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188th out of 665 books
—
1,061 voters
Timoleon Vieta Come Home: A Sentimental Journey
by
Dan Rhodes
Cockroft, a faded composer and socialite, lives in self-imposed exile and fantasizes of true love and extravagant suicides. Rattling around his dilapidated farmhouse in the Italian countryside, his only constant source of company is the ever-loyal Timoleon Vieta, a mongrel with the most beautiful eyes. When a handsome but surly individual arrives on the scene, Cockroft is...more
Paperback, 240 pages
Published
September 1st 2004
by Mariner Books
(first published January 2nd 1985)
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746)
May 23, 2007
Wendolyn Aragon
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
the low and broken-hearted and selfish people in hopes that they will see the error of their ways
I read it after a very difficult point in my life and it changed me forever. This book taught me a lot about love, loss, the fear of being alone, and perserverance. I cried all the way through all the while looking to little Timeleon Vieta for hope.
I must agree with my sister about the ending though. I hated it. Not because it was poorly written but without giving it a way . . . because this little scraggely dog inspires you so much and you're rooting for him then BOOM! An unexpected twist. I f...more
I must agree with my sister about the ending though. I hated it. Not because it was poorly written but without giving it a way . . . because this little scraggely dog inspires you so much and you're rooting for him then BOOM! An unexpected twist. I f...more
This is another book that people love or hate. I thought it was superb — an inimitable send-up of the picaresque sentimental tale. Rhodes is a terrific writer. I read the book in one sitting, played right into his hands at the end — and threw the book across the room. Then I put it on the shelf next to my favorite novels. Profoundly wicked, stunningly funny.
I read this book several years ago and promptly gave it away. Then when I joined Goodreads this past summer, I racked my brain for the title, conducted numerous Google searches (using different combinations of the following words: fiction, dog, journey, death and homosexuality) and questioned every reader I know, because I wanted to warn people about this book! Thanks to an animal-related list here on Goodreads, I can now let go of all my angst toward this book.
Here goes: besides being generall...more
Here goes: besides being generall...more
Jan 14, 2008
beladozer
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
heartless dog-haters
Shelves:
let-down
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Dan Rhodes is brilliant at compact prose. He's able to distill in the most concise fashion, elements of a story that will hook and reel the reader in just two sentences into the story. His debut collection of micro-fiction, "Anthropology" is a fine example, as is his follow-up short-story collection "Don't Tell Me the Truth About Love". In the novel "Timoleon Vieta", the main story seems simple enough - a has-been British composer Cockroft living in idyllic isolation in Italy finds a dark, hands...more
I was really disappointed with this book having read 'Little Hands Clapping' previously which I found imaginative and enjoyable.
I was expecting from the taglines and comments on and inside the book that it would largely be about a dog and his relationship with his owner, and the feelings of loss, wishing he would come home. Though they did have a close relationship, and this was reasonably well described, the second half of the book completely drifted off the subject, and though the short stori...more
I was expecting from the taglines and comments on and inside the book that it would largely be about a dog and his relationship with his owner, and the feelings of loss, wishing he would come home. Though they did have a close relationship, and this was reasonably well described, the second half of the book completely drifted off the subject, and though the short stori...more
I've just finished Timoleon Vieta Come Home, and I feel I've been very gently, gently shaken until my teeth rattled. Though it is humor, this is not a book for a merry gambol. It's going to mess you up; depend on it. Yet it has the tone and flavor of a gentle frolic, disguising its very black worldview in the sorts of details and stylistic points one might generally classify as "amusing."
