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Brolliology: A History of the Umbrella in Life and Literature
An illustrated history of the umbrella's place in life and literature
Humans have been making, using, perfecting, and decorating umbrellas for millennia--holding them over the heads of rulers, signaling class distinctions, and exploring their full imaginative potential in folk tales and novels.
As Rankine points out, Derrida sought to find the meaning (or lack thereof) behind an umbrella mentioned in Nietzsche's notes, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote essays on the handy object, and Dickens used umbrellas as a narrative device for just about everything. She tackles the gender, class, and social connotations of carrying an umbrella and helps us realize our deep connection to this most forgettable everyday object--which we only think of when we don't have one.
Humans have been making, using, perfecting, and decorating umbrellas for millennia--holding them over the heads of rulers, signaling class distinctions, and exploring their full imaginative potential in folk tales and novels.
As Rankine points out, Derrida sought to find the meaning (or lack thereof) behind an umbrella mentioned in Nietzsche's notes, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote essays on the handy object, and Dickens used umbrellas as a narrative device for just about everything. She tackles the gender, class, and social connotations of carrying an umbrella and helps us realize our deep connection to this most forgettable everyday object--which we only think of when we don't have one.
193 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2017
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539 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
November 13, 2017
About: Brolliology: A History of the Umbrella in Life and Literature is a nonfiction written by Marion Rankine. It was recently published on 11/7/17 by Melville House, hardcover, 157 pages. The genres are nonfiction, history, and reference.
My Experience: I started reading Brolliology on 10/28/17 and finished it on 11/12/17. This book is beautifully put together. The author brings in so many books and their uses of umbrella such as Harry Potter where Hagrid uses the umbrella to threaten Uncle Vernon. Another popular book is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe where Mr. Tumnus was using the umbrella to protect himself from the snow. There is the well-known Mary Poppins with her umbrella tucked under her arm. Umbrella is not for rain or sun protection as you may think when mention of an umbrella. It guaranteed character and social standing and it was utilize as fashion in the Victorian era. Men and women carried umbrella to show rank and class. People’s use of umbrella varies across cultures and religion.
In this book, readers will learn how an umbrella has its importance throughout the years and in different part of the world. In China, long ago, only top officials can carry umbrella and different colors distinguish their rank. Common citizens are forbid to carry an umbrella. In India and ancient Greece, umbrella is associated with fertility. Religions such as Christianity where umbrella is held over the pope in procession. In Africa, umbrella are placed over graves. There are different terms for umbrellas: umbrella, brolly, parasol, and canopy. In Victorian era, parasols is used by women to flirt, tease, and attract men’s attention. It softens the women’s features. The increase in demands for umbrella is interesting as well as the alterations and ways a person utilizes it through generations.
This book is very well written. I love the different illustrations in this book. Umbrella is view as another home, a shelter, where a person could feel save. Recently I read a thriller called The Woman in the Window, the main character has a phobia for the open space and she would use an umbrella to give her the feeling of shelter and comfort. I have started noticing umbrella references in books I read, including a book I am currently reading now called The Wicked Deep. It’s definitely interesting how umbrella plays a big part in our lives, not just for protection from the sun and rain but to be in poems and stories. I highly recommend everyone to read this book because the author did a great job compiling different stories and histories into a small package.
Pro: cover, illustrations, history, book references
Con: none
I rate it 5 stars!
***Disclaimer: Many thanks to Melville House for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.
xoxo,
Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more book reviews
My Experience: I started reading Brolliology on 10/28/17 and finished it on 11/12/17. This book is beautifully put together. The author brings in so many books and their uses of umbrella such as Harry Potter where Hagrid uses the umbrella to threaten Uncle Vernon. Another popular book is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe where Mr. Tumnus was using the umbrella to protect himself from the snow. There is the well-known Mary Poppins with her umbrella tucked under her arm. Umbrella is not for rain or sun protection as you may think when mention of an umbrella. It guaranteed character and social standing and it was utilize as fashion in the Victorian era. Men and women carried umbrella to show rank and class. People’s use of umbrella varies across cultures and religion.
In this book, readers will learn how an umbrella has its importance throughout the years and in different part of the world. In China, long ago, only top officials can carry umbrella and different colors distinguish their rank. Common citizens are forbid to carry an umbrella. In India and ancient Greece, umbrella is associated with fertility. Religions such as Christianity where umbrella is held over the pope in procession. In Africa, umbrella are placed over graves. There are different terms for umbrellas: umbrella, brolly, parasol, and canopy. In Victorian era, parasols is used by women to flirt, tease, and attract men’s attention. It softens the women’s features. The increase in demands for umbrella is interesting as well as the alterations and ways a person utilizes it through generations.
