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Canadian Trilogy #2
The Museum Guard
This is an amazing and beautifully written novel about two museum guards, one an eccentric uncle, the other his orphaned nephew, DeFoe. By day they spend their time curating an art collection, breaking the silence of the museum with heated conversation; by night we learn about their loves and past histories. DeFoe is in love with Imogen, the young caretaker of the sole small Jewish cemetery in Halifax Nova Scotia, where the novel begins in 1938. She becomes obssessed with a Dutch painting called Jewess on a Street in Amsterdam and abandons her life to look for nobility in the intensity of life in Amsterdam for Jews in the late 30s. The book is an examination of the desire to step out of the everyday and into action, with a startling conclusion. With echoes of the holocaust and of a world lost but not forgotten, this is a poignant and perfect novel of great power.
310 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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751 people want to read
About the author
Howard Norman
59 books282 followersHoward A. Norman (born 1949), is an American award-winning writer and educator. Most of his short stories and novels are set in Canada's Maritime Provinces. He has written several translations of Algonquin, Cree, Eskimo, and Inuit folklore. His books have been translated into 12 languages.
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March 30, 2022
I have read Howard Norman’s first three novels and have enjoyed all of them.
In these three, and perhaps in others that I have not yet read, Norman wastes no time in laying his cards on the table – face-up – except for two or three that he keeps in the hole – face-down. He’ll save those and reveal them later – about midway – and at the end.
For example, his debut novel, The Northern Lights (1987), which begins in Manitoba, opens this way:
(While browsing books in a bookstore years ago, I picked up that book, read that paragraph, closed the book, and bought it.)
The Bird Artist (1994) begins:
The Museum Guard (1998), the subject of this review, opens with this sentence:
The thief, DeFoe Russet, is one of two museum guards. The other is DeFoe’s uncle, Edward Russet, who helped DeFoe get the job. When DeFoe was eight, Edward became his guardian as the result of a freak accident that had caused the death of DeFoe’s parents; they died in the crash of a fairground zeppelin that they had paid fifty cents each to take a ride in.
The irony is that DeFoe and Edward couldn’t be more different. Edward is a hard-drinking, hard-living, irreverent extrovert, who is always in a relationship with one woman or another.
Defoe, on the other hand, is a button-downed introvert, who maintains a prim and proper outward appearance. Approaching age thirty, he has only one occupational plan for the future, and that is to spend the rest of his life as museum guard at the Margaret Glace Memorial Museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Unlike his uncle, he has had only one relationship of any duration with a member of the opposite sex. It ended when she dumped him by introducing him to her fiancé.
What uncle and nephew do have in common, however, is that each has an obsession that causes him great concern. Uncle Edward is obsessed with the gathering war clouds in Europe where Hitler is making his move to gobble up the entire continent.
Every evening, Edward tunes his radio to the reports of his hero, Ovid Lamartine, who broadcasts troubling on-the-scene reports about the darkness that is enveloping Europe, including Hitler’s personal war on Jews. Edward attempts to convince everyone he knows, including DeFoe, to listen to the broadcasts in order to be aware of what is occurring and what will inevitably occur in the immediate future.
DeFoe has concerns closer to home. His fixation is Imogen Linny, the attractive caretaker of the Halifax Jewish Cemetery. He is tortured by her erratic behavior, self-absorption, and the inconsistency of her affection. He was burned once and now he is afraid that the past is about to repeat itself.
Imogen develops her own obsession, one even more all-consuming than those of Edward and DeFoe. She becomes fixated on a painting, Jewess on a Street in Amsterdam, the one that DeFoe steals for her, because she asks him to. Unrequited love can cause people to resort to desperate measures, but it rarely leads to a satisfactory state of affairs, which is true in this case.
These three obsessions result in three different outcomes: murder, prison and …. ? Well, we never know how the third one ends.
One last thing, that may or may not be apropos, is the fact that the title of Howard Norman’s Master’s thesis was Fatal Incidents of Unrequited Love in Folktales around the World.
In these three, and perhaps in others that I have not yet read, Norman wastes no time in laying his cards on the table – face-up – except for two or three that he keeps in the hole – face-down. He’ll save those and reveal them later – about midway – and at the end.
For example, his debut novel, The Northern Lights (1987), which begins in Manitoba, opens this way:
My father brought home a radio. “I got a sender and a receiver,” he said. “Now we can talk to people other than yourselves. He fit the earphones over my head. And the first news I heard was that my friend Pelly Bay had drowned. Pelly had fallen through ice while riding his unicycle. That was April 1959.
(While browsing books in a bookstore years ago, I picked up that book, read that paragraph, closed the book, and bought it.)
The Bird Artist (1994) begins:
My name is Fabian Vas. I live in Witless Bay, Newfoundland. You would not have heard of me. Obscurity is not necessarily a failure, though; I am a bird artist, and have more or less made a living at it. Yet I murdered the lighthouse keeper, Botho August, and that is an equal part of how I think of myself.
The Museum Guard (1998), the subject of this review, opens with this sentence:
The painting I stole for Imogen Linny, Jewess on a Street in Amsterdam, arrived to the Glace Museum, here in Halifax, on September 5, 1938
The thief, DeFoe Russet, is one of two museum guards. The other is DeFoe’s uncle, Edward Russet, who helped DeFoe get the job. When DeFoe was eight, Edward became his guardian as the result of a freak accident that had caused the death of DeFoe’s parents; they died in the crash of a fairground zeppelin that they had paid fifty cents each to take a ride in.
The irony is that DeFoe and Edward couldn’t be more different. Edward is a hard-drinking, hard-living, irreverent extrovert, who is always in a relationship with one woman or another.
Defoe, on the other hand, is a button-downed introvert, who maintains a prim and proper outward appearance. Approaching age thirty, he has only one occupational plan for the future, and that is to spend the rest of his life as museum guard at the Margaret Glace Memorial Museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Unlike his uncle, he has had only one relationship of any duration with a member of the opposite sex. It ended when she dumped him by introducing him to her fiancé.
