Little Hands Clapping
Encyclopedia
Little Hands Clapping, is a novel by British author Dan Rhodes, published in 2010 by Canongate
. Its title comes from a line in Robert Browning
's poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
, Herr Schmidt its grim grey curator and the respectable Doctor Ernst Frölicher and his shocking secret.
Various characters are appear with short lifestories including the Pavarotti obsessed founder of the museum and her Pavarotti lookalike husband, Hulda the cleaner who believes she is doomed to Hell, and Madalena a suicidal Portuguese student.
Canongate Books
Canongate Books is a Scottish independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh; it is named for The Canongate, an area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prizewinner Life of Pi...
. Its title comes from a line in Robert Browning
Robert Browning
Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
's poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Plot introduction
The novel centres around a bizarre German museum dedicated to SuicideSuicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, Herr Schmidt its grim grey curator and the respectable Doctor Ernst Frölicher and his shocking secret.
Various characters are appear with short lifestories including the Pavarotti obsessed founder of the museum and her Pavarotti lookalike husband, Hulda the cleaner who believes she is doomed to Hell, and Madalena a suicidal Portuguese student.
Reception
- Totally sick and brilliant, He sucks you into his world. I loved it., Douglas CouplandDouglas CouplandDouglas Coupland is a Canadian novelist. His fiction is complemented by recognized works in design and visual art arising from his early formal training. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularized terms such as McJob and...
- Almost every page of Little Hands Clapping has superb quirks or asides which will have the reader laughing. A sublime, brilliant novel, The ScotsmanThe ScotsmanThe Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
- It should please cynical idealists and idealistic cynics alike., Financial TimesFinancial TimesThe Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
External links
- Little Hands Clapping at author's website
- Dan Rhodes's novel about a museum dedicated to suicide is by turns witty and gruesome review from The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- A mixture of the quaint, the sweet and the distinctly unpleasant, review from The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
by Colin GreenlandColin GreenlandColin Greenland is a British science fiction writer, whose first story won the second prize in a 1982 Faber & Faber competition. His best known novel is Take Back Plenty , winner of both major British science fiction awards, the 1990 British SF Association award and the 1991 Arthur C... - review from The Independent
- "I don't feel like a natural" interview at The Skinny
- Five books that loomed large while I was writing Little Hands Clapping