Items related to Observatory Mansions
Observatory Mansions was once the Orme family's ancestral home. Now it is a crumbing apartment block, stranded on a traffic island and peopled with eccentrics. Alice Orme never stirs from her bed, her husband lives in his old armchair, and Francis, their son, practises his own art of stillness as a human statue in the centre of the decaying city. He lives by his Law of White Gloves, never touching anything without their protection, and collects items for his secret exhibition - items stolen, not because of any monetary worth, but because they are treasured by the owners.
This careful routine is shaken by the arrival of a new resident, Anna Tap, half blind and vulnerable, but with a strange gift for inspiring trust. As the other residents gradually open their hearts to her, Francis realises he must act before she forces him to confront his own past, and before she finds out about the mysterious final object in his exhibition. But as the currents of memory and desire swirl within Observatory Mansions' crumbling walls, it seems the sinister Porter has plans of his own...
Edward Carey's debut is a novel of immense originality - a strangely haunting landscape occupied by compelling and unforgettable characters.
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Review:
Edward Carey's debut novel Observatory Mansions has a touch of Gormenghast about it. A "small and peculiar group of people" live together in a decaying four storey cube in neo-classical design. It was once magnificent, set in beautiful grounds, but has now been transformed into flats, an island within a surge of traffic. The people themselves are anchored in disassociation, set apart from the rest of the busy city by their histories, their memories, their relationships with the other seven inhabitants of the flats. 37-year-old Francis Orme is telling the story of Observatory Mansions. He earns his living by becoming "a statue of whiteness" in the park. He wears white gloves to ensure that he never touches anything with his skin; this includes the items he picks for his museum of significant objects (there is an intriguing list of all 996 of them at the end of the novel), a collection that he guards zealously from the other house dwellers. The other occupants include his father, sweaty Peter Bugg, and bedridden mother, Claire Higg, who has "created for herself an alternative time frame called fiction". She lives through her television: "such beautiful lives, such beautiful lives."
Review:
The house and its people are self-contained. Order and a vague harmony are maintained by a careful routine. But then along comes Anna Tap, half-blind and vulnerable. She is sympathetic, resourceful and slowly the residents begin to open up their long-closed hearts. The delicate balance of Observatory Mansion begins to shift and Francis finds himself having to protect the secrets of his past and the sanctity of his collection, while growing emotionally closer to Anna.
The novel is a haunting comedy of mental and physical dislocation. Carey's writing is poised and oddly precise: the characters are eccentric but compelling. Observatory Mansions is strangely hopeful, a tale about how love and lists can transform your life. --Eithne Farry
"A sublime take on the Gothic horror novel, an endearing love story...and a triumphant argument for how brilliant the novel can still be."-Detroit Free Press "Readers who complain there's no originality left in the world should visit Observatory Mansions."-USA Today "A funny, sad, and provocative novel."-The Washington Post Book World "Observatory Mansions is a strange and beautiful book. . . . That this is a first novel is a wonder." --The Memphis Flyer
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- PublisherPicador
- Publication date2012
- ISBN 10 1447228588
- ISBN 13 9781447228585
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages368
- Rating
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