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1kidzdoc
This thread is for reviews and discussion of Umbrella by Will Self, which was selected for the 2012 Booker Prize longlist.
2danieljayfriedman
Will Self’s Umbrella darts back and forth over decades, over characters, over emotions, and over topics. But at its affecting and surprisingly accessible core, Umbrella tells the heartbreaking stories of Audrey Death—working girl, munitionette during World War One, progressive—and her renegade psychiatrist, Dr. Zachary Busner. Already scarred by neurological damage brought on by packing and assembling shells for the front, Miss Death becomes one of the many post-War victims of the encephalitis lethargica epidemic. Decades later, Dr. Busner, consigned to working in the cavernous Friern Mental Hospital after a failed research career at another hospital, recognizes the complex rationales and patterns inherent in the seemingly random tics of the post-encephalitic “enkies.” Against the advice of his bureaucratic superiors but with the help and encouragement of Mboya, an undervalued Anglo-African aide, Dr. Busner experiments with administering L-Dopa to the enkies, “awakening” them from their catatonia.
Will Self populates Umbrella with a rich cast surrounding Miss Death: her lover; her beloved brother Stanley, who dies during the War; her human computer brother, who emerges as Sir Albert De’Ath; her father; and her friend and roommate during the War. Dr. Busner, sad and pathetic, is surrounded by a failing marriage and distant children; remote and critical bureaucratic superiors and staff; and the artfully drawn Mboya.
Umbrella demands patience and attention from the reader. Chapters are non-existent, paragraphs extend for multiple pages, and sentences are long. Umbrella includes popular culture and some literary references from twentieth century England, which may enrich reading Umbrella but are not essential to understanding and enjoying it. The often dream-like stream of consciousness in Umbrella likely reflects the thoughts and emotions of the seemingly catatonic enkies. Topics and references scattered throughout Umbrella may send the reader off on hunts for explanations, with certainly a first stop at Oliver Sacks’ Awakenings.
With patience and attention, Umbrella provides the reader with memorable and fascinating insights into characters, times, and events that are best not forgotten. Umbrella stands as a remarkably innovative and memorable historical novel. Having just completed my first reading of Umbrella, I already look forward to rereading it.
Will Self populates Umbrella with a rich cast surrounding Miss Death: her lover; her beloved brother Stanley, who dies during the War; her human computer brother, who emerges as Sir Albert De’Ath; her father; and her friend and roommate during the War. Dr. Busner, sad and pathetic, is surrounded by a failing marriage and distant children; remote and critical bureaucratic superiors and staff; and the artfully drawn Mboya.
Umbrella demands patience and attention from the reader. Chapters are non-existent, paragraphs extend for multiple pages, and sentences are long. Umbrella includes popular culture and some literary references from twentieth century England, which may enrich reading Umbrella but are not essential to understanding and enjoying it. The often dream-like stream of consciousness in Umbrella likely reflects the thoughts and emotions of the seemingly catatonic enkies. Topics and references scattered throughout Umbrella may send the reader off on hunts for explanations, with certainly a first stop at Oliver Sacks’ Awakenings.
With patience and attention, Umbrella provides the reader with memorable and fascinating insights into characters, times, and events that are best not forgotten. Umbrella stands as a remarkably innovative and memorable historical novel. Having just completed my first reading of Umbrella, I already look forward to rereading it.
