Owlish : a novel
In a city called Nevers, there lives a professor of literature called Q. He has a dull marriage and a lackluster career, but also a scrumptious collection of antique dolls locked away in his cupboard. And soon Q lands his crowning acquisition: a music box ballerina named Aliss who has tantalizingly sprung to life. Guided by his mysterious friend Owlish and inspired by an inexplicably familiar painting, Q embarks on an all-consuming love affair with Aliss, oblivious to the protests spreading across the university that have left his classrooms all but empty. The mountainous city of Nevers is itself a mercurial character with concrete flesh, glimmering new construction, and "colonial flair." Having fled there as a child refugee, Q thought he knew the faces of the city and its people, but Nevers is alive with secrets and shape-shifting geographies.
Available Copies by Location
Location | |
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Stamford | Available |
Browse Related Items
Subject |
College teachers > Fiction. Dolls > Fiction. |
Genre |
Dystopian fiction. |
- ISBN: 9781487011581
- Physical Description 217 pages ; 22 cm
- Publisher [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 2023.
Content descriptions
Language Note: | Translated from the Chinese. |
Additional Information
Summary
Owlish
The winner of a 2021 PEN/Heim Translation Fund grant, Owlishis a fantastically eerie debut novel that is also a bold exploration of life under oppressive regimes. In a city called Nevers, there lives a professor of literature called Q. He has a dull marriage and a lackluster career, but also a scrumptious collection of antique dolls locked away in his cupboard. And soon Q lands his crowning acquisition: a music box ballerina named Aliss who has tantalizingly sprung to life. Guided by his mysterious friend Owlish and inspired by an inexplicably familiar painting, Q embarks on an all-consuming love affair with Aliss, oblivious to the protests spreading across the university that have left his classrooms all but empty. The mountainous city of Nevers is itself a mercurial character with concrete flesh, glimmering new construction, and "colonial flair." Having fled there as a child refugee, Q thought he knew the faces of the city and its people, but Nevers is alive with secrets and shape-shifting geographies.