The Comfort of Strangers cover art

The Comfort of Strangers

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The Comfort of Strangers

By: Ian McEwan
Narrated by: Alex Jennings
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About this listen

As their holiday unfolds, Colin and Maria are locked in to their own intimacy. They groom themselves meticulously, as though there waits someone who cares deeply about how they appear. Then they meet a man with a disturbing story to tell and become drawn into a fantasy of violence and obsession.

©1981 Ian McEwan (P)2014 (p) AudioGo Ltd. Published by Random House Audiobooks Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

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All stars
Most relevant  
I enjoyed listening to this audio book and love the reader. It was an interesting story- but can I say I enjoyed it? I am not sure. I felt the couple to be very naive and so the ending should not have been such a surprise. It was. I have no idea why it should end like this :(

How Weird is this ?

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A lot of hype around this book but failed to live up to expectations. Takes a good while to get going.

Use of language and writing style is good though.

Ok

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A rip-snorting yarn that sucks you in. Loved it. McEwan writes in a way that has you in the room.

Engrossing

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Perhaps a cautionary tale. Or indulgent nonsense. A stranger punches you and you socialise with them as if they were friends? Well written of course but the description is relentless. Method writing? Try something a bit more inspiring if you know whats good for you. But who does?

Twisted short story

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This is an extended short story. I was drawn into the narrative but found the principal characters unbelievable. I always look forward to reading Ian McEwan but do not think this is his best work. It was just rather creepy.

The Kindness of Strangers

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Dull. Dull. Dull.

Give it a definite miss.

Very sorry I spent money on it.

Alex Jennings reads this terrible story as well as he could

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Why I kept going I don't know. Not a likeable person in it. Fortunately totally unbelievable and you would not have gone a million miles near these people let alone stay in their company. No understanding of domestic violence at all. With a broken spine apparently she still enjoyed it! Dreadful. Please don't waste your time. Very two dimensional.

The most awful book I ha e ever read.

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The couple Mary and Colin are so boring ? This may be on purpose
They get lost so often it’s unbelievable
Robert is the only interesting character but he is sick
Drama eventually at the end but again very 2 dimensional
No real understanding of S&M

Boring

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