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A review by mycouscous
Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow
4.0
I've enjoyed what I've read of Doctorow's works, so I was excited to win a copy of his newest in a First Reads giveaway. Home and Langley is, from what I can tell, quintessential Doctorow style -- there's just something I can't articulate, but can immediately pin down as his writing. This new novel is told by Homer Collyer, an infamous, true-life resident of New York City.
Homer's quiet desperation becomes clear early on. He seems composed and put together, but underneath there is something struggling. There's turmoil. He's blind, he is orphaned in his teens, and his brother is half-mad due to WWI; through this all, he attempts to succinctly narrate the events that lead up to his and Langley's downward spiral. I didn't particularly like his narrative until Langley brings the Model T into the house. Before this point, the book seemed to be one long string of events. It was at the point of the Model T that I felt something akin to empathy and I began to feel a vested interest in these brothers' unified story. I think this is when I realized just how affected Langley was.
At one point in the story, Langley and Homer are intruded upon by FBI agents who have come for the brothers' Japanese housekeepers. After failing to secure safety for their employees, an enraged Langley asks Homer something along the lines of, "How can we be free if only at their sufferance?" And that to me is the essence of this entire novel. Be it the FBI, the press, the kids who throw rocks at the house, or the hippies who settle in for a while, Homer and Langley are never truly free to do their own thing. They are always at the mercy of others.
The final pages are heartbreaking and abrupt, as Homer becomes more and more isolated, not just from the outside world, but from everything he knows. The final passages resonate with that quiet desperation and longing for what he considers normal.
I'd recommend this to fans of literary/historical fiction. I wouldn't be surprised if others who read it are as curious about the real-life brothers as I am now.
Homer's quiet desperation becomes clear early on. He seems composed and put together, but underneath there is something struggling. There's turmoil. He's blind, he is orphaned in his teens, and his brother is half-mad due to WWI; through this all, he attempts to succinctly narrate the events that lead up to his and Langley's downward spiral. I didn't particularly like his narrative until Langley brings the Model T into the house. Before this point, the book seemed to be one long string of events. It was at the point of the Model T that I felt something akin to empathy and I began to feel a vested interest in these brothers' unified story. I think this is when I realized just how affected Langley was.
At one point in the story, Langley and Homer are intruded upon by FBI agents who have come for the brothers' Japanese housekeepers. After failing to secure safety for their employees, an enraged Langley asks Homer something along the lines of, "How can we be free if only at their sufferance?" And that to me is the essence of this entire novel. Be it the FBI, the press, the kids who throw rocks at the house, or the hippies who settle in for a while, Homer and Langley are never truly free to do their own thing. They are always at the mercy of others.
The final pages are heartbreaking and abrupt, as Homer becomes more and more isolated, not just from the outside world, but from everything he knows. The final passages resonate with that quiet desperation and longing for what he considers normal.
I'd recommend this to fans of literary/historical fiction. I wouldn't be surprised if others who read it are as curious about the real-life brothers as I am now.