Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Doctorow comprise one of the most substantive achievements of modern american fiction. Named one of the best books of the year by san francisco chronicle, chicago tribune, st. 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. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers.
Langley was very paranoid and this paranoia grew as he aged. 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. Apart from that, i thought the writing was wonderful, sometimes unbearably poignant, sometimes with a wry humour that was often unexpected. He also won a library of congress prize and multiple pen awards. Langley went fight in world war i and was zapped with gas. 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. I didnt lose my sight all at once, it was like the movies, a slow fadeout. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone. Could homer and langley have been saved from themselves. Homer and langley collyer are brothersthe one blind and deeply intuitive, the other damaged into madness.
Sep 01, 2009 homers musical ambitions never come to much. But before he is out of his teens, homer begins to lose his sight. It would have been easy for doctorow to portray them as a pair of cranks, as the real collyers appeared when they. In the sitcom frasier episode dinner party, the eponymous character and his brother are compared to the collyer brothers by their father. Roman german edition and millions of other books are available for instant access. 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. Its the collyer brothers, homer and langley wealthy, reclusive manhattan pack rats who lived for decades in squalor in a fifth avenue. How did homer s disability affect his telling of the story. The ending was totally gripping and moving and this is definitely a book that will live in my memory. Louis postdispatch, the kansas city star, and booklisthomer 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.
Doctorows 2009 novel of new york city, the author focuses on past manhattan, which he sees as the epitome of his own. Among his honors are the national book award, three national book critics circle awards, two penfaulkner awards, and the presidentially conferred national humanities medal. Homer and langley lost their parents in a tragic accident. 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. Doctorow has homer, who is blind, narrate with deadpan humor and spellbinding precision. 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 s. I found those less engaging because they didnt add to my understanding of homer and langley. When wwi hits and the spanish flu pandemic kills homer and langleys parents, langley, the. Louis postdispatch, the kansas city star, and booklist. From ragtime and billy bathgate to the book of daniel, worlds f. Homer and langley collyer are brothers the one blind and deeply intuitive, the other damaged into madness, or perhaps greatness, by mustard gas in the great war.
Im homer, the blind brother, i didnt lose my sight all at once, it was like the movies, a slow fadeout. These book discussion questions are highly detailed and will ruin plot points, if you have not read the book. Augusta leers and edward homer the elusive groom book 7 title. 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 s last thoughts were, i wish i could go crazy so i might not know how badly off i am. Homer lusk collyer november 6, 1881 march 21, 1947 and langley wakeman collyer october 3, 1885 c. Doctorow uses the reallife collyers hermit brothers with a social pedigree and a fifth avenue address who died in squalor as a. Part of his disability was the effects of that experience. When i was told what was happening i was interested to measure it, i was in my late teens then, keen on everything. Why do you think the author chose homer to tell the story of the brothers.
From ragtime and billy bathgate to the book of daniel, worlds fair, and the march, the novels of e. Homer and langley collyer are brothers, the one blind and deeply intuitive, the other damaged into madness, or perhaps greatness, by mustard gas in the great war. 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. This content was uploaded by our users and we assume good faith they have the permission to share this book.
The story of this book is told by homer collyer, who became blind as a young man but used his heightened sense of hearing to navigate the world around him. But the brothers lives touch on history, or its surface accoutrements, with a vengeance. Doctorows novels include the march, city of god, the waterworks, welcome to hard times, the book of. E l doctorow 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. 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. 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. Louis postdispatch the kansas city star booklist homer and langley collyer are brothersthe one blind and deeply intuitive, the other damaged into madness, or. 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. Named one of the best books of the year by san francisco chronicle chicago tribune st. March 9, 1947, known as the collyer brothers, were two american brothers who became infamous for their bizarre natures and compulsive hoarding.
550 858 574 489 152 455 777 1386 976 1037 191 731 1245 1336 538 1134 1127 281 124 1130 711 1058 290 1349 1465 710 979 75 1360 1127 295 634 187 795 548 621 1449 825 1185