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Perhaps my favorite Audible book

Revisado: 12-21-19

Sure, the book is challenging. It's not structured around a plot but is about relationships, about changing roles of women, about loss, about the experience of all of these in one's life over time. Compare the "astonishingly beautiful" Mrs. Ramsay, the woman who dominates the first part of the book—a matchmaker who links happiness and marriage—with Lily Briscoe, the woman who dominates the last part—an intentionally unmarried artist who paints in spite of the claim by the pretentious doctoral student that "women can't paint, women can't write." At the end, she finds her (artistic) vision after a long struggle. The instances of loss are stunning because of their understatement. The first and last sections are linked by the lyrical bridge section, "Time Passes." The house decays as lives fray, before both are patched up somewhat at the end. People endure even if imperfectly. Nicole Kidman is perfect at reading. I think Virginia Woolf got into her head and soul when she played Woolf in "The Hours." Her voice is quiet, like the novel's, and I thought her pacing and expression were elegant. I've listened several times and always hear more.

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esto le resultó útil a 13 personas

great book that deserves a wider audience

Revisado: 05-04-18

This book is the first of Saramago's that I have read. It made me want to read more. It is expertly crafted. Even though I knew from the title that Ricardo Reis would die, I did not know how until the final pages (though some scenes tease with the expectation). Not much happens, except in the background as the world marches to war and the Iberian peninsula struggles between communism and represssive dictatorships, but the book still propelled me forward. Much of the language is very poetic. It's wry and has a dry humor as the narrator comments on both the world and on mundane human interactions.

I thought the reader was terrific. I do not know Portuguese, so I was not offended if some words were mispronounced as other reviewers have complained (though I agree with them that Audible should prioritize pronunciation--have listened to more than one book where mispronunciations grated). The reader made a book that would be hard to read with its long sentences and limited punctuation easy to listen to. His understated, even laconic voice seemed right for following the understated Ricardo around Lisbon, but that style did not become boring. He gave the characters their own identities. I recommend the audio book.

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Entertaining historical fiction

Revisado: 12-27-16

Any additional comments?

Although the character of "Onion" in this story of John Brown and his anti-slavery campaign is fictional, he is engaging, and his situation adds a lot of humor that helps keep the story compelling. My husband and I listened to it on a cross-country drive and both couldn't wait to get back to it when the drive was interrupted. I learned a lot about John Brown--his commitment, his sometimes foolish decisions, the complexities of the slavery question (at the time) in the western territories, his connections to Abolitionists including Frederick Douglas and Harriet Tubman. Michael Boatman is a versatile reader who gives voice to a variety of characters and helps keep them distinct.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

history, concepts overshadowed by male fantasy

Revisado: 06-06-16

Would you recommend The Rowan Tree to your friends? Why or why not?

No. The review of changes in higher education is interesting, and the vision for how to make the world better is appealing, but telling this story through a fantasy character (so smart, so wise, so able to use power effectively, so brave, so so sexy) makes that character an unreliable narrator. He will fight for necessary changes with more rights for students, especially women and minorities, but he abuses his power as a college president to sleep with (exploit) a student.

Would you be willing to try another one of Robert W. Fuller’s performances?

No. His voice is deep and resonant, but the reading is surprisingly flat in places, and sometimes I couldn't tell which character was speaking. I finish everything (dinner, my projects, my audible books), but I couldn't finish this book. It might have been better to read this book.

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