A Borrowed Man
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Narrated by:
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Kevin T. Collins
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By:
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Gene Wolfe
About this listen
A Borrowed Man: a new science fiction novel from Gene Wolfe, the celebrated author of the Book of the New Sun series.
It is perhaps a hundred years in the future, our civilization is gone, and another is in place in North America, but it retains many familiar things and structures. Although the population is now small, there is advanced technology, there are robots, and there are clones.
E. A. Smithe is a borrowed person. He is a clone who lives on a third-tier shelf in a public library, and his personality is an uploaded recording of a deceased mystery writer. Smithe is a piece of property, not a legal human. A wealthy patron, Colette Coldbrook, takes him from the library because he is the surviving personality of the author of Murder on Mars. A physical copy of that book was in the possession of her murdered father, and it contains an important secret, the key to immense family wealth. It is lost, and Colette is afraid of the police. She borrows Smithe to help her find the book and to find out what the secret is. And then the plot gets complicated.
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- By: Jan Burke
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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The morning after Irene says goodnight to her old journalist friend O'Connor, he is killed suddenly upon opening a letter bomb. As the smoke clears, a devastated Irene determines to find the mail-bomber by tracing threads of an unsolved crime from 1955 - the same cold case O'Connor had been obsessed with.
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Welcome Irene
- By Anonymous User on 04-29-08
By: Jan Burke
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Dating Dead Men
- By: Harley Jane Kozak
- Narrated by: Deanna Hurst
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Los Angeles greeting-card artist Wollie Shelley is dating 40 men in 60 days as research for a radio talk show host's upcoming book. Wollie is meeting plenty of eligible bachelors but not falling in love, not until she stumbles over a dead body en route to Rio Pescado - a state-run mental hospital - and is taken hostage by a charismatic "doctor" who is on the run from the Mob.
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Another Stephanie Plum
- By Don on 08-30-12
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March Violets
- By: Philip Kerr
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Hailed by Salman Rushdie as a "brilliantly innovative thriller-writer", Philip Kerr is the creator of taut, gripping, noir-tinged mysteries set in Nazi-era Berlin that are nothing short of spellbinding. The first book of the Berlin Noir trilogy, March Violets introduces listeners to Bernie Gunther, an ex-policeman who thought he'd seen everything on the streets of 1930s Berlin - until he turned freelance and each case he tackled sucked him further into the grisly excesses of Nazi subculture.
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Brilliant Nazi Era Mystery
- By Constance on 05-04-12
By: Philip Kerr
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God Save the Mark
- A Novel of Crime and Confusion
- By: Donald E. Westlake
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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What, you ask, is a Fred Fitch? Well, for one thing, Fred Fitch is the man with the most extensive collection of fake receipts, phony bills of sale, and counterfeit sweepstakes tickets in the Western hemisphere, and possibly in the entire world. For another thing, Fred Fitch may be the only New York City resident in the twentieth century to buy a money machine.
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American Gods for the Grifter set!
- By William R. on 09-06-11
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Aphrodite
- By: Russell Andrews
- Narrated by: Buck Schirner
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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It looked for all the world like a terrible, tragic accident. Susanna Morgan had gotten up in the middle of the night, tripped, fallen, and broken her neck. Yet when detective Justin Westwood inspects the victim's apartment, he can't help noticing that the details don't quite add up. The glass on the bedside table is knocked over but there are no cuts on her body. The scrape on her knee looks suspiciously fresh. And then a terrified witness comes forward, confirming his worst fear.
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Just Works - Wonderfully
- By Ted on 05-03-12
By: Russell Andrews
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Baltimore Blues
- Tess Monaghan, Book 1
- By: Laura Lippman
- Narrated by: Deborah Hazlett
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Unemployed at 29, Tess Monaghan is willing to take any freelance job to pay the rent—including a bit of unorthodox snooping for her rowing buddy, Darryl "Rock" Paxton. In a city where someone is murdered almost every day, attorney Michael Abramowitz's death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer's notoriety—and his noontime trysts with Rock's fiancée—make the case front page news...and point to Rock as the likely murderer. But trying to prove her friend's innocence could prove costly to Tess.
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I'm on #8 - This series is almost unique
- By connie on 02-19-12
By: Laura Lippman
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The Man from Primrose Lane
- By: James Renner
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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A mind-bending, genre-twisting debut novel. In West Akron, there lived a reclusive elderly man who always wore mittens, even in July. He had no friends and no family; all over town, he was known only as The the Man from Primrose Lane. And on a summer day in 2008, someone murdered him.