What uncle and nephew do have in common, however, is that each has an obsession that causes him great concern. Uncle Edward is obsessed with the gathering war clouds in Europe where Hitler is making his move to gobble up the entire continent.
Every evening, Edward tunes his radio to the reports of his hero, Ovid Lamartine, who broadcasts troubling on-the-scene reports about the darkness that is enveloping Europe, including Hitler’s personal war on Jews. Edward attempts to convince everyone he knows, including DeFoe, to listen to the broadcasts in order to be aware of what is occurring and what will inevitably occur in the immediate future.
DeFoe has concerns closer to home. His fixation is Imogen Linny, the attractive caretaker of the Halifax Jewish Cemetery. He is tortured by her erratic behavior, self-absorption, and the inconsistency of her affection. He was burned once and now he is afraid that the past is about to repeat itself.
Imogen develops her own obsession, one even more all-consuming than those of Edward and DeFoe. She becomes fixated on a painting, Jewess on a Street in Amsterdam, the one that DeFoe steals for her, because she asks him to. Unrequited love can cause people to resort to desperate measures, but it rarely leads to a satisfactory state of affairs, which is true in this case.
These three obsessions result in three different outcomes: murder, prison and …. ? Well, we never know how the third one ends.
One last thing, that may or may not be apropos, is the fact that the title of Howard Norman’s Master’s thesis was Fatal Incidents of Unrequited Love in Folktales around the World.
November 13, 2025
Dünyanın herhangi bir köşesinde olup bitenlerin er geç bizleri de etkisi altına alacağına ilişkin bir roman Müze Bekçisi. Amcasıyla bir resim müzesinde bekçilik yapan Defoe'nun anlatımıyla ebeveynlerinin başına gelenleri öğreniyoruz önce. Ardından amcasının çevresindeki belli başlı kişiler girip çıkıyor hayatına. Defoe farkına varmadan sessizce bu dünyadan geçip gidecekken Imogen'la karşılaşması hayata bakışını tamamen değiştiriyor. Dünyanın da pusulasının bozulduğu bu yıllarda Defoe ve Imogen için imkansız denen şeyler bir bir ortadan kalkıyor. İki genç, arzu ve sanatın dönüştürücü gücüyle düşlerinin peşine takılıyor ta ki ikisinden biri bu yolculuğu tamamladım diyene kadar...
Yazar travmaları, tesadüfleri, kimlikleri, karakterlerin zıtlıklarını başarıyla kurgulamış.
Ayrıca Kanada ve Avrupa'da geçen çarpıcı sahneleriyle, resim sanatı ve ressamlara dair anlattıklarıyla, insanın çevresine yabancılaşmasının sonuçlarıyla Kanada Üçlemesi 'nin 2.cildi olarak bağımsız bir okuma da sunuyor Müze Bekçisi. Roza Hakmen'in başarılı çevirisini de unutmamak gerek.
Kitaba başlarken Paris'teki Louvre Müzesi soygunu dünya gündemindeydi ve bir arkadaşım da bunun etkisiyle okumaya başladığımı düşünüp takılmıştı. Tamamen tesadüf elbette, fakat burada da müzeden çalınan resimler var Berilcim:)
Yazar travmaları, tesadüfleri, kimlikleri, karakterlerin zıtlıklarını başarıyla kurgulamış.
Ayrıca Kanada ve Avrupa'da geçen çarpıcı sahneleriyle, resim sanatı ve ressamlara dair anlattıklarıyla, insanın çevresine yabancılaşmasının sonuçlarıyla Kanada Üçlemesi 'nin 2.cildi olarak bağımsız bir okuma da sunuyor Müze Bekçisi. Roza Hakmen'in başarılı çevirisini de unutmamak gerek.
Kitaba başlarken Paris'teki Louvre Müzesi soygunu dünya gündemindeydi ve bir arkadaşım da bunun etkisiyle okumaya başladığımı düşünüp takılmıştı. Tamamen tesadüf elbette, fakat burada da müzeden çalınan resimler var Berilcim:)
March 26, 2008
May 4th 2008: Upgraded to 5 stars.
An extraordinary novel by the author of "The Bird Artist".
There are certain things you can rely on in a book by Howard Norman: distinctly quirky protagonists, odd names, a relatively remote Canadian location, and a dynamite opening sentence -
"The painting I stole for Imogen Linny, Jewess on a Street in Amsterdam , arrived to the Glace Museum, here in Halifax, on September 5, 1938."
That's the voice of DeFoe Russet, the main protagonist of "The Museum Guard". He is one of two guards at the museum, his uncle Edward being the other. DeFoe's narrative tone borders on lugubrious throughout the book, but never fails to be engaging. To be fair, he does have some reason to be mournful - both parents died in a fiery Zeppelin crash when he was eight, his plodding romance with Imogen isn't exactly going swimmingly, in no small measure due to recent unwelcome competition from his philandering uncle. To put it mildly, DeFoe is a person who craves a regular life - when stressed, he likes to iron shirts to calm himself. So increasingly odd behavior by Imogen, his uncle, and everyone around him is starting to get him seriously rattled.
A lot of shirts get ironed, and DeFoe does achieve a measure of calm by the end of this book. The hook that Howard Norman places so expertly right there in that first sentence is irresistible - you just have to keep reading to find out how DeFoe, the most buttoned-down character imaginable, is driven to such an act of desperate bravado.
The characters in this book are so odd, and behave so eccentrically that, by rights, it shouldn't work at all. Yet somehow it does. I don't understand how Norman manages to pull it off, but he does it brilliantly. This is a terrific novel.
Read it and see for yourself. You won't regret it.
An extraordinary novel by the author of "The Bird Artist".
There are certain things you can rely on in a book by Howard Norman: distinctly quirky protagonists, odd names, a relatively remote Canadian location, and a dynamite opening sentence -
"The painting I stole for Imogen Linny, Jewess on a Street in Amsterdam , arrived to the Glace Museum, here in Halifax, on September 5, 1938."
