Publication
Scribner (2014), Edition: 1st, 384 pages
Description
The daughter of a Coney Island boardwalk curiosities museum's front man pursues an impassioned love affair with a Russian immigrant photographer who after fleeing his Lower East Side Orthodox community has captured poignant images of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. "An extraordinarily imaginative and immersive novel, this one set in New York from 1911-1925"--
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User reviews
LibraryThing member Whisper1
Infrequently, there is a book so great it is difficult to follow with another. Such is the case of The Museum of Extraordinary Things. I wanted to finish it to see what happened, yet did not want it to end. And, when trying to follow with another book, I opened five different ones, but none grabbed
I haven't read Alice Hoffman in awhile. She's written three books since I last read one of hers. Reading this book reinforced why she is one of my favorite authors.
Magical realism is how I would define her books. They contain a mystical, dreamlike feeling, while dealing with difficult subjects. Hoffman hasn't lost her touch and ability to continue to pull the reader into the pages, while holding them to continue page after page of beautiful phrases and vivid images.
In The Museum of Extraordinary Things, the focus is on the year 1911. The setting is New York City, and in particular Coney Island. Two major historical events occurred that year. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory burned, killing many young girls who, because the owner bolted the doors, could not escape, taking their lives in a ghastly conflagration, and, just as a major renovation costing millions, The Coney Island Dreamland amusement park caught fire. Destroying all newly built spectacular rides and killing rare, exotic animals, hundreds watched as lions, elephants and tigers were set free as they ran into the fire and were either burnt or killed by a bullet to contain them. The flames shot hundreds of feet into the air when a bucket of hot tar sparked and destroyed everything, including surrounding structures.
One other major non historical event occurred, Coralie Sardie began to look at her father in a totally different way. Now 18, and used as a freak in her father's house of extraordinary things, she began to rebel. Her webbed hand deformities kept her bound to him as he attached a fin-like apparatus to her body, hid a breathing tube behind some fake scenery, allowing her a daily existence in a tank of cold water, captivating those who would pay .40 to see her and various other "freaks" of her father's making.
The outside world called to Coralie as she, with her gloved hands, ventured over the rooftop each night and wandered down the board walk where she envisioned freedom.
As the Dreamland pier was building, her father's freak show was ending. The promise of the Dreamland experience drew her and many others who wanted more than looking at formaldehyde glass jars containing oddities. As Dreamland expansion began, his fortunes collapsed, leaving him increasingly desperate to find new sources of income, one of which exploited Coralie's body and soul.
This book is Alice Hoffman at her best. The images are so crisp and clear that the fuse in the readers mind. This is a story of longing, freedom, hope, determination and love. At the time when workers demanded a union for better working conditions, Coralie too demands what is rightfully hers -- a life free of soul numbing consequences.
As each of the wonderfully drawn characters present themselves on the pages, the reader identifies with every one of them in a magical way.
Deserving a high recommendation, this is a must read of Five Stars!
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me in the beginning like this one did.I haven't read Alice Hoffman in awhile. She's written three books since I last read one of hers. Reading this book reinforced why she is one of my favorite authors.
Magical realism is how I would define her books. They contain a mystical, dreamlike feeling, while dealing with difficult subjects. Hoffman hasn't lost her touch and ability to continue to pull the reader into the pages, while holding them to continue page after page of beautiful phrases and vivid images.
In The Museum of Extraordinary Things, the focus is on the year 1911. The setting is New York City, and in particular Coney Island. Two major historical events occurred that year. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory burned, killing many young girls who, because the owner bolted the doors, could not escape, taking their lives in a ghastly conflagration, and, just as a major renovation costing millions, The Coney Island Dreamland amusement park caught fire. Destroying all newly built spectacular rides and killing rare, exotic animals, hundreds watched as lions, elephants and tigers were set free as they ran into the fire and were either burnt or killed by a bullet to contain them. The flames shot hundreds of feet into the air when a bucket of hot tar sparked and destroyed everything, including surrounding structures.
One other major non historical event occurred, Coralie Sardie began to look at her father in a totally different way. Now 18, and used as a freak in her father's house of extraordinary things, she began to rebel. Her webbed hand deformities kept her bound to him as he attached a fin-like apparatus to her body, hid a breathing tube behind some fake scenery, allowing her a daily existence in a tank of cold water, captivating those who would pay .40 to see her and various other "freaks" of her father's making.
The outside world called to Coralie as she, with her gloved hands, ventured over the rooftop each night and wandered down the board walk where she envisioned freedom.
As the Dreamland pier was building, her father's freak show was ending. The promise of the Dreamland experience drew her and many others who wanted more than looking at formaldehyde glass jars containing oddities. As Dreamland expansion began, his fortunes collapsed, leaving him increasingly desperate to find new sources of income, one of which exploited Coralie's body and soul.
This book is Alice Hoffman at her best. The images are so crisp and clear that the fuse in the readers mind. This is a story of longing, freedom, hope, determination and love. At the time when workers demanded a union for better working conditions, Coralie too demands what is rightfully hers -- a life free of soul numbing consequences.
As each of the wonderfully drawn characters present themselves on the pages, the reader identifies with every one of them in a magical way.
Deserving a high recommendation, this is a must read of Five Stars!
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LibraryThing member kaylaraeintheway
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. It has a lot of elements that I normally love in a novel: early 20th century New York, historical events, a museum of wonders (where everything, including the person who runs it, it not what it seems), True Love.
However, I found myself finishing
To me, it felt like Hoffman wanted to write a story about the injustices suffered by the poor and immigrant peoples of new York before the time of labor laws and workers' right (and the lack of women's rights), and also an epic love story full of strange oddities...I don't know. I can't really put my finger on it. I just know that after the fifth passage describing how once you find your one tru epic love, there is nothing you can do but follow it and let yourself go and blah blah blah.
I'm sure many people will enjoy this book (and judging by the other reviews, they do), which is totally cool. I guess I was just expecting something else. Hoffman included a "For Further Reading" list at the end of the book, which includes books on the historical events of the time, so maybe I'll pick one of those up instead.
