Original Prin
A Novel
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Original Prin
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Narrated by:
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Michael Hanrahan
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By:
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Randy Boyagoda
About this listen
A Globe and Mail Best Book of 2018
Eight months before he became a suicide bomber, Prin went to the zoo with his family.
Following a cancer diagnosis, 40-year old Prin vows to become a better man and a better Catholic. He’s going to spend more time with his kids and better time with his wife, care for his recently divorced and aging parents, and also expand his cutting-edge research into the symbolism of the seahorse in Canadian literature. But when his historic college in downtown Toronto faces a shutdown and he meets with the condominium developers ready to take it over - including a foul-mouthed young Chinese entrepreneur and Wende, his sexy ex-girlfriend from graduate school - Prin hears the voice of God. Bewildered and divinely inspired, he goes to the Middle East, hoping to save both his college and his soul. Wende is coming, too.
The first book in a planned trilogy, Original Prin is an entertaining and essential novel about family life, faith, temptation, and fanaticism. It’s a timely story about timeless truths, told with wise insight and great humour, confirming Randy Boyagoda’s place as one of Canada’s funniest and most provocative writers.
©2018 Randy Boyagoda (P)2019 Audible, Inc.What listeners say about Original Prin
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- K. J. Kelly
- 28-06-19
Darkly amusing story about religion, academia...
Darkly amusing story about religion, academia and family.
"Eight months before he became a suicide bomber, Prin went to the zoo with his family." Quite an opening line. Especially when we learn that Prin is a Catholic, devoted father and husband, and now trying to tell his children about his cancer diagnosis. Just how will this opening translate into the 'eight months later' promise?
It takes the entire novel to reach that point, by which time I'd almost forgotten. Caught up in Prin's world of his academic work into seahorses in Canadian literature, the threat of unemployment after his college faces possible closure, and the emotional struggles of meeting an ex-lover as part of the team looking to shut down his workplace. The 'suicide bomber' plotline seemed to vanish until the very end.
As I was listening, I did find it quite amusing, but I couldn't tell you now much detail about why. The ending did strike a chord and was well-played, however. And I would want to know how that plays out in the next book, but the rest of the book didn't particularly stand out for me. I liked the 'seahorse academia' theme, a few funny scenes relating to this.
The narrator (Audible version) was quite slow in his reading, I had to speed it up quite a lot to keep interest and flow going, and this didn't affect the clarity at all.
For me, the idea had promise but it was slow in getting to the point I was interested in. The final chapters did come to life, however.
With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample reading copy.
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