That's the voice of DeFoe Russet, the main protagonist of "The Museum Guard". He is one of two guards at the museum, his uncle Edward being the other. DeFoe's narrative tone borders on lugubrious throughout the book, but never fails to be engaging. To be fair, he does have some reason to be mournful - both parents died in a fiery Zeppelin crash when he was eight, his plodding romance with Imogen isn't exactly going swimmingly, in no small measure due to recent unwelcome competition from his philandering uncle. To put it mildly, DeFoe is a person who craves a regular life - when stressed, he likes to iron shirts to calm himself. So increasingly odd behavior by Imogen, his uncle, and everyone around him is starting to get him seriously rattled.
A lot of shirts get ironed, and DeFoe does achieve a measure of calm by the end of this book. The hook that Howard Norman places so expertly right there in that first sentence is irresistible - you just have to keep reading to find out how DeFoe, the most buttoned-down character imaginable, is driven to such an act of desperate bravado.
The characters in this book are so odd, and behave so eccentrically that, by rights, it shouldn't work at all. Yet somehow it does. I don't understand how Norman manages to pull it off, but he does it brilliantly. This is a terrific novel.
Read it and see for yourself. You won't regret it.
December 31, 2018
Like The Bird Artist, which I read in October to November, this is narrated in the first person by a young man with an unusual occupation, a troubled family history, and a criminal record in the making (as revealed in the very first sentence). DeFoe Russet’s parents died in a zeppelin crash when he was a boy, so he was raised by his uncle Edward, now his fellow guard at the Glace Museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia in the late 1930s. DeFoe falls for Imogen Linny, the caretaker of the Jewish cemetery; she becomes obsessed with one of the Dutch paintings at the museum. In fact, she comes to believe that she is the Jewess portrayed in one of Joop Heijman’s paintings of Amsterdam, and as the situation heats up in Europe she is determined to discover the artist’s scene for herself. I enjoyed the various elements of the novel – it reminded me of Elizabeth Hay’s and John Irving’s work as well as the rest of Norman’s oeuvre – but they didn’t really come together for me, and I never warmed to DeFoe as much as I did to Fabian Vas. This is my least favorite of Norman’s novels that I’ve read so far, but I will continue in my quest to read everything he’s written.
July 23, 2011
This captivating novel is the second of Howard A. Norman's "Canadian Trilogy", following The Bird Artist, and while the first is not a prerequisite to this one, a continuation of tone and narrative style meant that I found this one much easier to enjoy from the outset. This book is also told by a young man coming of age in the Maritime Provinces of Canada, though this time in Halifax, which, in the first novel, was the "big city" for the remote folk of extreme Newfoundland.
It is 1938 and young DeFoe Russett is being trained as a guard at the Glace Museum, where he will be working with his uncle Edward, who has held his position for many years. In one of the art museum's three display rooms is being prepared a visiting exhibit of eight Dutch paintings, one of which - Jewess on a Street in Amsterdam - will play a pivotal role in the story about to unfold. Uncle Edward looks for every opportunity to advise and instruct his young protégé, while simultaneously setting a very bad example - arriving late every day, either hung-over or still drunk, sleeping in the back storage room, and making disruptive appearances while tours are in progress.
DeFoe takes his new position very seriously and, in fact, it is actually rather comedic the degree of serious formality shown by him and the other characters within the contrastingly quaint settings of this story. My smug amusement gradually dissipated, though, as that and many other assumptions I had about Defoe's world were turned up-side-down - not by startling revelations or events, but by incremental disclosures that maintained a sense of mild disorientation until there was a sudden realization that things were the reverse of what was originally thought. The multiple layers of irony and symbolism in this book would provide for hours of book-group discussion!
It is 1938 and young DeFoe Russett is being trained as a guard at the Glace Museum, where he will be working with his uncle Edward, who has held his position for many years. In one of the art museum's three display rooms is being prepared a visiting exhibit of eight Dutch paintings, one of which - Jewess on a Street in Amsterdam - will play a pivotal role in the story about to unfold. Uncle Edward looks for every opportunity to advise and instruct his young protégé, while simultaneously setting a very bad example - arriving late every day, either hung-over or still drunk, sleeping in the back storage room, and making disruptive appearances while tours are in progress.
DeFoe takes his new position very seriously and, in fact, it is actually rather comedic the degree of serious formality shown by him and the other characters within the contrastingly quaint settings of this story. My smug amusement gradually dissipated, though, as that and many other assumptions I had about Defoe's world were turned up-side-down - not by startling revelations or events, but by incremental disclosures that maintained a sense of mild disorientation until there was a sudden realization that things were the reverse of what was originally thought. The multiple layers of irony and symbolism in this book would provide for hours of book-group discussion!
June 2, 2009
ADDENDUM: So why only three stars after all the positive points mentioned below? For two reasons - it is not as good at The Bird Artist which got 4 stars and more importantly b/c it lacks humor!
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I have to think about this a bit. What is bothering me is where the characters end up at the end of the novel. What is bothering and yet at the same time intriguing me is my uncertainty. What is the author trying to say and do I agree and are the characters believable? There is a lot to think abou.
All of Norman's books have bizarre characters. I really like this. They are much truer to life than most novels' stereotyped figures. People aren't so simple. We all do crazy things. That is a bit the charm of the human race. All of Norman's books, OK I have only read this and the Bird Artist, have wonderful character names. Looking for a name? Read his books. You will find one. Thirdly Norman always tells you in the very first pages, no in the very first paragraph, exactly where the plot will take you. You read it to find out why. How could THIS person do THAT. And then you cannot ever be 100% sure either of the motivations. But do we always act logically? Isn't this actually very true to life?!
And I like how the historical setting is woven into the book. You feel the approaching horror of Hitler's world.
Some people seem to really like this book and others don't at all. I think if you can only like this book if you can accept uncertainties, can accept the maybes. If you want definite clear answers, con't read this book. If you do enjoy pondering the possible reasons for what happens, motivations or philosophical views, you probably will like the book. Don't expect any clear answers.
And the characters - some infuriate you and some you love. Which character a particular reader likes varies! Me, I liked Edward alot and his fate.... Well I will not tell you. Imogen, I absolutely hated. I hated everything about her. But you see at least some of the characters will move you. I really, really felt for Edward, and DeFoe I just kept wanting to kick his butt, wake him up out of his organized, set world. When he is stressed he irons shirts. Will he change? Will he wake up? These are the kind of questions that should interest you if you choose to read the book.
