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A review by amynbell
Observatory Mansions by Edward Carey
4.0
Have you ever met a character in a book or movie that reminded you a little too much of someone you know? It's as if they took all the neuroses of a person you know and packaged them just a bit differently. Yet, you still recognize your friend or acquaintance in the character. I suppose this shouldn't be surprising. Where else do authors get their ideas for characters but in real life. I mean, sure, most copyright pages swear that any resemblance of characters to any person living or dead is merely coincidental. But art imitates life.
Edward Carey's modern gothic novel, Observatory Mansions, starts out with a illustration of the main character, Francis Orme, which looks strikingly like the picture of the author on the dust jacket of the novel. That's when it occurred to me that the author must have modeled Francis after extreme possibilities in himself. And, as a hint to this, he gives the character a last name that, when broken down, is "Or me" ("me" being the author). And, furthermore, there are no quotation marks in the book's dialogue which makes me think that the entire book is internal dialogue. Also, the author does not give the normal statement that none of the characters resemble the living or the dead.
Francis Orme is quite possibly the most colorful character I've ever met in a work of fiction. He once worked as a living display in a wax museum, but when he loses his job there, he begins making money by standing on a plinth in the park and pretending to be a statue all day. The only hint that he is real is the occasional blink of his eyes. He wears white gloves even when he is not working as a statue in the park. He works hard to keep his gloves clean and keeps a "glove diary" in which he keeps his retired white gloves along with an entry about how he soiled each of them. In addition to the glove diary, he keeps a private museum which contains only stolen objects which are the most loved or meaningful possessions of their original owner. In the exhibit he keeps everything from toy astronauts to a dried newt to a monk's habit to false teeth.
Francis lives in the dark and crumbling Observatory Mansions with a colorful cast of characters which includes an amnesiac who thinks she is a dog, a woman who doesn't know that her television friends are not real, a father who has been catatonic for years, and a porter who seems to try to destroy the loves of the women he cannot have. One can see how all of these characters are bound by worlds they've created for themselves. The dark edifice of Observatory Mansions is a metaphor for the dark confines of the characters' minds. Is it possible to escape? Can Francis allow himself to touch a real woman with his gloved hands instead of merely a wax bust of one? Furthermore, will he ever allow himself go out into the world without the false security of his gloves? Can he allow himself to love instead of collecting loved items that belong to everyone else? How does anyone escape the confines of their minds? How does anyone allow themselves to have the emotions they've so carefully sought to hide?
Edward Carey's modern gothic novel, Observatory Mansions, starts out with a illustration of the main character, Francis Orme, which looks strikingly like the picture of the author on the dust jacket of the novel. That's when it occurred to me that the author must have modeled Francis after extreme possibilities in himself. And, as a hint to this, he gives the character a last name that, when broken down, is "Or me" ("me" being the author). And, furthermore, there are no quotation marks in the book's dialogue which makes me think that the entire book is internal dialogue. Also, the author does not give the normal statement that none of the characters resemble the living or the dead.
Francis Orme is quite possibly the most colorful character I've ever met in a work of fiction. He once worked as a living display in a wax museum, but when he loses his job there, he begins making money by standing on a plinth in the park and pretending to be a statue all day. The only hint that he is real is the occasional blink of his eyes. He wears white gloves even when he is not working as a statue in the park. He works hard to keep his gloves clean and keeps a "glove diary" in which he keeps his retired white gloves along with an entry about how he soiled each of them. In addition to the glove diary, he keeps a private museum which contains only stolen objects which are the most loved or meaningful possessions of their original owner. In the exhibit he keeps everything from toy astronauts to a dried newt to a monk's habit to false teeth.
Francis lives in the dark and crumbling Observatory Mansions with a colorful cast of characters which includes an amnesiac who thinks she is a dog, a woman who doesn't know that her television friends are not real, a father who has been catatonic for years, and a porter who seems to try to destroy the loves of the women he cannot have. One can see how all of these characters are bound by worlds they've created for themselves. The dark edifice of Observatory Mansions is a metaphor for the dark confines of the characters' minds. Is it possible to escape? Can Francis allow himself to touch a real woman with his gloved hands instead of merely a wax bust of one? Furthermore, will he ever allow himself go out into the world without the false security of his gloves? Can he allow himself to love instead of collecting loved items that belong to everyone else? How does anyone escape the confines of their minds? How does anyone allow themselves to have the emotions they've so carefully sought to hide?