Umbrella
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Imprint:
New York : [Berkeley, Calif.] - Grove Press , Distributed by Publishers Group West
Pages:
397
ISBN:
9780802120724, 0802120725
Language:
English
Notes:
Originally published: London : Bloomsbury, 2012
Statement of responsibility:
Will Self
Characteristics:
397 p. ;,24 cm.
Author (Original Script):
Self, Will
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Add a CommentShortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, this stream-of-consciousness novel follows a psychiatrist at a mental hospital in London in 1971. At the same time, we are treated to an account of one of his patients, an octogenarian who's been institutionalized - and catatonic - for 50 years after contracting encephalitis lethargica. His efforts to treat her and glimpses of her youth during a short reawakening alternate with flashbacks to the lives of her brothers and flash-forwards to the doctor in 2010. A complicated read adorned with "snippets of dialects, stylistic flourishes, and inventive phrases loose with meaning" (Publishers Weekly), Umbrella is "mesmerizing" (Boston Globe). Fiction A to Z Newsletter February 2013.
It is very demanding (so-called Modernism), and throughout the 397 pages, there is not a single line of blank. Although it was shortlisted for Booker, other 2012 finalists (Bring up the Body, Garden of the Evening Mist, Swimming Home.... in that order) are so much enjoyable to read. Please do not get this book if you want to relax or read before sleep, and please read the comments on Amazon.com beforehand.