Oh yes, the book also looks at art. How can, does, should art influence humans?
Still I think The Bird Artist was a notch better because I fell in love with more of the characters. Many of the characters in The Museum Guard instead annoyed the hell out of me. A good book, or art for that matter too, should get your head thinking and spark your emotions. This does both.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I have to think about this a bit. What is bothering me is where the characters end up at the end of the novel. What is bothering and yet at the same time intriguing me is my uncertainty. What is the author trying to say and do I agree and are the characters believable? There is a lot to think abou.
All of Norman's books have bizarre characters. I really like this. They are much truer to life than most novels' stereotyped figures. People aren't so simple. We all do crazy things. That is a bit the charm of the human race. All of Norman's books, OK I have only read this and the Bird Artist, have wonderful character names. Looking for a name? Read his books. You will find one. Thirdly Norman always tells you in the very first pages, no in the very first paragraph, exactly where the plot will take you. You read it to find out why. How could THIS person do THAT. And then you cannot ever be 100% sure either of the motivations. But do we always act logically? Isn't this actually very true to life?!
And I like how the historical setting is woven into the book. You feel the approaching horror of Hitler's world.
Some people seem to really like this book and others don't at all. I think if you can only like this book if you can accept uncertainties, can accept the maybes. If you want definite clear answers, con't read this book. If you do enjoy pondering the possible reasons for what happens, motivations or philosophical views, you probably will like the book. Don't expect any clear answers.
And the characters - some infuriate you and some you love. Which character a particular reader likes varies! Me, I liked Edward alot and his fate.... Well I will not tell you. Imogen, I absolutely hated. I hated everything about her. But you see at least some of the characters will move you. I really, really felt for Edward, and DeFoe I just kept wanting to kick his butt, wake him up out of his organized, set world. When he is stressed he irons shirts. Will he change? Will he wake up? These are the kind of questions that should interest you if you choose to read the book.
Oh yes, the book also looks at art. How can, does, should art influence humans?
Still I think The Bird Artist was a notch better because I fell in love with more of the characters. Many of the characters in The Museum Guard instead annoyed the hell out of me. A good book, or art for that matter too, should get your head thinking and spark your emotions. This does both.
June 11, 2008
Okay, so I've seen other people write very highly of Howard Norman's work. I've had The Bird Artist sitting on my shelf for awhile now, and while I probably should have read that book first (since I did buy it first), but I liked the cover to The Museum Guard better.
The Museum Guard takes place in Halifax, Canada.
What? Where? Who writes books about Canada? I mean who cares?
The Museum Guard takes place just before World War II when Canada was rife with tension over the impending war they felt they might be forced into entering.
I'm sorry? Had Canada even been invented by the time World War II rolled around? Rife with tension? Did anyone even live in Canada at the time? I hadn't even heard of Canada till they got their first NBA team in 1995. Prior to that I thought they were a country of bears and fish. What did they use as weapons in World War II? Do they have guns in Canada?
Okay, that aside, it really is a good book. Norman has a very bare bones writing style that agrees with my reading sensibilities.
Defoe is a security guard, making very little money, working as a security guard with his uncle in a small art museum in Hallifax, Canada. Defoe is a simple man surrounded by overly eccentric types: An eggheaded and uppity museum curator, a snooty museum tour guide, an over-opinionated/ man whore of an uncle, and the worst, Defoe's crazy girlfriend.
I don't want to give too much away- but Defoe's crazy girlfriend does something crazy, which drives Defoe mad. All of Defoe's "friends" allow and even support Defoe's crazy girlfriend in her craziness, which makes Defoe even angrier, but since Defoe is poor and simple Defoe's eccentric friends don't pay much mind to Defoe, and allow the crazy girlfriend to be crazy in her craziness.
In the end the crazy catches up with everyone, and, I could be wrong about this, but I think Defoe learned not to get so wrapped up in craziness... and I think this is a lesson we all would do well to learn- taught to us by NWA: Life ain't nothin but bitches and money.
The Museum Guard takes place in Halifax, Canada.
What? Where? Who writes books about Canada? I mean who cares?
The Museum Guard takes place just before World War II when Canada was rife with tension over the impending war they felt they might be forced into entering.
I'm sorry? Had Canada even been invented by the time World War II rolled around? Rife with tension? Did anyone even live in Canada at the time? I hadn't even heard of Canada till they got their first NBA team in 1995. Prior to that I thought they were a country of bears and fish. What did they use as weapons in World War II? Do they have guns in Canada?
Okay, that aside, it really is a good book. Norman has a very bare bones writing style that agrees with my reading sensibilities.
Defoe is a security guard, making very little money, working as a security guard with his uncle in a small art museum in Hallifax, Canada. Defoe is a simple man surrounded by overly eccentric types: An eggheaded and uppity museum curator, a snooty museum tour guide, an over-opinionated/ man whore of an uncle, and the worst, Defoe's crazy girlfriend.
I don't want to give too much away- but Defoe's crazy girlfriend does something crazy, which drives Defoe mad. All of Defoe's "friends" allow and even support Defoe's crazy girlfriend in her craziness, which makes Defoe even angrier, but since Defoe is poor and simple Defoe's eccentric friends don't pay much mind to Defoe, and allow the crazy girlfriend to be crazy in her craziness.
In the end the crazy catches up with everyone, and, I could be wrong about this, but I think Defoe learned not to get so wrapped up in craziness... and I think this is a lesson we all would do well to learn- taught to us by NWA: Life ain't nothin but bitches and money.
February 13, 2019
Es lässt mich verwirrt zurück. :'D
January 2, 2008
After reading all the reviews and the novel, I've come to the conclusion that you either really love the novel or you hate the novel. There seems to be little room in between. As for me, I belong to the group that did not enjoy this novel and its hard to pinpoint why.
I thought the author did a great job with the tone of the novel, a sort of sparse, dead, dreary tone. But during some moments of the novel, I wanted some kind of emotion and felt little from the characters. Even when Edward died or the scene when DeFoe smashed up Helen's house.
