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Homer & Langley
From Ragtime and Billy Bathgate to The Book of Daniel, World’s Fair, and The March, the novels of E. L. Doctorow comprise one of the most substantive achievements of modern American fiction. Now, with Homer & Langley, this master novelist has once again created an unforgettable work.
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. 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 proposed dateless newspaper whose reportage will be as prophecy. Yet the epic events of the century play out in the lives of the two brothers – wars, political movements, technological advances – and even though they want nothing more than to shut out the world, history seems to pass through their cluttered house in the persons of immigrants, prostitutes, society women, government agents, gangsters, jazz musicians... and their housebound lives are fraught with odyssean peril as they struggle to survive and create meaning for themselves.
Brilliantly conceived, gorgeously written, this mesmerizing narrative, a free imaginative rendering of the lives of New York’s fabled Collyer brothers, is a family story with the resonance of myth, an astonishing masterwork unlike any that have come before from this great writer.
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. 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 proposed dateless newspaper whose reportage will be as prophecy. Yet the epic events of the century play out in the lives of the two brothers – wars, political movements, technological advances – and even though they want nothing more than to shut out the world, history seems to pass through their cluttered house in the persons of immigrants, prostitutes, society women, government agents, gangsters, jazz musicians... and their housebound lives are fraught with odyssean peril as they struggle to survive and create meaning for themselves.
Brilliantly conceived, gorgeously written, this mesmerizing narrative, a free imaginative rendering of the lives of New York’s fabled Collyer brothers, is a family story with the resonance of myth, an astonishing masterwork unlike any that have come before from this great writer.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2009
About the author
E.L. Doctorow
99 books1,097 followersHistory based known novels of American writer Edgar Laurence Doctorow. His works of fiction include Homer & Langley, The March, Billy Bathgate, Ragtime, The Book of Daniel, City of God, Welcome to Hard Times, Loon Lake, World’s Fair, The Waterworks, and All the Time in the World. Among his honors are the National Book Award, three National Book Critics Circle Awards, two PEN Faulkner Awards, The Edith Wharton Citation for Fiction, and the presidentially conferred National Humanities Medal. In 2009 he was short listed for the Man Booker International Prize honoring a writer’s lifetime achievement in fiction, and in 2012 he won the PEN Saul Bellow Award given to an author whose “scale of achievement over a sustained career places him in the highest rank of American Literature.” In 2013 the American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded him the Gold Medal for Fiction.
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March 22, 2022
Homer & Langley, E.L. Doctorow
Homer & Langley is a novel by American author E. L. Doctorow published in September 2009.
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 bric-a-brac, newspapers, books and other items.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش روز بیست و سوم ماه سپتامبر سال2016میلادی
عنوان: هومر و لنگلی؛ نویسنده: ای.ال دکتروف؛ مترجم: الهام نظری؛ تهران، افراز، سال1390، در216ص؛ شابک 9789646005218497؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده21م
عنوان: هومر و لنگلی؛ نویسنده: ای.ال دکتروف؛ مترجم: وحید روزبهانی؛ تهران، ماهی، سال1391، در192ص؛ شابک9789642091539؛
دو برادر «هومر» و «لنگلی»؛ در خانواده ای ثروتمند به همین دنیا آمده اند؛ «هومر» بیمار است و بینایی اش را از دست میدهد؛ و «لنگلی» راهی جنگ میشود؛ پدر و مادر درمیگذرند؛ و پس از بازگشت «لنگلی» از جنگ؛ دو برادر به زندگی تنهایی، درون خانه ی خویش به آراء و افکاری عجیب روی میآورند؛ کتاب شرح تنهایی و زندگی این دو برادر است؛
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 10/01/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ 01/01/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
Homer & Langley is a novel by American author E. L. Doctorow published in September 2009.
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 bric-a-brac, newspapers, books and other items.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش روز بیست و سوم ماه سپتامبر سال2016میلادی
عنوان: هومر و لنگلی؛ نویسنده: ای.ال دکتروف؛ مترجم: الهام نظری؛ تهران، افراز، سال1390، در216ص؛ شابک 9789646005218497؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده21م
عنوان: هومر و لنگلی؛ نویسنده: ای.ال دکتروف؛ مترجم: وحید روزبهانی؛ تهران، ماهی، سال1391، در192ص؛ شابک9789642091539؛
دو برادر «هومر» و «لنگلی»؛ در خانواده ای ثروتمند به همین دنیا آمده اند؛ «هومر» بیمار است و بینایی اش را از دست میدهد؛ و «لنگلی» راهی جنگ میشود؛ پدر و مادر درمیگذرند؛ و پس از بازگشت «لنگلی» از جنگ؛ دو برادر به زندگی تنهایی، درون خانه ی خویش به آراء و افکاری عجیب روی میآورند؛ کتاب شرح تنهایی و زندگی این دو برادر است؛
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 10/01/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ 01/01/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
April 9, 2020
The bachelor Collyer brothers, of a respected family, were reclusive hoarders who lived in a Manhattan brownstone. After their bodies were found in 1947 more than a hundred tons of trash was removed from their house. Doctorow has taken the historical pair and put them to other uses. He looks at a wide swath of 20th century American history through the windows of their Fifth Avenue house, extending their lives beyond 1947, swapping some details between the brothers, and tossing in a cast of illustrative characters.
E.L. Doctorow (1931-2015) - image from the New Yorker
Homer and Langley Collyer are brothers. Homer is mysteriously blinded as a teen, while Langley’s health is seriously compromised when he is gassed in the trenches of World War I. Characters come into and out of focus, standing in for the events of sundry decades. The brothers’ parents are taken in the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. A lefty girlfriend is deported in the Palmer Raids of the 1920s. We get a look at a Prohibition gangster. Rent raising dances are held during the Depression. Japanese servants are taken away during World War II. Jewish representatives come by, raising money for the poor souls in Europe who are suffering at the hands of you-know-who. The grandson of the family cook, a Tuskegee airman, is killed in North Africa. The fifties arrive in the form of Senate hearings and TV game shows. The 60s features a moon landing, hippies, a concert on the Great Lawn, a bit of free love, and references to some of the other seminal events of the time. Doctorow takes some license with the events, placing a 1980 atrocity in El Salvador next to the Jonestown event of 1978, next to the Baptist church bombing of 1963, next to the New York city blackout of 1965. Whatever.
While it was a fast, and somewhat engaging read, I never felt totally drawn in by Homer (the primary character here) or Langley. They were so obviously serving as structural devices for the larger purpose. There were times when one felt for Homer, but then it was off to a recounting of the century again. I felt as if the book were largely a Powerpoint presentation of the century with Homer and Langley as the background graphic.
Not a bad read, or one completely lacking the ability to draw one in, but once one was drawn in, the tale and characters were not attractive enough to justify sticking around. Homer and Langley seems mostly an intellectual exercise. It does strike me, though, that in the hands of a top-notch film-maker it might make a fascinating bit of cinema.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
My reviews of other books by Doctorow
-----The March
-----World’s Fair
E.L. Doctorow (1931-2015) - image from the New Yorker
Homer and Langley Collyer are brothers. Homer is mysteriously blinded as a teen, while Langley’s health is seriously compromised when he is gassed in the trenches of World War I. Characters come into and out of focus, standing in for the events of sundry decades. The brothers’ parents are taken in the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. A lefty girlfriend is deported in the Palmer Raids of the 1920s. We get a look at a Prohibition gangster. Rent raising dances are held during the Depression. Japanese servants are taken away during World War II. Jewish representatives come by, raising money for the poor souls in Europe who are suffering at the hands of you-know-who. The grandson of the family cook, a Tuskegee airman, is killed in North Africa. The fifties arrive in the form of Senate hearings and TV game shows. The 60s features a moon landing, hippies, a concert on the Great Lawn, a bit of free love, and references to some of the other seminal events of the time. Doctorow takes some license with the events, placing a 1980 atrocity in El Salvador next to the Jonestown event of 1978, next to the Baptist church bombing of 1963, next to the New York city blackout of 1965. Whatever.
While it was a fast, and somewhat engaging read, I never felt totally drawn in by Homer (the primary character here) or Langley. They were so obviously serving as structural devices for the larger purpose. There were times when one felt for Homer, but then it was off to a recounting of the century again. I felt as if the book were largely a Powerpoint presentation of the century with Homer and Langley as the background graphic.
Not a bad read, or one completely lacking the ability to draw one in, but once one was drawn in, the tale and characters were not attractive enough to justify sticking around. Homer and Langley seems mostly an intellectual exercise. It does strike me, though, that in the hands of a top-notch film-maker it might make a fascinating bit of cinema.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
My reviews of other books by Doctorow
-----The March
-----World’s Fair
February 4, 2016
4 stars
"Ah my brother, don't you see? The ultimate technological achievement will be escaping from the mess we've made. There will be none after that because we will reproduce everything that we did on earth, we'll go through the whole sequence all over again somewhere else, and people will read my paper as prophecy, and know that having gotten off one planet, they will be able to destroy another with confidence."
When I began reading this book, I had no idea that Homer and Langley Collyer were real-life hoarders and recluses living in Harlem in a Fifth Avenue brownstone during the first half of the 20th century. They became legendary after their bodies were found in 1947 amongst nearly 120 tons of junk ranging from anything and everything from ceiling-high stacks of newspapers to pianos to a Model T Ford planted right in the middle of their living quarters. E.L. Doctorow takes these two eccentrics and fictionalizes and humanizes them to a degree that allows the reader to perhaps understand their motives as well as to possibly provide us with a warning as to what may happen in a society where we accumulate more and more to the point that we become blinded to reality and the world around us.
In Homer & Langley, Doctorow expands the life of these characters beyond their demise in 1947 and instead we get a view of them from their childhood and straight into the 1970's. In so doing, the author allows us to get a broad overview of the historical events of this time period, ranging from WWI to the Vietnam War. We gain a perspective of these events through the two brothers and the people to whom they come in contact with throughout their lifetime. In this story, Langley is a victim of mustard gas in WWI and returns to his home and his brother not only as a troubled man but also one full of ideas and theories about mankind. Langley begins a daily perusal of any and all newspapers he could obtain and begins to accumulate "stuff" in order to perhaps make sense of a world gone awry.
This novel is actually told through the narration of Homer looking retrospectively at the lives of the two brothers. "I'm Homer, the blind brother. I didn't lose my sight all at once, it was like the movies, a slow fade-out." For a person without sight, Homer instead has a sharpened awareness through his other senses as well as keen insight into the world around him. He and Langley encounter a motley assortment of persons throughout their time, including gangsters, prostitutes, musicians, immigrants and hippies. They host parties; they wrestle with the authorities, including the electric and water companies and the health department; they fend off the abuse of rude children. At times, the glimpse at life and its absurdities was almost comical. While at the same time, Homer's introspective viewpoint was intensely stirring. Homer yearned for love. "I still had hopes of finding someone to love but felt as I had never before that my sightlessness was a physical deformity as likely to drive away a comely woman as would a hunch of the back or a crippled leg. My sense of myself as damaged suggested the wiser course of seclusion as a means of avoiding pain, sorrow, and humiliation."
This was an engaging yet deliberate look at a couple of fascinating and quirky individuals. E.L. Doctorow managed to capture a bit of the nostalgia of times gone by in an ever-changing city. Ultimately, as Homer and Langley plunge further into their own private darkness, they become more and more shut off from society. It is interesting to reflect personally on our own lives. In the end, what is our legacy – is it the objects that we have left behind? How will we be remembered? It is our story that perhaps matters the most. "Given who I am what is there to write about?... Exactly who you are. Your life across from the park. Your history deserving of the black shutters."
"Ah my brother, don't you see? The ultimate technological achievement will be escaping from the mess we've made. There will be none after that because we will reproduce everything that we did on earth, we'll go through the whole sequence all over again somewhere else, and people will read my paper as prophecy, and know that having gotten off one planet, they will be able to destroy another with confidence."
When I began reading this book, I had no idea that Homer and Langley Collyer were real-life hoarders and recluses living in Harlem in a Fifth Avenue brownstone during the first half of the 20th century. They became legendary after their bodies were found in 1947 amongst nearly 120 tons of junk ranging from anything and everything from ceiling-high stacks of newspapers to pianos to a Model T Ford planted right in the middle of their living quarters. E.L. Doctorow takes these two eccentrics and fictionalizes and humanizes them to a degree that allows the reader to perhaps understand their motives as well as to possibly provide us with a warning as to what may happen in a society where we accumulate more and more to the point that we become blinded to reality and the world around us.
In Homer & Langley, Doctorow expands the life of these characters beyond their demise in 1947 and instead we get a view of them from their childhood and straight into the 1970's. In so doing, the author allows us to get a broad overview of the historical events of this time period, ranging from WWI to the Vietnam War. We gain a perspective of these events through the two brothers and the people to whom they come in contact with throughout their lifetime. In this story, Langley is a victim of mustard gas in WWI and returns to his home and his brother not only as a troubled man but also one full of ideas and theories about mankind. Langley begins a daily perusal of any and all newspapers he could obtain and begins to accumulate "stuff" in order to perhaps make sense of a world gone awry.
