Leonora Carrington (1917-2011), the distinguished British-born Surrealist painter who made her home in Mexico City, was also a writer of extraordinary imagination and charm, and The Hearing Trumpet is perhaps her best loved book. It tells the story of 92-year-old Marian Leatherby, who is given the gift of a hearing trumpet only to discover that her family has been plotting to have her committed to an institution. But this is an institution where the buildings are shaped like birthday cakes and igloos, where the Winking Abbess and the Queen Bee reign, and where the gateway to the underworld is wide open. It is also the scene of a mysterious murder. Occult twin to Alice in Wonderland, The Hearing Trumpet is a classic of fantastic literature that has been translated and celebrated throughout the world.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
This book is so inspiring...I love its freedom, its humour and how it invents its own laws. What specifically do I take from her? Her wig -- Bjork
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Leonora Carrington is a British born Surrealist painter and writer now living in Mexico city who has been described, alongside people such as Pablo Picasso and Joan Miro, as one of the leading lights of the Surrealist movement. Born in Lancashire in 1917 to a strict Catholic family she first came into contact with surrealism through her lover, Surrealist painter Max Ernst, before moving to Mexico in 1942. The Hearing Trumpet, her most famous piece of writing, was first published in France in 1974. Ali Smith was born in Inverness in 1962 and now lives in Cambridge. Her first book, Free Love, won the Saltire First Book Award. Her most recent novel, Hotel World, was shortlisted for both the Orange Prize and the Booker Prize in 2001 and won the Encore Award and the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award in 2002.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful
By maui@ite.net
Format:Paperback
The Hearing Trumpet is deliciously funny and irreverent; Surrealist painter/author Leonora Carrington's apocalyptic tale is filled with gems such as "Darling, don't be philosophical, it doesn't suit you, it makes your nose red." Filtered through the eyes and ears of Marian Leatherby, a 92 year-old inmate of a Spanish old folk's home (run by the cultlike Well of Light Brotherhood), the tongue-in-cheek tone and hilarious chracters make this book a refreshing surprise. Every copy I've ever owned has been stolen! From the first paragraph, the reader will see that Marian Leatherby and her friends are NOT LOL's (Little Old Ladies), and Leonora Carrington is not your average author. (She's truly hilarious, for one!) Read this book for its wacky imagery (a trompe l'oeil "furnished" tower, a pair of murdering religious quacks, termite engineering, wigs, marijuana-stuffed needlepoint pillows, and a 92 year-old lady swarming down ten stories of rope, for starters), then hide your copy from your well-read friends...or buy them their own!
32 of 36 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Since JRR Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings, I don't think I've come across another work that has so enraptured me. It is truly a modern fairy tale, and one that can easily be re-read a hundred times over. (It's been awhile since I read this and I don't have my book with me, but I'll try to be as accurate as I can with the names of the characters.) You can tell from the start that this isn't your conventional fantasy romp: the heroine Marian Leatherby isn't a youthful, beautiful princess but an old lady with family problems. She doesn't journey to distant lands to find magic and adventure; instead, all the action takes place in an old folks home. Along the way Leonora Carrington slyly pokes fun at patriarchal myths and traditions. 'Galahad', a name familiar to us from Arthurian legends, reappears in THT not as some dashing, valiant do-gooder but, if my memory serves me correctly, as Marian's ineffectual, unpleasant son. So much for modern chivalry, Carrington seems to say. Yet while she debunks these old legends, she creates new ones, drawing upon mythology and fantasy alike to people her story with strong female characters and ancient Goddesses. Whimsical, magical, entertaining, thought-provoking. I won't say much more, you'll have to read it for yourself to find out just how excellent it is. And yes, do put your own copy under lock and key!!
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Leonora Carrington's dream like tale of Marian, a plucky ninety-five year old, straddles the boundary between mad fantasy and insightful social commentary. Far from being a dry philosophical tome, it is a quick and thoroughly pleasurable read, yet it addresses issues of female identity with imagery that has become part of a sort of neofeminist canon. The image of the wolf sister and particularly the discovery of the Queen Bee will resonate with anyone who is interested in women's spirituality or related studies. The best thing about this book, however, is that it is so fantastically engaging that people of many ages and backgrounds will enjoy it thoroughly.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Perhaps known to more as an artist, Leonora Carrington also
happens to be a superb writer. Few adult novels would dare
to accomodate their main character in a house with real looking
furniture that is merely paint on the walls. The heroine
is an old lady with a dignified beard and a mystical trumpet
that ameliorates her ability to hear. One can only imagine
the trouble this trumpet causes and the fiascos that result
with a cast of equally wacky old ladies. The nursing home
setting provides the backdrop for a fantastical and
ambitious story written in beautiful prose.
happens to be a superb writer. Few adult novels would dare
to accomodate their main character in a house with real looking
furniture that is merely paint on the walls. The heroine
is an old lady with a dignified beard and a mystical trumpet
that ameliorates her ability to hear. One can only imagine
the trouble this trumpet causes and the fiascos that result
with a cast of equally wacky old ladies. The nursing home
setting provides the backdrop for a fantastical and
ambitious story written in beautiful prose.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By derf
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
i have loved leonora carrington's paintings for a long time, and only recently got a chance to read this book. i finished it quickly.