Despite my gripes, I still enjoyed portions of the book, and Hoffman's secondary characters were very interesting. Her descriptions of the city and the changing times were also very well-written, and it makes me excited to go to New York this summer :)
However, I found myself finishing
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the book just to say that I did. Don't get me wrong, Alice Hoffman's description of the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist and Dreamland fires, as well as her sympathetic and empathetic descriptions of the terrible conditions in which the poor lived and worked were fantastic, but having all of that as the backdrop for the ho-hum love story between Coralie (the deformed daughter of the sadistic museum owner) and Eddie (the hardened immigrant photographer who abandoned his Jewish faith) did not work for me. I would rather have gotten a story that focused specifically on the two tragedies, with other characters as the central characters. To me, it felt like Hoffman wanted to write a story about the injustices suffered by the poor and immigrant peoples of new York before the time of labor laws and workers' right (and the lack of women's rights), and also an epic love story full of strange oddities...I don't know. I can't really put my finger on it. I just know that after the fifth passage describing how once you find your one tru epic love, there is nothing you can do but follow it and let yourself go and blah blah blah.
I'm sure many people will enjoy this book (and judging by the other reviews, they do), which is totally cool. I guess I was just expecting something else. Hoffman included a "For Further Reading" list at the end of the book, which includes books on the historical events of the time, so maybe I'll pick one of those up instead.
Despite my gripes, I still enjoyed portions of the book, and Hoffman's secondary characters were very interesting. Her descriptions of the city and the changing times were also very well-written, and it makes me excited to go to New York this summer :)
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LibraryThing member ChristineEllei
In 1922 Coney Island was in the beginning stages of the tourist attraction it became. New York still had woods in which to roam and hunt. People could still swim in the Hudson River and fish along its banks. Coralie Sardie swims it all the time, even when ice begins to form on the surface. She
The professor’s housekeeper and Coralie’s surrogate mother Maureen, herself scarred by both life and an encounter with acid is the one person Coralie can count on for unconditional love.
Happenstance brings Coralie into the woods one evening where she spies Ezekial (Eddie) Cohen sitting by a campfire sharing dinner with his dog. Ezekial, who feels like an outsider among his family and friends, is desparately trying to escape his recent past and even more desparately, his distant past. But how can he ever escape the boyhood memory of his home, with his mother inside, being burned to the ground? He finds his solace in photography, for some reason, specifically crime scenes. He photographs not only the victims but takes the “mug shots” of the criminals as well. But Ezekial has something extraordinary to hide as well. He has the uncanny ability to find things … and people.
The tale of these three characters, two defined by fire and one by water, would have made an interesting book in itself but Ms. Hoffman does not stop there. She bookends their story with the tale of two New York tragedies: the Triangle Shirtwaist fire and the Dreamland fire. She expertly weaves the lives of her characters in and out and around these historical events.
One reviewer described this book as “ a wonderful mix of magic vs. science, of history and tragedy, and of love and romance”. I couldn’t agree more.
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feels more alive in the water because you see Coralie is a mermaid. Or, at least she pretends to be a mermaid swimming in a tank at her father’s “Museum of Extraordinary Things”. Professor Sardie collects unusual specimens of all types and when his daughter turned out to have webbed fingers, well, how could he not make her the star attraction of his show? Coralie grows up surrounded by “wonders” – the paying public referred to them as freaks. As she nears adulthood Coralie can’t help but question whether she is the wonder her father promotes publicly or the freak instructed to wear white gloves at all times to hide her deformity.The professor’s housekeeper and Coralie’s surrogate mother Maureen, herself scarred by both life and an encounter with acid is the one person Coralie can count on for unconditional love.
Happenstance brings Coralie into the woods one evening where she spies Ezekial (Eddie) Cohen sitting by a campfire sharing dinner with his dog. Ezekial, who feels like an outsider among his family and friends, is desparately trying to escape his recent past and even more desparately, his distant past. But how can he ever escape the boyhood memory of his home, with his mother inside, being burned to the ground? He finds his solace in photography, for some reason, specifically crime scenes. He photographs not only the victims but takes the “mug shots” of the criminals as well. But Ezekial has something extraordinary to hide as well. He has the uncanny ability to find things … and people.
The tale of these three characters, two defined by fire and one by water, would have made an interesting book in itself but Ms. Hoffman does not stop there. She bookends their story with the tale of two New York tragedies: the Triangle Shirtwaist fire and the Dreamland fire. She expertly weaves the lives of her characters in and out and around these historical events.
One reviewer described this book as “ a wonderful mix of magic vs. science, of history and tragedy, and of love and romance”. I couldn’t agree more.
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LibraryThing member JBarringer
This is a lovely book. It starts out in a creepy museum where a young girl is growing up, and where she is being groomed by the man she calls her father to be a sideshow exhibit, a real-life mermaid. She is kept isolated from the world as much as possible, and learns about the outside world mostly
While this book is built around a love story, it is historical and literary fiction, far more than a romance (though my misguided local library added a 'romance' sticker to the spine of the copy I read). This novel weaves together the love story with the story of the museum and of Coney Island more generally, along with a thread about the Jewish community in New York City, and of course the thread about the Triangle Fire. If you like historical fiction, or if you enjoyed Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and/or The Night Circus, you'll probably enjoy this book too.
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through the many bizarre things displayed in the museum. This story takes place in the years leading up to the terrible fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, where many women and girls were burned alive because they were locked into the room where they worked. As the girl in the museum grows older, she encounters a young man and falls in love from afar. The young man works as a sort of private detective, finding lost things and people, and when he is hired to find a girl who is missing after the fire, his investigation leads him to the girl in the museum.While this book is built around a love story, it is historical and literary fiction, far more than a romance (though my misguided local library added a 'romance' sticker to the spine of the copy I read). This novel weaves together the love story with the story of the museum and of Coney Island more generally, along with a thread about the Jewish community in New York City, and of course the thread about the Triangle Fire. If you like historical fiction, or if you enjoyed Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and/or The Night Circus, you'll probably enjoy this book too.