This novel is actually told through the narration of Homer looking retrospectively at the lives of the two brothers. "I'm Homer, the blind brother. I didn't lose my sight all at once, it was like the movies, a slow fade-out." For a person without sight, Homer instead has a sharpened awareness through his other senses as well as keen insight into the world around him. He and Langley encounter a motley assortment of persons throughout their time, including gangsters, prostitutes, musicians, immigrants and hippies. They host parties; they wrestle with the authorities, including the electric and water companies and the health department; they fend off the abuse of rude children. At times, the glimpse at life and its absurdities was almost comical. While at the same time, Homer's introspective viewpoint was intensely stirring. Homer yearned for love. "I still had hopes of finding someone to love but felt as I had never before that my sightlessness was a physical deformity as likely to drive away a comely woman as would a hunch of the back or a crippled leg. My sense of myself as damaged suggested the wiser course of seclusion as a means of avoiding pain, sorrow, and humiliation."
This was an engaging yet deliberate look at a couple of fascinating and quirky individuals. E.L. Doctorow managed to capture a bit of the nostalgia of times gone by in an ever-changing city. Ultimately, as Homer and Langley plunge further into their own private darkness, they become more and more shut off from society. It is interesting to reflect personally on our own lives. In the end, what is our legacy – is it the objects that we have left behind? How will we be remembered? It is our story that perhaps matters the most. "Given who I am what is there to write about?... Exactly who you are. Your life across from the park. Your history deserving of the black shutters."
June 27, 2020
"Σκέφτηκα πως θα έχει εξαιρετική αυτοπεποίθηση για να αναλάβει να καθοδηγήσει έναν τυφλό και μετά από αυτή την καλή πράξη να καθίσει επιπλέον να μιλήσει μαζί του. Συνήθως οι άνθρωποι που βοηθάνε σπεύδουν να εξαφανιστούν."
October 20, 2009
I was lucky enough to attend a lecture by E. L. Doctorow where he read from “Homer and Langley” and was interviewed onstage. He joked that the story of the Collyer brothers had become an American myth and that, as with all myths, one does not need to research, only interpret.
This book is essentially the rambling of an old, blind man, Homer as he reflects back on his life spent with his trusty brother, Langley in their family’s mansion in New York City. The book doesn’t have chapters or parts. It’s just one long retrospect – flowing from one event to the next in a roughly chronological fashion. Sounds pretty standard, right? What gives this book an edge is that these two main characters are bizarre compulsive hoarders. Even more interesting, these characters, their legendary accumulation of junk and their news-worthy deaths are based on actual people and events. Sure, Doctorow took some liberties with the story (remember, he was "interpreting"), but the basic premise, in all its absurdity, is true. And honestly, if the book did not have this anchor in reality, I would have had a hard time surrendering to the story.
Most of the time I didn’t know how to react to the text. Sometimes I’d take it seriously – trying to understand Langley’s theories. Sometimes I was overwhelmed with pity, because Doctorow does a great job of showing their gradual degradation and making these two weirdoes likeable. Sometimes I remained judgmental of all the nonconforming behavior and filth. Sometimes I just had to laugh - while wondering if it was wrong to be laughing. After joining the audience's laughter at several of Doctorow’s jokes and witty comments, I think this is what he intended – especially when Langley assembles an actual car in the dining room.
Given all my conflicting engagements with the book, I was eager for answers. My number one question was about placing the book in a genre. Alas, Doctorow eschewed the interviewer’s question about picking a genre for his works. He said he doesn’t like how people keep sticking adjectives in front of his title as a novelist. It is fine, he said, if people want to describe him as a historical novelist, a post-modern novelist, or whatever else. But he’s not going to help them in their categorization or even pay them much mind. Overall, his response was thoughtful, but I am still vaguely unsatisfied. Maybe I'm just a labeling freak.
Doctorow also said that Homer’s voice came very easily to him as he wrote. It shows. He does an admirable job of describing Homer’s blindness and all the sounds of life. I would say that this book does for sound what Patrick Süskind's Perfume did for smell. Since I am comparing books, it also reminds me of Pete Hamill’s Forever in that it shows the changing tides of New York City and even America. Yet Doctorow’s book is faster and more enjoyable than Hamill’s.
Thankfully, this is a very quick read. Doctorow was wise to keep in short, because I don’t think I could have handled much more; it's hard to read about characters wasting away in complete grime and isolation. And man, what a great, understated last paragraph.
Overall, I appreciate the musical style of the writing and the unique perspective it offers. I only gave it three stars, because I prefer plot-driven stories over montages. But I would recommend it to others.
This book is essentially the rambling of an old, blind man, Homer as he reflects back on his life spent with his trusty brother, Langley in their family’s mansion in New York City. The book doesn’t have chapters or parts. It’s just one long retrospect – flowing from one event to the next in a roughly chronological fashion. Sounds pretty standard, right? What gives this book an edge is that these two main characters are bizarre compulsive hoarders. Even more interesting, these characters, their legendary accumulation of junk and their news-worthy deaths are based on actual people and events. Sure, Doctorow took some liberties with the story (remember, he was "interpreting"), but the basic premise, in all its absurdity, is true. And honestly, if the book did not have this anchor in reality, I would have had a hard time surrendering to the story.
Most of the time I didn’t know how to react to the text. Sometimes I’d take it seriously – trying to understand Langley’s theories. Sometimes I was overwhelmed with pity, because Doctorow does a great job of showing their gradual degradation and making these two weirdoes likeable. Sometimes I remained judgmental of all the nonconforming behavior and filth. Sometimes I just had to laugh - while wondering if it was wrong to be laughing. After joining the audience's laughter at several of Doctorow’s jokes and witty comments, I think this is what he intended – especially when Langley assembles an actual car in the dining room.
Given all my conflicting engagements with the book, I was eager for answers. My number one question was about placing the book in a genre. Alas, Doctorow eschewed the interviewer’s question about picking a genre for his works. He said he doesn’t like how people keep sticking adjectives in front of his title as a novelist. It is fine, he said, if people want to describe him as a historical novelist, a post-modern novelist, or whatever else. But he’s not going to help them in their categorization or even pay them much mind. Overall, his response was thoughtful, but I am still vaguely unsatisfied. Maybe I'm just a labeling freak.
Doctorow also said that Homer’s voice came very easily to him as he wrote. It shows. He does an admirable job of describing Homer’s blindness and all the sounds of life. I would say that this book does for sound what Patrick Süskind's Perfume did for smell. Since I am comparing books, it also reminds me of Pete Hamill’s Forever in that it shows the changing tides of New York City and even America. Yet Doctorow’s book is faster and more enjoyable than Hamill’s.
Thankfully, this is a very quick read. Doctorow was wise to keep in short, because I don’t think I could have handled much more; it's hard to read about characters wasting away in complete grime and isolation. And man, what a great, understated last paragraph.
Overall, I appreciate the musical style of the writing and the unique perspective it offers. I only gave it three stars, because I prefer plot-driven stories over montages. But I would recommend it to others.
June 20, 2019
Doctorow vuelve a darnos una clase magistral de cómo recrear la historia. Partiendo de un hecho verídico, el del descubrimiento de los cuerpos de los hermanos Collyer en su mansión de la Quinta Avenida en Manhattan, Doctorow nos relata su versión de cómo podrían haber llegado a ese estado. O más bien, en palabras del propio autor: "Como mitos que son, los hermanos Collyer requerían no que se investigara sobre ellos sino que se les interpretara."
La historia está narrada por Homer Collyer, el hermano ciego, que nos cuenta como ha transcurrido su vida junto a su hermano Langley. Realmente, no hay un comienzo, simplemente Homer empieza su historia partiendo del momento en que perdió la vista, antes de los veinte años, y de cómo tuvo que adaptarse a la vida a partir de ese momento; pero no perdió la vista de golpe, sino paulatinamente, como en un fundido en negro. Preparándose para este hecho, Homer se memoriza su casa y los lugares de alrededor, al tiempo que sigue asistiendo al Conservatorio y tocando el piano.
El inquieto hermano de Homer, Langley, es el otro elemento protagonista de la novela. Langley, ingeniero, es una persona rara, que siempre está pensando extrañas teorías, como la Teoría de los Reemplazos, basada en que somos el reemplazo de nuestros padres, la generación anterior, y que existe reemplazo para todo y para todos. Pero la teoría más peculiar, la que estará presente durante toda la vida de ambos hermanos, será la del periódico único para todos los tiempos, con el cuál podrás saber todo lo que pasará porque la historia siempre termina repitiéndose; esta es una explicación sencilla. Para confeccionarlo, Langley compra todos los periódicos en sus ediciones matutinas y vespertinas, recortando todo aquello que sea de interés para su proyecto. Este es el punto de inflexión, el que marcará el devenir de la vida en la mansión, ya que la acumulación de periódicos es sustancial. Pero aún se agravará más con el regreso de Langley de la Gran Guerra, momento a partir del cuál almacenará también cualesquiera tipo de objetos que crea puedan serles de utilidad, o no, porque tener un coche en el salón no creo que sea muy útil, ¿verdad?
No querría contar mucho más de esta extraordinaria historia porque parte de su interés radica en el descubrimiento por uno mismo del transcurrir de la vida de los personajes, contado maravillosamente por Homer.
Doctorow lo tenía muy fácil para caer en el sentimentalismo gratuito, intentando buscarnos la fibra sensible, o adoptando una postura en la que los hermanos quedasen como unos meros chalados excéntricos de los que reírse. Pero todo lo contrario, el tacto y la profundidad en la escritura de Doctorow, su planteamiento al desvelarnos esta historia, es exquisita.
En mi recuerdo quedarán la bondad y comprensión de Homer, las teorías de Langley, la parte del gángster Vincent, o la del matrimonio Hoshiyama, y tantos otros, y, cómo no, la demoledora última frase.
La historia está narrada por Homer Collyer, el hermano ciego, que nos cuenta como ha transcurrido su vida junto a su hermano Langley. Realmente, no hay un comienzo, simplemente Homer empieza su historia partiendo del momento en que perdió la vista, antes de los veinte años, y de cómo tuvo que adaptarse a la vida a partir de ese momento; pero no perdió la vista de golpe, sino paulatinamente, como en un fundido en negro. Preparándose para este hecho, Homer se memoriza su casa y los lugares de alrededor, al tiempo que sigue asistiendo al Conservatorio y tocando el piano.
El inquieto hermano de Homer, Langley, es el otro elemento protagonista de la novela. Langley, ingeniero, es una persona rara, que siempre está pensando extrañas teorías, como la Teoría de los Reemplazos, basada en que somos el reemplazo de nuestros padres, la generación anterior, y que existe reemplazo para todo y para todos. Pero la teoría más peculiar, la que estará presente durante toda la vida de ambos hermanos, será la del periódico único para todos los tiempos, con el cuál podrás saber todo lo que pasará porque la historia siempre termina repitiéndose; esta es una explicación sencilla. Para confeccionarlo, Langley compra todos los periódicos en sus ediciones matutinas y vespertinas, recortando todo aquello que sea de interés para su proyecto. Este es el punto de inflexión, el que marcará el devenir de la vida en la mansión, ya que la acumulación de periódicos es sustancial. Pero aún se agravará más con el regreso de Langley de la Gran Guerra, momento a partir del cuál almacenará también cualesquiera tipo de objetos que crea puedan serles de utilidad, o no, porque tener un coche en el salón no creo que sea muy útil, ¿verdad?
No querría contar mucho más de esta extraordinaria historia porque parte de su interés radica en el descubrimiento por uno mismo del transcurrir de la vida de los personajes, contado maravillosamente por Homer.
Doctorow lo tenía muy fácil para caer en el sentimentalismo gratuito, intentando buscarnos la fibra sensible, o adoptando una postura en la que los hermanos quedasen como unos meros chalados excéntricos de los que reírse. Pero todo lo contrario, el tacto y la profundidad en la escritura de Doctorow, su planteamiento al desvelarnos esta historia, es exquisita.
En mi recuerdo quedarán la bondad y comprensión de Homer, las teorías de Langley, la parte del gángster Vincent, o la del matrimonio Hoshiyama, y tantos otros, y, cómo no, la demoledora última frase.
January 9, 2024
چقدر خوب دوران انزوا و فراموشی یک خانواده را به تصویر کشیده بود، چه پایان خوبی داشت. داستان دو برادر که یکی از آن‌ها نابینا است و دیگری در جنگ آسیب‌دیده است. کتاب روایت زندگی آن‌هاست با هم...در حالی‌که به مدلی عجیب و غریب از زندگی رو می‌کنند.
در جایی خواندم دکتروف در کنار دیگر رمان‌هایش مثل رگتایم و بیلی باتگیت، خواسته جنبه‌ی دیگری از زندگی در امریکا و جوانب وحشتناک آن را در این کتاب به تصویر بکشد و نقد کند.
در جایی خواندم دکتروف در کنار دیگر رمان‌هایش مثل رگتایم و بیلی باتگیت، خواسته جنبه‌ی دیگری از زندگی در امریکا و جوانب وحشتناک آن را در این کتاب به تصویر بکشد و نقد کند.
January 6, 2020
There is an elegiac tone to this fictionalized memoir of Homer Collyer, typed by him on a Braille typewriter shortly before his death, recalling lives of increasingly eccentric behavior and squalor he and his brother Langley led in the family home on Fifth Avenue across from Central Park, from the 1880s to the Vietnam War era. Although Doctorow based the novel on the real Collyer brothers, and in spite of the fact that he has them directly participate in a great deal of America's history for two recluses, I wouldn't say that the book's appeal is really to fans of historical fiction. Rather, readers who enjoy oddball humor and seeing the world from a quirky point of view might like this; think Annie Proulx's The Shipping News or Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteredge. I also found Homer's reflections on his sensory experience of life, which included his gradual loss of sight during high school and later loss of hearing, and therefore his beloved music, to be moving. Doctorow offers some nice, thought-provoking turns of phrase, as well:
And then there was that feeling one gets in a ride to a cemetery trailing a body in a coffin-an impatience with the dead, a longing to be back home where one could get on with the illusion that not death but daily life is the permanent condition.
