Care of Wooden Floors
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Review
Radio 4 Book at Bedtime
‘A very funny novel combining schadenfreude and belly laughs. Just don’t let Wiles flat-sit for you.’ Independent
‘ingenious…his story has something in common, in terms of manic sensitivity, with Edgar Allan Poes’ The Tell-Tale Heart…[with] deft and precise descriptive asides. This is a smart and polished debut.’ Daily Telegraph
‘This novel acquires the queasy allure of a cliff edge, the sense of impending catastrophe becoming strangely compelling…addictive and rather clever, too.’ Daily Mail
‘Funny, beguiling and quietly profound; a wonderfully well-crafted debut.’ TLS
“A nicely turned satire on the notion that the path to spiritual contentment lies in a pristine set of polished wooden floorboards …Wiles has an eye for beauty, but an even more impressive eye for ugliness… a novel full of impeccably stylish writing…” Guardian
‘Highly idiosyncratic, well-written, with a vivid sense of place – compelling.’ Michael Frayn
‘Care of Wooden Floors is a wonderful work. Precisely constructed, with an eye that sees in between the everyday spaces of our lives, it sheds new light, not only on ourselves, but on the contemporary novel itself.’ Lee Rourke, author of The Canal
‘The novel’s strength lies in Wiles’s wry depiction of the battle between chaos and order.’ Sunday Times
‘Wiles has a knack for dry humour but it is with surreal slapstick that he really excels… his is a well-written debut exploring Western society's obsession with obtaining the "right" objects, as though merely possessing them will lead to happiness. It certainly works on that level but is also successful as an absurdist tale of how one small mistake can result in pandemonium.’ The Herald
‘entertainingly conjure[s] up a life lived through aesthetics’ Art Review
‘really assured, very witty, not too highbrow but gorgeously written. Thumbs up.’Bookmunch
‘Wiles is a talent to watch’ The Spectator
‘compelling’ Independent on Sunday
Review
'compelling' Independent on Sunday
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Care of Wooden Floors is Will Wiles' first novel but it is a masterpiece. Our narrator is charged with looking after the extremely high-end, eastern-European flat of his dear university friend Oskar - a Philharmonic pianist - whilst Oskar is in L.A. getting divorced from his high-end, western-American wife. The job seems simple enough initially, feed the cats, take the rubbish out, oh, and mind the floors, they're brand new & French oak. As our narrator explores the soviet-bloc city and drinks bottle after bottle of Oskar's collection, small mishaps lead to bigger problems and the narrator realises he may have irreparably damaged Oskar's flat & in turn, their friendship - what will he say upon his return?
COWF is very clever; it's initial set-up maybe very simple and you might feel that there is not an awful lot of material to work with, but it's the gradual unpeeling of Oskar via his neurotic hidden notes throughout the flat that brings a fantastic level of character development. The flat becomes a metaphor for perfection; an ideal life that the narrator envies and fantasises about. As the continual stream of destruction and wine-rings the narrator brings flows freely, he learns that some things aren't alive without a few scars as proof of living.
Well written; based in a nameless ex-soviet city and more about a man that is absent for the entirety of the book than it is the narrator, but highly enjoyable, written in vivacious and lucid prose and made me laugh out loud on several occasions. Literature of this calibre from a new author is rare, highly recommended!!
COWF is very clever; it's initial set-up maybe very simple and you might feel that there is not an awful lot of material to work with, but it's the gradual unpeeling of Oskar via his neurotic hidden notes throughout the flat that brings a fantastic level of character development. The flat becomes a metaphor for perfection; an ideal life that the narrator envies and fantasises about. As the continual stream of destruction and wine-rings the narrator brings flows freely, he learns that some things aren't alive without a few scars as proof of living.
Well written; based in a nameless ex-soviet city and more about a man that is absent for the entirety of the book than it is the narrator, but highly enjoyable, written in vivacious and lucid prose and made me laugh out loud on several occasions. Literature of this calibre from a new author is rare, highly recommended!!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed this book. It was well written, with very believable characters, and a fast moving humourous plot. The way Oskar's letters were phrased reminded me very much of letters I would swap with possible au pair families, Wiles has obviously done his research both with this and the City where Oskar's appartment was in, and used this to build up Oskar's character extremely well (No two-dimensional character was he). What I liked best about the book was no matter haw ludicrous the plot became, you always believed in it, and putting your self in the narrators possition, you could imagine it very easily happening to you.
Highly enjoyable read, would definately recommend to a friend.
