Amazingly detailed, but personal.

I was impressed by the sheer length of this story, at 60 hours of listening time. However, every moment of it was intriguing and engaging. It kept me listening through every part of it's many storylines, each as fascinating as the last.
My family come from Northampton, but I grew up elsewhere, so this was an interesting look at an area that I had little personal knowledge of. It builds up a picture of both the history of Northampton and the individual people who have populated it.
Now I have finished, I'm tempted to start again.

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3 people found this helpful

I can't give this a high enough rating

My first experience of Alan Moore as author and I loved every second of this audio book. Fascinating, beautiful and dark.

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2 people found this helpful

Incredible book well narrated, dense but rewarding

I love this book. At 60ish hours it's a long haul and the writing is incredibly detailed and descriptive but it's massively rewarding. Simon Vance does a marvellous job narrating!

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1 person found this helpful

hooray for audiobooks

A couple of Joycian chapters midway through were pretty impenetrable, but overall an excellent book, which I would have still been reading next Christmas if I'd got a physical edition.

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Incredible.

brutal, beautiful eerily magical book that despite it's monolithic length, is improved by repeated readings... somewhat ironic, though no less poignant given the descriptions of afterlife and themes. almost every element of the book blossoms out and is reflected and repeated like acoustic harmonics both forward and backwards through the tangled plotlines, and whilst this is pretty meta, again given the themes of the book, it all feels earned and complimentary.
Moore's masterful use of prose are just as likely to make you cackle with laughter as to sob uncontrollably, maybe even both. this story will make you go mad, and everyone should read it.
the performance by Simon Vance is excellent (he's always pretty good!), and he deserves a medal for even attempting the Joyce chapter!

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Awesome!!

This book seems to be going nowhere but as you listen more and more the stories connect, it's very good one of the best audiobooks that I have listened to.

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Shocking, brutal, modern folk tale

A tale spread across multiple generations of residents of a fire of enlightenment which builds in chaptered waves.

There are some incredibly detailed scenes of violence throughout and I can empathise with reviews that didn't listen to the conclusion.

However the narrative also twinkles with a crisp humour at points particularly when describing then central relationship between michael and his sister.

Discussing themes on freewill with very distinctly unpleasant characters who do make me hope that the weight is leant towards culpability and consequence for the actor's choices, the final conclusion is very much handed back to the audience.

if you have experienced any abuse i would very much warn there may be some triggering passages here.

The themes are very greek at points.

The story telling and interwoven textures are worth getting to the final gallery scene and mick's sister certainly shines, particularly with respect to lightsr ownership.

Glad to have listened and am much looking forward to a retrospective read.

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3 people found this helpful

Gorgeous

This was an epic story, full of humour, philosophical pondering and poignancy.
Well worth the 60 hour investment!

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Narration perfection

Simon Vance has narrated this epic story to perfection. It was a pleasure listening to this story.

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All human life is here.

The history of the universe, and a lot else besides, bound up in a phantasmagorical saunter round the streets of Northampton. Why this didn't win every literary prize going is beyond me.

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