May 13, 2020
“..νεκροταφείο που ακολουθεί ένα σώμα σε ένα
φέρετρο - μια ανυπομονησία με τους νεκρούς,
μια λαχτάρα να επιστρέψει στο σπίτι όπου
κάποιος θα μπορούσε να συνεχίσει
με την ψευδαίσθηση ότι όχι ο θάνατος
αλλά η καθημερινή ζωή είναι
η μόνιμη κατάσταση. “
Έχουν και οι λέξεις μουσική που ακούγεται όταν σκέφτεσαι. Όταν σκέφτεσαι μια λέξη
ακούς τον ήχος της - οι λέξεις έχουν μουσική και αν είσαι μουσικός θα γράφεις για να τις ακούς.
Το βιβλίο «Χόμερ & Λάνγκλεϋ» του Doctorow είναι μυθιστοριογραφία βασισμένη σε αληθινά γεγονότα.
Πρόκειται για μια θλιβερή και συγκλονιστική ιστορία
που υφαίνεται με άπλετο συγγραφικό ταλέντο και καταφέρνει να αναισθητοποιεί τις αισθήσεις και να εκπλήσσει τον αναγνώστη με το στοιχειωτικό και αξέχαστο πλαίσιο αναφοράς της σκληρής πραγματικότητας.
Αναφέρεται σε δυο εσωστρεφείς αναχωρητές της ζωής, δυο θλιβερούς, μοναχικούς και αυτάρκεις άνδρες
που ως αδέλφια αποδεικνύουν στο πέρασμα των χρόνων την βάρβαρη ανθρώπινη φύση.
Την απελπιστικά ιδανική και ευνοϊκή κατάρα της τύχης που με δραματική ένταση και ακλόνητα παγιωμένη καταδίκη ενώνει μέχρι το θάνατο μια αλληλεξαρτώμενη και άνευ όρων αγάπη ανάμεσα στους αδελφούς Collyer με την αριστοκρατική καταγωγή και την εύπορη ζωή
που τους χάρισε αρχικά ο οικογενειακός, κληρονομικός και οικονομικός προϋπολογισμός της σιωπηρής ευωχίας τους.
Μια γενιά ανδρών που ολοκλήρωσε διαδικασίες αιώνων μέσα από ανάγκες προερχόμενες απο διαλεκτικές μήτρες ίσως να μπορούσαν
να αντιμετωπιστούν απο απόρθητα κάστρα ή απο καλύτερο μετερίζι.
Το αποτέλεσμα πάντως θα παραμείνει ίδιο.
Δεν χαμπαριάζει η άβυσσος της ύπαρξης απο κύματα μοναξιάς ή ανεπάρκειας στον ωκεανό της απαίτησης
και της αστάθειας των πάντων.
Καταραμένη εντροπία.
Οι αδελφοί Collyer ήταν εκκεντρικοί ρακοσυλλέκτες και συσσωρευτές στιγμών και αποφάσεων που ζούσαν στην Ν. Υόρκη.
Πάνω στα αληθινά γεγονότα της υπόθεσης αυτής
ο συγγραφέας βασίζεται και μετουσιώνει
τις αλλαγές του δημιουργώντας μια αφήγηση γλυκόπικρη σχετικά με μια αληθινή ιστορία τρέλας και εξάρτησης.
Μέσα απο τις εξελίξεις του 20ου αιώνα και τη συνοπτική φαντασία της Αμερικής τα διαβόητα αδέλφια της Πέμπτης λεωφόρου βιώνουν μεταμορφωτικές εξελίξεις σε κάθε έκφανση της ζωής συμπεριλαμβανομένης της μετάβασης σιωπηλών ταινιών σε ομιλούσες ταινίες στην τηλεόραση, την ανάπτυξη της τζαζ, τη Μεγάλη Ύφεση, τον Δεύτερο Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο , τον πόλεμο του Βιετνάμ και την αντιπολίτευση του, και το κίνημα πολιτικών δικαιωμάτων.
«Ήταν λες και οι καιροί πέρασαν από το σπίτι μας σαν άνεμος, και αυτά ήταν τα πράγματα που κατατέθηκαν εδώ από τους ανέμους του πολέμου».
Ο Χόμερ έχασε σταδιακά την όραση του μέχρι
την πλήρη τύφλωση στην ενηλικίωση του
και ο Λάνγκλεΰ επέστρεψε απο τον Α’ΠΠ σοφά ��αρανοϊκός και εμπεριστατωμένα εμμονικός.
Κάπως ξαφνικά μεγάλωσαν, κάπως αστεία ωρίμασαν, κάπως τραγικά έχασαν τους ευυπόληπτους γονείς τους και ξεκίνησε αυτή η παράδοξη και μπουκωμένη απο θλιβερά συναισθήματα και συσωρευμένα υλικά και ψυχικά σκουπίδια, ιστορία
Αυτή η ιστορία των θρυλικών αδελφών Collyer που χάθηκαν σε μεγάλη ηλικία στο κάποτε κομψό σπίτι της Fifth Avenue της οικογένειάς τους προσφέρει ένα μοναδικό ιστορικό πλεονέκτημα για την κοινωνία
της Νέας Υόρκης από τον Πρώτο Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο μέχρι το Δεύτερο, τελειώνοντας με τους θανάτους των αδελφών σε καταστροφές το 1947 .
Είμαστε όλοι εξοικειωμένοι με τον αστικό μύθο της εθελοντικής απομόνωσης,
του αρχαίου ερημίτη, που κρύβεται σε ένα άθλιο σπίτι γεμάτο με δοκάρια σαρακοφαγωμένα, έντομα, τρωκτικά, στοίβες με παλιές εφημερίδες και σκουπίδια κάθε λογής και περιγραφής.
Με χρονολογική εξέλιξη φτάνουμε στην κατάσταση της εξαθλίωσης κάθε μορφής, οντολογικής και υλικής.
Αυτός ο θρύλος μπορεί να ξεκίνησε με τους αδελφούς Collyer, των οποίων η εκκεντρική συμπεριφορά
κατά τη διάρκεια τριών δεκαετιών έγινε διαβόητη, πρώτα στους συγκλονισμένους γείτονές τους
και αργότερα σε εκατομμύρια Νεοϋορκέζους μέσω άθλιων άρθρων στον Τύπο της πόλης.
Ο Doctorow λέει την ιστορία της επιδείνωσής τους με την πάροδο των ετών σε αυτό το εντυπωσιακά μικρό και ιερά μακάβριο βιβλίο.
💞💞💜💜💞💞
Καλή ανάγνωση.
Πολλούς ασπασμούς.
φέρετρο - μια ανυπομονησία με τους νεκρούς,
μια λαχτάρα να επιστρέψει στο σπίτι όπου
κάποιος θα μπορούσε να συνεχίσει
με την ψευδαίσθηση ότι όχι ο θάνατος
αλλά η καθημερινή ζωή είναι
η μόνιμη κατάσταση. “
Έχουν και οι λέξεις μουσική που ακούγεται όταν σκέφτεσαι. Όταν σκέφτεσαι μια λέξη
ακούς τον ήχος της - οι λέξεις έχουν μουσική και αν είσαι μουσικός θα γράφεις για να τις ακούς.
Το βιβλίο «Χόμερ & Λάνγκλεϋ» του Doctorow είναι μυθιστοριογραφία βασισμένη σε αληθινά γεγονότα.
Πρόκειται για μια θλιβερή και συγκλονιστική ιστορία
που υφαίνεται με άπλετο συγγραφικό ταλέντο και καταφέρνει να αναισθητοποιεί τις αισθήσεις και να εκπλήσσει τον αναγνώστη με το στοιχειωτικό και αξέχαστο πλαίσιο αναφοράς της σκληρής πραγματικότητας.
Αναφέρεται σε δυο εσωστρεφείς αναχωρητές της ζωής, δυο θλιβερούς, μοναχικούς και αυτάρκεις άνδρες
που ως αδέλφια αποδεικνύουν στο πέρασμα των χρόνων την βάρβαρη ανθρώπινη φύση.
Την απελπιστικά ιδανική και ευνοϊκή κατάρα της τύχης που με δραματική ένταση και ακλόνητα παγιωμένη καταδίκη ενώνει μέχρι το θάνατο μια αλληλεξαρτώμενη και άνευ όρων αγάπη ανάμεσα στους αδελφούς Collyer με την αριστοκρατική καταγωγή και την εύπορη ζωή
που τους χάρισε αρχικά ο οικογενειακός, κληρονομικός και οικονομικός προϋπολογισμός της σιωπηρής ευωχίας τους.
Μια γενιά ανδρών που ολοκλήρωσε διαδικασίες αιώνων μέσα από ανάγκες προερχόμενες απο διαλεκτικές μήτρες ίσως να μπορούσαν
να αντιμετωπιστούν απο απόρθητα κάστρα ή απο καλύτερο μετερίζι.
Το αποτέλεσμα πάντως θα παραμείνει ίδιο.
Δεν χαμπαριάζει η άβυσσος της ύπαρξης απο κύματα μοναξιάς ή ανεπάρκειας στον ωκεανό της απαίτησης
και της αστάθειας των πάντων.
Καταραμένη εντροπία.
Οι αδελφοί Collyer ήταν εκκεντρικοί ρακοσυλλέκτες και συσσωρευτές στιγμών και αποφάσεων που ζούσαν στην Ν. Υόρκη.
Πάνω στα αληθινά γεγονότα της υπόθεσης αυτής
ο συγγραφέας βασίζεται και μετουσιώνει
τις αλλαγές του δημιουργώντας μια αφήγηση γλυκόπικρη σχετικά με μια αληθινή ιστορία τρέλας και εξάρτησης.
Μέσα απο τις εξελίξεις του 20ου αιώνα και τη συνοπτική φαντασία της Αμερικής τα διαβόητα αδέλφια της Πέμπτης λεωφόρου βιώνουν μεταμορφωτικές εξελίξεις σε κάθε έκφανση της ζωής συμπεριλαμβανομένης της μετάβασης σιωπηλών ταινιών σε ομιλούσες ταινίες στην τηλεόραση, την ανάπτυξη της τζαζ, τη Μεγάλη Ύφεση, τον Δεύτερο Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο , τον πόλεμο του Βιετνάμ και την αντιπολίτευση του, και το κίνημα πολιτικών δικαιωμάτων.
«Ήταν λες και οι καιροί πέρασαν από το σπίτι μας σαν άνεμος, και αυτά ήταν τα πράγματα που κατατέθηκαν εδώ από τους ανέμους του πολέμου».
Ο Χόμερ έχασε σταδιακά την όραση του μέχρι
την πλήρη τύφλωση στην ενηλικίωση του
και ο Λάνγκλεΰ επέστρεψε απο τον Α’ΠΠ σοφά ��αρανοϊκός και εμπεριστατωμένα εμμονικός.
Κάπως ξαφνικά μεγάλωσαν, κάπως αστεία ωρίμασαν, κάπως τραγικά έχασαν τους ευυπόληπτους γονείς τους και ξεκίνησε αυτή η παράδοξη και μπουκωμένη απο θλιβερά συναισθήματα και συσωρευμένα υλικά και ψυχικά σκουπίδια, ιστορία
Αυτή η ιστορία των θρυλικών αδελφών Collyer που χάθηκαν σε μεγάλη ηλικία στο κάποτε κομψό σπίτι της Fifth Avenue της οικογένειάς τους προσφέρει ένα μοναδικό ιστορικό πλεονέκτημα για την κοινωνία
της Νέας Υόρκης από τον Πρώτο Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο μέχρι το Δεύτερο, τελειώνοντας με τους θανάτους των αδελφών σε καταστροφές το 1947 .
Είμαστε όλοι εξοικειωμένοι με τον αστικό μύθο της εθελοντικής απομόνωσης,
του αρχαίου ερημίτη, που κρύβεται σε ένα άθλιο σπίτι γεμάτο με δοκάρια σαρακοφαγωμένα, έντομα, τρωκτικά, στοίβες με παλιές εφημερίδες και σκουπίδια κάθε λογής και περιγραφής.
Με χρονολογική εξέλιξη φτάνουμε στην κατάσταση της εξαθλίωσης κάθε μορφής, οντολογικής και υλικής.
Αυτός ο θρύλος μπορεί να ξεκίνησε με τους αδελφούς Collyer, των οποίων η εκκεντρική συμπεριφορά
κατά τη διάρκεια τριών δεκαετιών έγινε διαβόητη, πρώτα στους συγκλονισμένους γείτονές τους
και αργότερα σε εκατομμύρια Νεοϋορκέζους μέσω άθλιων άρθρων στον Τύπο της πόλης.
Ο Doctorow λέει την ιστορία της επιδείνωσής τους με την πάροδο των ετών σε αυτό το εντυπωσιακά μικρό και ιερά μακάβριο βιβλίο.
💞💞💜💜💞💞
Καλή ανάγνωση.
Πολλούς ασπασμούς.