This book is very well written. I love the different illustrations in this book. Umbrella is view as another home, a shelter, where a person could feel save. Recently I read a thriller called The Woman in the Window, the main character has a phobia for the open space and she would use an umbrella to give her the feeling of shelter and comfort. I have started noticing umbrella references in books I read, including a book I am currently reading now called The Wicked Deep. It’s definitely interesting how umbrella plays a big part in our lives, not just for protection from the sun and rain but to be in poems and stories. I highly recommend everyone to read this book because the author did a great job compiling different stories and histories into a small package.
Pro: cover, illustrations, history, book references
Con: none
I rate it 5 stars!
***Disclaimer: Many thanks to Melville House for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.
xoxo,
Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more book reviews
December 9, 2017
Cute book from which I learned many delightful facts. I’m still sad about leaving my plaid umbrella on a Metra train in 1999.
However, there are errors in the editing and layout that drove me nuts:
1. It’s Howards End, not Howard’s End. This novel is cited several times—there’s no excuse for botching its title.
2. WTF was up with the hanging hyphens that looked like struck through letters that appeared randomly throughout the book?
3. Tracking was too tight here and there.
4. Some of the author’s text was indented/formatted along with quoted text from one of the many literary works she cited, which briefly confused me. It was on the penultimate page, so I think someone got lazy checking the proofs.
However, there are errors in the editing and layout that drove me nuts:
1. It’s Howards End, not Howard’s End. This novel is cited several times—there’s no excuse for botching its title.
2. WTF was up with the hanging hyphens that looked like struck through letters that appeared randomly throughout the book?
3. Tracking was too tight here and there.
4. Some of the author’s text was indented/formatted along with quoted text from one of the many literary works she cited, which briefly confused me. It was on the penultimate page, so I think someone got lazy checking the proofs.
December 6, 2018
Very interesting premise but terrible actual read. No structure, meandering from point to point, and a pretty poor job from the editors in catching typos and printing high quality images.
July 14, 2018
Un corto ensayo sobre la historia cultural y literaria del paraguas al que le faltó mencionar la frase eterna de Rihanna:
‘Te puedes quedar bajo mi paraguas
Aguas
Aguas
Eh, eh, eh eh’
‘Te puedes quedar bajo mi paraguas
Aguas
Aguas
Eh, eh, eh eh’
January 12, 2018
As a fan of the umbrella—not just its function, but its very look; I would own a hundred of them if I could—I knew I had to have this book when I saw it reviewed back in November, and when I gave a small newspaper mention of the book to my long-suffering husband, he sighed patiently and I hoped for the best. Happily, I received it for Christmas and made it the first book I read this year.
As an object, the book is irresistible: its cover is bright yellow and features a simple black umbrella and spot-varnish raindrops, and there are loads of illustrations and surprises inside. The book is indeed, as the subtitle tells us, a history of the umbrella in life and literature, covering hundreds of years from ancient history to the 21st century and ranging throughout the world from Egypt, China, and Japan, to—not surprisingly—Britain of the 19th through 20th centuries. At 157 pages, it is a succinct and rather eccentric overview, but it thoroughly captivated me.
Marion Rankine had my attention from the beginning with her mention of James Smith & Sons Umbrellas, which is one of the most memorable and enjoyable stores (aside from bookstores, of course) I've ever been in; ten-and-a-half years later, I still regret not buying a yellow silk umbrella with fringe that somehow—in the midst of dozens of different choices—stood out from the rest. She goes on, in chapters with such titles as “Disreputable Objects”, “Shelter, Shadow, Shield”, and “The Brolly Transcendent”, to explain the rise and fall of the umbrella throughout history and identifies various appearances in literature, from the plot device of Leonard Bast's umbrella in Howards End to Winnie-the-Pooh's ingenious various uses of the umbrella, with Mary Poppins and Rubeus Hagrid also making appearances.
Rankine also identifies many works that were previously unknown to me, and here lies my main quibble with this otherwise very fun book: the lack of an index. Of course, it's a small book but I found myself riffling through later pages to find previous references to different novels that she mentions...all the while wishing for an index. I was also bemused by the apparent lack of checking at the printer's proof level; there are many, many line breaks whose hyphens are overlaid with extraneous characters and even one hyphen that was wrongly placed.
