or perhaps greatness, by mustard gas in the. Doctorow has homer, who is blind, narrate with deadpan humor and spellbinding precision. Homer and langley collyer are brothersthe one blind and deeply intuitive, the other damaged into madness, or perhaps greatness, by mustard gas in the great war. It would have been easy for doctorow to portray them as a pair of cranks, as the real collyers appeared when they first attracted the notice of their contemporaries. Homers last thoughts were, i wish i could go crazy so i might not know how badly off i am.
The book is rich in detail and it is possible to visualize the house, the people, the found objects much as homer would have visualized them. Sep 01, 2009 the last name of the title characters of e. Louis postdispatch, the kansas city star, and booklist homer and langley collyer are brothersthe one blind and deeply intuitive, the other damaged into madness, or perhaps greatness, by mustard gas in the great war. Anyone reading it knows that the story is a fictional telling of the lives of two brothers who were found dead in their new york city apartment. Homer and langley collyer are brothersthe one blind and deeply.
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