February 15, 2017
Em 1947, foram encontrados os cadáveres dos irmãos Homer e Langley Collyer, que residiam numa mansão da Quinta Avenida, em Manhattan.
"Langley ia a rastejar por um dos túneis de fardos de jornais, para levar comida ao irmão cego e paralisado, quando acionou uma das armadilhas, ficando soterrado debaixo de uma pilha de coisas."
Homer morreu de fome e desidratação.
Foram retirados da casa 140 toneladas de objectos, entre eles um automóvel.
Utilizando a narrativa na primeira pessoa, pela "voz" de Homer, Doctorow dá-nos a conhecer a história de dois homens a quem a morte prematura dos pais, as guerras, a rigidez das instituições, levaram ao isolamento. Apesar de se tratar de uma história dramática, a narrativa é leve, excepto a última frase - curta mas com um significado atroz.
Antes de ler o livro, vi algumas das dezenas de fotografias publicadas na Internet (agora já não as quero ver) e pensava que só dois loucos poderiam ter vivido assim. Já não penso assim. Homer era um homem sensível limitado pela sua cegueira; Langley um homem muito inteligente mas inadaptado socialmente.
Na opinião do Miguel há uma frase que vou roubar porque ilustra perfeitamente também a minha leitura deste livro: "nunca conseguimos decidir se é o mais libertador e radical dos sonhos ou o mais horrível e angustiante dos pesadelos."
"Langley ia a rastejar por um dos túneis de fardos de jornais, para levar comida ao irmão cego e paralisado, quando acionou uma das armadilhas, ficando soterrado debaixo de uma pilha de coisas."
Homer morreu de fome e desidratação.
Foram retirados da casa 140 toneladas de objectos, entre eles um automóvel.
Utilizando a narrativa na primeira pessoa, pela "voz" de Homer, Doctorow dá-nos a conhecer a história de dois homens a quem a morte prematura dos pais, as guerras, a rigidez das instituições, levaram ao isolamento. Apesar de se tratar de uma história dramática, a narrativa é leve, excepto a última frase - curta mas com um significado atroz.
Antes de ler o livro, vi algumas das dezenas de fotografias publicadas na Internet (agora já não as quero ver) e pensava que só dois loucos poderiam ter vivido assim. Já não penso assim. Homer era um homem sensível limitado pela sua cegueira; Langley um homem muito inteligente mas inadaptado socialmente.
Na opinião do Miguel há uma frase que vou roubar porque ilustra perfeitamente também a minha leitura deste livro: "nunca conseguimos decidir se é o mais libertador e radical dos sonhos ou o mais horrível e angustiante dos pesadelos."
October 10, 2017
داستان هومر و لنگلی زیباترین و بهترین کتابی بود که در عمرم خونده ام.هر 3-4صفحه ای که میخوندم مدام به عکس پشت جلد که عکس نویسنده کتاب بود و لبخند میزد نگاه میکردم.مدام میدیدم صفحه چندمم و چقدر میونده.بدترین احساس رو حین خوندن کتاب داشتم.از یه طرف چون عاشق کتاب بودم نمیخواستم تموم بشه و میخواستم تا ابد بخونمش از یه طرف میخواستم سریع تموم بشه و از این دنیای تیره و تار رها بشم..
شخصیت اول داستان یعنی هومر مثل اسکوبی جان کلام،فلوری روزهای برمه و 2پسر مرگ فروشنده بود.حتی از اونها هم بهم نزدیک تر.
دنیایی که توسط هومر وصف شده بود دنیایی نبود که فقط حس ترحم رو نسبت به خودش و برادرش لنگلی برام به وجود بیاره بلکه هرکسی توی هرجمله و حسرت و نابودی و تباهی اون میتونست روزهای رفته خودش رو هم ببینه.داستان زوال و سقوط از اوج.در حالی که هومر و لنگلی توی بهترین شرایط ظاهری به دنیا اومدن اما بدجور دچار مشکلات خودساخته یا مشکلات تحمیلی زندگی و جامعه شدن.
من اصلا فکرشو نمی��ردم این داستان واقعی باشه و همین به شدت منو شوکه کرد.جایی که حرف از جایزه پولیتزر برای عکس از لنگلی شد متوجه این موضوع شدم و دیدن عکسای اونا بشدت متاثرم کرد.
بعضی قسمتای کتاب خیلی تاثیرگذار بودن:پرتاب سنگ توسط بچه ها به خونه هومر و لنگلی.توصیفات هومر از مادرش که اونو به خرید میبرد.بازی کردنای دوبرادر در بچگی.مشت زدن یه پلیس به هومر.برخورد بد وینست و دار و دسته اش با دو برادر.
در کل عالی بود.خیلی خیلی زیبا بود
شخصیت اول داستان یعنی هومر مثل اسکوبی جان کلام،فلوری روزهای برمه و 2پسر مرگ فروشنده بود.حتی از اونها هم بهم نزدیک تر.
دنیایی که توسط هومر وصف شده بود دنیایی نبود که فقط حس ترحم رو نسبت به خودش و برادرش لنگلی برام به وجود بیاره بلکه هرکسی توی هرجمله و حسرت و نابودی و تباهی اون میتونست روزهای رفته خودش رو هم ببینه.داستان زوال و سقوط از اوج.در حالی که هومر و لنگلی توی بهترین شرایط ظاهری به دنیا اومدن اما بدجور دچار مشکلات خودساخته یا مشکلات تحمیلی زندگی و جامعه شدن.
من اصلا فکرشو نمی��ردم این داستان واقعی باشه و همین به شدت منو شوکه کرد.جایی که حرف از جایزه پولیتزر برای عکس از لنگلی شد متوجه این موضوع شدم و دیدن عکسای اونا بشدت متاثرم کرد.
بعضی قسمتای کتاب خیلی تاثیرگذار بودن:پرتاب سنگ توسط بچه ها به خونه هومر و لنگلی.توصیفات هومر از مادرش که اونو به خرید میبرد.بازی کردنای دوبرادر در بچگی.مشت زدن یه پلیس به هومر.برخورد بد وینست و دار و دسته اش با دو برادر.
در کل عالی بود.خیلی خیلی زیبا بود
January 17, 2016
Well, this book is absolutely beautiful. I am still thinking about what I want to say about Homer & Langley, while simultaneously composing a letter to E.L. Doctorow in my head. I felt this novel deeply and I am marveling at Doctorow's ability with words and language which activate the senses while creating images that linger.
More of a review to come.
Okay, so after pondering for a couple of days, here is what I have come up with:
This novel was released in 2009, but just this past fall, the trade paperback edition became available. I am aware that Homer & Langley received very mixed reviews, with readers feeling either middling about it or loving it. Like any good historical novelist pushing the limits of his craft, Doctorow takes chances. The author’s treatment of the history was a negative for some critics, while others felt the narrator was less than engaging and the imagined historical details were unconvincing, while others still, including the New York Times, opined that Doctorow "never succeeds in making the brothers’ transition from mild eccentricity to out-and-out madness understandable to the reader." Yet even the detractors gave a nod to the author’s stylistic prose.
My reaction to this novel was very strong and I felt it deeply – with my senses and my emotions. Repeatedly I found myself imagining Homer’s ability to take in so much about the world after he lost his sight. The intuition he possessed coupled with other senses being heightened made for a very evolved character with insights that helped filled in the holes of his life. Langley made for an equally interesting, though not as fully fleshed character. Because we are receiving the story from Homer, and though their relationship was unusually strong, we are never fully privy to the action inside Langley’s brain. I do wonder, however, if Langley would be self-aware enough as to categorize his behaviours as well as he categorized his newspaper articles? To me, it is a beautifully imagined brotherhood Doctorow has created; a story inspired by how Homer and Langley lived, rather than sensationalizing how they died. Certainly, many liberties were taken by Doctorow in creating this story and it seems to be this aspect of the book that has the largest share of naysayers debating the label of historical fiction being applied to Doctorow’s book. The book spans nearly 70 years, from just before WWI to the years after the Vietnam War. In this regard, many eras are referenced through the brothers lives. But, it is not so much a recounting of the unusual story of the Collyer brothers as a journey inside that story. Call it a meditation, and a metaphor.
Doctorow’s novel is absolutely beautiful, to me, and I am amazed that he could accomplish so much in such a short (the edition I have is only 208 pages) book. "I’m Homer, the blind brother." is the very first line of Homer & Langley. We know immediately, then, this story will offer a very unique perspective, while signalling, also, that the pages within contain not just a usual story. I feel the eras covered – WWI, the Great Depression, prohibition, the Korean War, The assassinations of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King Jr., the hippie movement and the Vietnam War – allowed the book to read, almost like a road trip novel with Homer and Langley benefiting from social interactions, without leaving their home. That Doctorow moved the setting of his novel from the actual home in Harlem, to an imagined Manhattan brownstone on Fifth Avenue, directly across from Central Park, likely allowed for more artistic license with the outside world coming into the brothers’ home so they could have first-hand experiences while being nearly complete shut-ins.
There is no doubt many found, and continue to find the real story of the Collyer brothers sad. If you look at photos taken from inside their home, you wonder how it is even possible they lived among all of the detritus. What Doctorow has done so well, then, is ask us to look at the tale through a different lens and dig within ourselves and extend compassion to two brothers who were likely never really understood and continue, in this world of media-provoked hoarders interest, to be viewed as bizarre and reprehensible. In Doctorow’s view, Homer & Langley are sensitive, highly-intelligent, lonely men, trying to find their purpose in the world. I think this is something we can all relate to and appreciate.
More of a review to come.
Okay, so after pondering for a couple of days, here is what I have come up with:
This novel was released in 2009, but just this past fall, the trade paperback edition became available. I am aware that Homer & Langley received very mixed reviews, with readers feeling either middling about it or loving it. Like any good historical novelist pushing the limits of his craft, Doctorow takes chances. The author’s treatment of the history was a negative for some critics, while others felt the narrator was less than engaging and the imagined historical details were unconvincing, while others still, including the New York Times, opined that Doctorow "never succeeds in making the brothers’ transition from mild eccentricity to out-and-out madness understandable to the reader." Yet even the detractors gave a nod to the author’s stylistic prose.
My reaction to this novel was very strong and I felt it deeply – with my senses and my emotions. Repeatedly I found myself imagining Homer’s ability to take in so much about the world after he lost his sight. The intuition he possessed coupled with other senses being heightened made for a very evolved character with insights that helped filled in the holes of his life. Langley made for an equally interesting, though not as fully fleshed character. Because we are receiving the story from Homer, and though their relationship was unusually strong, we are never fully privy to the action inside Langley’s brain. I do wonder, however, if Langley would be self-aware enough as to categorize his behaviours as well as he categorized his newspaper articles? To me, it is a beautifully imagined brotherhood Doctorow has created; a story inspired by how Homer and Langley lived, rather than sensationalizing how they died. Certainly, many liberties were taken by Doctorow in creating this story and it seems to be this aspect of the book that has the largest share of naysayers debating the label of historical fiction being applied to Doctorow’s book. The book spans nearly 70 years, from just before WWI to the years after the Vietnam War. In this regard, many eras are referenced through the brothers lives. But, it is not so much a recounting of the unusual story of the Collyer brothers as a journey inside that story. Call it a meditation, and a metaphor.
Doctorow’s novel is absolutely beautiful, to me, and I am amazed that he could accomplish so much in such a short (the edition I have is only 208 pages) book. "I’m Homer, the blind brother." is the very first line of Homer & Langley. We know immediately, then, this story will offer a very unique perspective, while signalling, also, that the pages within contain not just a usual story. I feel the eras covered – WWI, the Great Depression, prohibition, the Korean War, The assassinations of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King Jr., the hippie movement and the Vietnam War – allowed the book to read, almost like a road trip novel with Homer and Langley benefiting from social interactions, without leaving their home. That Doctorow moved the setting of his novel from the actual home in Harlem, to an imagined Manhattan brownstone on Fifth Avenue, directly across from Central Park, likely allowed for more artistic license with the outside world coming into the brothers’ home so they could have first-hand experiences while being nearly complete shut-ins.
There is no doubt many found, and continue to find the real story of the Collyer brothers sad. If you look at photos taken from inside their home, you wonder how it is even possible they lived among all of the detritus. What Doctorow has done so well, then, is ask us to look at the tale through a different lens and dig within ourselves and extend compassion to two brothers who were likely never really understood and continue, in this world of media-provoked hoarders interest, to be viewed as bizarre and reprehensible. In Doctorow’s view, Homer & Langley are sensitive, highly-intelligent, lonely men, trying to find their purpose in the world. I think this is something we can all relate to and appreciate.
November 17, 2018
I usually tend to stay away from fiction which features real characters as protagonists, but decided to make an exception for Homer & Langley, a novel by E.L. Doctorow which he published in 2009. I had it on my list for years and years, until my interest finally piqued and I decided to give in.
I became interested in this novel precisely because of its subject matter - Homer and Langley, the Collyer brothers. The Collyers are probably the most well known (and tragic) compulsive hoarders, who collected books, newspapers and random rubbish in their home in Manhattan, which they inherited after their mother passed away. The two brothers were very close to one another but became more and more secluded and decoupled from the world around them, finding comfort in each other and the multitude of things that they collected. However, despite their best efforts to not be bothered by others their hoarding drew considerable public attention. In order to defy burglar and intruders, Langley constructed an elaborate network of mazes and booby traps, which were supposed to protect their treasures from thieving hands. Since Homer went blind in the early 1933, Langley took care of his brother and read him newspapers and novels, as well as performed music for him on the piano. He claimed to collect old newspapers so that his brother could read them and catch up on the news when he regains his sight, and he attempted to help him do that by devising a dietary which consisted of peanut butter, black bread and a hundred oranges a week.
