The Incredible Umbrella

The Incredible Umbrella #1

by Marvin Kaye

When J. Adrian Fillmore bought the odd-looking bumbershoot, he had no idea it would soon whisk him away from his prosaic life as an English literature professor and plant him smack in the middle of a Gilbert and Sullivan cosmos. Before long he lands in jail, saves Sherlock Holmes from death, battles Count Dracula, befriends the Frankenstein monster, and fights, of all things, an army of isosceles triangles!

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

301 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Marvin Nathan Kaye was an American mystery, fantasy, science fiction, horror author, anthologist, and editor. He was also a magician and theater actor. Kaye was a World Fantasy Award winner and served as co-publisher and editor of Weird Tales Magazine.

Reviews

[Leesgoodfood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.
The concept was intriguing, the beginning was interesting, but he wondered in too many directions, and didn't come full circle to tie up loose ends.
The author uses lots of big, typically unused words, such as equinoctial, estivating, gallimaufry, melismatic.
The author i a good enough writer that I enjoyed his writing...but the plot? meh.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Among these unfinished tales is that of Mr. James Phillimore, who, stepping back into his own house to get his umbrella, was never more seen in this world. ["The Problem of Thor Bridge" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]

Kaye takes this description of one of Sherlock Holmes' unrecorded cases and weaves a fantasy-driven, mystery-adventure starring J. Adrian Fillmore, disillusioned professor* in need of a good thesis after an unproductive research sabbatical. After abruptly leaving an unproductive meeting with his advisor Professor Quintana, Fillmore follows one of his favorite escape routes--a good jaunt through various antique, book and curio, and junk shops. He ends at one of his favorites, a little out-of-the-way place where bargains are sure to be had. As he takes his treasures (primarily books) up to the register, the owner convinces him to look over the bargain tables in the middle where he spies a large umbrella--too large for everyday use but too small for a beach umbrella. Somehow, he winds up taking it home for 25 cents, even though the proprietor tells him the darn thing won't open.

After reconsidering his reluctance to work with his advisor, he decides he really must apologize to Quintana and get down to work. He sets out next morning to do just that, but it's raining cats and dogs. So, forgetting that the thing doesn't work, he grabs the new umbrella, steps outside, and...opens it up. And the next thing he knows he's been transported to the melodious world of Gilbert and Sullivan. From there, he finds himself wandering through the worlds of Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, Mr. Pickwick, Sherringford Holmes & Ormund Sacker (the original names for Doyle's famous pair), and then Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson. At first, there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to where he winds up, but then he realizes that someone else is after his umbrella. And he ends up joining forces with Holmes himself to defeat the plans of the Napoleon of crime.

I remember reading this when I first found it in the 1980s. I didn't record it, so I don't have a definite rating, but I'm quite sure I would have given it five stars. I was delighted to find a story that took off from the mention of James Phillimore in Doyle's story. I loved the all of the various worlds Fillmore visited (and it sent me on the hunt for Edwin Abbott's Flatland). Reading it forty-some years later, I still find it an enjoyable adventure, but I really could have done without the Gilbert & Sullivan bits. That whole section doesn't really connect with the remainder of the book (except in one small way). Things are much more interesting once Fillmore gets involved with proto-Holmes and, finally, with Holmes himself. ★★★ and 1/2 [rounded up here] for this late-life reading of a youthful favorite.

*As an administrative support person for a doctoral program, I must say that Fillmore's plight strikes me as that of a graduate student rather than a full-fledged professor. He has to report to an overbearing advisor. He's supposed to be finishing a dissertation. A professor might need to be finishing a book to get tenure, but he certainly won't be kowtowing to a dissertation advisor. Okay...soapbox moment over.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.

[Priscilla King · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm delighted to see, on Goodreads, that this is volume one of four.

