[KKZ]≡ PDF Gratis Motherless Brooklyn Jonathan Lethem 9780571226320 Books

Motherless Brooklyn Jonathan Lethem 9780571226320 Books

Download As PDF : Motherless Brooklyn Jonathan Lethem 9780571226320 Books

Motherless Brooklyn Jonathan Lethem 9780571226320 Books

Lionel Essrog, the orphaned hero of this superb novel which evokes and in some ways surpasses the classics of Raymond Chandler, has Tourette's syndrome and suffers from compulsive traits that make him behave in a variety of strange ways. The author's brilliant evocation of his internal dialogues and the way in which his tic constantly manifests itself is totally convincing and lifts this book into a special category.

Lionel is regarded as a freak by almost everyone he meets. The exception is Frank Minna, a small-time crook running a series of modest rackets in Brooklyn, who rescues Lionel and three other inmates of his orphanage and enlists them as his "Minna Men," to do odd jobs and tasks for him. Minna runs a fake car service which is a front for a detective agency which itself is a front for various forms of larceny. But as the book begins, Minna is murdered.

Lionel's tics hide a sharp intelligence and a well-defined sense of right and wrong, which makes him the perfect hero. As he tries to get to the bottom of Minna's death, he finds that his behavior gives him a strange advantage. Nobody takes him seriously. But he is intensely serious.

Seen through Lionel's eyes, the world is a strange place. New York City itself, he says, is a "Tourettic city" with its constant scratching and counting and tearing. Lionel has the customary love affair during this book with a sweet girl who seems to understand him and then doesn't. Sex smooths away his tics, the author writes, then supplanting them with the biggest tic of all.

This is one of those books that takes a genre, shakes it up and goes beyond it without ever violating its fundamental rules. I believed totally in Essrog and came to see the world through his eyes.


Tags : Motherless Brooklyn [Jonathan Lethem] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The hero of this novel is one Lionel Essrog, otherwise known as the Human Freakshow. Essrog is a victim of Tourette's Syndrome; hapless and veering out of control,Jonathan Lethem,Motherless Brooklyn,Gardners Books,0571226329,Adventure thriller,Fiction

Motherless Brooklyn Jonathan Lethem 9780571226320 Books Reviews

Enthralling, different, layered, with idiosyncratic characters the reader comes to like and worry about. Totally caught up in the story, just complex enough. Terrific imagery.

Liked it so much, bought another Lethem--used paperback. Alas, college student previous owner, reading quite closely with instruction, as full of wonderful markings, notes, highlighting. Full price for Mr. Lethem next time!
"Motherless Brooklyn", by author Jonathan Lethem, is a detective story with a twist ... the protagonist, Lionel Essrog, has Tourette's syndrome, a disorder with barely controllable physical tics and inadvertant vocal components, where the sufferer touches repeatedly things or imitates others, and may blurt out anything ... obscenities, secrets, or nonsense. Essrog is an orphan, who along with three other orphans, now work for Frank Minna, a small-time crook who employs them in a variety of legal and semi-legal endeavors. After Minna is murdered, Essrog searches to find Minna's killer. As I don't give plot spoilers (the above info is pretty much from the advertising blurbs and first chapter of the book), below are my impressions of the novel.

Essrog is the narrator of the story, and it's told from his perspective, in first person. For the first chapter or so, I was annoyed and discomfited by the structure and pacing of the narrative ... it was too "jerky" and disjointed, primarily because of the symptoms of Essrog's Tourette syndrome, but once I grew used to the pacing and flow, it largely ceased to bother me. Although afflicted by Tourette's syndrome, and appearing to others as somewhat less than sane or normal, there is nothing wrong with Essrog's powers of intellect, so you get a sense of someone peering keenly out from behind a damaged exterior.

While nominally a detective story (and a very good one at that), this is also somewhat of a character study, where the flawed Essrog lives among others who are damaged in other ways, and his struggles to find Minna's killer moves him beyond both his own comfort zone and involves him in complex situations where little is as it first appears. As it is difficult to fully develop many of the individuals within the context of a single novel, many are slight caricatures and stereotypes rather than thoroughly developed. But Essrog himself is tremendously appealing, and his disorder only adds to his humanity, and you find yourself rooting for him as the story progresses.

Overall, this is a very good novel, and once you get past its eccentricities, it will suck you in. This book would serve as a good basis for a series of sequels featuring Essrog and his friends, but given that "Motherless Brooklyn" was published in 1999 and there have been no reported efforts by the author toward a sequel, it isn't likely to ever happen. Four stars.
Lionel Essrog, the orphaned hero of this superb novel which evokes and in some ways surpasses the classics of Raymond Chandler, has Tourette's syndrome and suffers from compulsive traits that make him behave in a variety of strange ways. The author's brilliant evocation of his internal dialogues and the way in which his tic constantly manifests itself is totally convincing and lifts this book into a special category.

Lionel is regarded as a freak by almost everyone he meets. The exception is Frank Minna, a small-time crook running a series of modest rackets in Brooklyn, who rescues Lionel and three other inmates of his orphanage and enlists them as his "Minna Men," to do odd jobs and tasks for him. Minna runs a fake car service which is a front for a detective agency which itself is a front for various forms of larceny. But as the book begins, Minna is murdered.

Lionel's tics hide a sharp intelligence and a well-defined sense of right and wrong, which makes him the perfect hero. As he tries to get to the bottom of Minna's death, he finds that his behavior gives him a strange advantage. Nobody takes him seriously. But he is intensely serious.

Seen through Lionel's eyes, the world is a strange place. New York City itself, he says, is a "Tourettic city" with its constant scratching and counting and tearing. Lionel has the customary love affair during this book with a sweet girl who seems to understand him and then doesn't. Sex smooths away his tics, the author writes, then supplanting them with the biggest tic of all.

This is one of those books that takes a genre, shakes it up and goes beyond it without ever violating its fundamental rules. I believed totally in Essrog and came to see the world through his eyes.