books

I just finished the audiobook version of Nick Hornby’s A Long Way Down, and it’s marvelous.  I read and loved High Fidelity a while back (yes, the one that the movie was based on) and was tickled to finally see an unabridged version of one of his books on Audible.  (Audio abridgements are evil, in case you’ve never heard one of my tirades on the subject.)

The book deals with four very dissimilar individuals who climb a tall building on New Year’s Eve with the intent of jumping off it.  They don’t.  It’s told from their four perspectives (and the audiobook is read by four different narrators, which helps lend realism to it).

I’ve read a couple of reviews on the subject and all agree that while it’s a book ostensibly about suicide, it’s more about life and living than it might appear on first blush.  Hornby’s characters are real — likable at times, thoroughly annoying at others, always vividly drawn — and engaging.

Makes me want to pick up another of his books, which (drat the man) means going to print for the moment for the earlier-mentioned reason of abridgments.  (The humanity!)

I’m currently absorbed in an audiobook as good as any I’ve listened to in years — The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.  Reviews have made allusions to Jane Austen or any of the classic Gothic works, all of which are spot on.  Of course, audiobooks aren’t for everyone, so here’s a link to the page on Amazon for you readers.

Since the end of February, I have spent the equivalent of just over twelve straight days (just over 292 hours) listening to all 11 main series books and the prequel to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series on audio from Audible.com.  Well, truth be told, two of the books aren’t available on audio, so count another day to read them.

Couple of points.

1. I hate Faile, the prissy little snob.
2. Jordan needs an editor.  Yes, I know, his wife Harriet edits the books, but the man is wordy and needs someone impartial to whittle it down to the good stuff.
3. I love it when there is black and white, good and evil, but lots of shades of gray on the side of “good.”  These books deliver in spades.
4. I can’t wait for the next (and theoretically last) book.

Chopper has heard me rant and rave about the books … I have loved them and been driven absolutely crazy by them.  The character development is amazing and the depth of interconnectedness is staggering.  While it’s a daunting venture to start out, anyone who loves good fantasy writing would do well to dive into this series.

However … I would advise spacing the books out a bit to avoid the absolute immersion I went through.  I wonder what the withdrawal until the next book will be like?