Anyway this is where it starts: A lonely, nerdy teacher picks up a big beach-type umbrella and discovers that it's actually an interdimensional transfer-engine that can transport him to the worlds where his favorite novels really happened. Taking off from that science fiction cliche, we leap with him into a sort of review, or revue, of comedy, horror, fantasy, mystery--the whole world of English Literature, although this novel takes us to only a few lovingly reimagined fictive planets. It's funny, it's suspenseful, it's logical, and it's tremendous fun to read.

(In every public library I've visited, without exception, it's been volume one of two. And I've known why. I mentioned Doubleday's "controversy sells" thinking, around the time The Masters of Solitude came out? It sold, and it killed this author's sales to public libraries. People wanted another comic, inoffensive romp through literature and got an odd, depressing, anti-Christian screed. I knew I just wasn't getting some of the points, but didn't like MoS enough to want to solve its puzzles for educated readers. I remain unsure that I'd pick up another book by this author that didn't feature the Umbrella. But ooohhh, more Umbrella books? I want them I want them I want them!)

[Mark White · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one's an old favourite and so the four stars may be a bit generous. To put it another way, it's very good but only for a select audience.

It follows the popular mid-20th century premise of a frustrated academic transported to a fantasy world or worlds. Usually it's the physics or psychology departments but here it's a lone English professor. The mode of transport is a magical umbrella and selecting the destination is done by the umbrella seizing on whatever you're thinking about at the time. For an English professor this turns out to be a miss-mash of Gilbert & Sullivan musicals, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes and others.

Other reviewers complain that the author uses uncommon words and obscure references. Well spotted, but these readers missed one of the major conceits of the novel - as the professor enters each world the style of writing alters to emulate that of the novel it is drawn from. In the world of Dracula the style is blatantly copying Bram Stoker's language, in the world of Sherlock Holmes the descriptions are clearly those of Conan Doyle and so on.

If you've read these authors and have enjoyed at least some of the popular G&S musicals you'll get a real giggle out of this book. If not a lot of it may be lost.

[A B · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book so much. The 2 stars is for the first third of the story, which was okay.

It's about a professor who purchases an umbrella that does more than just keep the rain off. It can transport its user to literary worlds. The professor is adorably befuddled by the whole business and I like the concept.

BUT

The references are just too obscure. I've heard of the Pirates of Penzance, but have no idea what it is about. Likewise, operas and musicals from the late 1800s aren't exactly at the top of the lists of random factoids my brain puts together. The book does eventually wander into more familiar literary territory, such as Sherlock Holmes and Dracula, but not as we know them - as earlier drafts. Again, cool idea but too much and too hard to follow. Alternate Sherlock + villains from previous umbrella visits following our hero = big mess.

The book is also surprisingly violent. There are murders and horror aspects that get more and more violent as the book progresses. I also found the writing very difficult to follow.

[James Stoddard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Usually, when I read a whimsical or funny novel, I find it lacking in suspense. This is understandable because it’s hard to be both humorous and serious at the same time. To make the stakes high in comedic situations takes a lot of skill, something Marvin Kaye manages to do quite well. Not that this book is riveting the way an action movie can be, but it quickens the pulse enough to where I was honestly concerned about what would happen to the hero.

It has a lot of humor and a nice touch of romance. Professor J. Adrian Fillmore acquires a magic umbrella that pulls him though realms of Victorian fantasy, alternate universes where Frankenstein, genies, the Gilbert and Sullivan plays, Dracula, and Sherlock Holmes are all real. It’s been compared to Pratt and de Camp’s The Incomplete Enchanter, but I honestly think it’s much better than that. It’s just a fun read. Not being familiar with Gilbert and Sullivan, I didn’t find that part as amusing. It appears near the book’s beginning, but don’t let that put you off.

Kay wrote a sequel called The Amorous Umbrella, but I haven’t read it, so can’t tell you whether it’s too much of a good thing, or as good as the first book. The novels are apparently both out of print, but used copies can be found at a reasonable price.

