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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This Shoe Was Made for Reading, April 14, 2011
This review is from: The Paperbark Shoe (Paperback)
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At one point in this very worthwhile debut novel, one of the book's delightfully three-dimensional characters observes that "the shoemaker's family goes barefoot," and this is as close as I have been able to come to a a unifying principle for the book.
I won't go into details about the "plot" of the book, both because other reviewers have already covered that territory and because in my view the plot is perhaps the least important of the many things that make this book so good.
One of those things is that Goldbloom succeeds in putting us inside the head of her main character. I'm not really sure how she has managed to do this, but I think it has something to do with...honesty? Vulnerability? Self-revelation? The tale's narrator is not an entirely sympathetic character (to be diplomatic about it), though she comes by her foibles honestly. An upbringing juxtaposing material comfort with a scarcity of love and acceptance has left Gin Boyle jaded, perhaps somewhat bitter, and certainly possessed of a caustically acerbic wit. This too makes for delightful reading and no doubt exerts some of the seemingly magnetic pull of the book. I found myself progressively drawn into the small world of Wyalketcham, Australia, until by the last 20 or 30 pages of the book I could not wait to get back to it each time I had put it down.
Goldbloom is a talented writer, and although I wouldn't quite characterize her writing as lyrical--there's really very little lyricism in this gritty tale--she certainly understands rhythm and cadence and weaves a marvelous spell. The book is also broken up into chapters, and longer chapters are broken into sections, making this an especially user-friendly book for busy readers on the go.
The real strength of the book is that the characters are all flawed enough, quirky enough, interesting enough in and of themselves--and the interpersonal and social politics Goldbloom explores are at once strange, new, and yet familiar enough--to be broadly appealing and utterly compelling. How else to explain my inability to put down a book about characters in a time and place to which I really wouldn't expect to feel drawn?
So why not 5 stars? I have two minor quibbles: first, I found the ending unsatisfying. Not to say that I could do any better, but still... The other issue was what I felt to be a false note in the dialogue. At one point an Italian prisoner of war, who was raised in a small rural village and worked as a shoemaker, tells a story around the campfire, but for all intents and purposes his "voice" was indistinguishable from the well-educated, culturally refined, native English-speaking main character. Really the one part of the book I could not buy into.
Overall, highly recommended.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A freakish and wonderful book - simply top-notch in every way, May 24, 2011
This review is from: The Paperbark Shoe (Paperback)
I'm not quite sure why I've been so lucky to get all these 5-star reads lately, but I'm sure not complaining. Hell, THE PAPERBARK SHOE is one of those books that would be a 10-star if there were one.
Goldie Goldbloom's first novel has already won some awards and I can easily see why. THE PAPERBARK SHOE is one of the most unique - i.e. "different" - stories to come down the pike in many years, with its protagonist-narrator Gin (Hoyle) Toad, an albino woman (and classically trained pianist) who was discarded into an asylum by an abusive stepfather to be rescued from there by an ugly, physically and emotionally flawed outback sheepman and farmer, Agrippas Toad.
There are so many things about this strange and beautiful novel that appealed to me: its remote outback setting in the wheat belt of western Australia is only one. And if there were any justice in the literary world, this book would be the biggest Aussie bestseller since THE THORN BIRDS. (And I could certainly see it as a movie too. Meryl Streep would have been perfect as Gin Toad - the Streep of 20-30 years ago, that is.) The World War II time frame and the forbidden love element with the Italian POWs are other reasons this story is so compelling and un-put-downable. Oh, don't get me wrong; this is no Harlequin bodice-ripper. Quite the opposite - the grit, dirt, drought and sometime near-grinding poverty of Toad's place is real enough at times to make you want to go take a shower. There is kinky sex here too, hetero-, homo- and maybe even bisexual, but never presented in an offensive manner. No, Goldbloom manages to pull off these elements of the plot in such a way that you will probably feel only sympathy (if not empathy) for these twisted, emotionally scarred and often desperately unhappy people. (The book's original title was TOADS' MUSEUM OF FREAKS AND WONDERS, which was probably a more apt and descriptive moniker, if a bit unwieldy.)
And the characters are what make this book as good as it is - and once again, lemme tell ya, books don't come much better than this one. First and foremost is Gin, the albino anti-heroine (abused misfit, brilliant musician, bereaved and sometimes reluctant mother, wife to an ugly little army reject whose mixed sexual inclinations and kinky habits are often repugnant and, finally, mistress and runaway). Then there is Toad, her husband, ugly and often cruel, but who becomes a curiously sympathetic character by book's end. And there is the enigmatic and sweet-talking Antonio, the Italian POW whose handsomeness and sympathy are too powerful for poor Gin to ignore. And the outback itself becomes a character here, in its cruel indifference and harsh and unforgiving weather which can starve and kill crops and stock alike - and do.
What more can I tell you about this book? Maybe only that I was sad to see it end. It is that good. If you're reading this review, then you must enjoy books. My advice? DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK! Goldie Goldbloom writes like an angel that has been to hell and got to know its denizens and then came back to tell their story. THE PAPERBARK SHOE is simply top-notch in every way. - Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir BOOKLOVER
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Misfits and Misfortunes, April 7, 2011
This review is from: The Paperbark Shoe (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Goldie Goldbloom crafts some striking and original prose, which earned her the 2008 AWP Prize for this novel. She can also be wickedly funny at the most unexpected moments in the narrative. Those moments when her humor sneaks up on you are welcome refreshment in this mostly sorrowful story. Simply put, this is a story of misfits, misfortunes, and misunderstandings. Gin and Agrippas Toad are misfits by birth, she an albino and he, well, a Toad. They're married to each other because they believe no one else will have them. After ten years of marriage, Gin focuses mostly on her two small children, Mudsey(Maud) and Alf. Toad occupies himself with his collection of antique corsets(yes!) and running the ranch. Enter Antonio and John, who are misfits by misfortune---Italian POWs brought to Australia during WWII to serve as laborers. They are sent to work on Toad's remote ranch in Western Australia. Long-term isolation, personality clashes, and emotional miscalculations lead to what Gin terms "an unholy entanglement" among the four adults. There's a lot of infidelity of a sexual nature, but much more destructive are the emotional and intellectual infidelities. Goldbloom's writing shines most brightly in her descriptions of the harsh Wyalkatchem landscape, its weather, and the fragmentary beauty that can be found there in the various seasons. She has a lovely feel for atmosphere, sharing sounds, smells, tastes, and colors that bring the reader into her world. This is a novel most suitable for readers who enjoy beautiful prose for its own sake and don't mind a looser plot construction, with the possibility that a lot of questions will be left unanswered. Gin Toad as narrator suffers from some attention deficit, myopia, and perhaps even a little madness. As a result, it's somewhat difficult to fully connect with the characters. I was left wanting more background to understand their motivations for the choices they made, or failed to make. On balance, this is a fine first effort which I give 3.5 stars.
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