robinjay

Great imagining of the story between the fragments

Revisado: 07-23-20

Fine reading of a gripping tale with meticulous researched details and lyrical prose.

The only quibble I have is that, perhaps in the rush to record for simultanepue release with the printed version, the publisher gave the reader galleys rather than a final printing to read from. On several occasions the text seems very briefly to be a combination of two slightly different versions within a sentence, and on others almost the same sentence or two of narration/inner monologue is repeated just slightly after the first usage of it. In the second case, i know it's common for people to repeat themselves inwardly if obsessing on a subject, but in this book either the technique is overused or the placements weren't final. Or all of this could have been copyediting errors (take it from one who knows the task),which case, I give the whole book a 5.

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esto le resultó útil a 26 personas

Classic novel, brilliant narration

Revisado: 10-26-19

Du Maurier's best, one of my favorite fictions. Massey's formidable acting breathes audio three-dimensionality into this beloved tale by making distinct EVERY character's voicing/personality, regardless of gender, age, circumstance, or significance to the story. She takes each character through his/her emotional arc as the story unfolds, embodying the entire "cast of characters," including the first-person narrator, the pseudonynous "second Mrs. De Winter." This audiobook is so rich with detail in both the writing and the reading, you might forget it's fiction and not a memoir. Kudos!

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My 1st McE., read after I saw his film adaptation

Revisado: 12-24-18

This book is heroically consistent in tone. I love the detail we're treated to from inside the mind of the main character, achieved almost as richly as we ourselves think and feel in whatever way our personalities nudge us, including the split focus of distractions, cognitive dissonance, and so forth.

My only criticism of the novel is that it breaks from Fiona's "third-person POV" (McEwan gets inside her mind so well, it can't be considered omniscient narrative) into others' POVs in small places. This is jarring and from a literary standpoint a bit of a cheat, straying into omniscient narration just long enough to get into their POVs more fully than would otherwise be possible. This why I gave the book a four-star rating rather than a five.

Fortunately, unlike the film, the novel doesn't stoop to cliches of melodrama, such as Adam's repeated histrionic stalking or Fiona's visit to his bedside as he's dying. It's hard to criticize McEwan as the screenwriter for this, though, since producers routinely demand rewrites they think will please a larger audience with lower standards.

What McEwan does so well instead is to plot the novel based less upon the Adam's excessive behavior and more upon the battle between Fiona's professional reserve and her private range of feelings. The screenwriting succeeds where McEwan exhibits a marvelous ability to translate this inner battle from page to screen -- quite a feat, in no small part made tangible by Emma Thompson's exquisite performance.

Beyond my wanting to know if the source material was superior to the adaptation, seeing that Lindsay Duncan was the narrator convinced me to listen to the book. Though I find her an extraordinary screen actor (regrettably, I haven't seen her on stage) and feel she realized Fiona beautifully, I wasn't convinced by her narrow differentiation among the characters. Some actors have a greater native facility than do others to give distinct tones of voice and accents to a variety of characters. This is the only reason I gave Duncan four stars, not five.

All in all, felt this "read" was satisfying and time well spent!

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satirical/heartfelt account of human inequity...

Revisado: 07-25-18

...shines light on the range of responses to unspeakable conditions of others, from the cruel indifference that perpetuates it to the compassion that can help ameliorate it -- and the possibilitty of redemption when people confronted close up with the results of those conditions are moved to act. The narrator is transformed by becoming part of the solution, and in the course of so doing empowers herself in her personal relationships.The author balanced all of us by allowing for human foibles even in those who listen to their better angels.

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Great ensemble cast

Revisado: 07-01-17

Done like an epic radio play, with each actor masterfully portraying a host of characters. While this book may be controversial by virtue of its white author writing primarily in the voices of black women, Kathryn Stockett has done a remarkable job of bringing the characters to life with compassion, a great ear, intelligence, and a sense of humor (not to gush too much, I'll say that she could have drawn her her primary villain with greater subtlety). The actors elevate those qualities to a height not possible on the page itself. This is a much more nuanced rendition than that of the film adaptation, in great part because the length nd breadth of the book made it impossible to plumb its depths on screen in a mere two hours. Instead, as with reading on the page and with the choice to use multiple narrators, the audiobook allows us to bring the book further to life on the screen of our minds. Bravo to all involved!

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Evocative writing, poor reading

Revisado: 02-17-16

Writing of the time holds up today. Wickedly (in the classic sense of the word) fun but with the empathy of someone who lived through it all. Surprising good for a linked serial. Lazy reading brings it down, sorry to say: no voice characterizations, mispronounced French and other foreign-language words and phrases, including such commonly known ones (especially for that milieu) as I Ching. McDormand capable of so much more - a great disappointment, as if she'd tossed it off! (Production/direction should have caught this, to say nothing of bad casting.) If I hadn't read the book on the page years ago, not sure I'd have enjoyed it at all.

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Superb novel needs narrator w/ equal vocal talent

Revisado: 11-24-15

Meticulously researched, profoundly perceptive, poetic book. Unfortunately, author's limited vocal range can't differentiate the characters sufficiently.

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