But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderfully quirky book, and wish we had even more of these unusual histories of everyday objects; they do exist, and really offer insight into the world as we know it today.
As an object, the book is irresistible: its cover is bright yellow and features a simple black umbrella and spot-varnish raindrops, and there are loads of illustrations and surprises inside. The book is indeed, as the subtitle tells us, a history of the umbrella in life and literature, covering hundreds of years from ancient history to the 21st century and ranging throughout the world from Egypt, China, and Japan, to—not surprisingly—Britain of the 19th through 20th centuries. At 157 pages, it is a succinct and rather eccentric overview, but it thoroughly captivated me.
Marion Rankine had my attention from the beginning with her mention of James Smith & Sons Umbrellas, which is one of the most memorable and enjoyable stores (aside from bookstores, of course) I've ever been in; ten-and-a-half years later, I still regret not buying a yellow silk umbrella with fringe that somehow—in the midst of dozens of different choices—stood out from the rest. She goes on, in chapters with such titles as “Disreputable Objects”, “Shelter, Shadow, Shield”, and “The Brolly Transcendent”, to explain the rise and fall of the umbrella throughout history and identifies various appearances in literature, from the plot device of Leonard Bast's umbrella in Howards End to Winnie-the-Pooh's ingenious various uses of the umbrella, with Mary Poppins and Rubeus Hagrid also making appearances.
Rankine also identifies many works that were previously unknown to me, and here lies my main quibble with this otherwise very fun book: the lack of an index. Of course, it's a small book but I found myself riffling through later pages to find previous references to different novels that she mentions...all the while wishing for an index. I was also bemused by the apparent lack of checking at the printer's proof level; there are many, many line breaks whose hyphens are overlaid with extraneous characters and even one hyphen that was wrongly placed.
But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderfully quirky book, and wish we had even more of these unusual histories of everyday objects; they do exist, and really offer insight into the world as we know it today.
October 29, 2017
I requested this ARC because I couldn’t believe someone could write a whole book about umbrellas. I am happy to admit that the book was actually a fascinating study of the history of umbrellas, their use in culture and literature throughout history.
February 26, 2025
It’s honestly impressive how many references Rankine includes to various works that each feature umbrellas in their own unique ways. So much so that perhaps the prospective reader may benefit from a general familiarity with Western fictions (many of which Rankine frequently refers to), like Austen’s Persuasion. One can also go in blind though and rely solely on the well-explained context provided for each excerpt. The included pictures are both illustrative and amusing in their own ways. Reading this work has given a much deeper appreciation for the symbolism and history behind umbrellas and parasols.
One of the only detracting factors I would point out is a tendency to characterize European (often specifically British) umbrella culture as representative of the greater “umbrella” of Western culture. Perhaps some more thorough references to the Americas and their umbrella usage and behaviors might expand one’s perspective. More obviously, I’m surprised at the lack of reference to raincoats as alternatives today. For example, in Seattle, many locals are quite interestingly aversive to umbrellas, labeling umbrella users as foreigners or outsiders. Rain jackets are much more popular, and even represent a significant component of Seattle fashion.
Overall however, it was a quick and enjoyable read. I can now definitively say that I’ll be picking up a nicer umbrella next time I’m in London.
One of the only detracting factors I would point out is a tendency to characterize European (often specifically British) umbrella culture as representative of the greater “umbrella” of Western culture. Perhaps some more thorough references to the Americas and their umbrella usage and behaviors might expand one’s perspective. More obviously, I’m surprised at the lack of reference to raincoats as alternatives today. For example, in Seattle, many locals are quite interestingly aversive to umbrellas, labeling umbrella users as foreigners or outsiders. Rain jackets are much more popular, and even represent a significant component of Seattle fashion.
Overall however, it was a quick and enjoyable read. I can now definitively say that I’ll be picking up a nicer umbrella next time I’m in London.
June 11, 2018
What a gorgeous little book. The chapter ‘forgotten objects and frightful moralities’ was a personal favourite, as was the coda. Such a gem of an idea, which probably deserves a 4.5 rating. I hope that future editions do address the small issue of the random letters appearing in hyphens - no fault of the authors, but it was slightly off putting.
March 10, 2020
Fastnade i historiedelen och boken blev liggande ett bra tag. En regnig februarisöndag tog jag med den till Silent Reading Club och där blev den utläst.
