Baltasar and Blimunda
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Narrated by:
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Tamir
About this listen
Portugal, 1711: an amorous friar is pursued naked through the rubble-strewn streets of Lisbon; an enthusiastic procession of flagellants roars with pleasure over the damnation of adultery; a royal prince uses hapless sailors for target practice; and women dressed in colorful finery watch as lapsed converts and sorcerers are put to death by flames. In the midst of the terrors of the Inquisition and the plague, a seemingly mismatched couple discovers the wonders of love. This poetic tale, graced with exquisite historical detail and full of magic and adventure, is a tapestry of human folly and human will. The best-loved of all of the great Jose Saramago's works, this novel radiates with achievement.
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Lost Master Work of The New World
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The Autobiography of Henry VIII
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- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 41 hrs and 18 mins
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Margaret George's novel brings into focus the larger-than-life King Henry VIII, monarch of prodigious appetites for wine, women, and song.
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Perfection!
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Les Miserables
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Set in the Parisian underworld and plotted like a detective story, Les Miserables follows Jean Valjean, originally an honest peasant, who has been imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family. A hardened criminal upon his release, he eventually reforms, becoming a successful industrialist and town mayor. Despite this, he is haunted by an impulsive former crime and is pursued relentlessly by the police inspector Javert.
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one happy insomniac
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Birds Without Wings is the story of a small town in Anatolia in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire told in the richly varied voices of the men and women (Armenians, Christians, and Muslims) whose lives are intertwined and rooted there: Iskander, the potter and local fount of wisdom; Philotei, the Christian girl of legendary beauty, courted almost from infancy by Ibrahim the goatherd, a great love that culminates in tragedy and madness; and many more.
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Not for the faint of heart
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Helena
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- Unabridged
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Helena is the intelligent, horse-mad daughter of a British chieftan who is suddenly betrothed to the warrior who becomes the Roman emperor Constantius. She spends her life seeking truth in the religions, mythologies, and philosophies of the declining ancient world. This she eventually finds in Christianity-and literally in the Cross of Christ.The Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, made the historic pilgrimage to Palestine and built churches at Bethlehem and Olivet.
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And There Alone is Hope
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Merivel
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In search of answers, Merivel sets off for the French court. But Versailles leaves him in despair, until a chance encounter with a seductive Swiss botanist allows him to dream of an honorable future. But back home, his loyalty and medical skill are about to be tested to the limit, while the captive bear he has brought back from France begins to cause havoc.
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On Foolishness and Mortality
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By: Rose Tremain
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When Jesus Wept
- The Jerusalem Chronicles, Book 1
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- Unabridged
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Lazarus occupies a surprising position in the Gospel accounts. Widely known as the man Jesus raised from the dead, his story is actually much broader and richer than that. Living as he did at Bethany, near Jerusalem, Lazarus was uniquely placed to witness the swirl of events around Jesus. When Jesus Wept, the first novel in The Jerusalem Chronicles series by best-selling authors Bodie and Brock Thoene, unfolds the turbulent times in Judea during Jesus' ministry, centering on the friendship between Jesus and Lazarus.
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Wow! What a story.
- By Brian T on 11-13-13
By: Bodie Thoene, and others
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A Morbid Taste for Bones
- By: Ellis Peters
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Cadfael's return to his Welsh homeland for a visit proves a rather discomfiting homecoming when an honorable nobleman turns up in a patch of forest with an arrow embedded in his chest. There are questions about the arrow, the man's daughter needs Cadfael's help, and a very odd burial takes place.
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Very pleasant if not much of a mystery.
- By Zenjen on 04-15-10
By: Ellis Peters
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The Wife's Tale
- A Personal History
- By: Aida Edemariam
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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In this indelible memoir of the life of her remarkable 95-year-old grandmother, Guardian journalist Aida Edemariam tells the story of modern Ethiopia - a nation that underwent a tumultuous transformation from feudalism to monarchy to Marxist revolution to democracy, over the course of one century. Filled with a vivid cast of characters - emperors and empresses, priests and scholars, monks and nuns, archbishops and slaves, Marxist revolutionaries and wartime double agents - The Wife's Tale introduces a woman both imperious and vulnerable.
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A Look At Ethiopia
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The Memoirs of Mary, Queen of Scots
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- Narrated by: Rebekah Germain
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Born Queen of Scotland, married as a young girl to the invalid young King of France, Mary took the reins of the unruly kingdom of Scotland as a young widow and fought to keep her throne. A second marriage to her handsome but dissolute cousin Lord Darnley ended in murder and scandal, while a third marriage to the dashing, commanding Lord Bothwell, the love of her life, gave her joy but widened the scandal and surrounded her with enduring ill repute.