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Good read, despite, not because of sci fi twist
- By Lulu W. on 07-18-12
By: James Renner
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The Deep Blue Good-By
- A Travis McGee Novel, Book 1
- By: John D. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
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He's a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He's also a knight errant who's wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: he'll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.
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Before the A-Team, there was Travis McGee
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-12-16
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Dead Eyes
- A Novel
- By: Stuart Woods
- Narrated by: Tony Roberts
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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First there were roses and the notes in her mailbox signed simply, "Admirer". Then the accident. One minute Chris Callaway was one of Hollywood's brightest rising stars, starting a new picture that could send her career skyrocketing; the next she was falling from the unfinished deck of her beautiful new Malibu beach house...waking up blind, uncertain whether she would ever see again.
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Great
- By Richard Bell on 05-08-16
By: Stuart Woods
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The Book of Air and Shadows
- A Novel
- By: Michael Gruber
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 18 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Jake Mishkin's seemingly innocent job as an intellectual property lawyer has put him at the center of a deadly conspiracy and a chase to find a priceless treasure involving William Shakespeare. As he awaits a killer (or killers) unknown, Jake writes an account of the events that led to this deadly endgame, a frantic chase that began when a fire in an antiquarian bookstore revealed the hiding place of letters containing a shocking secret, concealed for 400 years.
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Not your average story.
- By Nicholas Winn on 06-02-07
By: Michael Gruber
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The Land Across
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An American writer of travel guides in need of a new location chooses to travel to a small and obscure Eastern European country. The moment Grafton crosses the border he is in trouble, much more than he could have imagined. His passport is taken by guards, and then he is detained for not having it. He is released into the custody of a family, but is again detained. It becomes evident that there are supernatural agencies at work.
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Give the man a (dead) hand
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The Knight
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A young man in his teens is transported from our world to a magical realm that contains seven levels of reality. Very quickly transformed by magic into a grown man of heroic proportions, he takes the name Able and sets out on a quest to find the sword that has been promised to him, a sword he will get from a dragon, the one very special blade that will help him fulfill his life ambition to become a knight and a true hero. Inside, however, Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive the dangers and delights that lie ahead in encounters with giants, elves, and wizards.
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Confusing as hell.
- By Zachary on 09-26-18
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The Wolfe at the Door
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The circus comes to town . . . and a man gets to go to the stars. A young girl on a vacation at the sea meets the man of her dreams. Who just happens to be dead. And an immortal pirate. A swordfighter pens his memoirs . . . and finds his pen is in fact mightier than the sword. Welcome to Gene Wolfe's playground, a place where genres blend, and a genius's imagination straps you in for the ride of your life. The Wolfe at the Door is a brand-new collection from one of America's premiere literary giants, showcasing some material been seen before
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The Shadow of the Torturer
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The Shadow of the Torturer is the first volume in the four-volume epic, the tale of a young Severian, an apprentice to the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession - showing mercy towards his victim.
Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the New Sun" is one of speculative fiction's most-honored series. In a 1998 poll, Locus Magazine rated the series behind only "The Lord of the Rings" and The Hobbit as the greatest fantasy work of all time.
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great writing, won't appeal to everyone
- By Ryan on 03-20-10
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Soldier of the Mist
- Latro, Book 1
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The first volume of Gene Wolfe's powerful story of Latro, a Roman mercenary who received a head injury that deprived him of his short-term memory. In return it gave him the ability to converse with supernatural creatures, gods, and goddesses who invisibly inhabit the ancient landscape.
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Read Gates of Fire first for context
- By Amazon Customer on 07-17-22
By: Gene Wolfe
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Litany of the Long Sun
- Book of the Long Sun, Books 1 and 2
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Litany of the Long Sun contains the full texts of Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun that together make up the first half of The Book of the Long Sun. This great work is set on a huge generation starship in the same future as the classic Book of the New Sun (also available in two volumes from Orb).
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Utterly brilliant in it’s tedium
- By John on 04-14-22
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The Land Across
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An American writer of travel guides in need of a new location chooses to travel to a small and obscure Eastern European country. The moment Grafton crosses the border he is in trouble, much more than he could have imagined. His passport is taken by guards, and then he is detained for not having it. He is released into the custody of a family, but is again detained. It becomes evident that there are supernatural agencies at work.
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Give the man a (dead) hand
- By Tango on 11-29-13
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The Knight
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Overall
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Performance
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A young man in his teens is transported from our world to a magical realm that contains seven levels of reality. Very quickly transformed by magic into a grown man of heroic proportions, he takes the name Able and sets out on a quest to find the sword that has been promised to him, a sword he will get from a dragon, the one very special blade that will help him fulfill his life ambition to become a knight and a true hero. Inside, however, Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive the dangers and delights that lie ahead in encounters with giants, elves, and wizards.