Särskilt sista tredjedelen innehåller en mängd litterära och popkulturella referenser. Dickens, Dickinson, Roald Dahl, Kureishi, Flaubert... De berömda paraplyerna i Cherbourg... Fascinerande med passagerna om 'umbelliferae'-växter, varifrån paraplyers struktur lånats.
Illustrationerna utgörs ofta av japansk konst, vilket gjorde att bokens gränser nästan upplöstes där på V&A, där det finns så vackra föremål från Japan.
Roligt - typiskt brittiskt - språk med ord som brollyness, brollyphile, brolliology och de komiskt skräckromantiska titlarna på fotona med trasiga och övergivna paraplyer.
Är pluviofil, men älskar inte (att bära med mig) paraplyer. Föredrar hatt, mössa eller luva.
Fin presentbok.
Särskilt sista tredjedelen innehåller en mängd litterära och popkulturella referenser. Dickens, Dickinson, Roald Dahl, Kureishi, Flaubert... De berömda paraplyerna i Cherbourg... Fascinerande med passagerna om 'umbelliferae'-växter, varifrån paraplyers struktur lånats.
Illustrationerna utgörs ofta av japansk konst, vilket gjorde att bokens gränser nästan upplöstes där på V&A, där det finns så vackra föremål från Japan.
Roligt - typiskt brittiskt - språk med ord som brollyness, brollyphile, brolliology och de komiskt skräckromantiska titlarna på fotona med trasiga och övergivna paraplyer.
Är pluviofil, men älskar inte (att bära med mig) paraplyer. Föredrar hatt, mössa eller luva.
Fin presentbok.
November 22, 2020
This is a very fun, very pretty and very aggravating book. Fun text, nice quality paper, great feel and incredibly annoying hyphenation errors. Every end of line hyphenated word has a hyphen printed over (or under) the last letter. Drove me crazy for awhile. Then I got over it and enjoyed the stories.
July 29, 2017
I love the rain for many reasons, but chief among them is that it gives me an opportunity to unfurl one of my umbrellas. How could I resist reading a book all about them? You might think umbrellas a dry subject, but Rankine's style is quite engaging, and there are many wonderful images throughout.
September 5, 2017
Lots of fun tidbits and illustrations. The photographs were a bit lackluster.
It showcases the relevance of the umbrella in fiction books and in history.
Access to review copy provided by the publisher.
It showcases the relevance of the umbrella in fiction books and in history.
Access to review copy provided by the publisher.
March 31, 2018
Firstly I have to be honest that the talented author, Marion Rankine is my niece and that there are family references to her Grandfather, my Dad, who did not live to see this book in print so I have a deep emotional attachment to this book and I can’t read the last line of the credits and gratitude without shedding tears.
As an additional layer, the week that I finished reading Brolliology, Marion was back in her home town on the last leg of her Australian book promotion tour for a panel on Writing Historical Fiction at Avid Reader≥
Now with all of that out of the way, I have to say that I adored Brolliology. It was full of Marionesses and as I read each word I could hear her voice and her clever wit and observation shining through. Each page brought about new delightful discoveries about the umbrella in fiction with the most insightful observations.
I have purchased several copies which I had signed by the author for birthday gifts for friends.
I highly recommend that everyone does the same, it is a wonderful book.
As an additional layer, the week that I finished reading Brolliology, Marion was back in her home town on the last leg of her Australian book promotion tour for a panel on Writing Historical Fiction at Avid Reader≥
Now with all of that out of the way, I have to say that I adored Brolliology. It was full of Marionesses and as I read each word I could hear her voice and her clever wit and observation shining through. Each page brought about new delightful discoveries about the umbrella in fiction with the most insightful observations.
I have purchased several copies which I had signed by the author for birthday gifts for friends.
I highly recommend that everyone does the same, it is a wonderful book.
February 7, 2018
This is a generally well designed book with an engaging discussion of the role of umbrellas. It made me want to go visit England's James Smith and Sons umbrella shop. The place of the umbrella is well covered and the Japanese umbrella ghost was particularly interesting. Our attention is directed to many interesting literary works, especially from the 18th and 19th century, featuring umbrellas.
Unfortunately, something happened at the final stages of proofreading and, as several have mentioned, there are distracting strikeouts of misplaced letters before hyphens. Howards End does not have an apostrophe, no matter what the spell checker thinks. There is a bibliography, but I agree that an index would have been nice.