I found myself loving this book, which follows tendrils of plot, as an abandoned dog makes his way back home...more
I found myself loving this book, which follows tendrils of plot, as an abandoned dog makes his way back home...more
WARNING! If you like happy endings, stay away from this book!! I don't know whether to love or hate this book. It's so well written, so I can't possibly say it was horrible. Something has to be said for an author that can wrap a reader up so tightly in his story that that person feels different after reading it. I suggest that someone who is in a funk probably shouldn't read this. I had actually planned on saying this book was crap, but the more I thought about it and flipped back through the pa...more
This is a strange little book. I picked it up at a second-hand book sale because I liked the font used on the book jacket and that seemed like decent reasoning. I suppose that people have made more important decisions based on less and in the end it worked out between Timoleon Vieta and me. I wouldn't say it was one of my favorites but I enjoyed reading it-it's darkly humorous and almost painfully sweet at points-though in the end I'll admit to feeling a little empty and slightly let-down by the...more
This book feels like a collection of short stories / vignettes, awkwardly stuck together by having a little dog make a doe-eyed appearance in each, on his way home to the owner who abandoned it. The story thread about its (elderly, gay, full-of-himself former composer) owner and his (cold, grim, resentful, humour-less) Bosnian lodger is generally unpleasant. One is living a bored life in Italy, the other turns up at his door one day, having mistaken a "you can stay at my house forever, just as l...more
I was enjoying this book quite a bit as I read it. It's a darkly humorous tale that can be very entertaining. However, I found that after getting over two-thirds through the book, I couldn't finish it. I usually don't mind grim tales but I made the mistake of reading ahead to the end and the utter lack of hope to balance out all the irony, cruelty and vice ultimately did me in. Maybe I'll give it another shot one of these days.
Yksinkertaisista aineksista, vanhasta miehestä ja sekarotuisesta koirasta, saadaan aikaan hulvaton mutta myös ihan äärimmäisen koskettava romaani. Timoleon Vieta on koira, joka asuu Cockroft-nimisen miehen kanssa. Eräänä päivänä Cockroftin luo saapuu Bosnialainen, jonka tieltä Timoleon Vieta saa väistyä. Timoleon Vieta ei kuitenkaan ole mikään turha koira vaan päättää palata takaisin kotiin.
Dan Rhodesin kirjoissa parasta on ehdottomasti niiden yllättävyys. Pienistä aineksista tehdään iso tarina,...more
Dan Rhodesin kirjoissa parasta on ehdottomasti niiden yllättävyys. Pienistä aineksista tehdään iso tarina,...more
I read this immediately after finishing Rhodes' other novel 'Gold'. I had been captivated by the simple charm of that book, while this is a much more ambitious and upfront proposition. The emotional swings of the lead character are very well captured. I also had to look back to check that there was no insights from the dog (that looks strange written on paper, readers may understand!) as we come to know him in a few simple strokes.
The first half of the story is engaging but where it really comes...more
The first half of the story is engaging but where it really comes...more
On the whole I liked this book. I get why dog lovers might get up in arms about it but it’s only a book. The thing is the dog’s not the only thing that suffers in this book. There is a lot of pain and suffering (both physical and emotional) and death in this book and I didn’t see any of the dog lovers shedding a tear for the poor humans and what they had to go through. I actually thought that more people might object to all the gay stuff but that was barely mentioned by other reviewers. I don’t...more
This is a story about Cockcroft, an ageing homosexual composer, and his best friend the mongrel Timoleon Vieta. All is going well for them (though Cockcroft is a bit bitter and resentful about how life has treated him) until 'the Bosnian' comes to stay ... the dog doesn't like him and he doesn't like the dog. He persuades Cockcroft to take Timoleon Vieta to Rome and leave him there.
The book takes on a new format then, with each chapter comes a new short story about the various people Timoleon Vi...more
The book takes on a new format then, with each chapter comes a new short story about the various people Timoleon Vi...more
I love the way this book is written, the reader is torn between disgust (mainly disgust)and not in a homophobic way... and pity for Cockroft because after all, he's a dog lover and how can you hate a dog lover? Except of course he is talked into abandoning the dog he loves for a horrible man which just goes to prove that most men are guided by what's in their trousers :) And Timolean Vieta is loyal and begins his journey through Italy, barely touching the lives of a few pretty damaged individual...more
I really wanted to like this book. There are so many things wrong with it, that I could write a review that is actually longer than the book itself. But I am at work. So I have to keep it short. The protagonist was a pretty terrible person. He never learned from his mistakes. He let go of his best friend (dog) because he became involved with a mere stranger who didn't like dogs. Then the dog tries to return home. The book is comprised of many short stories about people the dog meets along the wa...more
The first thing to understand about Dan Rhodes is that you are either going to totally understand and appreciate what he does, or potentially tear your hair out in frustration and throw his books down. I happily fall into the former group. His stories meander down a (sometimes unclear) path, all the while introducing you to characters and scenarios both bizarre and endearing. In 'Timoleon Vieta Come Home' we meek Cockroft, an embittered and lonely old man living in the hills of Umbria. He spends...more
The novel centres around a dog called Timoleon Vieta who is owned by an old homosexual man called Cockcroft who lives in a farmhouse in Italy.