All the characters were so strange in their thoughts and actions, I just could not relate to them. I did not understand what caused Imogen's identity crisis, why DeFoe loved her so much, why Helen and the museum currator took it upon themselves to plan and take her to Amsterdamn. And why did everyone think stealing the painting, even for a night, was a great idea? And in what way did Edward, DeFoe's uncle, love Imogen too? I didn't think he loved her, I just thought he was a jerk to get involved in Imogen and DeFoe's relationship and then flaunt it when he'd practically raised DeFoe.
I don't want to sound too negative about this novel. I think for me it just wasn't my type of novel. There were just too many questions left unanswered and too much analysis and symbolism.
I thought the author did a great job with the tone of the novel, a sort of sparse, dead, dreary tone. But during some moments of the novel, I wanted some kind of emotion and felt little from the characters. Even when Edward died or the scene when DeFoe smashed up Helen's house.
All the characters were so strange in their thoughts and actions, I just could not relate to them. I did not understand what caused Imogen's identity crisis, why DeFoe loved her so much, why Helen and the museum currator took it upon themselves to plan and take her to Amsterdamn. And why did everyone think stealing the painting, even for a night, was a great idea? And in what way did Edward, DeFoe's uncle, love Imogen too? I didn't think he loved her, I just thought he was a jerk to get involved in Imogen and DeFoe's relationship and then flaunt it when he'd practically raised DeFoe.
I don't want to sound too negative about this novel. I think for me it just wasn't my type of novel. There were just too many questions left unanswered and too much analysis and symbolism.
February 24, 2010
I want to start by saying I really loved the beginning of the story, the interaction between DeFoe and Edward alone in the museum. The dialogue was quirky, but in a good way. I loved the way the two of them were as different as East and West. The book began as a character study of the highest level. But then, about a third of the way into it, there seemed to be this wrenching feeling, where the supporting players acted somewhat randomly to facilitate 'action', as if the dialogue was not enough. I felt this book was rushed for the final third, and the only reason I even finished it was because I was hoping for something redeeming at the end. I was sorely disappointed with this book, especially after such a great beginning.
May 2, 2010
This was near the top of my to-read list for a long time, based on some rave reviews I had remembered from long ago. But even though the book held my attention and created some of the most distinctive characters I've encountered in fiction, its strangeness and the flat narration of its protagonist finally did me in.
Defoe Russett is one of two guards in a small art museum in Halifax. He has been raised by his neer do well uncle, the other guard, in a local hotel, after Defoe's parents were killed in a dirigible fire. Defoe leads an extremely ordered existence (pop psychoanalysis: to guard against any more random tragedies in his life), but he nevertheless finds himself attracted to a quirky Jewish cemetery caretaker who begins an off and on again romantic relationship with him.
Despite some slow passages, the books flows along fairly smoothly, until the caretaker becomes infatuated with a Dutch painting showing a Jewish woman on the streets of Amsterdam. Soon, the young woman begins to believe she is the woman in the painting, and the museum curator and a local art historian help her along in this obvious turn toward mental illness.
This sets up what is meant to be the dramatic conclusion of the book, but it is drama at the price of caring anything about this disturbed young woman or the museum guard who pines for her. I gave this one a fair shot; it didn't live up to its billing.
February 10, 2017
Ratings (1 to 5)
Writing: 4
Plot: 5
Characters: 5
Emotional impact: 4
Overall rating: 4.5
Writing: 4
Plot: 5
Characters: 5
Emotional impact: 4
Overall rating: 4.5
January 16, 2009
I kept thinking I might have already read this, but couldn't remember the details. Unfortunately, that is still the case. An interesting book, but not one I could connect to on any emotional level. It was like reading about some historical figure from another country. The lack of connection to the characters left me unmoved by a story that should have been tragic. Set in Nova Scotia, just before the outbreak of the second World War, the Museum Guard is interesting, but unaffecting. The characters interact, but rarely establish an emotional bond. The reader is left with the same feeling.
June 9, 2020
Halifax, Canada, 1938
Defoe Russet (museum guard) and Imogene Linny (caretaker of small Jewish cemetery), both orphaned, both in their late 20s, are the focus of this story, which is basically a character study. Neither of them elicited much sympathy from me, and maybe that was intentional on the part of the author. The last third of the book is the most engaging, but I doubt that I'd ever pick up the book for a second read.
Defoe Russet (museum guard) and Imogene Linny (caretaker of small Jewish cemetery), both orphaned, both in their late 20s, are the focus of this story, which is basically a character study. Neither of them elicited much sympathy from me, and maybe that was intentional on the part of the author. The last third of the book is the most engaging, but I doubt that I'd ever pick up the book for a second read.
February 5, 2024
Magnificent look into the modest life of a simple museum guard DeFoe and his mentor/guardian uncle Edward as they orbit the mysterious graveyard keeper across the way. Imogen is a recurring brand that Howard Norman writes, a storm of inevitable emotions for the tutular characters in The Museum Guard. I do thoroughly enjoy these novels and look forward to where Mr. Norman goes next.
August 13, 2011
Howard Norman's The Museum Guard brings us a compelling, page-turning, quirky story told by a museum guard named DeFoe Russett, whose parents were tragically killed in a zeppelin crash, and who was, as a result, raised by his uncle Edward in the Lord Nelson Hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia. DeFoe's "family" is the staff of the hotel where he has lived for so many years. DeFoe's life is a narrow one. He has never left Halifax, has followed his uncle in his choice of careers, and in no way considers himself worldly like his uncle, who spends nights boozing and chasing women, and may or may not show up to work the next morning at the art museum where both he and his nephew work.
DeFoe falls in love with a half-Jewish woman, Imogen Linny, who works at the local Jewish cemetery. DeFoe's experience with women is limited, and his relationship with Imogen, after two years, has become strained. It is upon the appearance in the museum of a painting entitled "Jewess on a Street in Amsterdam" that Imogen starts to change drastically and pulls further away from DeFoe, herself, and reality, her world becoming that of the woman in the painting. And all this while word of the Nazis development of their world-dominating machine of terror is being reported daily from Europe by a radio journalist named Ovid Lamartine, whose accounts Edward listens to religiously every night.