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Fiction being the key word
- By Bonnie-Ann B on 09-25-09
By: Carolly Erickson
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What listeners say about Baltasar and Blimunda
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- gabriela lima
- 05-09-23
Such a beautiful book ruined by the narrator
I love Jose Saramago and this book, but the really had to do a huge effort to tolerate a very monotonous and unattractive narration.
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- sarah m.
- 07-28-21
brilliant surreal powerful tale not to be missed
brilliant surreal powerful tale not to be missed by anyone loving historical fiction blended with cultural social commentary.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Angela
- 03-23-14
Narrator makes this story a painful listen
Would you be willing to try another one of Tamir’s performances?
No. In fact, I'll avoid ANYTHING that she narrates in the future.
Any additional comments?
No fault to the author (or even the translator) there were parts of the story so poorly narrated they seemed a tedious listen. However, I also have a hard copy of this book and reviewing the same sections, i found them interesting and engaging. Never have I encountered such a poor read. A disservice to Saramago, Pontiero and the rest of us as listeners.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Ellen Gorman Winters
- 07-08-13
Narrator ruined it for me.
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
A different narrator.
What do you think your next listen will be?
I have several in my library to which I have not yet listened. I have many many books in mind for listening.
What didn’t you like about Tamir’s performance?
1. Her weak voice.
2. Her attempt to simulate character voices destroyed the flow of the story. Male and female switches were cringe-making. This kind of phony drama was totally unnecessary. Saramago's prose is considered rather good, don't you think?
3. Her dramatic skills are nil.
4. I could not listen for more than 10 mins before shutting off. Since I liked the story, I kept convincing myself that she was not as bad as I remembered. It made me sad to lose the story because of her really inadequate and silly attempts.
Why in the world was this narrator chosen? Is this book so infrequently ordered that not much effort was put into selecting her?
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Baltasar and Blimunda?
I'd like it done in its entirety by another narrator. Failing that, she should NOT be allowed to do ANY dialogue.
Any additional comments?
Is there any way I can use ZERO stars, or do I have to settle for ONE. One is 20% . I consider this narrator as owing ME for having ruined this experience for me, and NOT entitled to 20%..
Where in the world is Step # 5?
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7 people found this helpful
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- Donna
- 12-17-20
Awful reading performance
I had to stop listening. Performance killed the book. No wonder it was free. Don’t waste a credit on this book.
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3 people found this helpful
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- tona
- 09-25-12
Very disappointing:(
What would have made Baltasar and Blimunda better?
The author never really gives you an understanding of why these two characters are reallly together other than to keep each other company through life's journey. I really got the feeling that either of these characters could have gone off with anyone else. There is also too much time explaining the relationships between other characters in the book that are not related to the main characters. In addition, the ending was such a let down....really...Baltazar just ends up dying and Blimunda just goes off with his "will". I have often said that it is rare that I find a book I don't like, but this is one.
Would you ever listen to anything by Jose Saramago and Giovanni Pontiero (translator) again?
No I would not.
Would you be willing to try another one of Tamir’s performances?
No, she is too monotone. In addition, she made the two main characters sound like simpletons.
Any additional comments?
I would never recommend this book to anyone
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6 people found this helpful
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- Deladier
- 01-13-13
Devastating narration
Any additional comments?
This is a very memorable story if read in Portuguese but understandably hard to get into if you are not immersed in the Portuguese ethos. I was disappointed with the clinical quality of the translation but could have dealt with that. In a book such as this, which manages to run the gamut of the language's poetic edge, it is rare to find the skill set required to produce an equally nuanced version in another language. What really killed the joy for me was the choice of narrator. This person not only has no knowledge of Portuguese, she had no coaching whatever. Oh, the nouns... When you hear a narration of a translated work, you expect the nouns to be pronounced somewhat accurately. She shreds them all with abandon. She is clueless with a vengeance. She is not shy about her utter ignorance or inaptitude to narrate even in English. This is an insulting narration, if that is possible. I want my credit back.
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14 people found this helpful
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- Carol Johns
- 02-28-24
The Narrator sounds like an AI Chatbot.
I couldn’t get past chapter 4 due to the narrator. I bought the book and will actually read the book. I love Jose Saramago’s writing. Unfortunately, this narration was not for me.
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- Kimberly Ligocki
- 01-04-12
Nobel Prize my Patootie
I know he's a big-time, world-renowned literary author, but he's boring, okay? I'm 4 hours into this sucker and not one damn thing has HAPPENED yet. Yes, there are lots of lovely, biting, funny and extremely sensitive descriptions of things. For me, that is better read than listened to - I keep falling asleep. The narrator is also just not very good - she is monotone, and where she is not monotone her voice is pitched high, making all the characters sound like children. I am hugely disappointed, coming off another listen - The Woman in White - to which I gave 5 stars. So I am giving up. Can I have my credit back?
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7 people found this helpful