Umbrella (novel)

Umbrella is the ninth novel by Will Self, published in 2012.

It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2012, Will Self's first nomination.

Content

The stream-of-consciousness novel tells the story of a psychiatrist Zack Busner and his treatment of a patient at Friern Hospital in 1971 who has encephalitis lethargica and has been in a vegetative state since 1918, when she was a munitions worker. The patient, Audrey Death, has two brothers whose activities before and during the First World War are interwoven into her own story. Busner brings her back to consciousness using a new drug (L-Dopa, which was used for the same purpose by Oliver Sacks in the 1970s). In the final element of the story, in 2010 the asylum is no longer in existence and the recently retired Busner travels across north London trying to find the truth about his experience with his patient.

The novel is written in a flowing fashion without chapters and very few paragraph breaks between scenes. It intercuts between different time periods and is composed of interlaced narratives. In some senses its structuring can be likened to free jazz.

Moon of Israel (novel)

Moon of Israel is a novel by Rider Haggard, first published in 1918 by John Murray. The novel narrates the events of the Biblical Exodus from Egypt told from the perspective of a scribe named Ana.

Haggard dedicated his novel to Sir Gaston Maspero, a distinguished Egyptologist and director of Cairo Museum.

Adaptation

His novel was the basis of a script by Ladislaus Vajda, for film-director Michael Curtiz in his 1924 Austrian epic known as Die Sklavenkönigin, or "Queen of the Slaves".

References

External links

Novel (disambiguation)

A novel is a long prose narrative.

Novel may also refer to:

See also

1999 in literature

This article presents lists of the literary events and publications in 1999.

Events

New books

Umbrella

An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs, which is mounted on a wooden, metal or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The word "umbrella" typically refers to a device used for protection from rain. The word parasol usually refers to an item designed to protect from the sun. Often the difference is the material used for the canopy; some parasols are not waterproof. Umbrella canopies may be made of fabric or flexible plastic.

Umbrellas and parasols are primarily hand-held portable devices sized for personal use. The largest hand-portable umbrellas are golf umbrellas. Umbrellas can be divided into two categories: fully collapsible umbrellas, in which the metal pole supporting the canopy retracts, making the umbrella small enough to fit in a handbag, and non-collapsible umbrellas in which the support pole cannot retract; only the canopy can be collapsed. Another distinction can be made between manually operated umbrellas and spring-loaded automatic umbrellas which spring open at the press of a button.

Umbrella (children's book)

Umbrella by Taro Yashima is a children's picture book that was named the 1959 Caldecott Honor Book. It was originally published in 1958 then later reprinted in August of 1977 by Puffin Books.

Plot

Umbrella is a short story where a little girl is the principal character. Her name is Momo which mean “peach” in Japanese and was born in New York.

Momo carries the blue umbrella and wears the rubber boots that she was given on her third birthday. She asks her mother every day to use her umbrella. Momo tried to tell her mother she needed to carry the umbrella to the school because the sunshine and the wind bothered her eyes. But her mother didn't let her use the umbrella and advises her to wait until the rain comes. The rain took a long time to fall down because it was Indian summer, however, when the rain came, her umbrella was the perfect excuse to use that day. Momo was happy, the rain sound over her umbrella was a music for her. It is a fresh children's story with classic and very colorful Japanese illustrations that reflect its culture.

Umbrella (film)

Umbrella or San is a Chinese documentary film directed by Du Haibin and released in 2007. The film documents the experiences of modern rural China, particularly five social groups: students, soldiers, tradespeople, and peasants. Du's stated goal with the film was to highlight the growing disparity between China's prosperous cities and its stagnating countryside.

Synopsis

Umbrella is divided into five parts, one for each social group documented. The first takes place in Zhongshan, in Guangdong province at an industrial warehouse where poorly paid workers spend hours putting together umbrellas for sale. In another part of China, in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, a successful farmer has become an entrepreneur, running an umbrella manufacturing business.

The film then shifts to Shanghai, as it follows students and recent graduates who struggle to find employment in a hyper-competitive market. The students know that failure to find a job will mean a return to their rural roots.

The fourth part follows a People's Liberation Army garrison and new recruits. The recruits all come from farms in the countryside, looking for another life.