This is a first-class novel, one that will keep you turning the pages. Its unique characters and underlying tragedies fill the novel with the stuff of daily life in 1938-1939. The impending horrors of the coming Nazi occupation in Europe, while seemingly faraway to most in Halifax, Novia Scotia, in such times is not seen so by Imogen and Edward, affecting them both profoundly in different ways, transforming Imogen and taking her into the center of the approaching Nazi storm. It is a story both of a young man in search of his own life, living in the horrific aftermath of the loss of his own parents in one tragic holocaustic moment, and the horrors approaching the world in the late 1930's where even half a world away from the coming storm, there appears to be no safe haven.
You will get to know love, and weep real tears for the characters in The Museum Guard. It is a novel about holocausts affecting individuals and humanity, the lines between art and reality, and about a world colored by madness. An awesome read by a gifted writer and one that is highly recommended.
As reviewed in Midwest Book Reviews
DeFoe falls in love with a half-Jewish woman, Imogen Linny, who works at the local Jewish cemetery. DeFoe's experience with women is limited, and his relationship with Imogen, after two years, has become strained. It is upon the appearance in the museum of a painting entitled "Jewess on a Street in Amsterdam" that Imogen starts to change drastically and pulls further away from DeFoe, herself, and reality, her world becoming that of the woman in the painting. And all this while word of the Nazis development of their world-dominating machine of terror is being reported daily from Europe by a radio journalist named Ovid Lamartine, whose accounts Edward listens to religiously every night.
This is a first-class novel, one that will keep you turning the pages. Its unique characters and underlying tragedies fill the novel with the stuff of daily life in 1938-1939. The impending horrors of the coming Nazi occupation in Europe, while seemingly faraway to most in Halifax, Novia Scotia, in such times is not seen so by Imogen and Edward, affecting them both profoundly in different ways, transforming Imogen and taking her into the center of the approaching Nazi storm. It is a story both of a young man in search of his own life, living in the horrific aftermath of the loss of his own parents in one tragic holocaustic moment, and the horrors approaching the world in the late 1930's where even half a world away from the coming storm, there appears to be no safe haven.
You will get to know love, and weep real tears for the characters in The Museum Guard. It is a novel about holocausts affecting individuals and humanity, the lines between art and reality, and about a world colored by madness. An awesome read by a gifted writer and one that is highly recommended.
As reviewed in Midwest Book Reviews
August 31, 2007
The main character, DeFoe, has lived with his uncle in a hotel since his parents died in a balloon crash several years ago. Now he even starts the same job as his uncle - he becomes a museum guard in the small local museum.
Currently they have an exhibition with paintings from the Netherlands, and DeFoes girlfriend - a jewish cemetry caretake - is obsessed with a painting called "Jewess on a Street in Amsterdam".
I gave up about halfway through the book. It just didn't keep me interested. The story is soo very slow!! So many passages with nothing said! And although I read in a review what's gonna happen later in the book (at least something is happening then) I couldn't bother to read on until then to finish it. Maybe it would have been different if I would have read it at a different time, since I'm normally not a person to give up easily.
Currently they have an exhibition with paintings from the Netherlands, and DeFoes girlfriend - a jewish cemetry caretake - is obsessed with a painting called "Jewess on a Street in Amsterdam".
I gave up about halfway through the book. It just didn't keep me interested. The story is soo very slow!! So many passages with nothing said! And although I read in a review what's gonna happen later in the book (at least something is happening then) I couldn't bother to read on until then to finish it. Maybe it would have been different if I would have read it at a different time, since I'm normally not a person to give up easily.
April 15, 2012
I had high expectations of this book considering the reviews by other readers, but was very disappointed. The characters were extremely strange and at times exceedingly irritating. I could not relate to them or anything they thought or did. I battled it out to the end, but won't be tempted to read any other books by Howard Norman.
June 25, 2015
Blah. Seriously. I expected more from this author and the subject. I found the main characters in this book to be so flat as to be incomprehensible. It was one of those books where I had to keep telling myself to read on, for surely it would get better, but it never did! Maybe I missed something deep and meaningful?? It just felt like a waste of my time.
September 24, 2011
Well, I had loved The Bird Artist, but for some reason these characters didn't grab me. The writing didn't make up for the book's slow start, so this didn't pass the page-100 test. I skimmed the rest.
June 25, 2009
ugh, i'm disappointed because i remember really loving "the bird artist". and something got lost for me here.
June 6, 2017
Slow , no action
June 22, 2017
Didn't work for me...didn't finish. A very dry read.
November 6, 2019
Way too much following a story you can’t believe or find feasible. Loved the Bird Artist and his other books
November 5, 2018
So tedious I coudn't finish it.
August 29, 2019
Another unimpressive book, couldn’t get past 100 pages. Uninteresting characters, storyline, writing.
October 1, 2021
It isn’t even a museum, it’s an art gallery.
June 27, 2021
The Museum guard is the 2nd in the Canadian Trilogy. After reading The Bird Artist, I wanted to read rest of the trilogy. The characters are not the same, and the trilogy seems to be linked by Place (this one takes place in Halifax, known as the Big City to characters from 30 yrs earlier in Bird Artist). This new set of characters is just as quirky as those in the last book, however, the Second World War is breaking out and the situation is much more dire and much less humorous.
DeFoe Russet is being raised by his uncle who is a museum guard. When DeFoe comes of age, he too becomes a museum guard at the same small museum. He meets and falls in love with Imogen, who has decided that her life is worthless and the only way to save her soul is for her to become someone else. She decides to be the subject of a new Dutch painting that has just arrived at the museum--A Jewess on the Street in Amsterdam. Those around her defend her wish, to the point of taking her to Amsterdam where she meets the painter and discovers that his wife, the woman in the painting, was killed by the Nazi's. Still Imogen pursues her new identity, and the husband goes along with it, by painting several portraits of Imogen. Most amazing are the seamless transitions from one reality to the next; as her friends gather round her with support and help, and as Imogen's accent begins to change and her conversations come from the place of her "character" rather than herself, everyone, new and old acquaintances accept her as "the Jewess," some even warning her of the danger she is in.