Unfortunately, something happened at the final stages of proofreading and, as several have mentioned, there are distracting strikeouts of misplaced letters before hyphens. Howards End does not have an apostrophe, no matter what the spell checker thinks. There is a bibliography, but I agree that an index would have been nice.
April 21, 2019
Kitapçıda görünce oldukça ilginç gelen bir ismi var kitabın kabul etmek gerek. Konusu da tabiki ilgi çekici, hatta alışılmadık. Şemsiyeler üzerine bir çeşit güzelleme aslında. Tam olarak tarihi değil yani. Edebiyatta - ama öyle geniş bir şekilde edebiyatta değil - ve popüler kültürde belki, şemsiyelerden bahsediyoruz diyebiliriz Marion Rankine. Pek de derli toplu değil, çoğu zaman aa bak şurada da şemsiyeden bahsediliyor bak görüyor musun hatta şu konuyu da şemsiyelere bağlayabiliriz diye yazılmış gibi. Pek beklediğim gibi çıkmadı ama Rankine'nin zaman zaman keyiflendirebilen esprili dili sayesinde okunabiliyor.
February 8, 2018
Enjoyable historical and literary overview of the umbrella, accompanied by some wonderful illustrations. I found the chapter "Forgotten Objects and Frightful Moralities" especially enjoyable, laced as it is with a generous dollop of humor. I am delighted to run across an Emily Dickinson poem I don't recall ever having previously encountered -- and I feel spurred to read (or re-read) the books from which some of the author's examples are drawn.
April 25, 2023
Some interesting info, especially about the swing in perception of the umbrella as a lower-class/upper-class accessory. It could've used a stronger proofread; there was a weird issue with added letters in some (but somehow not all?) of the words hyphenated on line breaks. It made it really hard to maintain any sort of reading momentum. But my copy appears to be from the first print run, so maybe that's been addressed on reprint.
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Lettuce Craft reading prompts 2023: a microhistory
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Lettuce Craft reading prompts 2023: a microhistory
January 24, 2018
A good book to have on your coffee table or bedside for some light factual reading. I really enjoyed it. Rankin has given lifr to an unanimated object, it was so interesting to read about the historical social implications of having or not having an umbrella. Overall, a good, simple read. It was enjoyable and helped me out of a reading slump.
May 20, 2018
This is a fun and cute book on the history of umbrellas. Initially, the book gave an interesting history of when the first umbrellas were found and how it was primarily a social ranking item. However, as the book progressed, I found the illustrations of the umbrella in fictional novels to be monotonous and excessive.
December 7, 2020
Aside from the nasty printing / typesetting errors with mangled hyphens, the content and writing were both too earnest for me. I had hoped for a lighthearted read: this is more scholarly, and unnecessarily sprinkled with tough vocabulary. But I enjoyed the plentiful illustrations, and will pay more attention to brollies in my future reading.
August 27, 2024
It’s fun to know some miscellaneous umbrella knowledge on cultural, literatural, and historical perspectives. I’m an Asian, and the Asian part is quite surprised for me. I’ve never think the meaning of umbrella on that way before (don’t want to spoil), but I decent agree with the writer. Moreover, there are some useful images to help reader more understand.
March 9, 2018
Before reading “Brolliology”, I always appreciated umbrellas for the shelter from the elements that they could provide me on an inclement day; but with the assistance of this book, I have learned to love the simple beauty of the umbrella as both a piece of art and as a multi-tool.
June 20, 2018
Just delightful. This is the first time I've typed an actual review on Goodreads. That's how much I enjoyed reading this. Interesting research mixed with a charming writing style that kept me engaged and reading through. I would've read 8 more chapters.
February 17, 2019
An interesting looked at the umbrella and a good-looking book, spoiled somewhat by a technical glitch that adds spurious letters at the end of some of the lines finishing with hyphenated words. This unfortunate typographic trouble slows down the reading process.
August 8, 2021
A fun little book tracing the history of umbrellas in culture and literature. I appreciate the inclusion of contemporary references to balance out the discussion of classic literature. And any book that uses the phrase "pluvial bukkake" is surely worth a read.
January 29, 2018
A short, smart look at our rainy-day companion.
November 24, 2018
459 - 2018
January 22, 2020
It's a wonderful 20 page article stretched into a 150 page book.
October 28, 2020
An interesting cultural history of the umbrella: a cross-cultural survey of its function as a human tool and as a metaphorical presence in different art forms.
November 16, 2022
I love histories of one thing. This one did not quite have enough meat ont he bones though to warrant a book. The pictures are great.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews