Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
Love Doctorow but something was missing from this story.
When I reached the end of this book, I was struck with the utterly overwhelming sadness I felt for the Collyer brothers. Their lives seemed to start out with some promise of normalcy. They had relatively normal parents - a bit overly prim and proper, perhaps, but with a large group of friends with whom they socialized regularly. They were wealthy, had a beautiful house in a posh part of New York City with a view of Central Park, and many valuable antiques and pieces of art. There was so much promise for them to have fulfilling and eventful lives until Langley was physically and emotionally scarred from the war (and mustard gas), and Homer slowly lost his sight. As the years past, the brothers became more & more reclusive, Langley became more & more paranoid, and Homer became more & more dependent upon Langley as he lost not only his sight but his hearing as well. Couple their physical and mental deterioration with Langley's uncontrollable compulsion to hoard EVERYTHING, and it became a recipe for disaster...which, of course, is what eventually led to their demise.
The utterly overwhelming nature of their hoarding provoked me to look them up online to see if I could get an accurate visual idea of their living conditions. After looking at the pictures, it seems amazing to me that they were able to function, even at a basic level, for as long as they did. I don't think I have ever heard of or seen anything quite like it before, and likely never will again. I thought Doctorow did a good job of bringing this story to life, and perhaps that most evident in the fact that when I came to the end of the book, I was looking around my own home with an eye for purging and reducing. I can not imagine a more miserable end than that of the Collyer brothers. It is extraordinarily sad given the completely unnecessary nature of it, and yet it makes for a mesmerizing story of how engulfing mental illness can be.
The utterly overwhelming nature of their hoarding provoked me to look them up online to see if I could get an accurate visual idea of their living conditions. After looking at the pictures, it seems amazing to me that they were able to function, even at a basic level, for as long as they did. I don't think I have ever heard of or seen anything quite like it before, and likely never will again. I thought Doctorow did a good job of bringing this story to life, and perhaps that most evident in the fact that when I came to the end of the book, I was looking around my own home with an eye for purging and reducing. I can not imagine a more miserable end than that of the Collyer brothers. It is extraordinarily sad given the completely unnecessary nature of it, and yet it makes for a mesmerizing story of how engulfing mental illness can be.
This had been on my list for a while & I picked it up & read it in memory of Mr. Doctorow who recently passed away.
The story of Homer and Langley Collyer is true, but this is a novel & Doctorow changed many crucial details to create a more interesting book. By having H & L live into the 1970s, he uses the majority of the 20th century as a counterpoint and backdrop to the reclusive lives of the brothers.
On the surface, the book is about two brothers who withdrew from the world and lived in their Fifth Avenue home alone from the end of World War I, into the 1970s. Homer is blind, & Langley is physically & emotionally damaged by mustard gas and PTSD from his WWI service. For many years, they're still part of the outside world. Their parents were wealthy & they have a lot of savings. They have some live-in help, and take in roommates. Langley goes out shopping - and buys newspapers - and gathers things he might want to do something with, someday - like a Model T, that he parks in the dining room. Together they participate in the Jazz Age & World War II through random characters & roommates & their live-in caregivers. They hang out with a gangland boss & with hippies they meet in Central Park. It's not until their money really begins to run out - and Langley is becoming increasingly odd - that things get bad for them.
The book almost makes it sound like they had a pretty good, interesting life together for many of their years - so it's kind of a cool knife edge that Doctorow plays with here. In most cases, we'd look at these guys & pity them & want to bring in social services, & we'd also think they were pretty crazy & wonder who would want to live such a horrible life. But Homer, the narrator here, doesn't entirely see it that way, & while he admits to depression & loneliness, he also has times of happiness & things to do that keep him engaged. He's aware of his brother's love & care for him. He doesn't think the things they do are so weird - they're just "what they do." Is Doctorow implying that we shouldn't be so quick to judge people because they live differently from "normal?"
Maybe...up until the last line. Woah!
Well written like all of Doctorow's books, but a much quicker read than some of his work. It's almost simple on the surface - just a straight forward story told in chronological order. But there's a lot to think about here. I enjoyed it.
The story of Homer and Langley Collyer is true, but this is a novel & Doctorow changed many crucial details to create a more interesting book. By having H & L live into the 1970s, he uses the majority of the 20th century as a counterpoint and backdrop to the reclusive lives of the brothers.
