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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marvelous Maxim, April 18, 2009
The Carpenter of Auguliere is set in the small town of Auguliere, which sits in a lush valley surrounded by majestic mountains. Despite the idyllic setting, Auguliere and its people have a problem. The landlord collects monthly rent and taxes and intimidates people who struggle to pay those fees. The landlord personally determines the amount of the rent and taxes and revises the amount to keep members of the community within his grasp. The people of Auguliere struggle under this obsessive burden and try to find methods to live under oppression.
The plot in this story concerns the very life blood of the small town and its people. The townspeople are fearful, downtrodden and reluctant to trust. Many are depressed about the social problems and insecurities in their town but are reluctant to relocate. People are anxious for hope. Can the community survive?
The Carpenter of Auguliere is well written and has some characters that are very realistic. Several are so likeable that they become our friends.
Several characters are very well drawn. Gilbert O'Sullivan, a carpenter, is a caring, hardworking, pleasant, and friendly man with enormous talent for making things. The descriptions of him are so clear that I can feel his rough, dry hands and see the sawdust in his hair.
Madeleine Knesnovich is like the girl next door. She is pretty, gentle, and ministers to people in need. Madeleine, who cares for her invalid father, is easily intimidated by the landlord. She believes he threatens her livelihood. Madeleine's reactions to events are emotional and genuine.
Robert Robertson, Mr. Robertson to the people of Auguliere, is the sort of person who makes "landlord" an offensive word. Robertson is much like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. He is a miser who values money and property much more than people. He can be very threatening.
This novel reminds me of stories by O'Henry. Dworsky has written a wholesome saga of common people facing stressful difficulties. This novel is like a morality play. The book is ideal as a study of social systems and culture. This tale is excellent for pondering the purpose of life.
I recommend The Carpenter of Auguliere for its story, its characterizations and its very spiritual plot.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This is more than an allegory for our times, it is great storytelling., April 6, 2009
This is a curious story of redemption with ominous undertones in the spirit of some of the Brothers Grimm darker tales. A pall has fallen over a mountainous Russian village of several hundred years ago: "You can't trust anyone anymore. Whenever you turn your back, someone's waiting to steal from you. That isn't the Auguliere I remember. I think something evil is going on here." But a carpenter who represents a willingness of people to help one another (might be Christ or Obama) arrives out of nowhere one day. He is definitely the antidote needed to counter the economic fears paralyzing these remote villagers. Ironically, though at first welcomed, he soon becomes reviled.
This is more than an allegory for our times, it is great storytelling. We care about the characters and our pulled into their plight. And there is a mythic quality here, for example the dread of nights when there's a full moon, which is haunting. This is drama taking place not on the page but in the theater of our imagination: "The next day, he never came back to town. Vladimir came to Madeleine looking for the landlord. Madeleine didn't understand why Vladimir wanted to know, but her father knew. When he learned the night of the full moon loomed, and the landlord was missing, he folded his arms over his chest as a sign."
I loved the short chapters, pithy dialogue, folk art cover. A concluding twist regarding "the landlord" seems hardly a surprise but it neatly brings the story's plot threads together just as the last sentence of the Epilogue ties the story's past to today's present. Another quality I liked is that "the Carpenter of Auguliere" does not shy away from adult relationships (both between man / woman and among siblings), the failures of old age, jealousy and poverty.
There are elements of surprise -- I have to admit I was never quite sure how this was going to turn out -- and scenes of genuine tenderness. But best of all, when it was over, the story itself seemed just the right length. That's the mark of a good storyteller. He or she knows when to stop. "More" starts to take away from the images that are well established; "less" would be, not enough.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A good read with a good moral, June 19, 2009
The Carpenter of Auguliere arrived in the mail and the appealing folk art cover and the "fairy-tale" print, made me want to begin reading right away. While this adult-style fable could be read in one sitting, the deeper meanings lurk in the background, causing the reader to slow down and reflect.
The simplicity of the narrative reminds one of tales passed down from one generation to another; accounts told and re-told to teach a certain moral and to demonstrate a lesson.
A small in descript village, Auguliere, set in the beautiful European countryside is plagued by a man, Mr. Robertson, who is referred to as the "landlord". He runs the community and has been declared by his ancestry to own the village and all that is part of it. Therefore, greed takes over and he taxes the people into poverty. The villagers are so down trodden and stressed that they have stopped seeing the beauty which surrounds them each and every day.
Characters include Madeleine, a pretty young maiden with a gentle heart and her ailing father, whom the young woman cares for, along with several other townspeople with their own quirky personalities. Mr. Dworsky uses several other well thought out individuals to make up the tapestry of this quaint settlement.
A young carpenter, Gilbert O'Sullivan crosses the mountains to get to the tiny town and he sees the beauty that the citizens no longer see. They see dismal surroundings and he sees a lush countryside and sunshine. They see only the unpleasantness, but as the carpenter makes his way into the community, the attitude begins to change. Soon, though, their reverence of Gilbert is ruined by distrust of one another and by the landlord's trickery.
The chronicle ends at just the right time. The story is told and the end is surprising, leaving the reader questioning their own outlook on life. This book is a gift for the present times we are in, teaching us as it entertains us, about positive attitude, morality and spiritual vindication.
I highly recommend this book for one of the most thought provoking, enjoyable reads of the season.
Reviewed by: Donetta Garman, Allbooks[...]
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