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Dust Falls on Eugene Schlumburger / Toddler on the Run
  

Dust Falls on Eugene Schlumburger / Toddler on the Run (Hardcover)

by Shena Mackay (Author)
3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage (1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 009927406X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099274063
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,533,204 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Synopsis

Two novellas in which youth kicks against a besieging authority. Abigail pines for her lover during school assemblies, but romance is snatched from her when he crashes the car stolen for their joy ride. By the author of "Redhill Rococo", "Dunedin" and "The Orchard on Fire".

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.2 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Adventures of Andrew, 14 Jan 2010
By Barney McGrew "Charlie" (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: The Cry Of The Sloth (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
The writer invites you into the life of one Andrew Whittaker; wanabee writer, failing landlord, and verbose magazine editor. As his life and mental faculties begin to unravel, the story is presented as a series of letters, to his tenants and to the contributors to his magazine - oh and not to mention Andrew's adulterous ex-wife and various newspapers. The letters are occasionally replaced by chapters of Andrew's magnum opus, and the result is sometimes laugh out loud funny; sometimes rather dull - although the latter may be deliberate irony on Andrew's part.
Overall, I would recommend this as a decent read - but especially suited to those with extensive vocabularies, as Andrew's style is extremely grandiose - if not actually manic.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Words From A Cold Dark Place, 17 Jan 2010
By The Wolf (uk) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: The Cry Of The Sloth (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
In Andrew Whittaker, writer Sam Savage has
spawned an extraordinarily ordinary character.

Narrative devices aside, this novel's (if novel it is)
finest achievement is to have realised one of the
most sustained depictions of morbid self-delusion
I have come across in over five decades of reading.

Whittaker's personality emerges slowly from a
series of letters, reflections and memories which
may well be unreliable. Rather like the un-named
voice in Samuel Beckett's 'Company' we are often left
uncertain as to the authenticity of the experiences
unfolding before us. It is not comfortable to linger
too long in the dark with such tawdry ambiguities.

Although difficult to admire, or feel sympathy for, his
creation, Mr Savage's book is, none-the-less, an eminently
readable journey into one man's collapsing cosmos.

That he might continue to survive is one possibility among others
but Whittaker's inner-world is a terribly sparse and lonely place.
To have looked over his shoulder for a while chilled me to the bone.

Recommended.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A snapshot of descent into madness, 9 Dec 2009
By T. SMEDLEY "terrysmedley" (Taunton UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
This review is from: The Cry Of The Sloth (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
I was looking forward to reading this book, the blurb on the back and review of the author's previous novel making me feel this may be something a bit different and an interesting read. I quickly worked out that this is a series of letters and assorted writings from our protagonist, Andrew Whittaker. I was helped in this realisation by the subtitle on the title page: "The mostly tragic story of Andrew Whittaker being his collected, final and absolutely complete writings"!

This isn't a particularly easy read, it is quite disjointed, but you quickly get into the format and what unfolds is a fundamentally sad tale of Andrew's deterioration. We get the impression this has been happening for a while, but is slowly escallating into his complete isolation from society. There are moments of humour and quiet victory, but these ultimately serve to only exaggerate his decline.

The letters he writes to his ex-wife, former college friends and other literary publications are only one side of the story, I found myself wishing to see any replies he may have received. There are also letters written under psuedonyms and others in reply to these, which is a little odd, but it works. The snippets of his increasingly bizarre life and how he uses this information depending on who he is writting to was also a nice touch.

I did enjoy this book in a fashion and was glad I persevered, but it left me somewhat relieved to reach the end.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Tragi-comic wit, bile and farce
I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. It's a short tragic comedy told only through the letters and other writings of central character Andrew Whittaker- a divorced, deluded,... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. Stuart Bruce

3.0 out of 5 stars Cry of the reader...
After having read a review of this book in a national newspaper I was pleased to see it come up for review on Amazon Vine. Read more
Published 1 month ago by P. Millar

2.0 out of 5 stars The Cry of Boredom!
When I chose this book I thought it would be a good read, especially as the pre reviews praised author Sam Savage's first novel `Firmin' to the hilt, but maybe they concentrated... Read more
Published 1 month ago by TheGerbilTamer

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for me...
Although highly original in form and structure, I found it increasingly difficult to persevere with Sam Savage's novel, 'The Cry of the Sloth'. Read more
Published 1 month ago by C. Moorby

5.0 out of 5 stars Sharply funny and knowing
Ouch!! Sharply observed, cruel and poignant, hilarious and sarcastic, brilliant!! A real laugh out loud wince inside read....uncomfortable in places.. Read more
Published 1 month ago by C. Copp

2.0 out of 5 stars Seriously aweful
Dear Andrew (or Sam),

Much as your strange novel about a man descending into a totally ego-centric isolation from the real world may, at first glance, suggest that it... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Claptonite

2.0 out of 5 stars A difficult structure...
Maybe I'm simply not used to the genre - the epistolary novel, constructed of letters - but I really could not feel comfortable with this book. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ms. Felicia Davis-burden

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I hoped it would be
I read the description and was intrigued. However I never really clicked with it. It was just good enough to keep me reading half way, I thought it might get going but it sadly... Read more
Published 2 months ago by P. Wilkinson

5.0 out of 5 stars "I have unpacked my soul and there is nothing in it."
Epistolary novels can often be clunky or plain dull, but The Cry of the Sloth manages wit, complexity and poignancy without once feeling unconvincing. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mark O'Neill

1.0 out of 5 stars Dull dull dull
I was attracted to this book by the format of the story being written as a series of letters - I like to explore books that have been put together in unusual ways. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Janie U

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