On the surface, the book is about two brothers who withdrew from the world and lived in their Fifth Avenue home alone from the end of World War I, into the 1970s. Homer is blind, & Langley is physically & emotionally damaged by mustard gas and PTSD from his WWI service. For many years, they're still part of the outside world. Their parents were wealthy & they have a lot of savings. They have some live-in help, and take in roommates. Langley goes out shopping - and buys newspapers - and gathers things he might want to do something with, someday - like a Model T, that he parks in the dining room. Together they participate in the Jazz Age & World War II through random characters & roommates & their live-in caregivers. They hang out with a gangland boss & with hippies they meet in Central Park. It's not until their money really begins to run out - and Langley is becoming increasingly odd - that things get bad for them.
The book almost makes it sound like they had a pretty good, interesting life together for many of their years - so it's kind of a cool knife edge that Doctorow plays with here. In most cases, we'd look at these guys & pity them & want to bring in social services, & we'd also think they were pretty crazy & wonder who would want to live such a horrible life. But Homer, the narrator here, doesn't entirely see it that way, & while he admits to depression & loneliness, he also has times of happiness & things to do that keep him engaged. He's aware of his brother's love & care for him. He doesn't think the things they do are so weird - they're just "what they do." Is Doctorow implying that we shouldn't be so quick to judge people because they live differently from "normal?"
Maybe...up until the last line. Woah!
Well written like all of Doctorow's books, but a much quicker read than some of his work. It's almost simple on the surface - just a straight forward story told in chronological order. But there's a lot to think about here. I enjoyed it.
Fictional account of the Collyer brothers - wealthy, eccentric residents of Fifth Avenue, NYC. One brother went blind, and the other returned from WWI damaged. I particularly enjoyed the historical bits and pieces that Doctorow always seems to include.
Well, I ran the gamut of emotions with this book. I found the book in turns slightly boring, heartwarming, and finally, heartbreaking (but in a good way).
At first I didn't really care for it--the characters, while interesting, were not very engaging. About halfway through, however, the brotherly love between the title characters is thoroughly fleshed out. Their characters go from being slightly odd and frankly, off-putting, to being more engaging and sympathetic. Finally, the description of Langley's descent into mental illness and Homer's realization of his helplessness to ameliorate their situation is truly heartbreaking.
At first I didn't really care for it--the characters, while interesting, were not very engaging. About halfway through, however, the brotherly love between the title characters is thoroughly fleshed out. Their characters go from being slightly odd and frankly, off-putting, to being more engaging and sympathetic. Finally, the description of Langley's descent into mental illness and Homer's realization of his helplessness to ameliorate their situation is truly heartbreaking.
I bought this book on the strength of the author's name: I already knew Doctorow is a superb author, but this retelling of a historical event (two brothers who become weird reclusive hoarders in the middle of New York City) seemed unpromising to me. How wrong I was.
Doctorow doesn't adhere strictly to the historical facts, as you immediately notice when comparing the books story with the Wikipedia summary of the Collyer brothers' lives. He uses their real names, but rearranges the facts as he sees fit.
This largely determines the success of the book. What Doctorow does is, first, extend their lives (the historical Collyers died in 1947) well into the 70s or 80s. In fact, he's so vague about chronology and their age, it might even be the 90s. In this way, he manages to make their crazy life in the boarded up New York mansion an allegory for the 20th century. (And maybe also, in a different way, an allegory for the entire history of the United States. My historical knowledge is too poor to determine this.)
Secondly, he makes ample but very unobtrusive use of the time-honoured procedure of turning madmen into truth-sayers. The story is told by the blind younger brother, Homer – yet another master stroke, since it gets you involved and shortens the distance. Because all the time you're listening to the reasonable, cultivated voice of this pianoplaying art lover, you're drawn into their lives far better than I had expected before I started this book (thinking the lives of such weird characters could hold little interest or relevance). You see them ease into crankiness and downright craziness, and you understand how it may happen while still seeing how it goes wrong. Also, because Doctorow nicely balances the psychological realism with the allegorical overtones, he keeps you from delving too deep into the psychological weirdness while still sufficiently keeping up your interest in the characters. And finally, filtered through this voice of reason you get the anti-social rants of Homer's brother Langley, embittered by his trench experiences in World War I – rants that go over the top, and in their philosophical digressions sometimes make the two brothers sound like an awful parody of the James family, but that also often contain a grain of truth – and certainly a large grain of historical truth (being an expression of the often extremist individualism that is such a strong current in American thinking, from serious philosophers down to the whacky anti-government sects).
