Audiobook Review : The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
Written By: amodini
-
Apr•
19•17
Author : Deborah Ellis
Narrators : Rita Wolf
Genre : Contemporary
Publisher : Listening Library
Listening Length : 2 hours 59 minutes
Rating : 4.5/5
Narrator Rating : 4/5
Parvana lives with her parents and siblings in Taliban-ruled Kabul. Parvana’s learned father ekes out a living as a reader-writer in their neighborhood market, and Parvana, yet too little to wear the required “chador” accompanies him to work everyday. When the Taliban takes him away one day, Parvana, her mother and her siblings are left without any means of sustenance; by Taliban rules, no woman can step out of her home unaccompanied by a male escort, and thus, even Parvana’s well-educated mother cannot go out and earn a living. There is only one thing to do to survive, and little Parvana must summon up all her courage to do it.
I’d seen this book featured on quite a few book web sites, and the premise seemed interesting so I picked it up. It is a simply told tale, but really engrossing. There aren’t any big words, or literary flourishes, just characters and events and stuff happening, and it is kind of upon you, the reader, to take in the import.
Ellis describes the day-to-day grind of living under an oppressive, cruel, narrow-minded regime, where free thought and learning is forbidden and the population must live in fear of being branded an enemy, without recourse to law and justice. Life for women is doubly hard; they are restricted to remaining inside their homes, and cannot get an education or work, thus being severely dependent on male protectors. We get a full sense of this dependence when Parvana’s father is taken away – how does a woman or her household earn a living, buy necessities or do the basic chores of living a life, when she cannot even step out on her own? We also get to see it from Parvana’s point of view, as she ruminates about the freedom of running around like boys, without having the strictures of being a “good” Muslim woman thrust upon her.
This book is targeted towards a younger audience, but I really enjoyed it. Initially I was a little skeptical of Wolf’s accented reading, but her calm, unaffected treatment of the material grew on me. The Breadwinner is a fascinating listen – highly recommended.
Audiobook Review : A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman
Written By: amodini
-
Mar•
22•17
Author : Frederik Backman
Narrators : George Newbern
Genre : Contemporary
Publisher : Dreamscape Media
Listening Length : 9 hours 9 minutes
Rating : 4/5
Narrator Rating : 5/5
Ove (pronounced Oova) Lindahl is a 59 year old Swedish widower who has recently been laid off from work. He misses his wife Sonja desperately, and in his depression has decided to commit suicide. His many attempts at suicide though are routinely thwarted by his new nosy neighbors, and other hapless mortals who need his assistance at inopportune times.
This book, as you might have guessed :), is about Ove. Ove is a curmudgeonly fellow, allergic to technology and the dim-witted. He doesn’t suffer fools gladly which is a pity since in his opinion most young people are fools – they can’t build homes, fix unstuck windows or drive properly. A family comprising of such idiots has just moved into the neighborhood, and the lady of that house, a pregnant Iranian woman named Parvaneh is more than a match for Ove’s dry demeanor.
The book takes us through Ove’s suicide attempts. Interspersed between the descriptions of each attempt are the descriptions of events in Ove’s life, both past and present. By and by, we get to know the man behind the crusty exterior pretty well. He’s had bad times and good times, and in both we are with him, sympathizing when he is down and rejoicing when he is happy.
This is a book about the human condition – it does end well though. It is simply told, without embellishments and flourishes – the facts are placed before us and we are left to make what we will of them. It is also very moving, mostly because of the main character, who is good, but bad things still happen to him.
“A Man called Ove” has a certain good-humored charm. It rubs a little thin because of some repetitiveness; one can countenance the stupid-neighbor-needing-help plot only so much. I’d compare this book to “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” and “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand” – better than the former and not quite as good as the latter.
Newbern is an excellent narrator. He brings Ove to life, and does a great job of the other characters too. He made this already pleasant book a joy to listen to.
Audiobook Review : 11.22.63 by Stephen King
Written By: amodini
-
Feb•
22•17
Title : 11.22.63
Author : Stephen King
Narrators : Craig Wasson
Genre : Sci-fi, Time-travel
Publisher : Simon & Schuster Audio
Listening Length : 30 hours 44 minutes
Rating : 4/5
Narrator Rating : 4.5/5
I picked up this book because this was described as a time travel story (am a sucker for time-travel tales), which it is, although it was much more. Stephen King is also a great writer so I had no doubts that this would be a good book. In 11.22.63, English teacher Jake Epping is persuaded by friend Al, to go back in time to prevent a great catastrophe, a catastrophe that if prevented (Al believes) will change the world for the better. In 1958, Jake becomes George Amberson, and waits for the opportune time. In the meanwhile, he grows roots, makes a life and falls in love.
