Gold [Paperback]

Dan Rhodes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 2007

Like a Welsh Amélie set in a pub, Gold is a tender, understated tale of love, loss, and growing up. It is also vintage Dan Rhodes, one of the most critically beloved novelists working today. Miyuki Woodward, lover of beer and microwaveable food, has been taking a two-week vacation—away from her companion—to the same seaside town in Wales for the last eight years. She is made to feel at home at the salty seaside pub, where Short Mr. Hughes, Tall Mr. Hughes, and Mr. Puw are happy to add her to their trivia-contest team. This year, following an impulsive artistic act involving gold spray paint, Miyuki will take part in the most turbulent events the village has seen since Tall Mr. Hughes returned from the pub toilet without remembering to button up. Gold is a bittersweet, idiosyncratic, funny affirmation of life and a touchingly satisfying story rich in pathos, insight, and asides from the best-selling author of Timoleon Vieta Come Home and Anthropology.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This tenderly funny tale from British author Rhodes (Don't Tell Me the Truth About Love) traces the sweetly unsentimental course of Miyuke Woodward's annual holiday at a rustic Welsh coastal cottage. Miyuke and lover Grindl (known as the Lesbians in the small town where they have a decorating business) spend a month apart on separate, two-week vacations each year. This year, vacationing Miyuke spends her days as always, indulging in junk food and beer at the local pub, reading a book a day and walking across fields and along the seaside cliffs, until she discovers a rock that glows golden in the afternoon sunlight. Impulsively, she decides to paint it gold, only to be seen doing so by a pub regular, tall Mr. Hughes, who subsequently disappears from his usual spot at the bar. Confronted by two other pub regulars, short Mr. Hughes and Mr. Puw, Miyuke tells of the rock, and the three set off to find their compatriot. Rhodes's tale features lovely touches (such as the Children from Previous Relationships, a local band that's never played in public), and effortlessly ends an immaculately crafted story of minor perturbations and their unpredictable outcomes. (Sept.)
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Review

"'Hilarious and acutely affecting.' - Independent on Sunday 'Absolutely flawless comic writing. Original, fresh and funny.' - Observer 'Laugh-out-loud funny.' - Heat 'Smashing. Had me snorting like a hippo in mud.' - Sunday Herald" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Canongate U.S. (July 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1847670164
• ISBN-13: 978-1847670168
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,305,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars UNPUTDOWNABLE, October 12, 2010

By 

Björn Weizenkeim "Hans Breitmann" (Home of the Wadel, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gold (Paperback)

Folks, this book is a treat indeed. It was really "unputdownable" (quotation from the back cover), except after the first 160 pages I had to call it a day and finish it off the next day.
It's very funny, it's very human, it's full of little surprises, including the language which Rhodes can play with incredibly well.
Also, it's very Welsh, even though the author is not from Wales. In fact, it reminded me strongly of THE ENGLISHMAN WHO WENT UP A HILL BUT CAME DOWN A MOUNTAIN (the novel and the movie), and WAKING NED (DEVINE).
I wouldn't be surprised if they made this novel into a terrific movie, too ...
In any case, do go out of your way and buy this book!

4.0 out of 5 stars Whimsically madcap and heartwarming, August 13, 2010

By 

J. Ang (Singapore) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gold (Paperback)

When his collection of micro-fiction "Antropology" was first published about 10 years ago, Dan Rhodes's wonderfully ascerbic bite-sized nuggets on the funnier side of human nature won him a placing among the shortlist for the Macmillan Silver Pen.

He followed up that successful debut with a sophomore collection "Don't Tell Me the Truth About Love", a wonderfully enlightening and whimsical collection of longer stories.

I've also enjoyed "The Little White Car", written under the female pseudonym Danuta De Rhodes, his irreverently funny novel about the travails of a female driver who may have been involved in the fatal accident killing English royalty.

This delightful and humorous novel, "Gold" is set against a Welsh coastal village, with yearly visitor, half-Japanese girl Miyuki Woodward, who is as displaced as her name sounds.

Other writers may flag at spelling out the seemingly mundane details, but Rhodes excels at fleshing out Miyuki's sojourn in uncomplicated prose, even as he makes rather incisive character studies, without seeming to draw particular attention to them.

What wins the reader over is his obviously sympathetic treatment of his comic characters who rise above mere caricature because he makes the effort to let on some backstory (especially of Septic Barry, a human waste disposal business owner, with a side band called 'The Children from Previous Relationships', which has never played a note throughout their non-existent career) These pieces of backstory are never overwhelming and at times even glossed over, but just enough to let the reader make sense of the characters' motivations.

The action may not be fast-paced and even at times random but true to life, and the setting seemingly repetitive, but the exchanges and inner mindscape of his characters (especially Miyuki's) are given careful attention to engage the reader.

Not everyone's cup of tea, but don't dismiss this light tome, because there's much to be gleaned under the surface. This is best stated when Miyuki projects her feelings on a stuffed pike hanging on her favourite corner at the Anchor, a pub she frequents: "Even after thirty-one years of hanging on the wall it hadn't come close to understanding the currents and undercurrents that rippled around the room."

Philosophical, and even metaphysical, this novel succeeds because it is note afraid to have fun while dealing with these issues.

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars hard-to-find books, November 21, 2007

By 

Margaret Valerie Stone "Scheherazade Kamal" (Utopia) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gold (Paperback)

It's not easy finding Dan Rhodes' books on this side of the pond, but through Amazon, I was able to find them all.