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LibraryThing member readerbynight
A story of exploitation, broken trust, secrets and changes to come
A very unusual book, told from two main sources. Yes, there is a museum and it is fascinating, but there are dark secrets hidden here. The museum is owned by a refugee who lives alone on Coney Island with his young daughter, who
The second storyteller is an Orthodox Jew, a refugee from the Ukraine who lives with his father and both work in the textile mills in Boston. A young boy on the verge of rebellion at the beginning. He renounces his faith when he believes his father tried to commit suicide.
It is a time in New York when men were in charge and women were treated as possessions, a time when class distinction was not only strongly defined but often corrupt and hidden crime was rampant, a time when 'hired' help was more often than not mistreated. Also a time of workhouses where children and women were forced to work for a pittance and often accidents occurred. Such is the case when a fire breaks out while the workers are locked within. You thought this happened only in other countries? Murders and assaults occur while eyes remain closed. This is New York in the 1800s and early 1900s. Manhattan was not much more than a swamp at certain times of the year. Coney Island was just becoming the famous park and beach it would one day be. For the boy who renounced his faith he has found beauty in nature. For the girl living at the museum, she has found horror. Will the two ever be able to find each other in time?
Through all the brutality of the times, this story is beautiful in many ways. It flows between two sides, much like the Hudson River, featured so often in the story and integral to it in many ways. It is a story of betrayal, but also a love story of two storytellers. There is connection between many of the characters, and the spark of life, love and humanity exists and blooms against all odds. Alice Hoffman has not only captured the essence of early New York, she has integrated two historical events seamlessly, and recreated the crises so vividly you can almost feel the heat. Though the characters are fictional, the events are real. This is a wonderful story of compassion within a nightmare world. This story I will carry with me for a long time.
A very unusual book, told from two main sources. Yes, there is a museum and it is fascinating, but there are dark secrets hidden here. The museum is owned by a refugee who lives alone on Coney Island with his young daughter, who
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tells one part of the story, and a housekeeper. Both are called monsters, though they are the most caring in the story. The girl is very young at the beginning of her story, and one hundred percent under the control of her father, though she is not aware of it. Nor is she aware of what his plan for her future is.The second storyteller is an Orthodox Jew, a refugee from the Ukraine who lives with his father and both work in the textile mills in Boston. A young boy on the verge of rebellion at the beginning. He renounces his faith when he believes his father tried to commit suicide.
It is a time in New York when men were in charge and women were treated as possessions, a time when class distinction was not only strongly defined but often corrupt and hidden crime was rampant, a time when 'hired' help was more often than not mistreated. Also a time of workhouses where children and women were forced to work for a pittance and often accidents occurred. Such is the case when a fire breaks out while the workers are locked within. You thought this happened only in other countries? Murders and assaults occur while eyes remain closed. This is New York in the 1800s and early 1900s. Manhattan was not much more than a swamp at certain times of the year. Coney Island was just becoming the famous park and beach it would one day be. For the boy who renounced his faith he has found beauty in nature. For the girl living at the museum, she has found horror. Will the two ever be able to find each other in time?
Through all the brutality of the times, this story is beautiful in many ways. It flows between two sides, much like the Hudson River, featured so often in the story and integral to it in many ways. It is a story of betrayal, but also a love story of two storytellers. There is connection between many of the characters, and the spark of life, love and humanity exists and blooms against all odds. Alice Hoffman has not only captured the essence of early New York, she has integrated two historical events seamlessly, and recreated the crises so vividly you can almost feel the heat. Though the characters are fictional, the events are real. This is a wonderful story of compassion within a nightmare world. This story I will carry with me for a long time.
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LibraryThing member KarenHerndon
Great little story, well written. Would recommend to those tat like her style of writing .
LibraryThing member mountie9
The Good Stuff
Hoffman is truly a poetic and "extraordinary" writer. She is an exceptional storyteller who creates worlds full of ordinary, yet magical characters who stay with you long after you close the book
An interesting history lesson woven through the story, yet it never feels like a lesson
My favorites scenes were the ones between Eddie and Beck
Each and every character feels real - even the dad who thoroughly disgusted me
Exceptional historical research obviously was put into this, Hoffman makes the period come alive and makes you want to learn more - but again it never feels like a history lesson, she just makes history come alive
Made me think of Jane Eyre in an entirely new way
First chapter hooked me in right away
The Not so Good Stuff
A tad repetitive about key plot points
The scene involving the fire and the animals at Dreamland was very disturbing for this sensitive reader (not a bad thing, just a heads up for other animal lovers like myself). Not to mention the other fire (I know I mentioned the one with the animals before the one with humans - I feel slightly bad too)
Insta Love (again not a really bad thing, just a tad irritating) - I still totally cheered for them to have a happy ending
Favorite Quotes/Passages
"In such great works I found enlightenment and came to understand that everything God creates is a miracle, individually and unto itself."
"But the newspapers want violence, retribution, crime, sin. In short, it's hell they're asking for."
"If we had no hurt and no sin to speak of, we'd be angels, and angels can't love the way men and women do."
4.25 Dewey's
I received this from Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review
Hoffman is truly a poetic and "extraordinary" writer. She is an exceptional storyteller who creates worlds full of ordinary, yet magical characters who stay with you long after you close the book
An interesting history lesson woven through the story, yet it never feels like a lesson
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Loved how Hoffman created characters that others would consider as one dimensional circus freaks, and made them the flesh and blood people that they areMy favorites scenes were the ones between Eddie and Beck
Each and every character feels real - even the dad who thoroughly disgusted me
Exceptional historical research obviously was put into this, Hoffman makes the period come alive and makes you want to learn more - but again it never feels like a history lesson, she just makes history come alive
Made me think of Jane Eyre in an entirely new way
First chapter hooked me in right away
The Not so Good Stuff
A tad repetitive about key plot points
The scene involving the fire and the animals at Dreamland was very disturbing for this sensitive reader (not a bad thing, just a heads up for other animal lovers like myself). Not to mention the other fire (I know I mentioned the one with the animals before the one with humans - I feel slightly bad too)
Insta Love (again not a really bad thing, just a tad irritating) - I still totally cheered for them to have a happy ending
Favorite Quotes/Passages
"In such great works I found enlightenment and came to understand that everything God creates is a miracle, individually and unto itself."
