Sound of One Hand Clapping [Paperback]

Richard Flanagan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 12, 1999

Sonja Buloh was three years old in 1954 and her father drinking too much when her mother walked into a blizzard never to return. Thirty-five years later, when Sonja visits Tasmania and her drunken father, the shadows of their immigrant past begin to intrude ever more forcefully into the present so changing his living death and her ordered life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tasmania--vast, mysterious, like "the unknown country of the heart"--is the setting for this powerful tale of a father and daughter who struggle to rise above the forces of history and personal tragedy. Sonja Buloh barely remembers the night 35 years ago when her mother, Maria, walked out the door of their crude hut in the dismal construction camp at remote Butlers Gorge, never to return. The mystery and heartache surrounding that event echo through Sonja's young life all the way to 1989-90, when the pregnant Sonja returns from mainland Australia, longing to see Tasmania and her estranged father. Bojan Buloh was just another "reffo" from a Slovenia ravaged by WWII, recruited "to do the wog work of dam-building," when he found himself the lone parent of three-year-old Sonja. Bojan's poverty and his memories of his wife and of wartime atrocities made Sonja's childhood difficult; his brief hopes for another marriage were dashed, and Bojan fell into drinking and beating his daughter. Sonja's painful memories mix with those of her sober artie's (the affectionate Slovenian word for father) tenderness and his inspired woodworking ("his hands knew a restraint which lent him grace"). Though her father cannot articulate his suffering (one of the themes here is the inadequacy of words to express the totality of existence), she remains bound to him in deep understanding of his despair. Only after confrontations, revelations and Bojan's symbolic and apocalyptic rebirth is the past redeemed and the pair reconciled. Australian writer Flanagan (Death of a River Guide) brilliantly illuminates the lives of those who are "forgotten by history, irrelevant to history, yet shaped entirely by it." His characters here transform tragedy as they discover their individual worth. (Mar.) FYI: Flanagan won the Australian Booksellers Book of the Year Award for The Sound of One Hand Clapping. He directed a film, released in Australia and Germany, based on the novel.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Winner of the Australian Booksellers Book of the Year in 1997, this, Flanagan's second book, relates the story of Slovenian immigrant Bojan Buloh and his daughter, Sonja. Buloh, scarred by the World War II horrors he has witnessed, emigrates with his wife, Maria, to labor on Tasmania's hydro dams. When Sonja is three, Maria walks out into a blizzard and is never seen again. Written in poetic prose, sometimes verging on purple, the book's 86 short chapters veer wildly back and forth, often with no apparent purpose, from 1954 to the 1960s and on to 1990. There are some stunning set pieces--a tiny abandoned girl methodically breaking her tea set--but the story is largely one of repetitive brutality and alienation. The inarticulate and alcoholic Buloh, longing for the absent Maria and haunted by visions of evil, beats the teenage Sonja until she freezes all feeling. Collections of immigrant fiction will want this; for others, it is optional.
---Judith Kicinski, Sarah Lawrence Coll. Lib., Bronxville, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan (March 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 033035292X
• ISBN-13: 978-0330352925
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,622,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars gorgeous story that comes full circle, March 17, 2000

By 

sallyann - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sound of One Hand Clapping (Hardcover)

Absolutely beautiful story of people who lose each other and the heartbreaking, vulnerable steps taken to find each other again.

I found that real emotion pored out of this book of real people, people with flaws, people who can't say the words that they know others need to hear. So much of the style reminded me of Alice Hoffman's books. An absolute beautiful story that I won't tire of reading.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking story beautifully written., March 4, 2002

By 

cindyramone (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sound of One Hand Clapping (Paperback)

The story begins with Maria, who is leaving her daughter, Sonja, and husband, Bojan. Forever. The images and sounds of the snow falling as she leaves her daughter are absolutely one of the finest passages I have read in a long time. I went back to it after I finished the book and it meant so much more. I could feel the snow and the despair of this family acutely the second time. Richard Flanagan takes us through present and past to tell this story, using prose that speaks like poetry. There were sentences I just read repeatedly because they were written so well. It is a sad book, beyond heartbreaking at times when we see how much hurt each member of this family has borne. There were times when I hated Bojan as much as his daughter did, but when his full story is revealed, he must be understood and forgiven.
The book ends with hope and redemption, and it is believeable and welcome. This book, its characters, images, and symbolism in the writing, are unforgettable.
This is another example of a superior novel that begs to be read by a larger audience.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deserves more than one handed applause, December 4, 2001

By 

Roger J. Carter "alibraryguy" (Hobart, Tas, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The sound of one hand clapping (Hardcover)

This is an impressive novel. The story of a post-war Slovenian immigrant family whose lives gradually fall apart. The journey of the main character (Sonja) and her father (Bojan) towards some kind of redemption, and a regaining of some meaning in their lives. (See other reviews for fuller plot descriptions). The quality of the writing occasionally reaches a quality I can only call stunning. Having said this, Flanagan's literary aspirations almost fail to come off in some passages as he seeks to wring every nuance of emotion out of a scene. This is far outweighed by the positives however, and I would rate one chapter in particular (I won't tell you which!) as one of the finest pieces of prose I have read anywhere!. As another reviewer has noted, this is a 'literary' read and not for the faint hearted. Those of us who actually live where the novel is set have the added bonus imagining the action in the precise geographical context that Flanagan himself had in mind. An appreciation of the harsh contradictions in Tasmanian history, climate and geography goes a long way to enhancing the appreciation of this fine novel. Regardless of this Tasmanian setting (which is extremely important in all Flanagan's work) any serious reader will be well rewarded by a careful reading of his fine literary craftsmanship.