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City of the mind by Penelope Lively
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City of the mind (original 1991; edition 1992)

by Penelope Lively

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3871165,203 (3.82)41
Fiction. Literature. HTML:

A "well crafted . . . fascinating" story of a London architect's struggle for identity in love and career (Time Out).

This is the city in which everything is simultaneous. There is no yesterday, nor tomorrow, merely weather, and decay, and construction.

In London's changing heartland, architect Matthew Halland can't help but contemplate how the past and the present blend. It stirs memories of his boyhood, the early years with his daughter, and the failed marriage he has not yet put behind him. Here, too, is the London of prehistory, of Georgian elegance, of the Blitz. But at the same time, Matthew must keep focused on the constructing of a new future for Londonā??his latest project in Docklandsā??and with it he begins to forge new beginnings of his own.

City of the Mind is the "lucid and complex, meditative and playful, concise and expansive" second novel from the Man Booker Prizeā??winning author (The Washington Post Book World… (more)

Member:rdurie
Title:City of the mind
Authors:Penelope Lively
Info:Penguin Books, 1992 (paperback)
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:Fiction, England

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City of the Mind by Penelope Lively (1991)

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Showing 1-5 of 11 (next | show all)
The architect deals with reconstruction of his personal life alongside that of 1990's London. Well written.
  ivanfranko | Feb 20, 2022 |
At first this novel develops as a story about an architect, one Matthew Halland. As the narrative develops, it is evident that this is actually an historical account of the City of London. The viewpoint often changes but Lively achieves this alternating 'voice' so adroitly, the reading is not disrupted and one rarely feels the story is suddenly out of context.

Matthew's insightful musings as he goes about the City to supervise the work his firm has in hand slide across modern day London and rolls back the centuries. The philosophical theme is held together by the architect's life, which even on its own, was very rewarding. It is an effective technique in engaging one's attention.

For my tastes, the occasional segue into the era of the London blitz was jarring. The historical aspect was of buildings lost. Although I found the detail of lives-lost and families-disrupted a little too gritty for the theme in the book as a whole, I recommend this literary fiction for those who have enjoyed philosophical perspectives of time and place. ( )
  SandyAMcPherson | May 8, 2019 |
Penelope Lively gives us the life of a moderately successful architect, Matthew Halland, and a developing London that is being refurbished and rebuilt, buildings going higher. Matthew Halland feels that his life is a failure, his marriage is over but he maintains a good relationship with his young daughter. At work he is not convinced by the new turquoise skyscraper he is responsible for in Docklands and only cares about the glass engraving of a ship that he commissions. We meet Matthew Halland with his daughter and with his elderly mother and occasionally with his colleagues, we also meet up with a developer whose method of working he disapproves. In these scenes we mostly see a thoughtful and caring man, the developer brings out his assertive side while demonstrating that Matthew is a good person. The novel is interspersed with flashes back to other London's. Particularly dramatic are those from the blitz and some of these scenes are hard to read and brutal. These stories remain in the fabric of the older buildings of London. An enjoyable novel. ( )
  CarolKub | Jan 11, 2018 |
Although architect Matthew Halland plays the main part in the story, London is the real character. Set in the early 1990s when London is being rebuilt, reconstructed, renovated, the past occasionally emerges, after all, the past never goes away. Demolishing buildings uncovers memories, vermin, misery, mingled with scientists, exploration, art, and success, to portray a complex living city, always changing. An excellent story that held my attention throughout. ( )
1 vote VivienneR | Jan 25, 2015 |
An almost manic look at the city of London as it bursts forth in the perceptive descriptions of the main character, Matthew Halland. Matthew, a London architect, feels the pulse of the city as it speaks to him of the present as well as the past. Lively aids this sense of the city as a living thing by inserting vignettes of people past and present who experience London in completely different ways to Matthew, examples being Rose, the child living in poverty and on the streets, Rutter, the ruthless real estate developer willing to bend the moral rules that Matthew lives by, and Jim, the warden who must contend with the London that is falling apart during the WWII bombing.

The author balances these views of London at the same time she describes Matthew's life as he comes to terms with his broken marriage, interacts with his daughter Jane, attempts to keep sinister Rutter away, and contemplates the possibility of love with someone new. The insight she brings to Matthew's interactions made one want to follow more of Matthew's life but the city continues to intrude over and over again as Lively develops the themes of memory and time and how the past always lives in the present in some mysterious fashion. My only criticism is the story seemed overwhelming at times with so much going on at once, and that perhaps the city played too big a role when one wanted more of the human element. ( )
1 vote dallenbaugh | Jan 9, 2015 |
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Night. Lights on.
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Matthew thinks about happiness. It occurs to him that this is rarely identified at the very moment of experience. ... It is children alone who experience immediacy; the rest of us have lost the ability to inhabit the present and spend our time in anticipation and recollection.
Around the room there were examples of her work. A white and haloed saint-figure floating in a great sheet of glass; goblets etched with delicate lettering; butterflies caught in the corner of a bowl. Matthew prowled - inspecting, approving. He visualized her at work: a Pont Express bike courier creating miracles with a dentist's drill.
They considered the engraving. It occupied the panel above the large glass revolving doors, framed in a marble surround, and hung there as a delicate white tracery of light, an intricate ghost ship rocked upon the scrolls of phantom waves.
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Fiction. Literature. HTML:

A "well crafted . . . fascinating" story of a London architect's struggle for identity in love and career (Time Out).

This is the city in which everything is simultaneous. There is no yesterday, nor tomorrow, merely weather, and decay, and construction.

In London's changing heartland, architect Matthew Halland can't help but contemplate how the past and the present blend. It stirs memories of his boyhood, the early years with his daughter, and the failed marriage he has not yet put behind him. Here, too, is the London of prehistory, of Georgian elegance, of the Blitz. But at the same time, Matthew must keep focused on the constructing of a new future for Londonā??his latest project in Docklandsā??and with it he begins to forge new beginnings of his own.

City of the Mind is the "lucid and complex, meditative and playful, concise and expansive" second novel from the Man Booker Prizeā??winning author (The Washington Post Book World

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Penguin Australia

An edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia.

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