There's no doubt that Langley was genuinely devoted to his brother, but he is also the one who hastened his death. Both brothers refused doctors and refused to seek professional help, but one can wonder what would have happened if Langley managed to convince himself - and Homer - to go to a hospital in order to seek treatment for his brother. Since Homer was blind and later became paralyzed, he could not leave his home and depended on his brother for even the most basic things. Because he couldn't - or didn't want to - the story of the brothers ends tragically: one day Langley was caught in one his own trap and crushed under the debris, which left his brother helpless and unable to seek help, as he was his sole guardian. After considerable search city authorities eventually found both brothers dead inside their own fortress, in which they collected more than 140 tons of junk.
The story of the Collyers is sad to the point of being heartbreaking, and this is why I felt let down by this novel. While Doctorow is a great stylist and the voice that he gives to Homer whom he makes the narrator is believable, I felt that the story of the two brothers was only the backdrop to a larger picture that he wanted to paint - that of American history changing throughout the 20th century. He extends the brothers' lifespan well into the 1970's and describes many events which happened throughout the time, but since the brothers don't actively participate in them we feel that they serve as a background decoration to an exercise in - what, exactly? The novel struggles to find its focus. It obviously doesn't want to be a dramatization of the already known story of the two brothers, but the list of historical events which are mentioned doesn't fit compliment it. The true story is moving enough, and doesn't need any further expansion or addition.
If you are interested in learning more about the real Homer and Langley, a YouTuber known as Fredrik Knudsen has created a series of informative videos about interesting subjects and featured them in an episode. It's an excellent and well researched video, and you can watch it here. Strongly recommended!
I became interested in this novel precisely because of its subject matter - Homer and Langley, the Collyer brothers. The Collyers are probably the most well known (and tragic) compulsive hoarders, who collected books, newspapers and random rubbish in their home in Manhattan, which they inherited after their mother passed away. The two brothers were very close to one another but became more and more secluded and decoupled from the world around them, finding comfort in each other and the multitude of things that they collected. However, despite their best efforts to not be bothered by others their hoarding drew considerable public attention. In order to defy burglar and intruders, Langley constructed an elaborate network of mazes and booby traps, which were supposed to protect their treasures from thieving hands. Since Homer went blind in the early 1933, Langley took care of his brother and read him newspapers and novels, as well as performed music for him on the piano. He claimed to collect old newspapers so that his brother could read them and catch up on the news when he regains his sight, and he attempted to help him do that by devising a dietary which consisted of peanut butter, black bread and a hundred oranges a week.
There's no doubt that Langley was genuinely devoted to his brother, but he is also the one who hastened his death. Both brothers refused doctors and refused to seek professional help, but one can wonder what would have happened if Langley managed to convince himself - and Homer - to go to a hospital in order to seek treatment for his brother. Since Homer was blind and later became paralyzed, he could not leave his home and depended on his brother for even the most basic things. Because he couldn't - or didn't want to - the story of the brothers ends tragically: one day Langley was caught in one his own trap and crushed under the debris, which left his brother helpless and unable to seek help, as he was his sole guardian. After considerable search city authorities eventually found both brothers dead inside their own fortress, in which they collected more than 140 tons of junk.
The story of the Collyers is sad to the point of being heartbreaking, and this is why I felt let down by this novel. While Doctorow is a great stylist and the voice that he gives to Homer whom he makes the narrator is believable, I felt that the story of the two brothers was only the backdrop to a larger picture that he wanted to paint - that of American history changing throughout the 20th century. He extends the brothers' lifespan well into the 1970's and describes many events which happened throughout the time, but since the brothers don't actively participate in them we feel that they serve as a background decoration to an exercise in - what, exactly? The novel struggles to find its focus. It obviously doesn't want to be a dramatization of the already known story of the two brothers, but the list of historical events which are mentioned doesn't fit compliment it. The true story is moving enough, and doesn't need any further expansion or addition.
If you are interested in learning more about the real Homer and Langley, a YouTuber known as Fredrik Knudsen has created a series of informative videos about interesting subjects and featured them in an episode. It's an excellent and well researched video, and you can watch it here. Strongly recommended!
August 18, 2019
Η πληρότητα μιας αναγνωστικής απόλαυσης, που ξεκίνησε νωρίς το πρωί και τελείωσε το απόγευμα της ίδιας ημέρας, μόνο και μόνο γιατί, σελίδα τη σελίδα, δεν μπορούσα να το αφήσω από τα χέρια μου.
July 20, 2010
Doctorow's books, at least the two that I've read, proceed so patiently that you almost get bored. Perhaps in the same way that one might get "bored" watching an elephant or great blue heron: a thing of slow beauty.
So the story doesn't move like an episode of "24." It's OK. Doctorow is eating you all the while, a python novelist wrapping himself around you until one little squeeze will do you in. The last four short sentences of HOMER & LANGLEY, for instance (like the final chapters of WORLD'S FAIR), will take your breath away.
The story is based on the true story of two Manhattan recluses of the early 20th century, the Homer & Langley (Collyer) named in the title. The original brothers were a cause célèbre much like the Edith Beales, mother and daughter of Grey Gardens fame (and the subject of the 1975 Maysles brothers documentary).
Doctorow uses many of the facts of the historical precedent, such as the physical conditions of the brothers, their hoarding behavior, their family pedigree, and many of the pieces of junk found in the house. He invents other things: for instance shifting their lifespan to include the 60's, and suggesting ancillary characters like an R. Crumb-style cartoonist. Langley, a depressed war veteran, creates a new kind of Platonic philosophy of Ideals, and works quixotically on a newspaper to contain all stories for all time.
Despite his plans, Langley cannot predict what will happen. Homer, the blind brother, can: a pianist, he loses his sense of hearing little by little, as events and circumstances close in around him. He is also the narrator of the novel, typing it on a braille typewriter to a possibly imaginary interlocutor. He knows what is happening; what strength does he have to give it voice?
In 208 pages, Doctorow covers seven decades in gorgeous prose, and evokes our current, desperate times with heartbreaking acuity. We, too, know what is happening, don't we? What will we do?
*
WHY I READ THIS BOOK: Facebook. I was re-acquainted with an old college classmate, who, I discovered, lives in Seattle. We met for coffee and ended up visiting Elliott Bay Bookstore next door to the cafe. We decided to recommend a book to each other: for Patty I chose CHARLATAN by Pope Brock (she wanted a good non-fiction book for the plane); she chose this one for me, having just read and liked it.
I always appreciate books that appear seemingly in their own time and purpose. Lately I've been reading books about America and our purpose in this moment in time. Now, with no plan, I ended up being handed a book on these precise topics. Is it fate? Circumstance? The natural harmony of conversations? The music of chance? I don't know, but it's part of what makes storytelling and reading so magical.
So the story doesn't move like an episode of "24." It's OK. Doctorow is eating you all the while, a python novelist wrapping himself around you until one little squeeze will do you in. The last four short sentences of HOMER & LANGLEY, for instance (like the final chapters of WORLD'S FAIR), will take your breath away.
The story is based on the true story of two Manhattan recluses of the early 20th century, the Homer & Langley (Collyer) named in the title. The original brothers were a cause célèbre much like the Edith Beales, mother and daughter of Grey Gardens fame (and the subject of the 1975 Maysles brothers documentary).
Doctorow uses many of the facts of the historical precedent, such as the physical conditions of the brothers, their hoarding behavior, their family pedigree, and many of the pieces of junk found in the house. He invents other things: for instance shifting their lifespan to include the 60's, and suggesting ancillary characters like an R. Crumb-style cartoonist. Langley, a depressed war veteran, creates a new kind of Platonic philosophy of Ideals, and works quixotically on a newspaper to contain all stories for all time.
Despite his plans, Langley cannot predict what will happen. Homer, the blind brother, can: a pianist, he loses his sense of hearing little by little, as events and circumstances close in around him. He is also the narrator of the novel, typing it on a braille typewriter to a possibly imaginary interlocutor. He knows what is happening; what strength does he have to give it voice?
In 208 pages, Doctorow covers seven decades in gorgeous prose, and evokes our current, desperate times with heartbreaking acuity. We, too, know what is happening, don't we? What will we do?
*
WHY I READ THIS BOOK: Facebook. I was re-acquainted with an old college classmate, who, I discovered, lives in Seattle. We met for coffee and ended up visiting Elliott Bay Bookstore next door to the cafe. We decided to recommend a book to each other: for Patty I chose CHARLATAN by Pope Brock (she wanted a good non-fiction book for the plane); she chose this one for me, having just read and liked it.
I always appreciate books that appear seemingly in their own time and purpose. Lately I've been reading books about America and our purpose in this moment in time. Now, with no plan, I ended up being handed a book on these precise topics. Is it fate? Circumstance? The natural harmony of conversations? The music of chance? I don't know, but it's part of what makes storytelling and reading so magical.
December 4, 2020
Liked it, but found it rather hard to empathize with the characters.
December 3, 2017
Some see a re-telling of an urban myth based on the famous Collyer brothers.
And it is in many ways, they have certainly been the inspiration, many of their eccentricities have been put into the Homer & Langley of Doctorow and it makes a great scene for this story.
Doctorow expands the story approximately 40 years to include the post war years, the cold war years and the hippie years, to end it in the 80-ties, the decade when we all started being so seclusive self-conscious that we hardly made room for each other.
But it is so much more.
It is the retelling of the history of modern America, seen through Homer´s blind eyes.
From the beginning of the 20th century up till the 80-ties we through Homer and his brother witness the “decline and fall”, the majestic achievements and the depressive turns. Every little turn has significance when you are blind, every time something is moved to another place you will have to start over, learning to navigate safely in a changed environment.
And Homer does quite well. His brother Langley - being both his aide and the one who set up obstacles – is slowly but surely losing it. Langley means well, but is in many ways as blind as Homer.
It is an easy read and many times you will probably chuckle at the absurdities.
When you do, remember that Homer and Langley is me and you taken into extremes.
And it is in many ways, they have certainly been the inspiration, many of their eccentricities have been put into the Homer & Langley of Doctorow and it makes a great scene for this story.
Doctorow expands the story approximately 40 years to include the post war years, the cold war years and the hippie years, to end it in the 80-ties, the decade when we all started being so seclusive self-conscious that we hardly made room for each other.
But it is so much more.
It is the retelling of the history of modern America, seen through Homer´s blind eyes.
From the beginning of the 20th century up till the 80-ties we through Homer and his brother witness the “decline and fall”, the majestic achievements and the depressive turns. Every little turn has significance when you are blind, every time something is moved to another place you will have to start over, learning to navigate safely in a changed environment.
And Homer does quite well. His brother Langley - being both his aide and the one who set up obstacles – is slowly but surely losing it. Langley means well, but is in many ways as blind as Homer.
It is an easy read and many times you will probably chuckle at the absurdities.
When you do, remember that Homer and Langley is me and you taken into extremes.
September 21, 2009
I understand Doctorow is writing fiction; hell, I love his blending of reality and fictional fantasy in Ragtime. However, the real life of the Collyer brothers is so interesting and heartbreaking it doesn't need thirty extra years, various young women and other devices out of the writer's toolbox. This book has a hollow feeling at its core, completely unlike the stuffed-to-the-cornices Collyer mansion on New York City's Fifth Avenue. Homer and Langley (for whatever unnecessary reason, at least to this reader, E.L. turns their ages around) do not need sex, the moon landing and Jonestown to make them more accessible. If you are interested in these two characters--characters in the best sense of the word--pick up Franz Lidz's
Ghosty Men
instead.
October 26, 2015
"What do we really know? If every question is answered so that we know everything there is to know about life and the universe, what then? What will be different? The darkness will be there still. The deepest darkness. The darkness that is deeper than any sea-dingle."
This was a book I was pleased to read among my Batman graphic novels for July, weekly marathon and subsequent reviews for Batman: The Animated Series, and an assortment of shoujo/josei manga. It was only two-hundred and a few pages long and had a languorous yet hardly wasteful prose, with a first-person narrative that manages to be contemplative in all the right places, even heartbreaking.
A simple yet elegant story about brothers--one a blind and romantic musician as its storyteller; the other a cynical and aspiring philosopher with a penchant for collecting forgotten things--Homer and Langley follows their journey throughout distinct eras of American history, ranging from the two World Wars, the hippie, peace-loving late sixties to seventies, and the polarizing and tumultuous eighties which are the times the brothers still maintain an interactive yet somehow deteriorating contact with the outside world. By the nineties and as they reach old age, both Homer and Langley Collyer began to retreat further into their hermit lifestyle within the frugal comforts of their family house which had withstand and bore remnants of the decades that passed it by as seen from the trinkets and nostalgia-inducing objects left behind its quarters.
This was a strangely endearing novel, part-period piece and part-memoirs. It manages to be engaging in spite of the straightforward and linear storytelling. Nothing particularly exciting truly happens apart from the brother's encounters with a crime boss and the latter parts of the book where the Collyers became the talk of town because of their reclusive lifestyle and accumulating debts from public agencies. Homer as the first-person narrator is likeable enough. He is visually-impaired yet musically-inclined, describing the life he lived and experienced with his brother with such vivid richness in spite of his lack of sight. The transient relationships he had with other people always have a sad tinge to them most probably because of how deeply he allows himself to get attached, unguarded and unquestioning. He was such a romantic, highly contrasting his more stern and pragmatic brother.