[Christopher Rush · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Incredible Umbrella is a pretty enjoyable book, but only for people who have a working knowledge of Victorian literature and musical theatre. Marvin Kaye's vocabulary is also a challenge for the lay reader, even the well-experienced reader (if the experience has not come from Victorian-dictioned works). Stylistically, the three sections of the work highlight the separate years during which the work was written: one can tell from various elements throughout the sections Kaye took a hiatus and took some time to recapture the pattern of the conflict. The first section is certainly the lightest-hearted and most enjoyable, especially if one has a background in Gilbert and Sullivan. Without it, the reader is totally lost and most likely irritated. The second section is the darkest, with actual death and danger throughout, commingling with preternatural terror. By the end, though, one gets a sense Kaye realizes how dark it has become and swings too far into sudden farce, spoiling the mood entirely. The third section is an unfortunate hasty admixture of every other sort of story Kaye wanted to throw in, almost as if he feared a sequel would not be forthcoming, so he had to cram everything else in too quickly. It makes little sense, has no real meaningful progression, and does not bring the adventures of the protagonist to a satisfactory overall conclusion. The framing story (a professor fed up with his status and function) does not reappear, leaving the book as a whole with an unfinished feeling. It is the sort of book that seems like it should be pretty enjoyable, since it's a book for people who like/know books, but it gets lost in its own rambling and lack of direction. It's worth reading, though, if you are a fan of all things Victorian.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up because it came across my search to read all derivative works of Flatland. This isn't really connected to Flatland the way the other books I've been reading have been but it was fun nonetheless. The Flatland references are actually pretty minor. Though I didn't realize it until the very end, it was actually a pretty decent Holmes story, capturing the character well (though I'm really no expert) and using some obscure references in a very creative way. I also enjoyed the other references including Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Gilbert and Sullivan scenes. The book is far from perfect but it is quite enjoyable. Though I happened upon it in an odd way, I plan to check out the sequel, even if reviews suggest it's not as good.

[Francine Apollo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this off the shelf at work and it looked interesting...little did I know!
What a great little book!!! This may appeal to adult readers who enjoy Harry Potter and the like. The main character goes through time and space with his very special umbrella. He encounters Gilbert & Sullivan worlds, an alternative universe with a variation on Sherlock Holmes!
This book was just too much fun; the author had fun with literature and the musical world. That it ends with the main character meeting the Fairy Queen was icing on the cake for me.
Look for this book in library collections, it was published in 1979.

[Josephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

J. Adrian Fillmore, a mediocre academician, finds an umbrella which can transport him into any world which he imagines; being an English professor, it whisks him through various worlds: Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas in rapid succession, Dracula, Frankenstein, an unfinished fragment of a Sherlock Holmes world in which the central characters are one Sherrinford and Ormsby, the Arabian nights and Flatland. This is on the juvenile end of novels intended for adults--the Arabian Nights sequence features a "roc and troll" concert--but it's an amusing fast light read nevertheless.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a good romp! It makes me want to go watch all the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. The puns were great. The genie with the white-brown hair!

It took a little bit to adjust to the style of writing, but I loved the vocabulary. No one uses the language that way anymore. James Patterson should be tied in a chair and made to read this book. I only wonder if he would remember the meanings of these words.

[Jamie Jonas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably one of the top ten most fun-to-read books I've stumbled across. Its cleverness knows no bounds, and it will be a joy to read if you happen to have the same love of literary parodies I do. I use the word "parody" loosely, though--in no sense does Kaye disrespect the works he draws from. It's just an amazing romp through Fictiland, and I can't recommend it whole-heartedly enough.

[Shala Howell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I generally like books where characters hop into other books, but this one left me a smidgeon chilly. The writing style is a bit Victorian for my taste (odd, since I generally love reading Victorian novels), but there it is. Still, I liked it well enough to move on to the Amorous Umbrella. At the very least, I'll get to exercise my vocabulary. There are some great words in this series. :)

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a fun fantasy novel that contains the worlds of Gilbert and Sullivan, Sherlock Holmes, the Arabian Nights, "The Beggar's Opera," with cameo appearances by Pickwick and Dracula, then this is it. Especially when these worlds intersect.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Old Children's Book. Liked it as a kid, but haven't read it in years.