"But the newspapers want violence, retribution, crime, sin. In short, it's hell they're asking for."
"If we had no hurt and no sin to speak of, we'd be angels, and angels can't love the way men and women do."
4.25 Dewey's
I received this from Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review
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LibraryThing member judylou
In the early 20th Century, New York was growing at an incredible rate. Migrants were flooding the city, housing was cramped and transitory, nature was being overwhelmed, workplaces were dangerous and soul destroying, and people wanted and needed distractions from their miserable lives. Coney Island
Professor Sardie is a sinister character. He collects people and things to exhibit in his Museum and one of those exhibits includes his daughter Coralie, born with webbed fingers and a rather amazing ability to hold her breath for long periods of time and to swim great distances in all weathers. Coralie is controlled completely by her father but finds her time in the water of the Hudson River an escape and a release from her confinement. It is on one of these night swims that she first meets Eddie Cohen, photographer.
Eddie’s story now runs parallel to Coralie’s, the narrative swapping between the two. Eddie has disappointed his Orthodox father by throwing away his religion and his job as a tailor to take up the new art of photography. Eddie is also known for his ability to find people and things, so when a young girl goes missing after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, where he photographed the terror of the day, her father asks him to find her. During this search, he finds Coralie once again.
Hoffman’s writing is lyrical, full of poetic images, metaphors and symbols and while the shifting points of view were a little jarring at first, they grew easier to absorb as the story and the characters developed. However, I found the conclusion to this story a little harsh. It was abrupt, graphic and perhaps, a little bit convenient. But that aside, I did enjoy this book.
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was just the place, and The Museum of Extraordinary Things was a major drawcard. Professor Sardie is a sinister character. He collects people and things to exhibit in his Museum and one of those exhibits includes his daughter Coralie, born with webbed fingers and a rather amazing ability to hold her breath for long periods of time and to swim great distances in all weathers. Coralie is controlled completely by her father but finds her time in the water of the Hudson River an escape and a release from her confinement. It is on one of these night swims that she first meets Eddie Cohen, photographer.
Eddie’s story now runs parallel to Coralie’s, the narrative swapping between the two. Eddie has disappointed his Orthodox father by throwing away his religion and his job as a tailor to take up the new art of photography. Eddie is also known for his ability to find people and things, so when a young girl goes missing after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, where he photographed the terror of the day, her father asks him to find her. During this search, he finds Coralie once again.
Hoffman’s writing is lyrical, full of poetic images, metaphors and symbols and while the shifting points of view were a little jarring at first, they grew easier to absorb as the story and the characters developed. However, I found the conclusion to this story a little harsh. It was abrupt, graphic and perhaps, a little bit convenient. But that aside, I did enjoy this book.
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LibraryThing member jmchshannon
The cast of characters within The Museum of Extraordinary Things is large, diverse, and highly entertaining. It includes mobsters and reformed mobsters, immigrants, those who prey on immigrants, opportunists, the wealthy and the poverty-stricken, the curious and the ambivalent, idealists and
One must include Coney Island among the cast of characters. Unlike any other location within the story, it is the one area that receives pages upon pages of loving description with attention paid to the type of people who visit the attractions and those who make up the attractions. Its vibrancy is tangible, while Coralie’s enthusiasm for its tawdry beauty and its exponential growth is infectious. It is the one area described within the novel that is vividly clear with Ms. Hoffman’s breathtaking descriptions of the good, the bad, and the weird that makes up the island.
One of the more disappointing elements is the misleading emphasis on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Given the synopsis, one might easily consider it to be a key scene within the story. While it is given the attention and gravitas such a serious accident deserves, it is by no means a key plot point. Rather, it is an occurrence that happens within Eddie’s life. The connections between what happens that fateful day and the rest of the story are given lesser attention than Coralie’s growth beyond her father’s influence. The lack of emphasis is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but readers should be warned that it is not the pivotal point within the story as the synopsis may lead one to believe.
The love story within The Museum of Extraordinary Things is a bit of a stretch. Coralie’s and Eddie’s love at first sight does not ring authentic, which is fitting given how sheltered Coralie is and how lonely Eddie is. Theirs is a relationship brought about by foreignness and need, respectively. To see their relationship bloom into something more substantial and long-lasting is beautiful to behold but is a there is an element of fantasy to it given how quickly it occurs with very minimal interaction between them. If this were a true romance novel, it would be easier to accept such sudden eternal love. However, since this story has romantic elements among its other characteristics, their relationship is a shade disconcerting.
The Museum of Extraordinary Things is a surprisingly quiet novel in spite of its characters and locale. Neither Coralie nor Eddie is an action-filled character, and it takes a lot for either one of them to gather the courage and the drive to take decisive action. This does not mean that the story is without action. The factory fire is not the only major scene of catastrophe and there are plenty of bad actions afoot in Eddie’s childhood. Still, there is a peaceful quality to the entire story that not only highlights the beauty within everyone regardless of outward appearance but also fills a reader with hope.
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realists and so many more. In spite of their backgrounds and likeability – some are more despicable than others – there is a beauty within each of their differences that Ms. Hoffman masterfully showcases. Even the most depraved of the lot have aspects that one finds admirable. It is a fascinating character study, one that highlights the gradations of humanity in all of its glory.One must include Coney Island among the cast of characters. Unlike any other location within the story, it is the one area that receives pages upon pages of loving description with attention paid to the type of people who visit the attractions and those who make up the attractions. Its vibrancy is tangible, while Coralie’s enthusiasm for its tawdry beauty and its exponential growth is infectious. It is the one area described within the novel that is vividly clear with Ms. Hoffman’s breathtaking descriptions of the good, the bad, and the weird that makes up the island.
One of the more disappointing elements is the misleading emphasis on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Given the synopsis, one might easily consider it to be a key scene within the story. While it is given the attention and gravitas such a serious accident deserves, it is by no means a key plot point. Rather, it is an occurrence that happens within Eddie’s life. The connections between what happens that fateful day and the rest of the story are given lesser attention than Coralie’s growth beyond her father’s influence. The lack of emphasis is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but readers should be warned that it is not the pivotal point within the story as the synopsis may lead one to believe.