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Confusing as hell.
- By Zachary on 09-26-18
By: Gene Wolfe
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The Wolfe at the Door
- By: Gene Wolfe
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The circus comes to town . . . and a man gets to go to the stars. A young girl on a vacation at the sea meets the man of her dreams. Who just happens to be dead. And an immortal pirate. A swordfighter pens his memoirs . . . and finds his pen is in fact mightier than the sword. Welcome to Gene Wolfe's playground, a place where genres blend, and a genius's imagination straps you in for the ride of your life. The Wolfe at the Door is a brand-new collection from one of America's premiere literary giants, showcasing some material been seen before
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The Shadow of the Torturer
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Overall
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The Shadow of the Torturer is the first volume in the four-volume epic, the tale of a young Severian, an apprentice to the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession - showing mercy towards his victim.
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great writing, won't appeal to everyone
- By Ryan on 03-20-10
By: Gene Wolfe
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Soldier of the Mist
- Latro, Book 1
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Gregory Connors
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first volume of Gene Wolfe's powerful story of Latro, a Roman mercenary who received a head injury that deprived him of his short-term memory. In return it gave him the ability to converse with supernatural creatures, gods, and goddesses who invisibly inhabit the ancient landscape.
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-
Read Gates of Fire first for context
- By Amazon Customer on 07-17-22
By: Gene Wolfe
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Litany of the Long Sun
- Book of the Long Sun, Books 1 and 2
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Litany of the Long Sun contains the full texts of Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun that together make up the first half of The Book of the Long Sun. This great work is set on a huge generation starship in the same future as the classic Book of the New Sun (also available in two volumes from Orb).
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Utterly brilliant in it’s tedium
- By John on 04-14-22
By: Gene Wolfe
What listeners say about A Borrowed Man
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Sam Ryan
- 05-10-17
Meh
Generally I love Gene Wolfe, but maybe I've grown out of him. Normally I feel her had an uncanny sense of how technology reveals the monsters hiding in our humanity - or visa versa, but this felt more like a short story packed or to fill a novel. The motives of the characters flail wildly between obvious and completely disjointed from the story.
When all was said and done I was left thinking that there were some nifty ideas presented, but they were never played with to any degree to that made the predictable storyline seem worth it.
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- Jen Heers
- 06-05-23
Not Wolfe's best work, but solidly entertaining
A Borrowed Man is perhaps my least favorite Gene Wolfe novel I've read to date, but even then I still found it quite enjoyable. While my first reading has left me with the impression that it's much less nuanced than the Solar Cycle, Wolfe's is known for narratives that require close scrutiny to be fully understood. A lot of the more negative reviews criticize the audiobook's stilted narration as if it's a matter of poor workmanship, but a number of lines in the book suggest it mimics the narrating character's actual cadence of speech (a fact he finds infuriating). I'd recommend sampling this book before you buy because some people find it grating, but at its worst it is an overzealous artistic choice. The story itself is a very character-forward spin on a hardboiled narrative with Wolfe's trademark of veiled worldbuilding, leading to a dystopian setting with just enough details to spark the reader's imagination. If you haven't read anything by Wolfe before you may not find this novel particularly appealing, but fans of his style should be satisfied.
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- Alex Levine
- 10-27-15
Great Gene Wolfe Concept, Distracting Narration
The idea of a borrowed man, and with it the speculative premise that drives this story, are certainly worthy of Wolfe's genius. The protagonist and first-person narrator admits from the outset that, in fact as in law, he is not fully human. The story bears this judgment out in various interesting and poignant ways, but despite the limitations built into him, he's a very appealing character. His story has a good arc, too, though it suffers from a number of the sorts of continuity errors that drive me to distraction.
The narrator's intensity level ranges from breathless fascination to near panic, and listening to him for any length of time is exhausting. All of the character voices are equally over the top, either stentorian or histrionic. Chill out, dude.
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15 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Kindle Customer
- 04-23-16
a rock solid detective story
just wow! I'm liking this blend of wolfe's style with the detective story.Voice acting was a little wooden and lacking emotion but it didnt bother me after a while. still, i may have enjoyed reading it more. This is my favorite of his books so far.
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- Knowinglee
- 07-12-22
Monotone narrator
Couldn't really keep interest with the narrator's cadence, story seems great as most Gene Wolfe's stories are.
