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Observatory mansions: A novel

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Description
"Easily the most brilliant fiction I've seen this year — it proves the potential brilliance of the novel form." — John Fowles, author of The Magus Observatory Mansions, once the Orme family's magnificent ancestral home set on beautiful grounds, is now a crumbling apartment block stranded on a traffic island, peopled with eccentrics. Thirty-seven-year-old Francis Orme lives in Observatory Mansions with his peculiar parents and a collection of misfits. By day he is a street performer, earning money as "a statue of whiteness" in the park, wearing white gloves to ensure that his skin never touches anything. He steals items for his museum of significant objects (996 in all), not for their monetary value but because they have been loved, often bringing grief to their erstwhile owners. His bedridden mother, Alice, who has created for herself an alternative time frame called "fiction," and his father, Francis, are among the occupants set apart from the rest of the busy city by their histories, their memories, and their relationships with the other seven inhabitants of the flats. Each of the house dwellers has his or her own story, as seen through Francis's eyes, and the careful routine and harmony of the house are shaken when along comes a new resident, the half-blind, vulnerable Anna Tap. She is sympathetic and resourceful, and slowly the desperately lonely residents begin to open up their long-closed hearts. As the delicate balance of Observatory Mansions begins to shift, Francis finds himself having to protect the secrets of his past and the sanctity of his collection, while growing emotionally closer to Anna. Hailed as no less than a tour de force, Observatory Mansions is a debut novel of immense originality—a strangely haunting landscape occupied by compelling and unforgettable characters.
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ISBN:
9780307558725
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Grouping Information

Grouped Work IDf452c5a9-4ee7-b500-b477-7fd1c69ccd5e
Grouping Titleobservatory mansions
Grouping Authoredward carey
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2024-01-10 10:39:01AM
Last Indexed2024-03-27 22:15:49PM

Solr Fields

accelerated_reader_point_value
0
accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
author
Carey, Edward
author_display
Carey, Edward
display_description
"Easily the most brilliant fiction I've seen this year — it proves the potential brilliance of the novel form." — John Fowles, author of The Magus Observatory Mansions, once the Orme family's magnificent ancestral home set on beautiful grounds, is now a crumbling apartment block stranded on a traffic island, peopled with eccentrics. Thirty-seven-year-old Francis Orme lives in Observatory Mansions with his peculiar parents and a collection of misfits. By day he is a street performer, earning money as "a statue of whiteness" in the park, wearing white gloves to ensure that his skin never touches anything. He steals items for his museum of significant objects (996 in all), not for their monetary value but because they have been loved, often bringing grief to their erstwhile owners. His bedridden mother, Alice, who has created for herself an alternative time frame called "fiction," and his father, Francis, are among the occupants set apart from the rest of the busy city by their histories, their memories, and their relationships with the other seven inhabitants of the flats. Each of the house dwellers has his or her own story, as seen through Francis's eyes, and the careful routine and harmony of the house are shaken when along comes a new resident, the half-blind, vulnerable Anna Tap. She is sympathetic and resourceful, and slowly the desperately lonely residents begin to open up their long-closed hearts. As the delicate balance of Observatory Mansions begins to shift, Francis finds himself having to protect the secrets of his past and the sanctity of his collection, while growing emotionally closer to Anna. Hailed as no less than a tour de force, Observatory Mansions is a debut novel of immense originality—a strangely haunting landscape occupied by compelling and unforgettable characters.
id
f452c5a9-4ee7-b500-b477-7fd1c69ccd5e
isbn
9780307558725
last_indexed
2024-03-28T04:15:49.472Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Fiction
literary_form_full
Fiction
primary_isbn
9780307558725
publishDate
2010
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Electronic books
Fiction
Literature
Romance
title_display
Observatory mansions : A novel
title_full
Observatory mansions [electronic resource] : A novel. Edward Carey
title_short
Observatory mansions
title_sub
A novel
topic_facet
Fiction
Literature
Romance

Solr Details Tables

item_details

Bib IdItem IdShelf LocCall NumFormatFormat CategoryNum CopiesIs Order ItemIs eContenteContent SourceeContent URLDetailed StatusLast CheckinLocation
overdrivecmc:ODN0000315094ODN0000315094Overdrive (CMC)Online Overdrive (CMC)eBookeBook1falsetrueOverdrive (CMC)http://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=162&titleID=315094Available OnlineOverdrive (CMC)

record_details

Bib IdFormatFormat CategoryEditionLanguagePublisherPublication DatePhysical DescriptionAbridged
overdrivecmc:ODN0000315094eBookeBookEnglish20101 online resource