The first of five intriguing books

What does Alex Jennings bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Alex Jennings brings his intelligence and considerable vocal skills to this darkly comic portrayal of a monstrous father who detonates his innocent young son's childhood. His use of tones to play the many and varied roles, from gender to gender and from toddler to demented old lady, he nails them all. Riveting.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There is a crisis which I won't describe here; suffice to say it brought me to tears.

Any additional comments?

The fact there are a further four to listen to is a pleasure in itself, once you start the first. I am looking forward to listening to St Aubyn's latest book too.....bliss.

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3 people found this helpful

What a depressing crowd of characters

Would you try another book written by Edward St Aubyn or narrated by Alex Jennings?

I would never, ever read another book by Edward St Aubyn. The upper class, shallow, valueless world he depicts is unattractive and soulless. The plot of this book is skimpy. The only redeeming aspect of this audiobook was the fantastic narration of Alex Jennings who managed to portray all the characters with individuality and flare. I loved his voice and will certainly read another book narrated by him.

Has Never Mind put you off other books in this genre?

I have no desire to read the following books in the series.

Which character – as performed by Alex Jennings – was your favourite?

Patrick

Was Never Mind worth the listening time?

I am not sure. I did finish it because I hoped for a cathartic, happy resolution to the hellhole inhabited by the characters.

Any additional comments?

If you want to be brought down and to see how the "other half' lives this is the book for you.

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3 people found this helpful

A troubling psychological picture

Beautifully read and brought to life.
I was appalled by the horrors in this book. The characterisation of the tormentor and his victims is incredibly vivid. It is not gruesome but psychologically disturbing.
I thoroughly recommend the book.

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2 people found this helpful

An absolute treat!

If it was possible to give a 10* rating, I would! This recording,the first in a series of novels about Patrick Melrose, is absolutely superb. Wonderful prose writing - funny, heart-rending, poignant, gut-wrenching, horrifying and numbing moments, all wrapped up in one fairly short but spellbinding novel.

Alex Jennings absolutely nailed the narration; he brought to life some fairly ghastly characters and made the world they inhabited seem really vivid. I can't wait to read the next novel.

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2 people found this helpful

Brilliant

This is one of the funniest books in all literature, complemented by brilliant narration. 5 stars.

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Great book

The Literary content is captivating, but I found the instances of abuse difficult to listen to due to how vividly they are described.

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Uncomfortable read

I felt that this story was a pompous betrayal of snobbery at its best. It made my skin crawl reading such obvious acts of mental, physical and sexual abuse with no real storyline. Unnecessary!

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1 person found this helpful

very disapointing

Maybe I'm not Enflish enough but this was just tremendously boring... The performance is good but the story itself has nothing to it... It's not scandalous, it's not original, it's nothing at all really. Do not waste your time and money.

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