Garbo Laughs [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Hay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2003

From the award-winning author of A Student of Weather , a funny, sad-eyed novel about a woman caught between real love and movie love--and real love doesn't stand a chance. This is a novel about movie love. Set in Ottawa in the 1990s, it is the quixotic tale of tall, thin Harriet Browning, inflamed by the movies she was deprived of as a child. Bent on seeing everything she has missed, she rapidly becomes so saturated with old movies, seen repeatedly and swallowed whole, that she no longer fits into this world. Equally addicted are her three companions- of-the-screen: a boy who loves Frank Sinatra, a girl with Bette Davis eyes, and an earthy sidekick named after Dinah Shore. Breaking in upon this quiet backwater, in time with the devastating ice storm of 1998, come two refugees from Hollywood, the jaded widow of a famous screenwriter and her movie-expert stepson. They are Harsh Reality. With them come blackouts, arguments, accidents, illness, and sudden death. But what chance does real life stand when we can watch movies instead? What hope does real love have when movie love, in all its brief intensity, is an easy option? In this brilliant and poignant comedy of secondhand desire, movies and movie lovers come first.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Garbo hardly ever laughed, and when she did, it was dubbed; reality is similarly transformed in this quirky, dreamy novel infused with movie mania. A plague of cinematic absorption settles over an Ottawa neighborhood in Hay's latest offering (her debut, A Student of Weather, was shortlisted for the Giller Prize). Harriet Browning's ascetic mother refused her the frivolity of the cinema as a child, and as an adult she views films obsessively. In middle age, she is the center of a small group of cinephiles: her son, Kenny, obsessed with Sinatra, watches classic movies to forget his troubles at school; her daughter, Jane, on the brink of adolescence, longs for the glamorous life; her neighbor and friend Dinah may be attracted mainly by the familial activity of watching together. Lew, Harriet's realist husband, is left out of this loop; his escapes come in the form of business trips to South America. The arrival of Harriet's aunt Leah, the trouble-making widow of a Hollywood screenwriter, and her stepson Jack, a lazy, fast-talking writer, leads to shifts in affections and allegiances. It is illness, however, that brings an end to the movie-watching, in true Hollywood weepy fashion. References to Pauline Kael (beloved by Harriet), top 100 movie lists and a lineup of movie greats (Marlon Brando, Sean Connery and Bette Davis are among the favorites) are as integral to the story as the interactions of its film-besotted protagonists. This is a gracefully written novel, mapping out the patterns of tension and release in a family whose members are best able to express their love and disappointment through the films of the past.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Greta Garbo is one of many movie stars who fascinate the alluringly eccentric characters found in the latest tale by one of Canada's most gifted novelists. In this witty, gracefully choreographed, and potent Ottawa-based family drama, Hay ponders our enthrallment to movies, conjuring a cast of ardent souls who cope with a catastrophic ice storm, unwelcome guests, undermined dreams, distressing infatuations, lingering illnesses, and sudden death by finding solace, even guidance, in classic films. Harriet, the Garbo-like star of the book, is a novelist who has developed the curious habit of writing but not mailing confiding letters to her hero, the then still-living film critic Pauline Kael, and discussing, at length, such burning cinematic questions as who is sexier, Cary Grant or Sean Connery, with her sweetly precocious and equally movie-mad son and daughter. As Harriet indulges her grand obsession with movies, she struggles with her less than passionate feelings for her real-life leading man and forges a warm but risky friendship with a new neighbor, the earthy Dinah. Imaginative, droll, and incisive, Hay's profound tale of attempted escape and accepted responsibility, of found joy and dreaded sorrow, deftly explores the dangers and benefits of fantasy. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Counterpoint Press; First Edition edition (October 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582432910
• ISBN-13: 978-1582432915
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,502,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Obsession in Ottawa, October 15, 2003

By 

Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Garbo Laughs (Hardcover)

Movies have been blamed for social ills ranging from child abuse to revolution. As a pivot of family relationships, however, the movies are rarely a cause. Elizabeth Hay has changed all that in one exquisite stroke. Garbo Laughs is an entertaining and impressive account of a "nuclear family" whose members range from obsessive to indifferent to the enticements of movies. Harriet Browning, a writer, is driven by actors, actresses, directors involved in film. Special effects have little place in her consideration of the films with Cary Grant, Sean Connery and Alfred Hitchcock. Having published her stories to varying reactions, Harriet's writing has become limited to letters to The New Yorker magazine critic Pauline Kael. Which she never posts.

Harriet's son Kenny keeps a "gangster's outfit" available for watching movies and visiting his mother's friends. He seems to have no friends of his own. His fascination with movies easily matches that of his mother. He has firm opinions on actors, portrayals, nuances in the making of the videos they watch together. Sister Jane hovers at the edge of the film fanatics, but is still caught up in their debates. Lew Gold, Harriet's beleaguered husband, withdraws from the film buffs when their intensity surpasses his patience. How far will his disenchantment take him? Perhaps as far as their neighbour "luscious Dinah Bloom"?

Harriet's relations with Dinah, as well as with her other neighbours, keeps in delicate balance throughout the story. Harriet's writing and film watching have become the focus of a life easily intruded upon. The greatest intrusion comes in the form of her aunt Leah and that widow's stepson Jack. Leah, a badly disguised character in Harriet's book, arrives for a visit - one likely to be extended. She harbours resentment over the book, a feeling built on previous bumpy relations with Harriet. It's a contest of wills, Leah's overbearing manner only slightly modified by being on Harriet's turf. Hay portrays these persona with wit and skill. None are false nor overdrawn. They seem to have taken over the story with Hay simply recording events. Perusing her portrayal of the people and events draws the reader into intimate association with them all.

