In the Company of the Courtesan
A note on the audio: Hoye was just okay. He didn’t really do any distinct character voices, which is fine, but he also didn’t pause enough between speakers so sometimes dialogue ran together and I lost track of who was speaking. And while I roll my eyes at people who insist on British accents for any English-language film not taking place in America, this book probably would have sounded better read by an Englishman. It seems to have been written with that cadence in mind.
Also posted on BookCrossing.
by Stieg Larsson (unabridged audiobook read by Simon Vance; 18.5 hrs on 15 discs): Oh Lisbeth, how I’ve missed you. This second installment of the Millennium Trilogy finds two of Mikael Blomkvist’s friends murdered and Lisbeth’s fingerprints on the gun. Thus begins a complicated story of Lisbeth’s past, prostitution, and Swedish government secrets. Meanwhile, we’re introduced to the various people Lisbeth has touched and who line up to be in her corner during this her darkest hour. When I think of “strong female characters” I don’t think about Buffy the Vampire Slayer; I think of people like Lisbeth. She’s fascinating and flawed and wonderful to read about. I doubt she’d be all that impressed with me were we to meet, but I’ve enjoyed witnessing her adventures so far. In fact, the very last couple lines of the book had me laughing with joy. Can’t wait to read the third book, but part of me is a little reluctant because I don’t want to say goodbye.
by George R.R. Martin (unabridged audiobook read by Roy Dotrice; 33.5 hrs on 28 discs): Eleventy-billion characters and the only truly interesting one is the dwarf. Sure, there were a few decently intertwined stories, but I really only paid attention when it was focused on Tyrion Lannister. His cynicism was refreshing amidst all the obsession over who gets to be king next. I liked this book far more than I’d expected, given that I tend not to favor political intrigue of any genre, but I don’t feel any particular desire to read more of the series.
by Cornelia Funke: Meggie lives with her father Mo, a gifted bookbinder. One night, a stranger named Dustfinger appears at her window, prompting Mo and Meggie to flee to the home of Elinor, a bibliophile of the highest order. This is a story for storylovers, for people who wish they could bring books to life outside their imaginations. Though the pacing is arguably a touch slow at first, the characters are charming and I had fun not quite knowing whom to trust. I look forward to the rest of the trilogy.
(unabridged audiobook read by Elizabeth Sastre; 11.5 hrs on 10 discs): This is the second book in the Thursday Next series, and while familiarity with Jane Eyre was essential for enjoyment of the first one, I didn’t feel the same flailing desire for a list of prerequisites to understand this one. It deals a lot more with time travel and the perils of paradox, coincidence, and general literary shenanigans. Sure, an appreciation for Austen, Dickens, and the Brontes will certainly enhance your experience (mostly in the form of understanding more of the jokes), but I’m far from the world’s biggest Brit Lit fan and I still got a good chuckle from time to time. That said, I don’t see myself going out of my way to read the rest of the series. I suspect I don’t fall into the target audience quite neatly enough.
by Audrey Niffenegger (unabridged audiobook read by Bianca Amato; 14 hours on 12 discs): This is more or less the tale of a small apartment building overlooking an old London cemetery. On the top floor is Martin, a man with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder dealing with being housebound by his illness and the recent departure of his wife who moved away because she could no longer deal with living that way. On the bottom floor is Robert, a thirtysomething academic working on a definitive history of the cemetery for his thesis. In the middle was Robert’s lover Elspeth, who dies at the beginning of the book and leaves everything to her American twin nieces Julia and Valentina. Elspeth has never met the girls, and it’s worth noting that they are the daughters of Edie, Elspeth’s long-estranged twin sister. Shortly after her death, Elspeth is surprised to discover herself haunting her own flat, unable to leave. Most of the characters feel trapped in some fashion or another, and the ways they deal with it make up for the bulk of the story. I did not like the ending; I feel pretty unclear on what happened to Robert and I wish a little more had been said about Elspeth’s future. All the same, it was a reasonably interesting book, if not exactly what one might call exciting or even engrossing.
by Lance Manion: A rambling collection of essays, anecdotes, and assorted madness. The punctuation leaves a lot to be desired, but despite that it’s still quite readable. The humor often borders on the demented, sort of a cross between David Sedaris and Happy Tree Friends. There were parts where I laughed, parts where I cringed, and even a few parts where I was tempted to skim – but most of it was quite unforgettable either way. I may think of one story in particular every time I take a shower for the rest of my life. If you’re looking for something well outside the mainstream, this will probably amuse you. I’d like to read more of Manion’s blather because much of it is really quite funny, but I think I’ll wait until it’s visited a proofreader first.
by Orson Scott Card (unabridged audiobook read by Scott Brick and a full cast; 18.5 hrs on 15 discs): The first half or so of this book is a novella about the life of Jason Worthing, a telepath born thousands of years before. Jason’s world revolves around Somec, a drug that basically puts people into suspended animation and is distributed out based on merit, not money, to preserve the “most valuable” individuals for future generations. The greater the value of the person, the greater the ratio of time asleep to time awake, with the Empress at the highest Somec levels: awake one day for every five years asleep. Like a pebble skipping across a pond, these people skip across time, and ultimately the human race stagnates, as the most innovative minds are never awake long enough to accomplish anything. This is also the story of Jason’s colony started from scratch, the colonists adults with the minds of infants. This part got a little preachy – one of the examples of how degenerate life in the capital city had become was how the citizens found defecation more offensive than fornication – but most of the rest of it was pretty good. The latter half was a bunch of short stories, some retelling tales from earlier in the book, others new stories of Somec. Though some of them were kind of interesting, the addition felt unnecessary. All in all, well, this book passed the time. It wasn’t especially engaging. I find Card to be hit or miss; this wasn’t a complete miss, but it wasn’t a hit either.