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eryn's review against another edition
5.0
I bought this book back in 2013 mostly because of it's cover and because I wanted to improve my english. I always read a little before putting it away for months. However, I could never forget the words read, no matter how long the book was lying around unread.
It's difficult to review this book without giving too much away. Little Hands Clapping is one of the best books I've read in a while. And I am kind of sad it finished!
This book is macabre, disturbing, brilliant, strange, mordantly funny and sick. If you would like to read something totally original and which offers you something you will probably never read, then this one's for you. Dan Rhodes can turn your stomach and make you laugh at the same time!
"Reading it is like taking a deep breath into the lungs of your imagination". Scotland on Sunday.
It's difficult to review this book without giving too much away. Little Hands Clapping is one of the best books I've read in a while. And I am kind of sad it finished!
This book is macabre, disturbing, brilliant, strange, mordantly funny and sick. If you would like to read something totally original and which offers you something you will probably never read, then this one's for you. Dan Rhodes can turn your stomach and make you laugh at the same time!
"Reading it is like taking a deep breath into the lungs of your imagination". Scotland on Sunday.
smcleish's review
2.0
I found this hard to get into and didn't enjoy it as much as other Dan Rhodes novels I've read.
realbooks4ever's review
4.0
Little Hands Clapping, a novel written by U.K. author Dan Rhodes and published by Canon Gate, is an odd book.
It's about a museum, never named, in Germany. Not often visited, but sometimes people wander through and then leave. Or don't leave. At least not alive.
I like quirky books and this book is definitely quirky. There are unexpected dark moments thrown at the reader which made me think that the story had totally gone off the rails. For me, it was a case of getting used to the writing style. Not familiar with Rhodes' work, I was looking for hilarity where there were more instances of eye-opening incredulity.
See how that starts as a normal situation and then all of a sudden there's horror? Whoa!
There are several story arcs going on: the most beautiful boy and girl in a village, who are expected to marry each other; an old man who does the least he can to get by; the girl that cleans the museum and has stories of her own to tell; and the dull police officer who wants his son to think of him as a hero.
Little Hands Clapping kept me entertained and I might someday look for other of Rhodes' work.
To take a line from the book, this is "a curious mixture of stark, disturbing realism and high camp."
It's about a museum, never named, in Germany. Not often visited, but sometimes people wander through and then leave. Or don't leave. At least not alive.
I like quirky books and this book is definitely quirky. There are unexpected dark moments thrown at the reader which made me think that the story had totally gone off the rails. For me, it was a case of getting used to the writing style. Not familiar with Rhodes' work, I was looking for hilarity where there were more instances of eye-opening incredulity.
"The professor told them that in the afternoon they would be going to the laboratory for a lesson about professional standards in the handling of acids, about preventing injuries and dealing of mishaps. She pictured a bottle of liquid as clear as water and vicious as fire, and she thought of XXXXX, and imagined herself taking the bottle and emptying it into that perfect face...She pictured her screaming and falling to the ground, her skin a mess of burns and blisters."
See how that starts as a normal situation and then all of a sudden there's horror? Whoa!
There are several story arcs going on: the most beautiful boy and girl in a village, who are expected to marry each other; an old man who does the least he can to get by; the girl that cleans the museum and has stories of her own to tell; and the dull police officer who wants his son to think of him as a hero.
Little Hands Clapping kept me entertained and I might someday look for other of Rhodes' work.
To take a line from the book, this is "a curious mixture of stark, disturbing realism and high camp."
barrynorton's review
5.0
That was truly superb. I regret that it's lain unread on my shelf for so long (since I read his most recent). I really can't say what it's about without spoiling it, but it's a really dark set of interwoven stories, that somehow manage to be made sweet despite it all.
pagesandpints's review
5.0
This book was a lot darker than I originally anticipated! Cannibalism, necrophilia, suicide?! Despite moments of nausea, there was still some humor and sweetness in this weird, fairy-tale like story. So different and so much fun to read!
sharonleavy's review
4.0
How is it possible to read a book that involves cannibalism, suicide, freezing dead bodies, and go "Awwww!!!" when you get to the end?!
I don't know how Dan Rhodes has been off my radar up to now, because this is exactly the type of book I relish finding. It's wonderfully descriptive, it's like nothing I've ever read before, and if it's not adapted into some kind of stop-motion film at some stage I'll be very, very surprised.