what struck me was how fast it moves, which for someone taking it at face value might ruin the whole thing - - but for one looking at the story running through it that ISN'T in the book, it becomes haunting, dark, disturbing and profoundly sorrowful even as the story itself soars to the heights of fantasy. i can't say too much more without ruining the book, but if you understand what i believe she's trying to say happened, then you will agree with me about the haunting-dark-disturbing thing.
on the surface it still has a lot to please - - witchcraft, goddesses, the kabbalah, mysteries both domestic and occult, black comedy and sweeping adventure. the main character is as loveable and charming as she is eccentric, and she's a whole lot of eccentric. i think this may be an overlooked classic.
and the line drawings by carrington's son (i think?) are killer! i'm getting a tattoo of one of the frontispiece, marian with her trumpet.
what struck me was how fast it moves, which for someone taking it at face value might ruin the whole thing - - but for one looking at the story running through it that ISN'T in the book, it becomes haunting, dark, disturbing and profoundly sorrowful even as the story itself soars to the heights of fantasy. i can't say too much more without ruining the book, but if you understand what i believe she's trying to say happened, then you will agree with me about the haunting-dark-disturbing thing.
on the surface it still has a lot to please - - witchcraft, goddesses, the kabbalah, mysteries both domestic and occult, black comedy and sweeping adventure. the main character is as loveable and charming as she is eccentric, and she's a whole lot of eccentric. i think this may be an overlooked classic.
and the line drawings by carrington's son (i think?) are killer! i'm getting a tattoo of one of the frontispiece, marian with her trumpet.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By K. Zimmerman
Format:Paperback
The first page will tell you if you will love it or hate it. I loved it. It's way out there but she strikes a cord with those open minded enough to question the established way of thinking about old age, women and religion. Her sense of humor is wonderful.
By cpwren
Format:Paperback
I was first given an old tattered copy of the original purple paperback decades ago. I absolutely adore Carrington's humour! She presents a story which on the surface would sound like an all too familiar tragedy of industrialized society--zero tolerance for the aged, by society and family members alike. But in Carrington's words, the argument for perspective being the source of all realities rings through with charm and hilarity. This story is definitely "out there", especially the resolution and I laughed the whole way to it. There is absolutely no question that our heroine, Marion Leatherby, and her friends--Carmela, who plots to bake a file-containing cake as means of escape and a number of other sharp and sassy "inmates"--are very capable of creating their realities to suit them most quirkily. The back cover of the current reprint carries an endorsement by surrealist filmmaker, Luis Buñuel, "Reading 'The Hearing Trumpet' liberates us from the miserable reality of our days." I'll say it gives me a lift and over the decades since I first read between those well loved purple covers, I've probably bought and given away more copies of this book than most in my crazily vast library.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Novel by a Surrealist Artist
It is an odd novel about very old woman who is sent off to a retirement home. It is a whimsical romp, a work of magical realism. And no wonder. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Juliette Mondot
1.0 out of 5 stars
You guys should be embarrassed!
I'm not going to discuss the content of this book, since I haven't got the opportunity to read it. What you should be embarrassed of is that this book is not available in kindle... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Bela
2.0 out of 5 stars
A classic of imaginative literature?...Right.
Two things stood out to me, an avid reader and visual artists, that I thought I should bring up. The illustrations in this book are not by Leonora Carrington--which I did not... Read more
Published 6 months ago by D. Morris
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not surreal enough
This book turned out to be not so surreal as I hoped.
(There are more exciting and colorful, more twisted and thought-provoking books written in style of surrelism. Read more
(There are more exciting and colorful, more twisted and thought-provoking books written in style of surrelism. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Julia Akulinicheva
5.0 out of 5 stars
Botox Antedote
If you're anxious about getting old, read this book. It captures the strength of spirit that can, and should, stay with us as we age, while spoofing on religions, metaphysical... Read more
Published on March 20, 2009 by A. Stefanopoulos
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surreal,
My first surreal book - I love Varo's paintingsand this reminds me of her pantings.While I find this book to be difficult - only because it is odd ,I also find it absorbing and... Read more
Published on February 2, 2009 by coastalkate
2.0 out of 5 stars
Fades in the stretch
For a good portion of its length, this tale is everything one could want: deliciously witty in a zany way sometimes reminiscent of the Marx Brothers at their best. Read more
Published on April 15, 2008 by Lynn Walker
5.0 out of 5 stars
A treasure book
This fantasy must be among some of the best ever written that is truly entertaining and magically imagined since the beginning of myths and human history. Read more
Published on October 15, 2006 by Seesaw-Books
5.0 out of 5 stars
like a wild fairy tale
Leonora Carrington is awsome as an author - she doesn't let her imagination be chained by convention or by anything. What a vivid, strange world these characters live in. Read more
Published on July 15, 1998 by thern@acsu.buffalo.edu
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
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