Hay's writing skill borders on a prose version of Mozart. Like his sonatas, her words are carefully chosen and placed. None are out of order. There are no lapses to leave the reader wondering what she meant. Every sentence has a place in the story leading the reader confidently along the narrative. This isn't cold, clinical precision. Her character building is dynamic - they are alive, bickering, plotting, evaluating. Stillness isn't part of the story, even when the character is alone. In Ottawa, with river, canal, parks and spreads of forest, solitude should come easy. In Hay's hands, this little city is fraught with local intensities.

Hay is fascinated with weather. Who can blame her, living in Ottawa? Having previously examined Saskatchewan drought and New York humidity, she strives here to impart the chaos of the Great Ice Storm of 1998. She captures the permanent bending of trees, the treacherous sidewalks, the quiet dictated by impassable streets, with vivid eloquence. If you weren't there, trust in how skillfully she imparts the daily experiences and long-term effects. She shows how lasting such an event can be on lives. Recovery is hesitant, unpredictable and presenting fresh difficulties. Hay weaves all this in to a poignant finale, all the threads coming together effortlessly. A brilliant book, worthy of attention. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hidden laughter, October 16, 2003

By 

Friederike Knabe (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Garbo Laughs (Hardcover)

You will never quite feel the same watching the old classic movies after you read Garbo Laughs. The constant thread in this story of the daily life of a regular, sort of, family is the Friday night movie club - Harriet Browning, her two children, and neighbour and journalist friend Dinah Bloom. Discussions among the movie buffs focus on characters rather than plotlines: comparing the acting skills of Cary Grant or Marlon Brando or the good looks of Katherine Hepburn or Greta Garbo. The latter has a special place in the household of Harriet, author of some notoriety and the primary selector of films to watch - she looks a bit like the enigmatic actress, hidden laughs and all. The films appear to be more important than the daily realities. Only Harriet's husband Lew provides the link to the realisms of the outside world - he travels to distant places and brings back impressions and a special souvenir for Harriet.

We are invited to share the daily life of Harriet's family and neighbours - through the better part of a year that included the ice storm of 1998. The story takes place in a close-knit neighbourhood in Ottawa. Hay sets the scene of the cozy community in which every body knows everybody and they all interact frequently. Emotions, concealed or expressed, flow between the various characters. The arrival of aunt Leah, widow of a Hollywood screenwriter, and her stepson Jack bring upheaval to the daily routines. Some relate better to them than others and relationships become more complicated. Leah is an astute observer of people and knows how to rub salt into the proverbial emotional wounds. Harriet's problems with the goings on are aggravated by her inability to sleep: she watches the old movies over and over again and at all hours of day or night - no wonder she has sleeping problems! Her ongoing musings on her life, her relationships and her surroundings are shared in frequent, un-mailed letters to real-life movie critic, Pauline Kael.

For movie expert Kenny, the teenage son of Harriet and Lew, actors and their abilities are more important than real life concerns. His probing mind is focused on the silver screen. In the meantime, his problems in school can only be pushed aside for so long...
Hay has a unique talent to make this family and her surroundings breathe; she brings each character into his or her own. Her portrait of the place, the time and - of course - the weather - are gems in descriptive power. Let's not ignore that there is a story line to follow, endearing and captivating, which flows effortlessly carrying the main characters along. Hay has created a wonderful story that deserves to be read, and not only by classic movie aficionados. [Friederike Knabe, Ottawa, Canada]

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "When Garbo laughed, no sound came out. They had to dub.", November 26, 2003

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Garbo Laughs (Hardcover)

Harriet Browning, a novelist with an obsession for old-time movies, lives in Ottawa with her husband Lew Gold and their two children, ten-year-old Kenny, who likes to dress as Frank Sinatra, complete with fedora, and twelve-year-old Jane, who fantasizes about being a movie star. Lew, a "heritage architect," is far more pragmatic than the rest of the family, having very little interest in the movies, especially as an escape, and he is worried about Harriet's retreat into films. Tall and serious, Harriet is often thought to resemble Greta Garbo, and Lew sees her as "a woman without a romantic bone in her body, until she [sits] down in front of a movie."

Harriet herself "shares" her day-to-day concerns with her favorite film critic, Pauline Kael, writing unsent letters and using Pauline as a sounding board as she tries to work out issues in her own life. The lives of the Gold-Browning family are thrown into an uproar when Leah, Harriet's aunt, once married to a Hollywood figure, announces that she and her stepson Jack Frame are coming to Ottawa to stay for several months. Since "even a calm letter from Leah was like a missive from Liza Minnelli," Harriet must prepare herself to cope with their arrival and with the fact that she has depicted Leah unflatteringly in a recent novel.

Hay's style is energetic and fast-paced, and the novel is filled with lively but realistic dialogue. Harriet and her family sound like real people with real personalities engaged in real problems, and Hay successfully avoids the pitfalls of being cute. Harriet's neighborhood comes to life in all its humanity, and becomes a microcosm of the real, outside world-her close friend Dinah battles cancer, lonely senior citizens long for love, a neighbor dies, and spouses start to be attracted to other people. The movies offer a way to escape from the immediate complications, however, even for Kenny, a victim of schoolyard bullying.

Hay incorporates a great deal of nature imagery, using it to enhance her themes, and eventually, Harriet is forced to confront the workings of nature in her own life. "Life couldn't compete with the movies, but death could," she discovers. Themes of romance and reality, love and friendship, life and death, and the "wonderfulness of modest lives" are all revealed here within the context of one Ottawa neighborhood, illuminated by the movies that give excitement to their lives. Like the life cycle of nature and the change of seasons, this novel has beginnings and endings, and growth and change, all revealed within the unique context of old movies, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, and Frank Sinatra. Mary Whipple