This really is quite a terrific novel. To my mind, Doctorow has turned out to be one of the truly Great American Novelists.
Doctorow doesn't adhere strictly to the historical facts, as you immediately notice when comparing the books story with the Wikipedia summary of the Collyer brothers' lives. He uses their real names, but rearranges the facts as he sees fit.
This largely determines the success of the book. What Doctorow does is, first, extend their lives (the historical Collyers died in 1947) well into the 70s or 80s. In fact, he's so vague about chronology and their age, it might even be the 90s. In this way, he manages to make their crazy life in the boarded up New York mansion an allegory for the 20th century. (And maybe also, in a different way, an allegory for the entire history of the United States. My historical knowledge is too poor to determine this.)
Secondly, he makes ample but very unobtrusive use of the time-honoured procedure of turning madmen into truth-sayers. The story is told by the blind younger brother, Homer – yet another master stroke, since it gets you involved and shortens the distance. Because all the time you're listening to the reasonable, cultivated voice of this pianoplaying art lover, you're drawn into their lives far better than I had expected before I started this book (thinking the lives of such weird characters could hold little interest or relevance). You see them ease into crankiness and downright craziness, and you understand how it may happen while still seeing how it goes wrong. Also, because Doctorow nicely balances the psychological realism with the allegorical overtones, he keeps you from delving too deep into the psychological weirdness while still sufficiently keeping up your interest in the characters. And finally, filtered through this voice of reason you get the anti-social rants of Homer's brother Langley, embittered by his trench experiences in World War I – rants that go over the top, and in their philosophical digressions sometimes make the two brothers sound like an awful parody of the James family, but that also often contain a grain of truth – and certainly a large grain of historical truth (being an expression of the often extremist individualism that is such a strong current in American thinking, from serious philosophers down to the whacky anti-government sects).
This really is quite a terrific novel. To my mind, Doctorow has turned out to be one of the truly Great American Novelists.
I've been a Doctorow fan for years, ever since I discovered The Book of Daniel while in college. He has an uncanny ability to write about historical characters and situations in a way that, while not necessarily remaining faithful to actual events, makes them more interesting and compelling. This novel is no exception. The eccentric and reclusive Collyer brothers make fascinating character studies, and although Doctorow takes considerable liberties with their actual lives, the basic obsessiveness and bizarre sort of mad genius are there. The brothers, one blind and one hopelessly enslaved by his junk-gathering obsession, crawl and wend their way through tunnels formed by unimaginable quantities of newspaper bundles stashed throughout their deceased parents' crumbling Fifth Avenue home, avoiding the many other obstacles collected over the years by Langley (including, and this is historically documented, a model T Ford in the dining room.) In fact, the brothers were both found dead in the house in the late 40s, Langley crushed by one of his own booby traps while crawling through the paper maze, and Homer a short distance away, partially paralyzed and dead of starvation. Doctorow chooses to allow them to live years longer, however; in fact, they are joined by a group of hippies in the late 60s who live with them for a short time. I'm guessing his reason for this digression from historical fact was to allow for even more objective scrutiny of the 20th century by a pair of men who were essentially removed from it by their own terms, and I think this worked well. The observations of various follies of the century are sharp and on target. Also, as usual, Doctorow's prose is careful, flowing and beautiful. This novel, much like all his others I've read, was a delight for me.
I have mixed feelings about this book. Some of it was a little slow, but some parts were very intriguing. The look into the brothers' world of hoarding was very interesting. The ending was truly haunting...something that was to be expected, but the way it was worded was very unnerving. And it leaves the reader to their own imagination. The way the book was written was different, so I had to adjust. A haunting book overall...but I don't think I could read it again.
A fictional account of the lives of the Collyer brothers. Homer and Langley lived in a mansion on 5th Ave in NYC and became recluses and hoarders. Tied in nicely with my current favorite tv show, Hoarders, and made me curious enough to research the real story of the Collyers.
I love fictional stories based on real life people/events. It always makes me want to learn more about the people. These two brothers are no exception...I must research!