Although the author does not say so outright, one imagines that in Germany, the German people are changing into a new reality in a similar way--being told a story of themselves and their "enemies" in such a way that all they need to do is believe it and help each other to believe it to make the story come true. For DeFoe, letting Imogen go to become who she wants to be is the true test of love which he fails at many times before he succeeds.
A wonderful read; looking forward to the final book in the trilogy.
DeFoe Russet is being raised by his uncle who is a museum guard. When DeFoe comes of age, he too becomes a museum guard at the same small museum. He meets and falls in love with Imogen, who has decided that her life is worthless and the only way to save her soul is for her to become someone else. She decides to be the subject of a new Dutch painting that has just arrived at the museum--A Jewess on the Street in Amsterdam. Those around her defend her wish, to the point of taking her to Amsterdam where she meets the painter and discovers that his wife, the woman in the painting, was killed by the Nazi's. Still Imogen pursues her new identity, and the husband goes along with it, by painting several portraits of Imogen. Most amazing are the seamless transitions from one reality to the next; as her friends gather round her with support and help, and as Imogen's accent begins to change and her conversations come from the place of her "character" rather than herself, everyone, new and old acquaintances accept her as "the Jewess," some even warning her of the danger she is in.
Although the author does not say so outright, one imagines that in Germany, the German people are changing into a new reality in a similar way--being told a story of themselves and their "enemies" in such a way that all they need to do is believe it and help each other to believe it to make the story come true. For DeFoe, letting Imogen go to become who she wants to be is the true test of love which he fails at many times before he succeeds.
A wonderful read; looking forward to the final book in the trilogy.
September 1, 2022
Yıl 1938. Kanada’nın Halifax kentindeyiz. Kentin küçük müzesi Glace’in bekçileri amca-yeğen Russet’ler baş kahramanlarımız. Yeğen DeFoe Russet, “Imogen Linny için çaldığım tablo, Amsterdam’da Bir Sokakta Yahudi Kadın, buraya, Halifax’taki Glace Müzesi’ne 5 Eylül 1938’de geldi,” diye anlatmaya başlıyor. Bir müze bekçisi korumakla görevli olduğu bir tabloyu çalmıştır.
DeFoe sekiz yaşındayken anne babası korkunç bir zeplin kazasında ölünce amca Edward onun tek yakın akrabası olarak koruyucusu olmuş. DeFoe ve Edward tamamen farklı, zıt kişiliklerdedir. DeFoe sessiz, sakin, içine kapanık, düzenli, disiplinli, hemen hiç dostu olmayan bir kişidir. Amca ise onun tamamen tersi. Dışa dönük, dost canlısı ve çapkın, konuşkan, maceracı ruhlu, saygısız, dağınık ve güvenilmezdir. Amca ve yeğen bu zıt kişiliklerine rağmen birbirlerine güçlü bağlarla bağlıdır. Sık sık tartışıp birbirlerine gücenseler de yaşamları birlikte geçer ve birbirlerini koruyup kollarlar. Günlerini müzede birlikte geçirdikten sonra gecelerini de aynı otelde ev olarak kullandıkları odalarda tamamlarlar.
Edward, her zaman bir kadınla ilişki içindeyken ve yeni aşklara hazırken DeFoe’nin hayatında tek bir kadın olmuştur. Onun için çalıştığı müzeden tablo çalacak kadar sevdiği Imogen Linny kentin tek Yahudi mezarlığında bekçi ve bakıcı olarak çalışmaktadır. Imogen güzelliği ile dikkati çeken ama kolay ilişki kurulamayan bir yapıda bir kadındır. DeFoe ile Imogen arasındaki iki yıldan fazla süren ilişki gerilimli ve zordur ve daha çok DeFoe’nin özverisi ile yürüdüğünü düşündürür. Ama DeFoe de içe kapanık ve kuralcı yapısıyla aşk bir yana kolay arkadaşlık edilemeyecek bir karakterdedir.
Avrupa’dan, Almanya’dan binlerce kilometre uzakta olsalar da yükselen Nazizmin, yaklaşan Dünya savaşının etkisini hissederler. Bu etkiyi hissetmelerini sağlayan da Avrupa’dan sıcağı sıcağına yayınlanan popüler bir radyo programı ve onun karizmatik sunucusu Ovid Lamartine’dir.
Hollandalı bir ressamın Amsterdam’da Bir Sokakta Yahudi Kadın tablosu müzede sergilenmeye başlamasıyla geri dönülmez bir şekilde olaylar gelişmeye başlar.
Imogen Linny sürekli bakıp hakkında düşündüğü tabloda geçmişini keşfedip, tablodaki kadınla özdeşleşirken Edward Amca her akşam radyosunu dinleyip, Ovid Lamartine'in uyarılarına kulak verir ve neler olup bittiğinin ve yakın gelecekte neler yaşanacağı hakkında başta yeğeni herkesi uyarmaya çalışır. Ama kişisel ilişkiler, aşklar, tutkular ve saplantılar o kadar yoğunlaşır ve karmaşıklaşır ki kimse bu uyarılara yeterince kulak veremez. Imogen tablouyu çalmasını istediğinde DeFoe parçalanan ilişkilerini onaracağı umuduyla bu isteği yerine getirir. Oysa bu eylem onarılmaz gelişmelerin tetikleyicisi olacaktır. Cinayet, hapis ve bilinmez bir sona yolculuk…
Howard Norman sakin ve yalın bir anlatımla ağır ağır olay örgüsünü geliştiriyor, karakterleri oya gibi işliyor Müze Bekçisi’nde. O sakin, normal görünen yaşam içindeki gerilimi fark ediyorsunuz ama adlandıramıyorsunuz başlangıçta. Her şey gayet doğal akışında, her günkü gibi yaşanıyormuşa benziyor. Etkileyici, tartışmaya açtığı olaylar ve toplumsal ve bireysel sorunlar ile düşündürücü usta işi bir roman Müze Bekçisi.