The love story within The Museum of Extraordinary Things is a bit of a stretch. Coralie’s and Eddie’s love at first sight does not ring authentic, which is fitting given how sheltered Coralie is and how lonely Eddie is. Theirs is a relationship brought about by foreignness and need, respectively. To see their relationship bloom into something more substantial and long-lasting is beautiful to behold but is a there is an element of fantasy to it given how quickly it occurs with very minimal interaction between them. If this were a true romance novel, it would be easier to accept such sudden eternal love. However, since this story has romantic elements among its other characteristics, their relationship is a shade disconcerting.
The Museum of Extraordinary Things is a surprisingly quiet novel in spite of its characters and locale. Neither Coralie nor Eddie is an action-filled character, and it takes a lot for either one of them to gather the courage and the drive to take decisive action. This does not mean that the story is without action. The factory fire is not the only major scene of catastrophe and there are plenty of bad actions afoot in Eddie’s childhood. Still, there is a peaceful quality to the entire story that not only highlights the beauty within everyone regardless of outward appearance but also fills a reader with hope.
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LibraryThing member Kitscot
The story has two strands which will inevitably become entwined. One strand involves Coralie Sardie whose father owns the Museum of Extraordinary Things on Coney Island, New York. The museum is a mix of people who are deemed as freaks; a man completely covered in hair, a girl by the name of Malia
The second strand is about a young man Ezekiel Cohen a young man who with his father escaped the Russian pogroms in the Ukraine. Both live in abject poverty with Ezekiel’s father working in factories while Ezekiel sits under his work table. After an attempted suicide by Ezekiel’s father, Ezekiel loses all respect for his father and leaves, finding work with Abraham Hochman who is called the seer of Rivington Street. Hochman claims to be a mind-reader and interpreter of dreams and through his supposed talent he solves crimes and finds lost children. Ezekiel changes his name to Eddie and eventually finds a talent for photography.
“After the day when my father leapt from the dock, as if his life was so worthless he was willing to cast it away, I made a vow to look for pleasure in my own life...nothing made me happy until I’d stood in the locust grove and watched Levy with his camera.”
After swimming further down the Hudson River than she intended, Coralie espy’s Eddie sitting fixing a meal over a bonfire on the river’s edge. She immediately feels a ‘magnetic pull’ toward Eddie and later in the story Eddie falls in love with her on first sight.
This fin de siècle novel is a tremendous tale of a New York on the cusp of becoming a modern city. The consolidation of the five boroughs to form what would become the modern day New York, the opening of the subway, the construction of magnificent buildings sat incongruously with the streets being covered with 2500 tons of manure daily from over 200,000 horses that were still being used as transportation. Central Park once a boggy area and populated by squatters now remade into an opulent playground for the rich.
Mixing factual events with fiction to bring the city to life, Alice Hoffman has created a remarkable account that not only informs but entertainments but never becomes boringly didactic. The author shows the city at its worse and its best. Its worst is the true event of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory where girls as young as twelve worked as seamstresses. The nine storey building catches fire with doors chained and the fire escape melting. Reminiscent of an event that would happen four years after the book was published in 1997, with people jumping to their deaths from the ninth floor window ledges most of them engulfed in flames.
Eddie Cohen’s time as a photographer includes time photographing criminals being arrested and the dead bodies of gangsters for tabloid newspapers. With his bribery of local police officers and his photographing of dead criminals it is very reminiscent of the 1940s freelance photographer, Arthur ‘weegee’ Fellig.
Coralie’s story is tragic and pathetic in equal amounts. Coralie struggles to extricate herself from her life as a freak show attraction but cannot find the strength to disobey her overbearing and cruel father who is not above stitching human and animal parts together to ‘create’ a new exhibit for his museum.
The story of Eddie and Coralie is fascinating and told with great aplomb but the Romantic story arc is ridden with clichés with dialogue lumpen and bordering on the Barbara Cartland and Mills and Boon.
“Corlaie kissed him quickly, then whispered that she had given him her heart. It was not possible to live with one’s heart, yet she was smiling when she backed away.”
“The housekeeper lifted Coralie’s chin so they might look into one another’s eyes. ‘If we had no hurt and no sin to speak of, we’d be angels, and angels can’t love the way men and women do.’”
One feels that the novel has been written by two different people and I wish that the person who wrote the main story of New York, Eddie and Coralie stories (before they met) had written the whole novel as the Romantic element of the novel is at once bathetic, incongrous and detracts from what could have been a great novel.
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whose arms resembled a butterfly’s wings and jars of formaldehyde containing unborn babies with deformities. Coralie thinks of herself as a freak as she has the abnormality of webbed fingers. Her father also sees his daughter as a freak and on her twelfth birthday he shows her a large tank filled with water in which he wants her to be on display as a mermaid.The second strand is about a young man Ezekiel Cohen a young man who with his father escaped the Russian pogroms in the Ukraine. Both live in abject poverty with Ezekiel’s father working in factories while Ezekiel sits under his work table. After an attempted suicide by Ezekiel’s father, Ezekiel loses all respect for his father and leaves, finding work with Abraham Hochman who is called the seer of Rivington Street. Hochman claims to be a mind-reader and interpreter of dreams and through his supposed talent he solves crimes and finds lost children. Ezekiel changes his name to Eddie and eventually finds a talent for photography.
“After the day when my father leapt from the dock, as if his life was so worthless he was willing to cast it away, I made a vow to look for pleasure in my own life...nothing made me happy until I’d stood in the locust grove and watched Levy with his camera.”
After swimming further down the Hudson River than she intended, Coralie espy’s Eddie sitting fixing a meal over a bonfire on the river’s edge. She immediately feels a ‘magnetic pull’ toward Eddie and later in the story Eddie falls in love with her on first sight.
