An inexplicable message flashed onto the screen of his Apple II computer at 3 a.m. heralds the beginning of a startling quest for frustrated author Herman Orff. Taking up the offer of a cure for writer's block leads him 'to those places in your head that you can't get to on your own' - and plunges him into a semi-dreamland inhabited by a bizarre combination of characters from myth and reality: the talking head of Orpheus; a lost love; the young girl of Vermeer's famous portrait - and a frequency of Medusas.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Again demonstrating the versatility and creative energy exhibited in Riddley Walker and Pilgermann, in this slim novel Hoban deals with existential questions: the mystery of existence, the nature of reality, the role of art. Combining satire and fantasy, and in poetic, Joycean language mixed with the vernacular, this narrative rewards the discerning reader. Herman Orff, a failed novelist who supports himself by doing cartoons for Classic Comics, is accosted by the blind head of Orpheus, his progenitor, "the first of your line." Through a series of metaphysical communications that lead to an odyssey through London and Amsterdam, Orff is gradually given to understand the connection between the women in his life: his lost love Luise von Himmelbett (symbolizing Eurydice); the nubile and very available Melanie Falsepercy (symbolizing Persephone); the print of Vermeer's Head of a Young Girl that hangs above his desk and haunts his imagination; and the head of Medusa in a painting by the Dutch master Frans Post: all represent "femaleness." Spare and witty, full of metaphorical, mythical and mystical allusions, the narrative sings with insights. At the same time whimsical, farcical (an advertising agency is called Slithe and Tovey) and deadly serious, it brilliantly relates the tragic ancient myths to the commonplace tragedies of modern life in a violent, dislocated age.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
When his creative juices dry up, writer Herman Orff abandons serious novels for comic books. In despair, he tries an acquaintance's electronic device for brain galvanizing and is rewarded by several strange visions of the head of Orpheus, with whom Orff and other characters in the novel are obsessed. Orff's conversations with the head give him a clear understanding of his past and of what being human is, demonstrating the true import of the book: how art acts on and makes sense of experience, which can be fully perceived only whenlike Eurydiceit is lost entirely. An interesting but mannered retelling of the Orpheus myth. Laurence Hull, Cannon Memorial Lib., Concord, N.C.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hoban is back!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Medusa Frequency (Paperback)
Since first reading Hoban's Riddley Walker almost twenty years ago, I have searched for other books that spoke as well to the cynical, questing artistic soul at the end of the twentieth century. They have been few, and rare, and mostly out of print in America. I approached this work with trepidation, fearing that it could not match the charm and spirit of this author's seminal masterpiece. I was wrong. From the first NNVSNU TSRUNGH, The Medusa Frequency establishes a new paradox of myth and machine, leading its reader, and its hero, through a humorous quest for true love, true work, and the meaning of life. The hero, Herman Orff, is a novelist without profit who writes classic comics for a living. After a late-night conversation from his computer monitor puts him in touch with a primordial reality, the comfortable fabric of his reality begins to unravel. His visit to a musician of his acquaintance leads him into another electronic encounter, with subsequent and unpredictable visits from the drowned head of Orpheus. His job writing comic books is terminated when the editor decides to "go glossy," trading the comic series for an x-rated magazine of classical Greek themes. Throughout, Herman is enticed by curiosity about the fate of his lost love, Luise, although he eagerly pursues the the prospect of a new love in one Melanie Falsepercy, whose legs speak to his soul. Vermeer's Head of a Young Girl and Eurydice of the Orpheus legend also compete for Herman's attention--and understanding. Herman's quest and the resolution of his contemporary dilemma remain quixotic--and strangely satisfying. As one might expect, Hoban's love of words and language give richness to this tale and extend its influence to the subliminal pleasures of certain sounds and rhythms. While this work does not surpass Riddley Walker, with its masterful re-creation of the English language, it brings a delightful, and humorous new perspective to life in our times.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hoban keeps getting better and better!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Medusa Frequency (Hardcover)
Although Russell Hoban will always be listed as 'author of Mouse and his Child, Turtle Diary and Riddley Walker', books like Medusa Frequency (and Pilgermann as well) give evidence that Hoban is not merely an author with a few great books up his sleeve but one who continues to hammer out a treatice on the heart of human experience, and it is one which becomes more precise with each outing. Though only half the size of Riddley Walker, The Medusa Frequency examines universal/archetypal themes through dark humor and mythological allegory. Because Hoban is a real master of language, not stopping with where the meaning of words cut off, but moving beyond them, he seemingly accomplishes more then Jung does over thousands of pages. It feels weird to be comparing fiction to authors like D.T. Suzuki, but the quote in regards to the latter: "he combined the innocence of a child with the holiness of a saint." could easily be applied to Hoban; easily one of the best authors still writing.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intensely moving. This is very beautiful.,
By Jamie (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Medusa Frequency (Picador Bks.) (Paperback)
A friend recommended Riddley Walker, but I couldn't find it so I picked this book off the shelf instead. I had no idea what to expect, the first few pages of a book are always a little hard for me to invest in, but I tell you I'm so, so happy that I didn't walk away.
I'm amazing that such an incredible writer has not gotten more attention. This book is beautiful, infused with mythology, and so incredibly poignant. I haven't read Riddley Walker, but even if The Medusa Frequency doesn't meet those standards-- it definitely breaks the lukewarm standards of books of thousands of lukewarm books that are in print right now. It feels like the universe, existential human worries, and the most beautiful love all coming together.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
|
|
