Umbrella
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Baker & Taylor
A psychiatrist at a mental hospital in a London suburb, Zachary Busner investigates a group of unconscious patients who exhibit a peculiar type of physical tic and stumbles upon a miracle drug that could save them, but the hospital has other, darker ideas.
Perseus Publishing … More »
A psychiatrist at a mental hospital in a London suburb, Zachary Busner investigates a group of unconscious patients who exhibit a peculiar type of physical tic and stumbles upon a miracle drug that could save them, but the hospital has other, darker ideas.
Perseus Publishing … More »
Baker & Taylor
A psychiatrist at a mental hospital in a London suburb, Zachary Busner investigates a group of unconscious patients who exhibit a peculiar type of physical tic and stumbles upon a miracle drug that could save them, but the hospital has other, darker ideas.
Perseus Publishing
Baker
& Taylor
A psychiatrist at a mental hospital in London's northern suburb of Friern Barnet, Zachary Busner, investigating a group of unconscious patients called enkies who exhibit a peculiar type of physical tic, stumbles upon a miracle drug that could save these patients, but the hospital has other, darker ideas. Original. 30,000 first printing.
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A psychiatrist at a mental hospital in a London suburb, Zachary Busner investigates a group of unconscious patients who exhibit a peculiar type of physical tic and stumbles upon a miracle drug that could save them, but the hospital has other, darker ideas.
Perseus Publishing
"A brother is as easily forgotten as an umbrella."?James Joyce, Ulysses
Radical and uncompromising, Umbrella is a tour de force from one of England’s most acclaimed contemporary writers, and Self’s most ambitious novel to date. Moving between Edwardian London and a suburban mental hospital in 1971, Umbrella exposes the twentieth century’s technological searchlight as refracted through the dark glass of a long term mental institution. While making his first tours of the hospital at which he has just begun working, maverick psychiatrist Zachary Busner notices that many of the patients exhibit a strange physical tic: rapid, precise movements that they repeat over and over. One of these patients is Audrey Dearth, an elderly woman born in the slums of West London in 1890. Audrey’s memories of a bygone Edwardian London, her lovers, involvement with early feminist and socialist movements, and, in particular, her time working in an umbrella shop, alternate with Busner’s attempts to treat her condition and bring light to her clouded world. Busner’s investigations into Audrey’s illness lead to discoveries about her family that are shocking and tragic.
Radical and uncompromising, Umbrella is a tour de force from one of England’s most acclaimed contemporary writers, and Self’s most ambitious novel to date. Moving between Edwardian London and a suburban mental hospital in 1971, Umbrella exposes the twentieth century’s technological searchlight as refracted through the dark glass of a long term mental institution. While making his first tours of the hospital at which he has just begun working, maverick psychiatrist Zachary Busner notices that many of the patients exhibit a strange physical tic: rapid, precise movements that they repeat over and over. One of these patients is Audrey Dearth, an elderly woman born in the slums of West London in 1890. Audrey’s memories of a bygone Edwardian London, her lovers, involvement with early feminist and socialist movements, and, in particular, her time working in an umbrella shop, alternate with Busner’s attempts to treat her condition and bring light to her clouded world. Busner’s investigations into Audrey’s illness lead to discoveries about her family that are shocking and tragic.
Baker
& Taylor
A psychiatrist at a mental hospital in London's northern suburb of Friern Barnet, Zachary Busner, investigating a group of unconscious patients called enkies who exhibit a peculiar type of physical tic, stumbles upon a miracle drug that could save these patients, but the hospital has other, darker ideas. Original. 30,000 first printing.
« Less
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.