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jialinorama's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I liked the weirdness of the book, and the deep dive into one person's mind, but found the main character a bit too annoying to really enjoy the book
katykelly's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed the slow-burn of this, the ridiculous escalation and climax. Not for all, but good payoff if you are patient. Very blackly funny.
jdtl's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
readingjag's review against another edition
4.0
Really, really darkly funny. The narrator begins this terrible downward descent as he makes one housesitting mistake after another. His super perfectionist college friend asks him to care for an immaculate, perfect apartment and it just instantly starts to fall apart. At times I felt I was reading the most pretentious thing in the world but then I didn't care because this poor guy. Oh gods. So funny.
cassandralovesfeta's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book, got it at a library sale and it made me smile & guffaw a couple times. Fun read that makes you think a bit.
meghan111's review against another edition
3.0
"There is a moment between sleeping and waking where one is free. Consciousness has returned, but awareness has yet to rip away the thin screen between the waker and his surroundings, his reality. You float free of context, in no place - not sleeping, not fully awake, not at the mercy of the unknowns of the subconscious, and not yet exposed to the dull knowns of care and routine."
The narrator has traveled to an unnamed Eastern European city to house sit at the expensive, pristine flat of his friend Oskar. Oskar has left him notes about caring for the apartment, including the instruction not to damage the delicate, priceless wooden floors. Of course, the narrator spills wine on the floor. Thus begins an escalating course of events, where trying to conceal and fix a problem only makes it worse.
mrsfligs's review against another edition
4.0
Novels don’t always have to be about big important subjects like war or star-crossed romances. In the case of Care of Wooden Floors, the subject is very small and personal: taking care of a friend’s apartment when he is away. That’s it … nothing more. Our narrator (a barely making it British copywriter) arrives at an unnamed Eastern European city to take care of his composer friend Oskar’s flat. The only instructions: Feed the cats, don’t touch the piano and make sure nothing damages the wooden floors.
From this simple premise, debut novelist Will Wiles builds a steadily escalating tale of calamity and mishap wrapped in a delicious layer of black humor. Like all good slapstick, Care of Wooden Floors starts small and slowly builds—lurching from one small problem to another until everything snowballs out of control. Yet aside from the rather hasty and unsatisfying ending, the story never feels outlandish or unbelievable. Each event seems inevitable (almost preordained), and while you feel the narrator’s panic and pain as things escalate, you’re can’t help but laugh. (However, if you are a cat lover, you might not appreciate some of the narrator’s more blackly comic misadventures.)
From the prophetic and oddly specific notes left by Oskar to the steady disintegration of our narrator’s piece of mind (as well as the apartment), this book was a delight from start to finish. I immensely enjoyed it and will definitely seek out future books by this author. If you’re looking for an offbeat book that is best described as “literary slapstick,” this would be the perfect choice.
From this simple premise, debut novelist Will Wiles builds a steadily escalating tale of calamity and mishap wrapped in a delicious layer of black humor. Like all good slapstick, Care of Wooden Floors starts small and slowly builds—lurching from one small problem to another until everything snowballs out of control. Yet aside from the rather hasty and unsatisfying ending, the story never feels outlandish or unbelievable. Each event seems inevitable (almost preordained), and while you feel the narrator’s panic and pain as things escalate, you’re can’t help but laugh. (However, if you are a cat lover, you might not appreciate some of the narrator’s more blackly comic misadventures.)
From the prophetic and oddly specific notes left by Oskar to the steady disintegration of our narrator’s piece of mind (as well as the apartment), this book was a delight from start to finish. I immensely enjoyed it and will definitely seek out future books by this author. If you’re looking for an offbeat book that is best described as “literary slapstick,” this would be the perfect choice.
stellamcvey's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
About the futility of improving yourself, kind of tragic but very funny and I genuinely gasped out loud at some of the shit this man does
sunshinemagik's review against another edition
5.0
If you do not like your humor dark, and I mean dark, this is not the book for you. However, if like me you have no soul, this book is incredibly funny and thought provoking.