The premise is simple, but strange - there is a museum dedicated to suicide (rooms include "Harsh Realities", "Popular Methods", "Tell Tale Signs", "Cults and Pacts" and "Statistics") in Germany that links several people. That's it. Or, it would be - until you dig beneath the surface. The proprietor of the museum was so obsessed with Luciano Pavarotti that she moulded her lover into his double. She started the museum to help suicidal people gain some perspective and change their minds about the course they have chosen to take - and she believes it to be working rather well.
Little does she know what goes on behind the scenes - the curator has a curious arrangement with the local Doctor on how to dispose of the bodies that are left behind after the museum sometimes attracts suicidal people to end their lives there. The curator, Herr Schmidt, "was quite an old man, and his long, grey fingers hung like stalactites from the sleeves of his funereal jacket". He is biding his time until he has enough money to retire. His only other reason for staying in the job is the free cake that Pavarotti's wife brings to their meetings.
The cleaner, Hulda, believes she is destined to go to hell for blasphemy after she cursed God for something that happened to her. Madalena and Mauro, two stunningly beautiful people in their own town, leave for the city together where Madalena realizes that she may be the prettiest girl in a small town - but she is not the belle of the ball in the big city, and Mauro's eye is soon turned. There's the doctor, who "had moved to the city ten years earlier, bringing with him a black labrador called Hans and a heart-stopping tale of tragedy" - it is Hans, the labrador, who eventually brings the story to its natural end.
Throw in a Wiggum-esque cop that repeats latin phrases to himself while looking for the big break in his career that will impress his boss and son; the baker's son who is desperately in love with a woman he can't have, a secret stash of photographs of a particular body part, some amazingly dark humour, and you have one of the most unique, sick, twisted, funny, and individual books I've read since I discovered Neil Gaiman or Tim Burton.
If you like the genre, it's a must-read!
I don't know how Dan Rhodes has been off my radar up to now, because this is exactly the type of book I relish finding. It's wonderfully descriptive, it's like nothing I've ever read before, and if it's not adapted into some kind of stop-motion film at some stage I'll be very, very surprised.
The premise is simple, but strange - there is a museum dedicated to suicide (rooms include "Harsh Realities", "Popular Methods", "Tell Tale Signs", "Cults and Pacts" and "Statistics") in Germany that links several people. That's it. Or, it would be - until you dig beneath the surface. The proprietor of the museum was so obsessed with Luciano Pavarotti that she moulded her lover into his double. She started the museum to help suicidal people gain some perspective and change their minds about the course they have chosen to take - and she believes it to be working rather well.
Little does she know what goes on behind the scenes - the curator has a curious arrangement with the local Doctor on how to dispose of the bodies that are left behind after the museum sometimes attracts suicidal people to end their lives there. The curator, Herr Schmidt, "was quite an old man, and his long, grey fingers hung like stalactites from the sleeves of his funereal jacket". He is biding his time until he has enough money to retire. His only other reason for staying in the job is the free cake that Pavarotti's wife brings to their meetings.
The cleaner, Hulda, believes she is destined to go to hell for blasphemy after she cursed God for something that happened to her. Madalena and Mauro, two stunningly beautiful people in their own town, leave for the city together where Madalena realizes that she may be the prettiest girl in a small town - but she is not the belle of the ball in the big city, and Mauro's eye is soon turned. There's the doctor, who "had moved to the city ten years earlier, bringing with him a black labrador called Hans and a heart-stopping tale of tragedy" - it is Hans, the labrador, who eventually brings the story to its natural end.
Throw in a Wiggum-esque cop that repeats latin phrases to himself while looking for the big break in his career that will impress his boss and son; the baker's son who is desperately in love with a woman he can't have, a secret stash of photographs of a particular body part, some amazingly dark humour, and you have one of the most unique, sick, twisted, funny, and individual books I've read since I discovered Neil Gaiman or Tim Burton.
If you like the genre, it's a must-read!
mandyla's review
4.0
On paper the subject matter of this book should not appeal to me, purely based on my own recent personal history. But I did really enjoy this book. It was darkly funny and unexpected.
It was just the right length, and contained just enough kooks. The intertwining stories worked well, and I wanted to know what happened for each character.
Impressive and surprising- or surprisingly impressive?
It was just the right length, and contained just enough kooks. The intertwining stories worked well, and I wanted to know what happened for each character.
Impressive and surprising- or surprisingly impressive?
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