Ordinary lives, beautifully told.

This is by far the best Sebastian Faulkes book since Bird Song. Beautifully narrated, listening to the brilliant narrators let me picture events so much better than reading the text. Thoroughly recommend this book

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Paris Past and Present

I really wanted to enjoy this book as Faulks is such a great writer and I was initially feeling a bit underwhelmed but realised there was no point looking for what was not there ie it is not a thriller so don't look for thrills, there is no jeopardy so don't look for rescue etc. What it is though is a very finely crafted look at the modern day immigrant experience from a certain perspective and a moving account of Paris during the occupation as recalled by an American researcher. How these two lives intertwine is interesting but the most fascinating part for me was the account of a particular Nazi concentration camp on French soil. That really moved me. There was also character dialogue about happy endings being something of a modern cliche but I'm not going to give anything away so you'll have to read or listen to find out where Faulks leaves our characters.

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2 people found this helpful

paris echo

too much detail on Paris the city too many stories. no beginning or end. implausible.

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Good story but only the female voice was fantastic

I liked Sebastian Faulks' Charlotte Gray better than this story, but perhaps I would have enjoyed this story more had there not been the male voice. It was hard to understand his reading, therefore difficult to get into the story. I don't get where the needs for a foreign accent come from. The boy in the story was meant to speak French and lived in Paris, but the reader couldn't even get the most basic pronunciation of French names right. I enjoyed the female voice as she successfully performed with American, English and French accents.

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A snapshot in time rather than a story

As the final chapter approached I realised that there would not be a satisfactory ending and it was hugely disappointing. The characters meet and you get a snapshot of their ‘moment in time’ but don’t expect a story. You can imagine their future or let them go. Not my cup of tea but nicely written just felt a little self indulgent.

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Decent enough story; terrible accents

The storyline really intrigued me initially but I have since found it very difficult to engage in the book as the narrators accents are so awful (almost comedic). I'm probably going to buy a hard copy, but fear that the accents are going to plague me and I'll still 'hear' me as each character 'speaks'...

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3 people found this helpful

Paris, mon amour

I have not enjoyed a book so much for ages. The main characters are utterly engaging; their imperfections make them human and by the end I felt I had got to know two unique human beings. The philosophical debate about history permeates the book, but is never didactic nor intrusive- just truly thought provoking. The audio performances were excellent. Paris is the real hero of the novel. I now cannot wait to visit Paris... and to read more Sebastian Faulks.

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1 person found this helpful

A disapponting testimony to Paris

The part of Tariq was interesting and seemed authentic and genuine. Hannah's part was less well-defined and empathetic. However, it was difficult to understand why both characters mispronounced French names when they were both supposed to have a knowledge of the language.

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1 person found this helpful

Good story, lots of in depth info

About France and Algerian relationship. I loved the personal memoirs from the parisien women during ww2

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Listen very carefully as I shall say zis only wuns

The author's voice jars with the inexplicable pronunciation of the readers. Seems like the text was sent to two random people along with a dictaphone and no other instructions than to send it back the results asap. The rendering of the archived recordings reminded me of Allo Allo! I kept asking myself if I was missing some obvious rationale for this approach. The subject matter includes a re wash of the dirty laundry previously done in Charlotte Gray with a few of France's more recently soiled garments chucked in to make up a full load!

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16 people found this helpful