This fin de siècle novel is a tremendous tale of a New York on the cusp of becoming a modern city. The consolidation of the five boroughs to form what would become the modern day New York, the opening of the subway, the construction of magnificent buildings sat incongruously with the streets being covered with 2500 tons of manure daily from over 200,000 horses that were still being used as transportation. Central Park once a boggy area and populated by squatters now remade into an opulent playground for the rich.
Mixing factual events with fiction to bring the city to life, Alice Hoffman has created a remarkable account that not only informs but entertainments but never becomes boringly didactic. The author shows the city at its worse and its best. Its worst is the true event of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory where girls as young as twelve worked as seamstresses. The nine storey building catches fire with doors chained and the fire escape melting. Reminiscent of an event that would happen four years after the book was published in 1997, with people jumping to their deaths from the ninth floor window ledges most of them engulfed in flames.
Eddie Cohen’s time as a photographer includes time photographing criminals being arrested and the dead bodies of gangsters for tabloid newspapers. With his bribery of local police officers and his photographing of dead criminals it is very reminiscent of the 1940s freelance photographer, Arthur ‘weegee’ Fellig.
Coralie’s story is tragic and pathetic in equal amounts. Coralie struggles to extricate herself from her life as a freak show attraction but cannot find the strength to disobey her overbearing and cruel father who is not above stitching human and animal parts together to ‘create’ a new exhibit for his museum.
The story of Eddie and Coralie is fascinating and told with great aplomb but the Romantic story arc is ridden with clichés with dialogue lumpen and bordering on the Barbara Cartland and Mills and Boon.
“Corlaie kissed him quickly, then whispered that she had given him her heart. It was not possible to live with one’s heart, yet she was smiling when she backed away.”
“The housekeeper lifted Coralie’s chin so they might look into one another’s eyes. ‘If we had no hurt and no sin to speak of, we’d be angels, and angels can’t love the way men and women do.’”
One feels that the novel has been written by two different people and I wish that the person who wrote the main story of New York, Eddie and Coralie stories (before they met) had written the whole novel as the Romantic element of the novel is at once bathetic, incongrous and detracts from what could have been a great novel.
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LibraryThing member Debra_Armbruster
I enjoyed "The Museum of Extraordinary Things" for the blending of the history with Alice Hoffman's magical inclinations. Portions were uncomfortable to read but that was due to horrific situations rather than anything unreadable about Ms. Hoffman's writing. Despite being prolific, she continues to
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come out with interesting, well-researched and written novels. Show Less
LibraryThing member sephibitchwitch
Well, its Alice Hoffman. So, I pretty much expected it to be an excellent read. And she didn't let me down. Once again she has taken a set of rather unusual characters and made them a part of your inner circle. Even though the story revolves around their "oddness", it becomes only relevant to the
The Museum of Extraordinary Things is two stories. First, Coralie, the girl with the webbed hands whose father, the proprietor of the museum, trains her to be able to spend huge amounts of time underwater and bills her as a human mermaid. The museum is a freak show of midgets and Siamese twins and a wolfman, plus bottles and jars and displays of curiosities. Her father dominates and controls her while she seeks tiny rebellions and dreams to find a place in the world outside of the sideshow.
The second is Eddie, Russian immigrant and street detective who finds lost people. Then one day, he finds Levy and learns to see the world through the eyes of a camera lens. The world becomes a different place when he holds the camera and he tells the tales of his city with his images.
The story circles around a real point in history as the two characters slowly start to spin in each other's direction. Alice weaves a spellbinding tale of these two unfortunate souls and paints a landscape that will haunt your mind for a long time after. She's a master storyteller and every tale seems to find a previously untried direction, unlike many writers who find a path and stick with it. Alice likes taking the side roads. I'm guessing because she knows some of the most interesting things can be found around their bends. Pick up The Museum of Extraordinary Things and breath in the scent of a bygone era dipped generously in a skillful fable.
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story and ceases to be noticed in the image of the character. The Museum of Extraordinary Things is two stories. First, Coralie, the girl with the webbed hands whose father, the proprietor of the museum, trains her to be able to spend huge amounts of time underwater and bills her as a human mermaid. The museum is a freak show of midgets and Siamese twins and a wolfman, plus bottles and jars and displays of curiosities. Her father dominates and controls her while she seeks tiny rebellions and dreams to find a place in the world outside of the sideshow.
The second is Eddie, Russian immigrant and street detective who finds lost people. Then one day, he finds Levy and learns to see the world through the eyes of a camera lens. The world becomes a different place when he holds the camera and he tells the tales of his city with his images.
The story circles around a real point in history as the two characters slowly start to spin in each other's direction. Alice weaves a spellbinding tale of these two unfortunate souls and paints a landscape that will haunt your mind for a long time after. She's a master storyteller and every tale seems to find a previously untried direction, unlike many writers who find a path and stick with it. Alice likes taking the side roads. I'm guessing because she knows some of the most interesting things can be found around their bends. Pick up The Museum of Extraordinary Things and breath in the scent of a bygone era dipped generously in a skillful fable.
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LibraryThing member Dharma05
I bought this book, never having read Alice Hoffman, and not 100% sure if I would like it. I am not a fan of sideshow type books, however I could not put it down. I just loved it, and kept reading and reading till I finished it. In fact I don't want to lend it to anyone just in case I don't get it
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back. I agree with mountie9 that the animals caught in the fire scenes were disturbing as I am a vegan, and a huge animal lover. I can't read any books that have obvious themes of animal suffering or cruelty or even just an animal dying in it. I found the book to contain a lot of history, which I also loved. I am now reading "The third angel" and have already borrowed all the Alice Hoffman books that were "in" at the library....I am loving the Third Angel so far as well. I am now a true blue Alice Hoffman fan. I may buy all her books anyway to keep the Museum of Extraordinary Things company on the shelves. Show Less
LibraryThing member KRaySaulis
I'm going to stop rating things with stars. It just doesn't work for books.
You won't regret reading this book. It's lovely. It's Night Circus meets Water For Elephants meets Alice Hoffman. History and magic and love.
You won't regret reading this book. It's lovely. It's Night Circus meets Water For Elephants meets Alice Hoffman. History and magic and love.