Langley is a philosophizing cynic who believes in the Theory of Replacements and yet he is a walking, talking and breathing contradiction. While Homer is content exploring the world with an open understanding yet limited curiosity, Langley questions and challenges almost everything that comes his way, often becoming miserable and frustrated of the little terrible things humanity gets itself into. His major project is to compile a single global newspaper where he collected all necessary news events that should be preserved. He also had little side projects such as painting, believing he can somewhat restore Homer's sight through tactile recognition. He is a determined intellectual who in spite of his flawed and resistant nature against change is actually a decent and loving brother who remained loyal and devoted to Homer throughout their lives.
"I could only think of how easily people die. And then there was that feeling one gets in a ride to a cemetery trailing a body in a coffin--an impatience with the dead, a longing to be back home where one could get on with the illusion that not death but daily life is the permanent condition.
Homer and Langley reads as something you might hear from a pair of grandparents, in this case a couple of old men who are mismatched brothers and who surprisingly got along just fine even if their differences are so readily apparent. As a novel itself, it's not very action-oriented and only told in one perspective, with a few dialogues. But I genuinely found it such a quaint autobiography about a person's life rich with details of even the tiniest insecurities, tragedies and triumphs. Reading it was a breeze and I stayed emotionally invested enough on the brothers to see how their story wrapped up by the end of this book.
I could recommend this novel because of how at ease it made me feel perusing it, and made me think about my grandfathers in both sides of the family who passed away before I was even a teenager. This is what it would probably be like to learn about the daily grind of their lives from the past. I think my parents could easily have their own unique tales to impart in the future and I certainly think that theirs would have the same charm and poignancy as Homer and Langley's.
Not the most thrilling or life-changing of books but this one is subtly enthralling in its own way. One of the few good examples of how a memoir can be written.
EDIT: This is actually based on the real Collyer brothers and their infamous hoarding. The author just took some liberties about their possible inner lives. Read about the factual accounts HERE
RECOMMENDED: 8/10
DO READ MY REVIEWS AT
August 19, 2017
"Dobbiamo tener testa al mondo: non siamo davvero liberi se lo siamo solo quando gli altri ce lo permettono"
Sono arrivata a questo autore e a questa lettura col percorso ormai consueto. ... ho cominciato a leggere diverse recensioni tutte favorevoli su questo scrittore a me completamente sconosciuto (e qui uno deve rassegnarsi alla condizione di sconforto che Troisi ben sintetizza con la frase "loro a scrivere sono tanti, io a leggere uno solo, non c'è competizione")... non c'è limite cioè alla condizione dell'umana ignoranza almeno della mia!
Veniamo al romanzo. Doctorow immagina di entrare nella testa di uno dei due fratelli oggetto del libro Homer e raccontare in maniera estremamente romanzata, fatti e pensieri occorsi a lui e al fratello Langley, persone realmente esistite nello scorso secolo e passate alla storia per aver dato nome ad una patologia, la dispofobia o disturbo da accumulo compulsivo.
Ora basta 'googolare' fratelli Collyer per rendersi conto di che stiamo parlando...
Quali i temi?
1) Desiderio estremo di libertà, libertà dalle convenzioni sociali e civili, libertà talmente estremizzata da diventare essa stessa una sindrome. Libertà di imprigionarsi e blindarsi in una una casa che è barricata difensiva verso il mondo esterno ma anche discarica, prigione.
2)Legame fraterno talmente stretto ed esclusivo da non consentire nessuna intromissione. Una relazione tra fratelli in cui l'elemento più debole della coppia sottostà alle 'amorevoli e folli cure' dell'altro, cure talmente surreali e al limite da essere portatrici solo di sconforto e di isolamento.
3) La coscienza di sé come unica compagnia in un mondo ingombro di cose ma occupato in sostanza da cecità e silenzio.
Un finale che mi ha toccato e coinvolto tantissimo, straziante e inevitabile. Ma talmente toccante da lasciarmi con un senso di oppressione al petto.
Doctorow scrive in modo chiaro ed elegante. Descrive le vicende dei due fratelli con una ironia algida ma così algida che ha bisogno di una certa riflessione per essere colta. Descrive i pensieri e la vita di questi due personaggi ai 'confini della realtà' senza cadute di stile, senza retorica e senza pietismi.
Una scrittura di testa e non di pancia che per essere assorbita richiede una certa concentrazione e che come limite può apparire un po' troppo distaccata. Un romanzo che nel suo sviluppo risulta essere estremamente originale.
Una lettura che non consiglierei a cuor leggero: è quel tipo di romanzo che può piacere molto o lasciare completamente indifferenti se letto non con la dovuta cura o attenzione.
Sono arrivata a questo autore e a questa lettura col percorso ormai consueto. ... ho cominciato a leggere diverse recensioni tutte favorevoli su questo scrittore a me completamente sconosciuto (e qui uno deve rassegnarsi alla condizione di sconforto che Troisi ben sintetizza con la frase "loro a scrivere sono tanti, io a leggere uno solo, non c'è competizione")... non c'è limite cioè alla condizione dell'umana ignoranza almeno della mia!
Veniamo al romanzo. Doctorow immagina di entrare nella testa di uno dei due fratelli oggetto del libro Homer e raccontare in maniera estremamente romanzata, fatti e pensieri occorsi a lui e al fratello Langley, persone realmente esistite nello scorso secolo e passate alla storia per aver dato nome ad una patologia, la dispofobia o disturbo da accumulo compulsivo.
Ora basta 'googolare' fratelli Collyer per rendersi conto di che stiamo parlando...
Quali i temi?
1) Desiderio estremo di libertà, libertà dalle convenzioni sociali e civili, libertà talmente estremizzata da diventare essa stessa una sindrome. Libertà di imprigionarsi e blindarsi in una una casa che è barricata difensiva verso il mondo esterno ma anche discarica, prigione.
2)Legame fraterno talmente stretto ed esclusivo da non consentire nessuna intromissione. Una relazione tra fratelli in cui l'elemento più debole della coppia sottostà alle 'amorevoli e folli cure' dell'altro, cure talmente surreali e al limite da essere portatrici solo di sconforto e di isolamento.
3) La coscienza di sé come unica compagnia in un mondo ingombro di cose ma occupato in sostanza da cecità e silenzio.
Un finale che mi ha toccato e coinvolto tantissimo, straziante e inevitabile. Ma talmente toccante da lasciarmi con un senso di oppressione al petto.
Doctorow scrive in modo chiaro ed elegante. Descrive le vicende dei due fratelli con una ironia algida ma così algida che ha bisogno di una certa riflessione per essere colta. Descrive i pensieri e la vita di questi due personaggi ai 'confini della realtà' senza cadute di stile, senza retorica e senza pietismi.
Una scrittura di testa e non di pancia che per essere assorbita richiede una certa concentrazione e che come limite può apparire un po' troppo distaccata. Un romanzo che nel suo sviluppo risulta essere estremamente originale.
Una lettura che non consiglierei a cuor leggero: è quel tipo di romanzo che può piacere molto o lasciare completamente indifferenti se letto non con la dovuta cura o attenzione.
March 6, 2016
Όταν τελειώνεις ένα τέτοιο έργο έχεις ανάμεικτα συναισθήματα..
Από τη μία είχες την ευκαιρία να μπεις στον κόσμο ενός σπουδαίου συγγραφέα,να τον δεις να ξετυλίγει μια μοναδική ιστορία με έναν εκπληκτικό τρόπο και γι'αυτό νιώθεις τυχερός & χαρούμενος και από την άλλη η θεματική του βιβλίου,οι ήρωες και τα βιώματά τους σου προκαλούν άθελά τους(;) μια θλίψη.
Ο Doctorow ήταν συνεχώς μπροστά μου:το όνομά του & τα βιβλία του τα συναντούσα σε συνεντεύξεις αγαπημένων συγγραφέων,το "Ragtime" είναι ακόμα στα "αδιάβαστα" της βιβλιοθήκης μου,από το 2014 "πέφτω" σε πολυσέλιδα αφιερώματα γι'αυτόν,για το πώς μπορεί να κοινωνήσει ένα γεγονός της Ιστορίας και να πλάσει με βάση αυτήν άλλες βαθιά ανθρώπινες,περνώντας μηνύματα κοινωνικά,πολιτικά,ηθικά.Και ξαφνικά τον περασμένο Σεπτέμβρη,ένα άρθρο της Καρολίνας Μέρμηγκα με έπεισε ότι αυτός ο αμερικανός συγγραφέας έπρεπε να γίνει προτεραιότητα μου.
Το βιβλίο βασίζεται σ'έναν από τους γνωστούς μύθους της κοινωνίας της Αμερικής και συγκεκριμένα της Νέας Υόρκης και των ιστοριών της: τα αδέρφια Collyer και ο αξιοπερίεργος τρόπος ζωής τους.
Ρακοσυλλέκτες ή ήρωες της Ιστορίας;
Αν και η πραγματική ιστορία τελειώνει το 1947,ο Doctorow με αφορμή αυτή την ιδιαίτερη αδερφική σχέση παρουσιάζει όλη την ιστορία της κοινωνίας της ΝΥ,αλλά και της Αμερικής γενικότερα,στα πιο κρίσημα γεγονότα από την έναρξη του Α' Π.π μέχρι και τη νέα χιλιετία(;).
Ο τυφλός αφηγητής μας(ένα από τα 2 αδέρφια δηλαδή)με την μοναδική του "οπτική" μας εντυπωσιάζει με την εξαιρετική περιγραφική του δεινότητα,την ζωντάνια των εικόνων και τον ανθρωπισμό του.
Η μοναδική αδερφική σχέση και η αξία που έχει για τον αφηγητή μας είναι διάχυτη σε όλο το έργο.
Από την άλλη η Ιστορία μπαίνει μέσα στο σπίτι τους και η δύνη της τους παρασέρνει και είναι ίσως ο τυφλός αδερφός ο κατάλληλος κριτής,αυτός που "βλέπει" πώς έχουν πραγματικά τα γεγονότα.
"Κι έτσι κάπως χάνονται οι άνθρωποι από τη ζωή μας και το μόνο που θυμόμαστε είναι η ανθρωπιά τους,ένα πράγμα φτενό,άστατο,δίχως υπόσταση,όπως και η δικιά σου ανθρωπιά.."
Διαβάζεται απνευστί!
Από τη μία είχες την ευκαιρία να μπεις στον κόσμο ενός σπουδαίου συγγραφέα,να τον δεις να ξετυλίγει μια μοναδική ιστορία με έναν εκπληκτικό τρόπο και γι'αυτό νιώθεις τυχερός & χαρούμενος και από την άλλη η θεματική του βιβλίου,οι ήρωες και τα βιώματά τους σου προκαλούν άθελά τους(;) μια θλίψη.
Ο Doctorow ήταν συνεχώς μπροστά μου:το όνομά του & τα βιβλία του τα συναντούσα σε συνεντεύξεις αγαπημένων συγγραφέων,το "Ragtime" είναι ακόμα στα "αδιάβαστα" της βιβλιοθήκης μου,από το 2014 "πέφτω" σε πολυσέλιδα αφιερώματα γι'αυτόν,για το πώς μπορεί να κοινωνήσει ένα γεγονός της Ιστορίας και να πλάσει με βάση αυτήν άλλες βαθιά ανθρώπινες,περνώντας μηνύματα κοινωνικά,πολιτικά,ηθικά.Και ξαφνικά τον περασμένο Σεπτέμβρη,ένα άρθρο της Καρολίνας Μέρμηγκα με έπεισε ότι αυτός ο αμερικανός συγγραφέας έπρεπε να γίνει προτεραιότητα μου.
Το βιβλίο βασίζεται σ'έναν από τους γνωστούς μύθους της κοινωνίας της Αμερικής και συγκεκριμένα της Νέας Υόρκης και των ιστοριών της: τα αδέρφια Collyer και ο αξιοπερίεργος τρόπος ζωής τους.
Ρακοσυλλέκτες ή ήρωες της Ιστορίας;
Αν και η πραγματική ιστορία τελειώνει το 1947,ο Doctorow με αφορμή αυτή την ιδιαίτερη αδερφική σχέση παρουσιάζει όλη την ιστορία της κοινωνίας της ΝΥ,αλλά και της Αμερικής γενικότερα,στα πιο κρίσημα γεγονότα από την έναρξη του Α' Π.π μέχρι και τη νέα χιλιετία(;).
Ο τυφλός αφηγητής μας(ένα από τα 2 αδέρφια δηλαδή)με την μοναδική του "οπτική" μας εντυπωσιάζει με την εξαιρετική περιγραφική του δεινότητα,την ζωντάνια των εικόνων και τον ανθρωπισμό του.
Η μοναδική αδερφική σχέση και η αξία που έχει για τον αφηγητή μας είναι διάχυτη σε όλο το έργο.
Από την άλλη η Ιστορία μπαίνει μέσα στο σπίτι τους και η δύνη της τους παρασέρνει και είναι ίσως ο τυφλός αδερφός ο κατάλληλος κριτής,αυτός που "βλέπει" πώς έχουν πραγματικά τα γεγονότα.