Highly enjoyable read, would definately recommend to a friend.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
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The terrifying thing about this book is that when you read it you have the awful sense that it could so easily happen to you! Have you ever been alone in someone else's house and had a slight domestic accident that you would be embarrassed to own up to?
That is what happens here, and then escalates to monumental proportions. The friend is taking care of Oskar's flat, knowing full well that his friend is an anally-retentive perfection freak - that is a bad start in itself. Also, the flat is located in some East European city that is still getting over Soviet dominance (I've been there, I know how it feels) and this lends to the sense of dislocation. How do you cope with emergencies when you don't know the local way of doing things and can't speak the language? Will Wiles lays out a scenario of how things might pan out.
The book gradually moves into very black comedy which inspires a lot of anxiety in the reader. It is one of those books where you want to read on, but almost daren't.
The setting of a minimalist modern flat is threatening in itself and when the presence of the friend is added it is a toxic mix.
Michael the musician is a seedy creation and catalyst of calamity, yet all he does is get the hero drunk and take him to a lap dancing club, what could possibly go wrong? I loved the portrayal of Ada, the cleaner, a miserable old cow if ever there was one. It is interesting to speculate what is going through her mind as she has to deal with the peculiar foreigner. The episode of the cat, the bag and the canal is also horrifyingly amusing. As for the climax: red wine, stained wood, paring knife and plastic covered sofa, you have to read about it to believe it. The strange thing is that you will believe it and are quite likely to exclaim "Oh, no!"
I enjoyed this book, but not quite so much the disturbing feeling it gave me.
That is what happens here, and then escalates to monumental proportions. The friend is taking care of Oskar's flat, knowing full well that his friend is an anally-retentive perfection freak - that is a bad start in itself. Also, the flat is located in some East European city that is still getting over Soviet dominance (I've been there, I know how it feels) and this lends to the sense of dislocation. How do you cope with emergencies when you don't know the local way of doing things and can't speak the language? Will Wiles lays out a scenario of how things might pan out.
The book gradually moves into very black comedy which inspires a lot of anxiety in the reader. It is one of those books where you want to read on, but almost daren't.
The setting of a minimalist modern flat is threatening in itself and when the presence of the friend is added it is a toxic mix.
Michael the musician is a seedy creation and catalyst of calamity, yet all he does is get the hero drunk and take him to a lap dancing club, what could possibly go wrong? I loved the portrayal of Ada, the cleaner, a miserable old cow if ever there was one. It is interesting to speculate what is going through her mind as she has to deal with the peculiar foreigner. The episode of the cat, the bag and the canal is also horrifyingly amusing. As for the climax: red wine, stained wood, paring knife and plastic covered sofa, you have to read about it to believe it. The strange thing is that you will believe it and are quite likely to exclaim "Oh, no!"
I enjoyed this book, but not quite so much the disturbing feeling it gave me.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Almost perfect
It is the final, sober section of this highly original debut novel that elevates it to the realms of art, with a denouement of sorts which `explains` much of what has gone before,... Read more
Published 2 days ago by GlynLuke
The Floor's the Limit
This book makes a promising start with an intriguing premise but I found myself losing interest as the story progressed. Read more
Published 25 days ago by Ration Nations
Care of wooden floors
Care of Wooden Floors was the winner of the Waterstones 11 (aimed at promoting new authors) and it is a strong debut, and easy to see why. Read more
Published 2 months ago by D Peers
care of wooden floors
I bought this book after hearing it serialised on radio four. It is one of the best books I have read in years. Hillarious.
Published 2 months ago by chazcassie
Probably brilliant, but not for me.
It is rare (one in the last hundred) that I do not finish a book. But in this case I cannot get past page 50, and sadly am giving up. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Both the Macs
Okay but a bit slow
The opening of this puts you right in the apartment that's being looked after. In one way this was good but I did find the whole description of the characters a bit lengthy and... Read more
Published 3 months ago by A. Douglas
Quirky, brilliant book!
This novel stands out as totally original, quirky, fun and thoughtful in many ways. You could not dream a simpler plot: a friend asks another to look after pristine flat in a... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Josephine Huys
Forced farce
The narrator is asked to look after Oskar's flat. The two are ex-university friends. Oskar was known then for being pedantic, precise and orderly. Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. Lawson
promising start......
This book started quite well..... at a good lick, some humour and promised quite a bit, however I soon found my concentration beginning to wane as the book meandered along.... Read more
Published 3 months ago by T. Andrews
Witty and full of twists
Witty and full of twists.
There really is no need to go all through the plot yet again for every review !
A brilliant book. Read more
There really is no need to go all through the plot yet again for every review !
A brilliant book. Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. Moreton
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