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Rhubarb  By  cover art

Rhubarb

By: Craig Silvey
Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
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Publisher's Summary

A poignant and tender sort-of-love story about two damaged people tenuously connecting.

Eleanor is blind and lives with her reclusive mother. Ewan is a cello player with agoraphobia. She is drawn to him through his music but cannot understand the difficulty he faces in forming a friendship. He does not understand her past, nor the impact his music has on her. Amidst the heat of a Fremantle summer, they stumble towards each other.

Sad, funny, affecting, and peopled with characters that live and breathe, Rhubarb is the first novel from a young writer with an astonishing talent. With his sublime and playful use of language and his uncanny ability to reveal the human condition in all its vulnerability and fragility, Craig Silvey has created an extraordinary contemporary story.

©2004 Craig Silvey (P)2007 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: Romance

Critic Reviews

"The novel has the charm of early work such as Gustave Flaubert's Novembre and Jack Kerouac's The Subterraneans." (Weekend Australian)
"The playful words and images in this book are a sheer joy. More please." (Sydney Morning Herald)

What listeners say about Rhubarb

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Simply Wonderful

Rhubarb is a lot more than a love story. It's written in the 3rd person. Normally I don't like this tense in writing but Craig Silvey makes it work. We get to know and love the 2 main and appreciate the supporting characters. Humor is sprinkled liberally through out but it's not a comedic novel.
All the characters are vivid and well developed. May I dare say that in this novel I couldn't help thinking that here is the next Bryce Courtenay. For all of you who are familiar with this prolific author know I mean this comment as flattery.
Sad to see Rhubarb end and even sadder that Craig Silvey has nothing more on Audible.

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

nicely written but couldn't keep my interest

Very creative and expressive writing, and at times it had me laughing out loud. But the characters hide behind a lot of snark, and I found I just lost interest in the progress of their story because of it. It's possible the written version allows you to get inside their heads and hearts more thoroughly.

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Breathtaking!

The chase at the very end is breathtaking, which is my way to describe this powerful love story about two special people.Funny, sad, intensely moving, strong characters all expressed by my favorite narrator, Humphrey Bower. This is clearly a "must listen".
As another reviewer stated, too bad this is Craig Silvey's only audible book. More of Silvey please! More of Bower!

3 people found this helpful

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Humphrey Bower is superb

I could not get into the story line at first...but be patient...the storytelling at the Aussie Barecue had me in stitches...The crab,.tge dog...well just wonderful....bravo.

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I laughed, I shed a tear, I was totally absorbed.

Craig Silvey is a wordsmith, his words evoke such great visuals and at times you can feel the sensations. being described. You are almost there in the action or the emotion. Lots of fun, lots of reality.I found it totally engaging. Humphrey as usual does a superb job of narrating - can even hold a tune! Loved it and would totally recommend it.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 05-12-23

Slow start

I found this so hard to get into! Nothing like Honeybee or Jasper Jones, both which had me enthralled very early on.

There was lots of character development, lots. Some of the characters I didn’t even find that important, sure they tie into the book, but I don’t this it would have been less of a book without them.

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  • Friend
  • 04-18-23

I found this one hard going

I tried to get into this book several times but kept putting it down. Eventually the time was right and I decided I would read it with no distractions. Even with this commitment I really struggled to keep engaged with the thread of this book. It wandered around too much and kept telling me stories of people I wasn’t interested in. While the story telling was always beautifully done, I just wanted to know what was going on with Eleanor and Ewan.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 07-14-22

Could not stop listening

Amazing writer this the three book I’ve listened too and haven’t been disappointed and amazing performance by Humphrey Bower top job with the voices made the audio even more enjoyable will definitely listen to this again

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  • Anonymous User
  • 05-14-22

I preferred Honeybee

I listened to Honeybee and loved it. This one was a bit of a struggle. I stopped for a bit, listened to something else, then finished it. Was disappointed.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 03-22-22

So disappointed

Jasper Jones and Honey Bee blew me away but I could not do this book, I grew bored and was lost with the characters/whos who and couldn’t be bothered to stick with it to find out. Sorry Craig 😕

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  • C.B.FALLON
  • 03-20-22

Emotionally sensitive.

Craig Silvey has a unique gift for a turn of phrase. I could read this book over and over just to savour once more his beautiful language and detailed description.

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 11-24-21

Not good

I gave up half way through chapter two. the language is very outdated. the characters are awful. the dialogue is making me feel ill. I hate it.

I LOOOOVED Honeybee and Jasper Jones. this feels as though it was written by someone else.

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  • S Attrill
  • 05-06-21

Wonderful book set in Fremantle

What a beautiful book. It made me laugh, cry and sit on the edge of my seat. I was totally immersed in the characters from the start.

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  • Kris
  • 02-21-21

One of the best books I have ever heard.

From start to finish, this book is absolute joy. It is heartbreaking, hilarious, frustrating, innocent and yet so wisely written.

I absolutely adore the way that Silvey sees the world, and love absolutely everything he has written. And this is his best work. Amazing.

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  • Trigga
  • 08-27-19

My new favourite author and narrator

Love his abstract style. Narrated brilliantly. Simple plot put together well. Great listen, great author.