"Κι έτσι κάπως χάνονται οι άνθρωποι από τη ζωή μας και το μόνο που θυμόμαστε είναι η ανθρωπιά τους,ένα πράγμα φτενό,άστατο,δίχως υπόσταση,όπως και η δικιά σου ανθρωπιά.."
Διαβάζεται απνευστί!
July 27, 2023
"People pass out of one's life and all you can remember of them is their humanity, a poor fitful thing of no dominion, like your own."
This is probably Doctorow's funniest novel I've read. It's not all out laugh out loud funny, but it's more chuckles than you can afford to expose in a quite cafe.
Oh my, Homer, Langley, their filial bond is a marvel. We never get to chose who out brothers are but at least we get a say in who we can call family. And these two Collyer brothers live up to this premise, despite their long years of angst and loneliness and self-imposed seclusion. Homer is blind, sensitive, Langley, though gassed in WWI, is strong-willed and frankly, a lunatic. Their relationships, if you can call them that are miserable at best, or even existential.. The brothers don't have much going in the way for them, socially and as such let their lives enter a state of decline that can only rival their immediate environment (their four-story house is stacked with newspapers, junk and miscellany, the ceilings caved in, mold, rats and roaches, and gas and electric cut off) and America's perceive decline in their eyes (WWII, Korea, Hippies, Hispanics etc) What's funny is that their attempts at self-reliance, their opposition of authority and assertion of rights, their expression of their principles only led to their ruin. But stubborn as they were they made no attempts at compromise. This is not a bad way to live up to your convictions, but it leads to a lot of emptiness too. But in their emptiness their lives were more full and adventurous than most people probably live.
The humour aside, this is an incredibly inventive book, full of daring and imagination, and the stoutness of the human spirit and how it's never to late to start afresh. It's An incredible read, and so well-crafted that if you totally immerse yourself in Homer's words you can see that Jacqueline Roux was right, words have music.
"Writing happens to coincide with my compensatory desire to stay alive."
This is probably Doctorow's funniest novel I've read. It's not all out laugh out loud funny, but it's more chuckles than you can afford to expose in a quite cafe.
Oh my, Homer, Langley, their filial bond is a marvel. We never get to chose who out brothers are but at least we get a say in who we can call family. And these two Collyer brothers live up to this premise, despite their long years of angst and loneliness and self-imposed seclusion. Homer is blind, sensitive, Langley, though gassed in WWI, is strong-willed and frankly, a lunatic. Their relationships, if you can call them that are miserable at best, or even existential.. The brothers don't have much going in the way for them, socially and as such let their lives enter a state of decline that can only rival their immediate environment (their four-story house is stacked with newspapers, junk and miscellany, the ceilings caved in, mold, rats and roaches, and gas and electric cut off) and America's perceive decline in their eyes (WWII, Korea, Hippies, Hispanics etc) What's funny is that their attempts at self-reliance, their opposition of authority and assertion of rights, their expression of their principles only led to their ruin. But stubborn as they were they made no attempts at compromise. This is not a bad way to live up to your convictions, but it leads to a lot of emptiness too. But in their emptiness their lives were more full and adventurous than most people probably live.
The humour aside, this is an incredibly inventive book, full of daring and imagination, and the stoutness of the human spirit and how it's never to late to start afresh. It's An incredible read, and so well-crafted that if you totally immerse yourself in Homer's words you can see that Jacqueline Roux was right, words have music.
"Writing happens to coincide with my compensatory desire to stay alive."
September 11, 2015
There's something both alluring and repulsive about compulsive hoarders. Once, a few years ago, I had to help clean out the house of one of my in-laws’ neighbors who had just died. Entering the man’s house was like stepping into an Egyptian tomb; relics from countless eras stacked methodically to the ceiling, knick knacks piled haphazardly in corners and on top of the mantle. Moving around was limited by the small pathways the man had carved through his treasures, though they were not so much paths as they were game runs for the legion of rodents that had made their home among the accumulated detritus. It took four people over a week to clear out everything and in the end over a dozen trips to the dump had been made. It had taken us that long to sort through every single material possession that this man had come in contact with over his seventy-odd years. There’s a kind of twisted beauty in that not-letting-go which, as a rabid bibliomane unable to part with any of my books without hours of soul-searching and deliberation, I can readily understand, if not relate to. Hoarding of this sort seems a uniquely 20th Century affliction, one that would not have been possible in any other era.
I do have to admit though that, as disturbing as the disease may actually be, it makes for some truly compelling reading. In his latest book, Doctorow tells the story of the Collyer brothers, a real-life pair of shut-ins who lived in the slowly-crumbling Fifth Avenue mansion of their parents. The younger brother, Homer, went blind as a teen and the elder, Langley, had more than a few hinges loosened when he was exposed to mustard gas in the first World War. Doctorow continues his Tolstoyan exploration of history, particularly how the larger movements of History (capital H) can sweep even the most recalcitrant person along with it. The clutter from the first of Langley’s late-night scrounging of the New York streets is temporarily beaten back in order to make room for the ersatz speakeasy the brothers begin just as the Great Depression hammers their wealthy neighbors, the Collyer’s two Japanese housekeepers are picked up and interred in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attacks, films go from silent to talkies, and the brothers meet their spiritual kinfolk in the new generation of youth that have taken to calling themselves hippies.
Doctorow has a tight grip on the flow of history, as evinced not only in this book but with Ragtime, Billy Bathgate, March, and a host of others. In each we get to see the individual confronting the larger issues of the era they live in. With Homer & Langley Doctorow lets the timeframe breathe out a bit, encompassing the events of nearly the entire 20th Century. It’s fun read of how the house fills up with each new invention Langley becomes enamored of, the house serving as a repository for dozens of typewriters, television sets, automobiles and computers, a museum collection in the offing. A really quick read, Homer and Langley is definitely worth the reading and one that makes me think I need to explore more of Doctorow’s works.
I do have to admit though that, as disturbing as the disease may actually be, it makes for some truly compelling reading. In his latest book, Doctorow tells the story of the Collyer brothers, a real-life pair of shut-ins who lived in the slowly-crumbling Fifth Avenue mansion of their parents. The younger brother, Homer, went blind as a teen and the elder, Langley, had more than a few hinges loosened when he was exposed to mustard gas in the first World War. Doctorow continues his Tolstoyan exploration of history, particularly how the larger movements of History (capital H) can sweep even the most recalcitrant person along with it. The clutter from the first of Langley’s late-night scrounging of the New York streets is temporarily beaten back in order to make room for the ersatz speakeasy the brothers begin just as the Great Depression hammers their wealthy neighbors, the Collyer’s two Japanese housekeepers are picked up and interred in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attacks, films go from silent to talkies, and the brothers meet their spiritual kinfolk in the new generation of youth that have taken to calling themselves hippies.
Doctorow has a tight grip on the flow of history, as evinced not only in this book but with Ragtime, Billy Bathgate, March, and a host of others. In each we get to see the individual confronting the larger issues of the era they live in. With Homer & Langley Doctorow lets the timeframe breathe out a bit, encompassing the events of nearly the entire 20th Century. It’s fun read of how the house fills up with each new invention Langley becomes enamored of, the house serving as a repository for dozens of typewriters, television sets, automobiles and computers, a museum collection in the offing. A really quick read, Homer and Langley is definitely worth the reading and one that makes me think I need to explore more of Doctorow’s works.
September 24, 2015
Il novecento visto dalla 5th Avenue
Eccellente sorpresa questo romanzo che riporta Doctorow ai livelli degli anni 70-80 quando l’autore scrisse i suoi capolavori (Ragtime, Il libro di Daniel, Billy Bathgate), resi indimenticabili anche da notevoli versioni cinematografiche (a cura di Forman, Lumet e Benton).
Difficilmente però qualcuno potrà portare sullo schermo questa incredibile vicenda (che le cronache dicono ispirata a fatti veri!) con un io narrante cieco e un fratello coprotagonista, compulsivo raccoglitore (ma non collezionista…) di ogni sorta di oggetto e macchinario nel corso dei decenni vissuti interamente dentro (e sempre più dentro) a una un tempo fiorente dimora sulla Quinta Avenue, di fronte al Central Park.
Ci sono almeno due dimensioni principali a reggere il filo conduttore di “Homer & Langley”. Una è quella storica: tutti gli avvenimenti, dall’inizio (quando H & L sono bambini) alla fine del secolo, attraversano e coinvolgono, anche se in forma sempre più attutita, Casa Collyer e i suoi abitanti che vanno riducendosi via via ai soli due personaggi del titolo, attraverso i loro incontri, emblematici dei diversi periodi del secolo (jazzisti, gangsters, anarchici, hippies che sembrano richiamare i romanzi più famosi di Doctorow), e le conseguenti vicissitudini che si susseguono senza tregua.
La seconda dimensione è quella intimista che procede attraverso gli handicap fisici (Homer) e psichici (Langley), tali da creare un isolamento progressivo dalla vita newyorkese e poi dalla vita in senso lato, nonostante la fama cui, loro malgrado, i due assurgono a causa della loro stravaganza; fino a un finale di struggente malinconia che mi è sembrato uno dei più tristi e commoventi della narrativa contemporanea.
Vi è poi in sottotraccia una dimensione puramente eroica rappresentata soprattutto da Langley (mentre Homer sembra porsi più come testimone), l’homo americanus iperlibertario contro tutto e tutti, contro la compagnia elettrica (e telefonica e del gas e dell’acqua…), contro il fisco, contro polizia, pompieri, ufficio d’igiene e qualunque altro rappresentante della società organizzata; un uomo dall’equilibrio instabile che trae vigore dalle battaglie e dalle sfide sempre più folli al mondo della razionalità.
E’incredibile pensare che Doctorow sia riuscito a racchiudere tutto questo e tante altre cose ancora, tanti altri personaggi originali e indimenticabili, nell’arco di poco più di 200 pagine, ma si tratta di uno dei grandi della letteratura americana contemporanea, sebbene ingiustamente sottovalutato forse a causa di qualche opera poco riuscita e troppo spesso dimenticato.
Eccellente sorpresa questo romanzo che riporta Doctorow ai livelli degli anni 70-80 quando l’autore scrisse i suoi capolavori (Ragtime, Il libro di Daniel, Billy Bathgate), resi indimenticabili anche da notevoli versioni cinematografiche (a cura di Forman, Lumet e Benton).
Difficilmente però qualcuno potrà portare sullo schermo questa incredibile vicenda (che le cronache dicono ispirata a fatti veri!) con un io narrante cieco e un fratello coprotagonista, compulsivo raccoglitore (ma non collezionista…) di ogni sorta di oggetto e macchinario nel corso dei decenni vissuti interamente dentro (e sempre più dentro) a una un tempo fiorente dimora sulla Quinta Avenue, di fronte al Central Park.
Ci sono almeno due dimensioni principali a reggere il filo conduttore di “Homer & Langley”. Una è quella storica: tutti gli avvenimenti, dall’inizio (quando H & L sono bambini) alla fine del secolo, attraversano e coinvolgono, anche se in forma sempre più attutita, Casa Collyer e i suoi abitanti che vanno riducendosi via via ai soli due personaggi del titolo, attraverso i loro incontri, emblematici dei diversi periodi del secolo (jazzisti, gangsters, anarchici, hippies che sembrano richiamare i romanzi più famosi di Doctorow), e le conseguenti vicissitudini che si susseguono senza tregua.
La seconda dimensione è quella intimista che procede attraverso gli handicap fisici (Homer) e psichici (Langley), tali da creare un isolamento progressivo dalla vita newyorkese e poi dalla vita in senso lato, nonostante la fama cui, loro malgrado, i due assurgono a causa della loro stravaganza; fino a un finale di struggente malinconia che mi è sembrato uno dei più tristi e commoventi della narrativa contemporanea.
Vi è poi in sottotraccia una dimensione puramente eroica rappresentata soprattutto da Langley (mentre Homer sembra porsi più come testimone), l’homo americanus iperlibertario contro tutto e tutti, contro la compagnia elettrica (e telefonica e del gas e dell’acqua…), contro il fisco, contro polizia, pompieri, ufficio d’igiene e qualunque altro rappresentante della società organizzata; un uomo dall’equilibrio instabile che trae vigore dalle battaglie e dalle sfide sempre più folli al mondo della razionalità.
E’incredibile pensare che Doctorow sia riuscito a racchiudere tutto questo e tante altre cose ancora, tanti altri personaggi originali e indimenticabili, nell’arco di poco più di 200 pagine, ma si tratta di uno dei grandi della letteratura americana contemporanea, sebbene ingiustamente sottovalutato forse a causa di qualche opera poco riuscita e troppo spesso dimenticato.
August 7, 2017
Il romanzo è scritto prendendo spunto dalla storia realmente avvenuta dei fratelli Collyer, che, dopo una vita interessante e movimentata, si rinchiudono nel palazzo paterno, a Manhattan, dove accumulano in modo sconsiderato quantità spropositate di oggetti di tutti i generi fino ad avere sempre meno contatti con il mondo esterno, fino a rimanere sepolti all'interno.
Questa storia, anomala e quasi assurda, è narrata con molta tenerezza ed eleganza da Homer, il fratello cieco, che descrive le tante iniziative di quel vulcano di idee di Langley, che ha qualche problema mentale dopo essere tornato dalla guerra.