DeFoe sekiz yaşındayken anne babası korkunç bir zeplin kazasında ölünce amca Edward onun tek yakın akrabası olarak koruyucusu olmuş. DeFoe ve Edward tamamen farklı, zıt kişiliklerdedir. DeFoe sessiz, sakin, içine kapanık, düzenli, disiplinli, hemen hiç dostu olmayan bir kişidir. Amca ise onun tamamen tersi. Dışa dönük, dost canlısı ve çapkın, konuşkan, maceracı ruhlu, saygısız, dağınık ve güvenilmezdir. Amca ve yeğen bu zıt kişiliklerine rağmen birbirlerine güçlü bağlarla bağlıdır. Sık sık tartışıp birbirlerine gücenseler de yaşamları birlikte geçer ve birbirlerini koruyup kollarlar. Günlerini müzede birlikte geçirdikten sonra gecelerini de aynı otelde ev olarak kullandıkları odalarda tamamlarlar.
Edward, her zaman bir kadınla ilişki içindeyken ve yeni aşklara hazırken DeFoe’nin hayatında tek bir kadın olmuştur. Onun için çalıştığı müzeden tablo çalacak kadar sevdiği Imogen Linny kentin tek Yahudi mezarlığında bekçi ve bakıcı olarak çalışmaktadır. Imogen güzelliği ile dikkati çeken ama kolay ilişki kurulamayan bir yapıda bir kadındır. DeFoe ile Imogen arasındaki iki yıldan fazla süren ilişki gerilimli ve zordur ve daha çok DeFoe’nin özverisi ile yürüdüğünü düşündürür. Ama DeFoe de içe kapanık ve kuralcı yapısıyla aşk bir yana kolay arkadaşlık edilemeyecek bir karakterdedir.
Avrupa’dan, Almanya’dan binlerce kilometre uzakta olsalar da yükselen Nazizmin, yaklaşan Dünya savaşının etkisini hissederler. Bu etkiyi hissetmelerini sağlayan da Avrupa’dan sıcağı sıcağına yayınlanan popüler bir radyo programı ve onun karizmatik sunucusu Ovid Lamartine’dir.
Hollandalı bir ressamın Amsterdam’da Bir Sokakta Yahudi Kadın tablosu müzede sergilenmeye başlamasıyla geri dönülmez bir şekilde olaylar gelişmeye başlar.
Imogen Linny sürekli bakıp hakkında düşündüğü tabloda geçmişini keşfedip, tablodaki kadınla özdeşleşirken Edward Amca her akşam radyosunu dinleyip, Ovid Lamartine'in uyarılarına kulak verir ve neler olup bittiğinin ve yakın gelecekte neler yaşanacağı hakkında başta yeğeni herkesi uyarmaya çalışır. Ama kişisel ilişkiler, aşklar, tutkular ve saplantılar o kadar yoğunlaşır ve karmaşıklaşır ki kimse bu uyarılara yeterince kulak veremez. Imogen tablouyu çalmasını istediğinde DeFoe parçalanan ilişkilerini onaracağı umuduyla bu isteği yerine getirir. Oysa bu eylem onarılmaz gelişmelerin tetikleyicisi olacaktır. Cinayet, hapis ve bilinmez bir sona yolculuk…
Howard Norman sakin ve yalın bir anlatımla ağır ağır olay örgüsünü geliştiriyor, karakterleri oya gibi işliyor Müze Bekçisi’nde. O sakin, normal görünen yaşam içindeki gerilimi fark ediyorsunuz ama adlandıramıyorsunuz başlangıçta. Her şey gayet doğal akışında, her günkü gibi yaşanıyormuşa benziyor. Etkileyici, tartışmaya açtığı olaylar ve toplumsal ve bireysel sorunlar ile düşündürücü usta işi bir roman Müze Bekçisi.
April 27, 2021
I am a fan of Howard Norman, and this book has some of the by-now familiar themes : lonely man/ couple living in a hotel and finding a community of sorts. An obsession. Apparently superficial conversations that suddenly veer deep. A crime, or several crimes. People plodding on in their lonely lives, doing the best they can. (Like Anita Brookner, but less introspective).
This book started rather slowly, with a longish introduction to Defoe Russell, a young guard in the small Glace museum in Halifax. Raised by his womanizing, hard-drinking uncle Edward, also a museum guard, after being orphaned as a child, his emotional development is somewhat stunted. His relationship with Imogen Linny is rather one-sided, and he's incredibly wounded when he realizes his uncle has also been in contact with the girl he considered his one special relationship. But there's more! Imogen develops a fixation on a Dutch painting showing a Jewish woman in Amsterdam, just when the news from Europe is becoming more and more dire (it's 1939). Then Defoe's life falls to pieces, and the two friends he had at the museum, the curator Mr. Connaught and the docent Miss Delbo, have to make a choice between Imogen and Defoe.
As I said, the first part, where we get to know Defoe, Edward, Imogen and the habitues of the Glace museum, was rather long. But once the (psychological) action started, I was hooked, even though the description of Defoe's inner life is more Hemingway than Proust.
Now I absolutely need to read the third part of the Canada trilogy!
This book started rather slowly, with a longish introduction to Defoe Russell, a young guard in the small Glace museum in Halifax. Raised by his womanizing, hard-drinking uncle Edward, also a museum guard, after being orphaned as a child, his emotional development is somewhat stunted. His relationship with Imogen Linny is rather one-sided, and he's incredibly wounded when he realizes his uncle has also been in contact with the girl he considered his one special relationship. But there's more! Imogen develops a fixation on a Dutch painting showing a Jewish woman in Amsterdam, just when the news from Europe is becoming more and more dire (it's 1939). Then Defoe's life falls to pieces, and the two friends he had at the museum, the curator Mr. Connaught and the docent Miss Delbo, have to make a choice between Imogen and Defoe.
As I said, the first part, where we get to know Defoe, Edward, Imogen and the habitues of the Glace museum, was rather long. But once the (psychological) action started, I was hooked, even though the description of Defoe's inner life is more Hemingway than Proust.
Now I absolutely need to read the third part of the Canada trilogy!
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