James Grove

A Striking Inside Narrative

Revisado: 02-14-25

This sharply written novel takes the reader deeply within the world of western firefighters. The story is told through the first person narration of its despairing, and alienated female 30 year old protagonist, who has been a firefighter for seven years, addicted and sometimes torn apart by the supremely tenuous occupation she has chosen. As she experiences one dangerous challenge after another, often desperately fighting against her fears, she sometimes reminded me of Camus' Sisyphus repeatedly climbing his mountain, and then reflecting about the meaning of his life as he descends only to climb its hard, hard path again. In short, faces so many extremely difficult challenges vividly described by the author who knows this world first-hand, Thus he novel not only l lives in exciting physical action, but also in the accumulating depth of her consciousness as she thinks about her job and her life: this encompasses her many fears, her lack of faith that the outside world makes sense, her alcoholism, her lost sense of place and family, her inability to love anyone, and her thoughts about killiing herself. But she also stubbornly chooses life over death by choosing to embracing life at its most primal and precarious, by risking it over and over. Finally, I read and listened to this novel, and found both experiences very rewarding.

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Honor chapter breaks!

Revisado: 08-28-23

I enjoyed this early novel/chronicle by one of my favorite writers, and the narrator was fine, except for one thing. His hurrying through chapter breaks, sometimes as if he was trying not breathe during them, was, for me, irritating because a longer pause (in fact, there wasn't a pause most of the time) would have set off the different topics that Dostoevsky was approaching, approximating the space chapter breaks in the book itself.

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Quote, Unquote

Revisado: 05-24-23

I found the story to be very intriguing with only one qualm: all the "quate" and unquote" designations of passages. Were they needed? In many audible stories, they are assumed, so that the flow of the reading, content is not so disrupted. Just a bit irritating, especially when they accumulate quickly.

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history with intellectual fire

Revisado: 09-23-20

Stunningly powerful and convincing and brilliantly written
It shows how the USA has reached it's current weakened cruel state under Trumpism

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the sound effects irritating

Revisado: 08-27-20

really disliked the sound effects shallow
and often too loud undercutting words
and tone of narrative

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Cut the Music!

Revisado: 10-10-19

I liked this novel very much--a clever plot and protagonist and a decent conclusion. It doesn't have the depth of earlier Greene novels, but it is entertaining.

The performance by Northam was effective, but the musical interludes, so repetitive and often tone/narrative disrupting just finally got on my nerves--irritating. I have listened to many books of all kinds, and never has the music been so aggressively annoying and counter-productive to a coherent listening experience. At the beginning and at the end okay to have it in this short novel. But not more than that for the Cuban music. And just once,, please only once, for Glory Britannia stuff.

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Much leading to not much

Revisado: 02-20-17

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The last 100 pages.

What do you think your next listen will be?

The biography of Kierkergaard

What does Mark Meadows bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Various voices

Was The Luminaries worth the listening time?

Up until the two thirds point, I would have said yes. But the conclusion made me wish that I hadn't invested so much time with it.

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Too much

Revisado: 02-20-17

If you could sum up Reconstruction in three words, what would they be?

Way too much to listen to.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Reconstruction?

The treatment of Andrew Johnson's presidency

What about Norman Dietz’s performance did you like?

Very clear.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Pick a section of it; try not to do the whole thing.

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