Dan Rhodes

This book sounded pretty good, but I was disappointed. It was more about the people the dog encounters, and less about the dog. Which is ok for some books, but this book could have been so much better. I think that the author just needed a vehicle to tell some short stories, and he just tied them all together with the story of Timoleon Vieta and his owner's messed-up life. The stories are all good, but I mostly didn't like this book because of the ending. I could see two ways for the book to end, one good and one bad, and I was hoping it wouldn't be bad. I was wrong. I should of put it down before I finished it.… (mer)

*This was originally written for my blog

I had never heard of this author before but I was captivated by the beautiful design of this books cover.

This book is (mostly) set in modern day Germany. It revolves around a museum. This museum is not what one would expect - it does not contain war memorabilia not does it house fossils and loin cloths, this museum is dedicated to bring awarenesses to one of the world's most grim topics: suicide.

Now, before I go any farther I wish to point out that this book is not as dark and depressing as one may originally assume. As well as the museum's subject matter it also discusses other hard to deal with topics such as rape, but the author does not dwell on these occurrences, nor does he shove then in the readers face. These have a place in the story and are not halfheartedly shoved in for the sake of shock factor.

This is a difficult book to review as everything feels to be a spoiler as the author is so carefully secretive about everything, nothing is told to the reader until it needs to be.

Little Hands Clapping follows the story of multiple characters, from the beautiful Portuguese Madalena, to Doctor Ernst Fröhlicher, to Pavarotti's Wife, each person has their own intertwined story, their own quirks, and their own purpose. It discusses serious subjects, but manages to be light hearted at times and the authors humour is so weird and macabre I must admit that I am hooked! It elicits a laugh here and there that will leave the reader hating themselves for allowing a giggle to slip out during what would be a serious moment in any other novel. For anyone who has ever watched The League of Gentlemen, the dark humour is quite similar.

I do not want to say any more about this masterpiece as I fear that I have said too much about the plot already. I highly recommend this book to everyone and anyone over the age of 18 (as there is some swearing, sexual references, etc.).

I rate this 5/5 stars.… (mer)

Dan Rhodes has been around for a while as an author and has been hailed for his talent over the years as much as for writing on subjects that sail close to the wind. His latest book, Sour Grapes (Lightning Books), features literary and publishing types, and authors in general, who attend a book festival devised to put a small town on the map. Fans of Dan Rhodes may not be surprised that many of the characters featured do not come off particularly well, and some are less disguised than others. There is a festival organiser called Florence Peters and an author whose raison d’etre is to use the longest, most complicated words possible – his name is Wilberforce Selfram. Dan Rhodes appears himself in the book writing Sour Grapes and while it is often funny and the targets probably deserving, the whole conceit seems somewhat stretched in this format.… (mer)