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On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4 out of 5 stars 32
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Girl, Woman, Other, written by Bernardine Evaristo, read by Anna-Maria Nabirye. Teeming with life and crackling with energy, told through many distinctive voices, this novel follows the lives of 12 very different characters. Mostly women, black and British, they tell the stories of their families, friends and lovers, across the country and through the years.
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- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
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Danny Conroy grows up in the Dutch House, a lavish mansion. Though his father is distant and his mother is absent, Danny has his beloved sister Maeve: Maeve, with her wall of black hair, her wit, her brilliance. Life is coherent, played out under the watchful eyes of the house’s former owners in the frames of their oil paintings. Then one day their father brings Andrea home.
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 2
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Olive, Again follows the blunt, contradictory yet deeply lovable Olive Kitteridge as she grows older, navigating the second half of her life as she comes to terms with the changes - sometimes welcome, sometimes not - in her own existence and in those around her. Olive adjusts to her new life with her second husband, challenges her estranged son and his family to accept him, experiences loss and loneliness, witnesses the triumphs and heartbreaks of her friends and neighbours in the small coastal town of Crosby, Maine - and, finally, opens herself to new lessons about life.
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- By Apoorva on 20-02-20
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The Starless Sea
- Written by: Erin Morgenstern
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman, Dion Graham, Bahni Turpin,
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 3
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 3
Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a strange book hidden in the library stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to a subterranean library, hidden far below the surface of the earth.
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The Far Field
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- Written by: Madhuri Vijay
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 14 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
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Story4 out of 5 stars 28
In the wake of her mother's death, Shalini, a privileged and restless young woman from Bangalore, sets out for a remote Himalayan village in the troubled northern region of Kashmir. Certain that the loss of her mother is somehow connected to the decade-old disappearance of Bashir Ahmed, a charming Kashmiri salesman who frequented her childhood home, she is determined to confront him. But upon her arrival, Shalini is brought face to face with Kashmir's politics, as well as the tangled history of the local family that takes her in. And then life in the village turns volatile and old hatreds threaten to erupt into violence.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A mature tale of finding oneself
- By Pushkar on 20-12-19
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Educated
- Written by: Tara Westover
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 256
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 209
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 212
Tara Westover and her family grew up preparing for the End of Days but, according to the government, she didn’t exist. She hadn’t been registered for a birth certificate. She had no school records because she’d never set foot in a classroom, and no medical records because her father didn’t believe in hospitals. As she grew older, her father became more radical and her brother more violent. At 16, Tara knew she had to leave home. In doing so she discovered both the transformative power of education, and the price she had to pay for it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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Education transforms!!
- By Amazon Customer on 22-03-19
Publisher's Summary
Random House presents the audiobook edition of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, written and read by Ocean Vuong.
Brilliant, heartbreaking, tender and highly original - poet Ocean Vuong's debut novel is a sweeping and shattering portrait of a family and a testament to the redemptive power of storytelling.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late 20s, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born - a history whose epicentre is rooted in Vietnam - and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class and masculinity. Asking questions central to the American moment, immersed as it is in addiction, violence and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one's own story as it is about the obliterating the silence of not being heard.
With stunning urgency and grace, Ocean Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are. The question of how to survive and how to make of it a kind of joy powers the most important debut novel of many years.
What members say
Average Customer Ratings
Overall
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- sitatdesk
- 19-02-20
Poetry became Prose
This is a very emotional experience. I think it is also a very good depiction of America's small rural communities and non-famous cities. Interesting in comparison to Hillbilly Elegy.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- S. Collis
- 21-01-20
Couldn't bear the Author's narration
I will get this again as a book to read as I thought it sounded really well written, but OH NO! the author's narration completely ruined it for me! I tried for a good few chapters but in the end, had to give up. It's the tone of awed reverence that he gives to his own writing that just made me feel queasy. I should have looked at the other reviews that said similar things - seems others have managed to overcome it and enjoy it in the end, but I really couldn't get round it.
4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sarah
- 04-07-19
Extraordinary writing
Beautiful, excruciatingly moving, illuminating and a book that gets totally below the skin. An unforgettable experience.
4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MS REBECCA WARREN
- 07-10-19
An Incredible Novel - Poetry
This is perhaps one of the best books I have ever listened to. At first I found the narration difficult, listened to the first 2 chapters and kept missing bits and having to go back. I persevered and was astounded. This guy can write he is a poet and the poetry is incredible. For such a young person to have the insight, intelligence, thoughtfulness and the ability to convey his story in the medium of poetry is just a bit mind blowing. Thank you Ocean Vuong and thank your mother for having you and your grandma for having her
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- tamara
- 01-08-19
An experiential monologue
I teared up a handful of times at how Ocean handles the prose, as well as the poetic tragedy + history of life. Through ritual, remedy and curiosity, the writer takes us on a journey of finding and sharing selfhood, of integrating identity into a biological as well as countrys family, of the privilege of language and the preservation of culture. He does this by a continuous ode to the woman, land and memories that came before him. This is a true treasured story. He explores themes we need to be highlighting, and does it in a way, that is so personal and honest and inquisitive, that it melts away the burdens the sentences often carry, because of their heaviness or drudgery in taking every step to get to the now. I can't wait for his next book. X
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Stephanie
- 16-08-19
loved it
Delighted to have read this, such an interesting story. The author is interesting and articulate.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Naomi
- 13-08-19
listen to it and make up your own mind
I found this hard to listen to at first. the intensity of the subject matter the intensity of the authors voice and her rhythmic performance of the novel like listening to someone drawing deep breaths while running a marathon for their life.
but that's the point
beautiful fierce and delicate like a life
thank you ocean vuong
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pauline O Connell
- 11-02-20
A stunningly written story
I didn’t want this book to end. It’s stunningly written & such an important story to be told.
One of my favourite audiobooks ever.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Molly
- 29-01-20
one of my favourite audiobooks ever
I finished this and immediately wanted to listen again. Amazing, breathtaking writing and gorgeous reading.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alaina Franklin
- 16-01-20
Stunning
Elegant. Lyrical. Raw. Tender.
My favourite author-read book.
Do not increase the speed. Savour the performance.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Eden
- 20-11-19
Beautiful
Wow! What an intense yet beautiful novel. The writing is magical as is the performance. Highly recommended!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- deb
- 25-08-19
Sublime
Simply sublime
Thank you Ocean Vuong for this gift of beauty
Perfectly read of course by the writer himself
2 people found this helpful