11.22.63 is a long, long book and took me a while to finish. Most books are about 12 hours or under, but 11.22.63 was around 30. Its long because King describes every event and character in the book in great, expansive detail. This is nice when Jake travels back in time, and King takes the time to describe the place, the people and the atmosphere – keeps us (the readers) invested and interested. On the con side though, there is so much detail that one can get bogged down in it, especially if you are used to a faster pace.
The story itself is very well fleshed out, and he ties together the fictional narrative with the historical facts quite nicely. There are a few side-stories which seem unnecessary, but then do add to the sum total. I think of this novel, long though it is, as a painting with every little detail exquisitely sketched out. Besides, Jack Epping himself is a great hero, a swashbuckling English teacher and a kind, good man willing to go the extra mile to do the right thing.
Narrator Wasson is an absolute marvel; he brings Jake Epping and Al and other characters, even the female ones, to life. This was a great listen – highly recommended.
Audiobook Review: How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran
Written By: amodini
-
Feb•
01•17
Title : How to be a woman
Author : Caitlin Moran
Narrators : Caitlin Moran
Genre : Feminist
Publisher : HarperAudio
Listening Length : 8 hours 45 minutes
Rating : 4.5/5
Narrator Rating : 4.5/5
Caitlin Moran talks of many “female” topics in this book : sexism, kids, relationships, expectations, feminism etc. Chapter by chapter she comes at us with her opinions, often funny – hilariously funny – but always striking a chord. This is her experience and all of her opinions of course, but you identify, you nod along, and you listen on. Whether it be about the way women are expected to be “feminine”, or the “embodiments of oxytocin” or fit a certain mould, she tells it like it is.
Moran has a rapier wit; it’s on point. It hurts to listen to some of the things she says, but they are bitingly humorous because they have fine shards of truth embedded in them. I may not agree with her on everything, but there are many, many quotes in this book that I’d like to frame and hang on walls. I will leave you with one – and here she is talking about the wedding day and its aftermath:
With stuff like this, you have to look at the men. Do they have one special day when they feel like kings of the world – and then go back to lives of quiet drudgery? No. They go off and please themselves constantly: as Germaine Greer pointed out in the The Whole Woman, they fill their spare time with pleasingly nonproductive activities like fishing, golf, listening to records, playing on the Xbox, and pretending to be goblins in World of Warcraft. They don’t have this insane, pent-up need to spend one day pretending to be Princess Diana (in the fun years, obviously. Not the throwing-yourself-down-the-stairs bit. Or the bit where Camilla came in and ruined everything).
Women, meanwhile, spend their spare time taking on the never-ending list of self-improvements or domestic tasks: housework, homework, counseling the troubled, deworming the cat, doing pelvic-floor exercises, trying to be inventive with cabbage, and exfoliating ingrowing hairs – somehow mollified by having that one “best day of their lives.”
Audiobook Review : The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Written By: amodini
-
Jan•
04•17
Author : Ruth Ware
Narrators : Imogen Church
Genre : Mystery
Publisher : Simon & Schuster Audio
Listening Length : 11 hours 8 minutes
Rating : 3.5/5
Narrator Rating : 4/5
Laura Blacklock is our no-so-intrepid journalist. When she’s burgled one night, and injured, it does nothing to set the mood for the work-related luxury cruise she’s set to go on. On the luxurious ship, Lo, as she calls herself, hobnobs with the other wealthy passengers, quite out of her element. After a drunken night, when hungover Lo thinks she’s heard something suspicious, she has trouble convincing herself and the boat’s security that something is very, very wrong.
Lo, the book’s protagonist is an unreliable, self-doubting, nervous semi-alcoholic, very similar to “The Girl On the Train’s” Rachel. Also, she’s not quite what I’d expect out of a journalist. She does not want to go out and network or explore, but would rather ruminate, all by herself, in her cabin. She also seems rather ill-informed of her surroundings and her task at hand aboard the boat, some of which can be explained by the unfortunate burglary that she has recently been subjected to, but not all. I have trouble sympathizing with her – she has few redeeming characteristics – and appears weak and whiny.
The other characters in the book seem believable, and Ware throws around enough red herrings to keep us nicely confused. The plot of the book is sound, simple but sound. The ending is a tad juvenile. I’d say this is a serviceable mystery read, although not good enough to make the must-read lists it is making.
I have a much more favorable opinion of the narrator Imogen Church. She does a variety of accents, male, female, British, Scandinavian very believably and I enjoyed her narration very much.