Cockcroft lets a violent 'Bosnian' man stay with in his farmhouse so long as he provides certain sexual favours. However, the Bosnian won't stay in the house with the dog so they abandon it in Rome. Now the dog makes its way back to the farmhouse in a parody of the classic Lassie Come Home.
I liked the way in which the author revealed the Cockcroft's histo...more
Cockcroft lets a violent 'Bosnian' man stay with in his farmhouse so long as he provides certain sexual favours. However, the Bosnian won't stay in the house with the dog so they abandon it in Rome. Now the dog makes its way back to the farmhouse in a parody of the classic Lassie Come Home.
I liked the way in which the author revealed the Cockcroft's histo...more
When I finished this book I threw it across the room. Dan Rhodes infuriatingly ended the book just as he should have.
Apr 20, 2011
Heather
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
100-books-in-2011,
fiction
i really had trouble rating this one; there were passages in this book that were absolutely flawless and then other passages that were much less impressive. certainly, the main characters were fairly despicable (with the exception of the dog, of course) which made it difficult to read at some points. his periphery characters however, were beautifully drawn, complex; in turns inspiring and hopelessly tragic. i can see why people hate this book, and can also see what a feat it must be to write a b...more
Cockroft é um velho compositor inglês que apesar de, no passado, ter criado algumas canções para programas televisivos de êxito, cujos direitos de autor lhe garantem a subsistência, foi excluído da maioria dos círculos sociais e mediáticos que frequentava, após um incidente com a comunicação social. Emigrou para a Toscana, onde comprou uma agradável casa. Aí entra em franca decadência, tendo por companhia apenas Timoleon Vieta, o seu amado cão de olhos grandes ou um ou outro jovem que, ocasional...more
This book as a whole is a heart wrenching experience. It is a very well written, extremely touching, yet devastating novel. I knew something tragic would have to happen in the end. Every character whose life Timoleon Vieta makes a brief appearance is a tragic character dealing with horribly tragic love related situations. This is not a clichéd warm fuzzy feel good Lassie Come Home book so if you're a sap for happy endings and can't handle tragic realism in your reading materials then steer clear...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
A real heart-string puller let down by a crudely cheap ending which pretty much ruined the whole book for me. That was probably his intention, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. What I do like, however, is how Dan Rhodes announced he'd never write another novel after this one, since the one that came out subsequently (under the ludicrous moniker of "Danita Rhodes") was universally panned. Serves him right.
Great fun, albeit also rather sad. Dan Rhodes' deadpan style is very entertaining, and he cleverly weaves together a number of very loosely connected stories with the main narrative. If this is a pastiche of Lassie Come Home it is a truly subversive one. Anyway, this is an easy read, engrossing, won't change anybody's life but certainly won't waste anyone's time either. Give it a go.
This is a good book for anyone who can take into account that actions have meaning or lessons that can be learned. I must say my eyes were moist from beginning to end, it pushes u emotionally from every direction, if you can handle it I think you'll like it, if not u may b angry and say "you hated the end" or "this book is for dog haters" ... so not true
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This was... not a rewarding book. I wanted to like it -- the writing made me want to like it, mostly -- but I didn't. The promise of a better book was all that kept me reading through the first half and, when, in the second half, the perspective shifted frequently, the book engaged me with depressing, hilarious, gruesome micro-stories. And then, regrettably, I kept reading until the [spoilers, though not really] dismal end. I've heard (well, read) good things about Dan Rhodes, but this experienc...more
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It should be noted that a recent Gallup poll revealed that there are an estimated 14,000 writers worldwide who share Rhodes’ name. He is not to be confused with the Daniel Rhodes who writes books about vampires, or the Daniel Rhodes who writes books about ceramics, or the Dan Rhodes who writes books about theology, or the Danny Rhodes who writes teenage fiction, or the character Sheriff Dan Rhodes...more
More about Dan Rhodes...
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Jun 24, 2009 01:23pm