The Pier Falls
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The Pier Falls
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Narrated by:
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Clare Corbett
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Daniel Weyman
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By:
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Mark Haddon
About this listen
An expedition to Mars goes terribly wrong. A seaside pier collapses. A 30-stone man is confined to his living room. One woman is abandoned on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean. Another woman is saved from drowning. Two boys discover a gun in a shoebox. A group of explorers find a cave of unimaginable size deep in the Amazon jungle. A man shoots a stranger in the chest on Christmas Eve.
In this first collection of stories by the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon demonstrates two things: first that he is a master of the short form (several of the stories have been longlisted for prizes); second that his imagination is even darker than we had thought.
©2016 Mark Haddon (P)2016 Random House AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Pier Falls
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- R. A. Christer-Thomas
- 18-07-17
Very dark
This is a book of stories from interesting perspectives about sometimes odd events. It is not a comfortable read. It is very dark actually but it is a good read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anna Haighton
- 28-06-18
Totally engrossing!
I loved this- just what I needed after finishing a long novel- lots of amazing and different short stories, although common themes are threaded through. Narration by both narrators is top notch and I loved each and every one of these tales.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sharon
- 01-08-16
An exceptionally good collection
If you could sum up The Pier Falls in three words, what would they be?
Completely gripping stories
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No. But each story is best read in a sitting.
Any additional comments?
'Bunny' and 'The Gun' were my favourite stories - the latter one of my favourite stories full stop.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ibrahim G.
- 27-05-19
Astonishingly red and astonishingly bleak!
Absolutely love this collection! Both Daniel weighman and Claire Corbett bring The stories to life, however as others have said here this is probably the bleakest collection of short stories you will ever read. From appear collapsing into the sea described with a detached and chilling impartiality, to The murder or euthanasia of a 37 stone man in his living room, a princess trapped on an island forced to fend for herself to a group of explorers who stumble upon a cave in dense African jungle, these stories are poignant and desolate. If I could write my own inscription on the back cover, it would be abandoned all hope you who crack the seal.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jenni Merson
- 04-09-16
Poignant and well observed short stories
A beautifully observed novel of short stories, an amazing array of topics are covered, so there is something for everyone to enjoy. Highly recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rachel Redford
- 23-05-16
Dark, dark, irrevocably dark!
These nine electrifyingly real, detailed, shocking and disturbing long-short-stories reveal a horribly dark side to, well, everything. I wonder from what kind of imagination Mark Haddon incubates these scenarios? An appendix operation and a birth in graphic detail on board a space mission which has gone hideously wrong; the gradual disintegration of a seaside pier pulling down stricken and floundering human victims; the minutiae of a young woman cleaning up a friendless, hugely obese man. The one I found most gut-wrenchingly ghastly (there was keen competition) was the boys lugging home in a pram a mutilated deer which they had killed and hauling into the lift.
The stories aren't just about disturbing scenarios, however. They explore themes such as loneliness and isolation, particularly within families with remarkable sharpness and visual detail. There are unhappy and broken relationships (Carole returns 'home' from America after such a relationship to help her hostile sister tend their elderly mother who's suffering from dementia - although you feel her mother would have told her daughter she hated her because all she saw in her was Carole's father even if she'd been of sound mind.) There is the present haunted by the inescapable past. Wodwo re-works Gawain and the Green Knight when an armed intruder bursts into an already awful extended family Christmas resulting in violence that will be revenged.
These stories dip in and out of raw social commentary, morality tales and myth, although I must admit that The Island about a princess in a tapestry left me confused. Don't expect anything like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, except perhaps for Haddon's skill at entering into the lives and minds of unusual people in unusual situations. Don't expect to be entertained or your spirits lifted, but be drawn into a network of startling stories you won't forget in a hurry.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amanda
- 02-11-16
Well this was different!
The book was excellently narrated.
The stories are most unusual, all dark in some way. Some didn't have endings that made sense, but this was their intention. Very good, very different, I'm glad I downloaded it
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Neil harris
- 21-03-24
Well written
dark themes were interesting. the narrator had a good voice. occasional humour diluted the low moments. a good read.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- P. G. Foxe
- 19-08-17
Just a bunch of scenarios
Having read his famous 'dog etc' I was expecting more but it's just a series of vignettes...
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs M A Leppitt
- 20-07-17
Captivating short stories
Each story is a gem, intriguing, original, powerful stories. What a skilful writer. His best book yet.
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