LibraryThing member StaffReads
Interesting story with a rich sense of the historical scene in NYC in the early 1900's. SRH
LibraryThing member St.CroixSue
Interesting story with a rich sense of the historical time period in NYC in the early 1900's.
LibraryThing member jolerie
I knew that men told you the truth for one of two reasons: when they wished to be rid of what they couldn't bear to carry, or when they wished to include you in what they knew so their stories wouldn't be lost. Pg. 274
Can an abomination be anything other than a monster? Does being different make
Alice Hoffman has a gift for creating complex, multi-fauceted, fully fleshed characters that jump off the page into your imagination. The Museum for Extraordinary Things is no exception. Although I didn't completely connect with the characters in comparison to her other books, it did not detract from my enjoyment of the story in the least. The book is an interesting blend of nature's curiosities, the tension and strain of relationships with fathers, and a love line that doesn't really bloom until the last couple of chapters. Overall an engaging reading experience and worthwhile investment. Recommend.
Can an abomination be anything other than a monster? Does being different make
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one not worthy of a life of love and acceptance? For as long as she can remember, Coralie Sardie has admired God unique creations from afar. Locked behind glass containers and cages, these one of a kind wonders exist as men who resemble animals and animals born with rare traits and oddities. Often misunderstood and abused by the world, they are family and became a source of comfort to Coralie who harbouring a secret of her own has yearnings to be loved and accepted for who she is and not what makes her different. Set against a tumultuous New York city at the turn of the century, a chance encounter with a mysterious man hiding from his own past sets off a series of events that include a murder mystery, civil unrest, class struggles, and ultimately a search for the truth that has evaded her since birth.Alice Hoffman has a gift for creating complex, multi-fauceted, fully fleshed characters that jump off the page into your imagination. The Museum for Extraordinary Things is no exception. Although I didn't completely connect with the characters in comparison to her other books, it did not detract from my enjoyment of the story in the least. The book is an interesting blend of nature's curiosities, the tension and strain of relationships with fathers, and a love line that doesn't really bloom until the last couple of chapters. Overall an engaging reading experience and worthwhile investment. Recommend.
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LibraryThing member jmoncton
I have enjoyed Alice Hoffman’s historical fiction novels. She picks a pivotal time in history, develops wonderfully complex characters who might live ordinary lives, but due to circumstances of the time, rise to the occasion and are heroic, not necessarily accomplishing epic feats, but are heroic
The setting for The Museum of Extraordinary Things is perfect for an Alice Hoffman tale – New York City in the early 20th century. It is a tumultuous time period in history; unions are just beginning to make their appearance to protest abject conditions in the city’s factories and crowds head out to Coney Island to escape their humdrum lives and find some excitement. Coralie Sardie has been born with a defect – the webbing on her hands has not separated leaving her fingers joined together. Her shyster father takes advantage of her deformity, and with the aid of a pump and some rubber tubing, and puts her on display in an aquarium tank as part of his Coney Island attraction, the Museum of Extraordinary Things. Coralie is the Living Mermaid and people pay admission to stare at her and other oddities like the Wolfman or the Butterfly Girl.
In New York City, Eddie Cohen, is a young man who has run away from his Russian Orthodox Jewish roots to become a photographer. He goes around the city capturing images when he stumbles on one of the biggest tragedies of the decade, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. His photographs of dead girls who jumped to escape the flames lead him to investigate the mystery behind a missing girl – an employee of the factory, but whose body was not found.
With her vivid descriptions and a touch of magical realism, Hoffman weaves together an amazing story, filled with images of a bustling city. Some of the parts of the book, like the disaster of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire were so descriptive that I felt I was watching the tragedy unfold. Girls crying from upper windows, pleading for help and then jumping to their deaths – the images were devastating and I felt like a voyeur – not wanting to know, but unable to stop listening to the audiobook.
As an audiobook, this was an enjoyable performance. The narration was performed by three narrators, Judith Light, Grace Gummer, and Zach Appelman, to accompany the different points of view of this story – Coralie, Eddie, and the omniscient narrator. All three gave a strong performance and having different narrators was useful for the transition.
Although there were all the ingredients for an all time favorite, somehow, at the end of the story, I didn’t feel satisfied. I loved the descriptions, and various components of the story, but at the end, I didn’t feel that same sense of satisfaction that I’ve had with other Hoffman novels. I don’t know if it’s that I didn’t like the main characters enough, or I was hoping for some heroic ending. I would still recommend this book just based on its historic fiction component and the amazing descriptions of a colorful era.
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in their ability to survive a horrific or brutal situation. The setting for The Museum of Extraordinary Things is perfect for an Alice Hoffman tale – New York City in the early 20th century. It is a tumultuous time period in history; unions are just beginning to make their appearance to protest abject conditions in the city’s factories and crowds head out to Coney Island to escape their humdrum lives and find some excitement. Coralie Sardie has been born with a defect – the webbing on her hands has not separated leaving her fingers joined together. Her shyster father takes advantage of her deformity, and with the aid of a pump and some rubber tubing, and puts her on display in an aquarium tank as part of his Coney Island attraction, the Museum of Extraordinary Things. Coralie is the Living Mermaid and people pay admission to stare at her and other oddities like the Wolfman or the Butterfly Girl.
In New York City, Eddie Cohen, is a young man who has run away from his Russian Orthodox Jewish roots to become a photographer. He goes around the city capturing images when he stumbles on one of the biggest tragedies of the decade, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. His photographs of dead girls who jumped to escape the flames lead him to investigate the mystery behind a missing girl – an employee of the factory, but whose body was not found.
With her vivid descriptions and a touch of magical realism, Hoffman weaves together an amazing story, filled with images of a bustling city. Some of the parts of the book, like the disaster of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire were so descriptive that I felt I was watching the tragedy unfold. Girls crying from upper windows, pleading for help and then jumping to their deaths – the images were devastating and I felt like a voyeur – not wanting to know, but unable to stop listening to the audiobook.
As an audiobook, this was an enjoyable performance. The narration was performed by three narrators, Judith Light, Grace Gummer, and Zach Appelman, to accompany the different points of view of this story – Coralie, Eddie, and the omniscient narrator. All three gave a strong performance and having different narrators was useful for the transition.
