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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
A great re-telling with perfect mystique in the life of one brother's hoarding and the other's loss of vision. Emotionally strong.
This is a genre-bending novel about the Collyer brothers and New York in the first half of the 20th century, written almost as one long monologue. Poignant, sad, revealing.
This book was not as engaging as other Doctorow books but the last paragraph is so haunting I had nightmares all night.
Homer and Langley are presented as normal young men with well-to-do parents in the early 20th century. But Homer loses his vision and Langley is mentally scared by his service in WWI. They live together in a 5th Avenue mansion on Manhattan's Upper East side. They become increasingly eccentric and can't throw anything away or pay a utility bill. So their water, gas/electricity and phone are shut off further isolating them.
It is odd to me that older male writers always have their protagnoists, not matter how dirty (imagine Homer's long, greasy hair (no running water) dirty nails and fraying clothes) still seem to easily bed women they meet right outside their front door ? I found Homer's relationship (real? imagined) with the French Jacqueline Roux at the end so very improbable.
But I will say, this book and its characters will linger.
Homer and Langley are presented as normal young men with well-to-do parents in the early 20th century. But Homer loses his vision and Langley is mentally scared by his service in WWI. They live together in a 5th Avenue mansion on Manhattan's Upper East side. They become increasingly eccentric and can't throw anything away or pay a utility bill. So their water, gas/electricity and phone are shut off further isolating them.
It is odd to me that older male writers always have their protagnoists, not matter how dirty (imagine Homer's long, greasy hair (no running water) dirty nails and fraying clothes) still seem to easily bed women they meet right outside their front door ? I found Homer's relationship (real? imagined) with the French Jacqueline Roux at the end so very improbable.
But I will say, this book and its characters will linger.
I almost went four stars but hippies were needlessly written into the story.
The need to capture "a picture of america" rather than focus on the story is more obnoxious than in Ragtime, and frankly I found the real life story more interesting, but I like Doctorow's style and enjoyed it.
I found Homer highly likeable, the writing beautiful, and at times I laughed out loud. What more could you want out of a book? I agree with some reviewers who think the book is sad; it is sad, but that doesn't make it any less wonderful.
3.5 stars; Historically interesting look at life inside a 5th Avenue manse as the Collyer brothers lose everything. One, his mind, the other his sight and later his hearing.
Oooh, this was a good one. Loosely based on a true story of two reclusive brothers in New York's Fifth Avenue, and using this to explore the recent history of America. Homer describes how he lost his sight: "it was like the movies, a slow fade out." The brothers' tale, similarly, is a slow fade-out. Fascinating to see how the brothers, both intriguing characters, change over time. Felt very literary - lots of callbacks to earlier themes in the book. A hopeful beginning and a desperately sad ending, beautifully told.
I found this to be a quick read and enjoyable. There were certain parts I really enjoyed (loved the hippies). It was fascinating to me that even secluded the brothers experienced a change of times through the home.
Enjoyed Doctorow's writing style and the way he brought in twentieth century events, cultural changes, life in NYC and technological developments into a novel inspired by the Collier brothers, one a blind man and the other a hoarder.