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- Melisa
- 10-24-15
Annoying Narration
I can't really give a fair review of the story because I found the narrator so irritating that I didn't make it past the 4th chapter. He over enunciates everything and inserts awkward pauses after every 3 or 4 words. It was somewhat like listening to someone read something in a language they were just learning. It was so distracting that I couldn't even follow the story. I might try this one again in print, but there's no way I can finish the audible version.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Zachary
- 11-04-16
A great listen and one of the author's best
Part murder mystery, part classic gene wolf, part critique of modern society, class and identity in society.
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- Amanda Nargi
- 05-11-21
Another Great Story by Gene Wolfe
I loved this story, but the narration was difficult for me. I didn't enjoy the voice acting for this one. In my opinion, it's better read on paper.
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- Timberbee
- 09-15-24
Manu fique!
I don't know how to rate this book. Not really.
My first Gene Wolfe book since I was a teenager, wasLitany of the Long Sun, and I didn't remember it at all.
For me, E. A. Smithe, of, A Borrowed Man, and, Patera Silk from, Litany of the Long Sun, are such similar characters.
At first, my reaction to Patera Silk was standoffish, I wanted him to be a fighter, to be strong, and, when knocked down, to get back up and give them what for!
But, he wasn't. He wasn't strong like that, but, he was iron in a far different way. He was clever, but so truthful, and, so persistent. Failure did not seem to represent any true setback, merely, something which occurred and, had to be worked around, and, though he could lie, and, dissemble, he was a creature who was true, and, utterly honest with,
himself.
So,
I was prepared for the character of E. A. Smithe, a character who had little to no control over the most intimate and fundamental aspects of his own life, including, when and how it would end (Something central to the story, and, at times, very jarring).
E. A. Smithe and Patera Silk are such similar characters.
And, one key element of both characters, and, both settings, is precisely that lack of control, that, personal freedom we all take so much for granted in what we call, the "Civilized" world.
Both characters shine, and display such strength, resilience, and self - reliance, self - determination, in what others would see as utterly oppressive.
Gene Wolfe acted to shift my vision of strength, and, indeed,
Freedom.
There is no freedom, without sacrifice.
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- Doug D. Eigsti
- 11-09-15
Check Him Out
Gene Wolfe becomes a different writer depending on the story he wants to tell. Here he wants to involve us in a Mystery set in a Science Fiction universe. The mystery starts out as “what happened to the money” and then becomes “who done it?” The SF element is flying cars and androids who think they are Mystery writers and poets. The android Mystery writer Ernest Smithe character is wonderful, just wonderful. Pay close attention to the contrast between his gritty pulp crime-novel thoughts and his third person Mystery writer speech pattern. Wolfe makes this internal war of words inside Smithe’s head an on-going gag throughout the novel and is very enjoyable to follow. Smithe—being an android reconstruction of a famous Mystery writer—should behave just like the real Ernest Smithe would have; the fact that he does not, provides much of the intrigue in the book. Just when you think you have Ern figured out, he will do something surprising. Trying to explain his motivations kept my interest level high throughout the novel.
I did a Power Read™ on this new Gene Wolfe novel using the Kindle version. I use this term to indicate reading the text of the book while listening to the audiobook. I can recommend this as the best way to assimilate a new novel. It provides two discrete information pathways into the brain occurring in parallel. It is akin to reading the book twice. I find that I read faster than the narrator speaks so my mind has time to process the material just before I hear the narrator speaking the same words into my ear. This does two things: First, it forces me to slow down and look at each word—vitally important in a Gene Wolfe book. Secondly, hearing the narrator forces me to process the words through the auditory part of my brain and merge then with what I am reading. Often the narrator will employ a slightly different pronunciation of a word causing that particular word to receive an extra measure of mental attention. This method does require a great deal of concentration but every time I have done this I have had a fantastic experience and was able to comprehend the book being read for the first time as if I had read it twice.
Kevin T. Collins is the narrator and seems to me to be a poor choice for the material. He read much too slowly for my taste and I found his exaggeratedly precise diction to be more of a curse than a blessing. But there were some blessings. I can honestly compliment Collins for his accurate reading of the text. In one place one of the character names is misspelled and Collins reads the misspelled name verbatim. This level of accuracy does help with proof-reading, and I did manage to find several slight discrepancies between the Kindle version and the Audible, thanks in part to Collin’s precision. His reading is so earnest as to be distracting. He does speak in a slightly different voice for some of the different characters and these help in differentiating the speaker. This book seems to be written in a sort of tongue-in-cheek style and could really benefit from a more dramatic performance. The only way I can recommend Collins’ narration is to read along with the text while listening. Listening alone to this book would detract from the overall experience. All the sarcasm and Mystery writer voice-over grittiness is completely absent from Collins’ narration. You would get more of the true feel of the book by reading it than by listening to Collins read it to you.
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7 people found this helpful