Although there were all the ingredients for an all time favorite, somehow, at the end of the story, I didn’t feel satisfied. I loved the descriptions, and various components of the story, but at the end, I didn’t feel that same sense of satisfaction that I’ve had with other Hoffman novels. I don’t know if it’s that I didn’t like the main characters enough, or I was hoping for some heroic ending. I would still recommend this book just based on its historic fiction component and the amazing descriptions of a colorful era.
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LibraryThing member lisa-ann
I read about this book on Library Thing and was happy to see it my local library. I have enjoyed reading her books such as Blackbird House, Practical Magic, and Second Nature. This novel resonated strongly for me especially when it touched on Eddie and his father's tragic loss of mother and wife as
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I have had a recent loss of my own. The author understands the grief and sorrow a person has when you lose someone you love in such circumstances and has brought me a little closer to an understanding of own. In my estimation this is a sign of an exceptional storyteller. Show Less
LibraryThing member tloeffler
Set in 1911, the story is bookended by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire at the beginning, and the Dreamland fire at the end. It follows the parallel lives of Coralie Sardie, daughter of a freak-show operator, and Eddie Cohen, a young photographer trying to break away from his Russian immigrant
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roots. When their lives converge, everything changes for both of them. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lschwarzman
This is a beautifully written story of love and lies. Cora must work for her father in his Coney Island museum of odd and extraordinary things, doing things that are disgraceful to her. She hides this from Maureen, the housekeeper who tries to protect her. Thie story twists and turns around this
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relationship and around Cora's relationship with Eddie, whom she meets in the woods after a swim in the Hudson. It is a story well told and worth the read. Show Less
LibraryThing member sleahey
This historical novel attempts to encompass a great deal, including the New York City cultures of crime, Orthodoxy, labor movement, immigrants, women's servitude, and amusement parks. Two stories run in parallel lines throughout, first Coralee's, the daughter of the man who runs the museum and who
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has exploited her for his own gains since her infancy. The second story is Eddie's, an escapee with his father from the Ukraine, always running from his Orthodox religion and looking for his place in the world. New York City is erupting in 1911, and the horrific fire that claimed so many young girls' lives in the Shirtwaist fire is a catalyst for change on many levels. Readers will anticipate the intersection of Coralee's and Eddie's lives in the midst of much turmoil all around them. It felt like the narrative dragged in the middle, and perhaps the novel tries to deal with too many themes and events. Show Less
LibraryThing member Estramir
There is a lot of interesting things about this novel, the early history of New York, the early development of photography, the rich variety of the city and it's immigrant base, and the naïve curiosity about the world that made such establishments as the Museum of the title possible.
The main
The main
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characters have certainly been lumbered with many difficulties, and I felt sympathetic and compelled to find out how they would deal with them. I felt however the whole thing was too blunt and lacking in subtlety, heavy going at times, but really just heavy handed. After being dragged towards the climax, I couldn't help feeling a bit underwhelmed by the predictable conclusion. And as for how the two characters escape their imminent demise...well, the words implausible and ridiculous come to mind. There are so many interesting ideas touched on, but none are really developed. Having said that, I am still curious enough to want to read more of Alice Hoffman. Show Less
LibraryThing member DrApple
Like so many of Alice Hoffman's novels there is something that appears to be magic, but truly is not. The extraordinary things in this novel are mostly humans with birth defects or acquired abnormalities such as being covered i tattoos. They are all exhibited along with some rare birds, a giant
The tale of this young man, Eddie, is interwoven with that of Coralie in the novel. Having escaped Russia with his father after his mother and everyone else in his village was murdered, Eddie is not content to slave in a factory as his father has done. He strikes out, first working as a sort of child detective, then becoming a photographer. He abandons his Jewish traditions, and he and his father become alienated. Eddie chronicles life in New York City including the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. This event involves him in searching for a lost girl who should have been in the building that day and leads him inexorably toward Coralie.
There is a great deal of suspense and there are some truly disturbing scenes, but mainly this novel explores what "humanity" is and how outward appearance has little relationship to the quality of character. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
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tortoise, and a number of strange (sometimes fake) creatures in formaldehyde, in Coralie's father's museum. Coralie's father keeps her away from these "freaks" when she is a child, but as she grows older she becomes one of the exhibits since she has her own abnormality, webbed fingers. Coralie is trained by being required to stay in a tub full of ice water for hours and developing her ability to hold her breath so that she can become a "mermaid" in a tank of water in the museum. As the prosperity of the museum is challenged by bigger and brighter entertainments in Coney Island, Coralie's father stoops to having her perform as something of an underwater stripper for groups of "gentlemen" in the evenings. Coralie is extremely sheltered, never allowed out without supervision except for quick trips to the market. When she happens upon a young man one night after a nightly swim in the freezing Hudson, her life changes completely.The tale of this young man, Eddie, is interwoven with that of Coralie in the novel. Having escaped Russia with his father after his mother and everyone else in his village was murdered, Eddie is not content to slave in a factory as his father has done. He strikes out, first working as a sort of child detective, then becoming a photographer. He abandons his Jewish traditions, and he and his father become alienated. Eddie chronicles life in New York City including the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. This event involves him in searching for a lost girl who should have been in the building that day and leads him inexorably toward Coralie.
There is a great deal of suspense and there are some truly disturbing scenes, but mainly this novel explores what "humanity" is and how outward appearance has little relationship to the quality of character. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
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LibraryThing member MarkMeg
The museum is on Coney Island and the time frame is before the Coney Island fire and while the Triangle Factory fire takes place. These and the characters in the story are the central elements. The museum is run by the Professor who has no feeling for people and who takes people with abnormalities
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and displays them in the same manner as a dead butterfly. He finds Coralie as a baby--her hands are webbed so he makes her a mermaid. Maureen cares for her and falls in love with the wolfman and she ultimately marries him and lives happily ever after. Coralie meets, falls in love with and ultimately marries Eddie. A happy and unbelievably preposterous ending for a story filled with sadness, but still great character development and an interesting story. Show Less
ISBN
1451693567 / 9781451693560