I due fratelli, principalmente afflitti da una sindrome da accumulo, combattono in modo ingenuo e ovviamente perdente, le convenzioni, le costrizioni, i luoghi comuni e gli obblighi che affliggono e opprimono le persone nella vita "civile". Quello che purtroppo rimane è la estrema tristezza del lento declino dei due fratelli, molto uniti da un legame profondo.
Il libro, scritto in modo preciso, elegante e scorrevole e mai banale, è decisamente originale per il tema trattato. Non è un libro che si legge con facilità, perché le battute e le riflessioni, spesso folgoranti, sono nascoste, indirette, sofisticate, quasi fossero destinate a lettori esigenti e un po' snob. Doctorow decide infatti di raccontare scomparendo, lasciando cioè parlare la storia anche a costo di sembrare freddo e distaccato.
"E così le persone escono dalla tua vita, e a te non rimane che il ricordo della loro umanità, una povera cosa discontinua senza alcun potere, proprio come la tua."
Molto bello, molto triste, molto ben scritto, molto profondo. Ma per me manca qualcosa: mi ha coinvolto poco...
Questa storia, anomala e quasi assurda, è narrata con molta tenerezza ed eleganza da Homer, il fratello cieco, che descrive le tante iniziative di quel vulcano di idee di Langley, che ha qualche problema mentale dopo essere tornato dalla guerra.
I due fratelli, principalmente afflitti da una sindrome da accumulo, combattono in modo ingenuo e ovviamente perdente, le convenzioni, le costrizioni, i luoghi comuni e gli obblighi che affliggono e opprimono le persone nella vita "civile". Quello che purtroppo rimane è la estrema tristezza del lento declino dei due fratelli, molto uniti da un legame profondo.
Il libro, scritto in modo preciso, elegante e scorrevole e mai banale, è decisamente originale per il tema trattato. Non è un libro che si legge con facilità, perché le battute e le riflessioni, spesso folgoranti, sono nascoste, indirette, sofisticate, quasi fossero destinate a lettori esigenti e un po' snob. Doctorow decide infatti di raccontare scomparendo, lasciando cioè parlare la storia anche a costo di sembrare freddo e distaccato.
"E così le persone escono dalla tua vita, e a te non rimane che il ricordo della loro umanità, una povera cosa discontinua senza alcun potere, proprio come la tua."
Molto bello, molto triste, molto ben scritto, molto profondo. Ma per me manca qualcosa: mi ha coinvolto poco...
November 1, 2018
Δυο αδερφια μια χωρα και η ιστορία της μεσα στον 20ο αιωνα. Ο Doctorow ειναι ενα ξεχωριστό κεφαλαιο στην ιστορια της αμερικανικης λογοτεχνιας. Γραφει για ολους και σκιαγραφει με τοσο δυνατα στοιχεια τους ηρωες του που τα βιβλια του θυμιζουν σινεμα. Δεν βρισκω ψεγαδι στους ηρωες ουτε μπορεις να θυμωσεις με τις ατελειες τους, ο Doctorow περιγραφει αυτο που εχει ζησει, χωρις φοβιες με τρυφεροτητα και οχι μελοδραματικα. ΥΓ Να το διαβασεις, γιατι ειναι τοσο τρυφερο που θα αγαπησεις και τα δυο αδερφια σα να ηταν φιλοι σου!
October 24, 2017
"Ho scelto d'interpretare il mito".
Così affermò Edgard L. Doctorow in un'intervista all'indomani dell'uscita di "Homer & Langley"(2010) .
Con questa affermazione intendeva sottolineare come la sua rielaborazione della famigerata storia di cronaca dei fratelli Collyer si fosse spostata dal mera cronaca del fatto ad una riscrittura ideologica.
Al mito, in senso stretto, ci riconduce innanzitutto il fratello maggiore Homer che, cieco come l'omonimo aedo greco, si presta ad essere voce narrante.
Strutturalmente Doctorow compie un'operazione di dilatazione dei tempi:
mentre nella realtà la storia della famiglia Collyer si compie tra i primi '900 e il 1947, qui, invece, si dà spazio ad un arco temporale che va dalla Prima Guerra Mondiale al Watergate.
Con questo espediente Doctorow dà voce a cinquant'anni di storia americana.
Citando sempre le sue sue dichiarazioni in merito si può dire che:
«non sono i Collyer ad attraversare l'America ma è l'America a entrare nella loro casa».
Oggetti di ogni forma e funzione ma soprattutto tanta carta.
Tonnellate di giornali che Langley ossessivamente raccoglieva per un grande progetto:
scrivere un unico numero.
Dimostrare che la storia si ripete secondo quella che chiamò "la teoria dei rimpiazzi".
Liberarsi dalle pastoie statali e sociali equivale a rinchiudersi per conservare una minacciata libertà. L'unica via è quella di essere autosufficienti ed indipendenti cercando rifugio tra stretti cunicoli che ormai determinano la geografia della loro abitazione.
Trincee che saranno fatali al loro destino ma che costituiscono una protezione verso un mondo che non comprendono e che non li comprende perché:
" ogni cosa viva è in guerra"
[Poche ore dopo aver terminato questa lettura ho saputo che Doctorow era morto: un'altra penna ci è stata strappata! ]
Così affermò Edgard L. Doctorow in un'intervista all'indomani dell'uscita di "Homer & Langley"(2010) .
Con questa affermazione intendeva sottolineare come la sua rielaborazione della famigerata storia di cronaca dei fratelli Collyer si fosse spostata dal mera cronaca del fatto ad una riscrittura ideologica.
Al mito, in senso stretto, ci riconduce innanzitutto il fratello maggiore Homer che, cieco come l'omonimo aedo greco, si presta ad essere voce narrante.
Strutturalmente Doctorow compie un'operazione di dilatazione dei tempi:
mentre nella realtà la storia della famiglia Collyer si compie tra i primi '900 e il 1947, qui, invece, si dà spazio ad un arco temporale che va dalla Prima Guerra Mondiale al Watergate.
Con questo espediente Doctorow dà voce a cinquant'anni di storia americana.
Citando sempre le sue sue dichiarazioni in merito si può dire che:
«non sono i Collyer ad attraversare l'America ma è l'America a entrare nella loro casa».
Oggetti di ogni forma e funzione ma soprattutto tanta carta.
Tonnellate di giornali che Langley ossessivamente raccoglieva per un grande progetto:
scrivere un unico numero.
Dimostrare che la storia si ripete secondo quella che chiamò "la teoria dei rimpiazzi".
Liberarsi dalle pastoie statali e sociali equivale a rinchiudersi per conservare una minacciata libertà. L'unica via è quella di essere autosufficienti ed indipendenti cercando rifugio tra stretti cunicoli che ormai determinano la geografia della loro abitazione.
Trincee che saranno fatali al loro destino ma che costituiscono una protezione verso un mondo che non comprendono e che non li comprende perché:
" ogni cosa viva è in guerra"
[Poche ore dopo aver terminato questa lettura ho saputo che Doctorow era morto: un'altra penna ci è stata strappata! ]
May 31, 2018
A volte mi chiedo se è meglio affrontare di petto un libro senza sapere nulla di ciò cui si andrà incontro o se conviene essere un minimo preparati, al momento non so ancora darmi una risposta.
Nella fattispecie a fine lettura mi sono documentata un poco e, con mia grande sorpresa, ho scoperto che la storia di questi due bizzarri fratelli è un fatto di cronaca davvero occorso: il loro progressivo isolamento dal mondo la loro pervicace ossessione di accumulare cose fino a riempire in maniera stagna gli ambienti, anche spaziosi, della loro elegante residenza sita niente meno che nella Fifth Avenue di New York affacciata su Central Park, ha dato il nome ad una sindrome annoverata tra le infinite protocollate dagli studi psichici: la sindrome di Collyer che porta il soggetto malato alla coazione a raccogliere in maniera compulsiva oggetti di qualsiasi foggia, forma e dimensione, al di là della loro preziosità, quindi anche di uso banale e quotidiano.
La tendenza alla conservazione (non il collezionismo che è tutt’altro) è motivata dalla paura o dall’illusione di stare privandosi di qualcosa che affettivamente deve essere ritenuto importante per la propria esistenza (senza capire che invece ne può fare tranquillamente a meno).
Credo chiunque di noi sia stato o sia affetto dalla sindrome di Collyer, chi più chi meno, chi con oggetti, chi addirittura con amicizie o persone.
Homer and Langley hanno evidentemente esagerato… causa forse il loro essere diventati precocemente orfani e con una disponibilità economica cospicua che li ha deresponsabilizzati e uniti contro tutti, causa gli effetti post bellici, causa la menomazione di Homer che diventa progressivamente cieco e in età più avanzata anche sordo, precipitano passo passo in un gorgo di follia lucida ma consapevole cui il lettore assiste agghiacciato e sgomento.
Qualche disappunto da parte mia nel realizzare che non è stata la mente di Doctorow a inventare una simile idea folle immaginaria (la realtà supera spesso la finzione) ma che l’autore abbia rielaborato (egregiamente sia ben inteso) qualcosa di reale mi ha fatto rivedere in parte il mio giudizio sul libro che comunque, globalmente, ho apprezzato molto, anche per la capacità da parte dell’autore di essere lieve nel mezzo del dramma e, nonostante una prima parte più lenta e noiosa, una seconda in cui la tragedia annunciata e la stravaganza dei due personaggi schizza alle stelle senza più ritegno e fa aumentare in maniera esponenziale la voglia di proseguire la lettura.
P.S. Di Edgar L. Doctorow ignoravo tutto fino al giorno della sua morte, da quel giorno per me ha cominciato a vivere.
La tendenza alla conservazione (non il collezionismo che è tutt’altro) è motivata dalla paura o dall’illusione di stare privandosi di qualcosa che affettivamente deve essere ritenuto importante per la propria esistenza (senza capire che invece ne può fare tranquillamente a meno).
Credo chiunque di noi sia stato o sia affetto dalla sindrome di Collyer, chi più chi meno, chi con oggetti, chi addirittura con amicizie o persone.
Homer and Langley hanno evidentemente esagerato… causa forse il loro essere diventati precocemente orfani e con una disponibilità economica cospicua che li ha deresponsabilizzati e uniti contro tutti, causa gli effetti post bellici, causa la menomazione di Homer che diventa progressivamente cieco e in età più avanzata anche sordo, precipitano passo passo in un gorgo di follia lucida ma consapevole cui il lettore assiste agghiacciato e sgomento.
Qualche disappunto da parte mia nel realizzare che non è stata la mente di Doctorow a inventare una simile idea folle immaginaria (la realtà supera spesso la finzione) ma che l’autore abbia rielaborato (egregiamente sia ben inteso) qualcosa di reale mi ha fatto rivedere in parte il mio giudizio sul libro che comunque, globalmente, ho apprezzato molto, anche per la capacità da parte dell’autore di essere lieve nel mezzo del dramma e, nonostante una prima parte più lenta e noiosa, una seconda in cui la tragedia annunciata e la stravaganza dei due personaggi schizza alle stelle senza più ritegno e fa aumentare in maniera esponenziale la voglia di proseguire la lettura.
P.S. Di Edgar L. Doctorow ignoravo tutto fino al giorno della sua morte, da quel giorno per me ha cominciato a vivere.
February 11, 2015
E.L. Doctorow is a wonder among living American novelists and in "H&L" he offers much to contemplate in his historical novel about the evolution of two wounded brothers and the New York in which they reside. Homer, as the classical name suggests, is a contemporary blind writer who relies upon his sighted brother Langley, wounded by mustard gas in WWI. They evolve into nearly total recluses living in a once stately manse across 5th Avenue from Central Park. The times, they are a-changing and the boys try to keep up to date but can't quite manage it. They withdraw deeper into the privacy of their own solitude under the assumption that, if they can only keep the outside world at bay, they will survive. However, despite great invention in coping, this contrarian "every-man-is-an-island" strategy is destined to fail on the island of Manhattan. It is possible to see shades of Samuel Beckett in such a narrative as the brothers wait for Godot to come. The last chapter is stunning in its conclusive brevity and power, comparable as such to the profundity and vivid clarity of Michael Cunningham in his peerless first chapter of "The Hours." Brevity is the soul of wit, indeed. Doctorow carries one along in his American narrative and we blithely plod through the main events of the 20th century with the two all-too-human brothers, one unable to see and the other struggling to connect to a world, which has almost destroyed him. Langley is a noteworthy brother who watches protectively over his unsighted sibling with an endearing diligence. Homer is no less remarkable in his drive to engage life by virtue of those senses heightened to compensate for his diminished vision. We relate empathetically to both of them and the affinity for their noble attributes heightens our sense of pathos at closure. We do so because we are both them: unsighted and able to gain only a glimmer of the external world through the flawed lenses of our nearsightedness too soon to become absolute blindness. And who hasn't been drawn like a moth to the flame by the illusion that seclusion and withdrawal equals personal safety. But, alas, if only that were true. Doctorow is an American novelist who is well worth reading and his accolades mark a prodigious literary nature rarely to be found in American letters. I had read a while ago his glorious novel, "Ragtime," which I also must highly recommend. Give this one a go: it's well worth the read.
November 28, 2016
First Doctorow and I was impressed. I am getting better at enjoying first person points of view. It takes some time to get into the book but the storyline gains momentum. I don't think this book is for everybody. It's not intense, it's just really good storytelling by an unreliable narrator. Next from this author, Welcome to Hard Times, another book that influenced Donald Ray Pollock.
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