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The Mandelbaum Gate

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The Mandelbaum Gate

By: Muriel Spark
Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
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About this listen

 The Mandelbaum Gate divides the conflict-torn realm of Jerusalem, separating Israel from Jordan. Barbara Vaughn, a stubborn young English woman and half-Jewish Catholic convert, insists upon crossing the divide in order to rendezvous with her fiancé, in spite of the very real danger. Her quest sets off a series of bizarre situations and adventures, set against the backdrop of the Eichmann trial of 1961.

Muriel Spark has created a many-faceted novel, both comic and serious, enriched by a wealth of information.

©1965 Muriel Spark (P)1994 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Davidson] achieve[s] successful transitions through deliberate pauses and changes of voice. Thus, we're able to follow the many tangents the author uses to enrich the story and our listening pleasure." ( AudioFile)
"English-accented Frederick Davidson turns in a memorable performance." ( Library Journal)
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A truly convoluted story to what end wasn’t absolutely clear .. I love Muriel’s sharp writing .. maybe the narrators verrry “posh” rather over done accent was a bit distracting… Although I guess he was trying to bring alive the 1950’s FO English accent .. I felt the Middle East accents more successful… however on balance while there was a lot of historical & info on place, it was a slightly tiresome story.

Complicated … & long winded?

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I love books that are narrated by Frederick Davidson and was disappointed by the negative comments in other reviews. chose this book because it is narrated by him and was not disappointed. Thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

G reat narrator

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I think the story is either told in a non-consecutive way or the chapters have been mixed up. I have experienced this problem before with Audible, with a novel I knew well, so that I could be sure it was wrong. Also, to Audible's credit, they did refund me.
As to the narrators accent, I didn't mind it, it was a change, but I felt it gave a strong flavour to the novel itself, so that I took it in a different spirit, more approaching farce. I'd be interested to hear more authentic Israeli and Arab accents.

I'm confused

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I have liked all the previous Muriel Spark audiobooks I have listened to. I can barely follow the story of this one after almost three hours as the narrator is so bad. So affected and mannered and almost every sentence has the same phrasing and cadence. I’m sure there’s some humour in there but it is utterly lost with Frederick Davidson’s narration. Wikipedia describes him as being a ‘Marmite’ narrator, so you might like him. Listen to the sample. I am sure the book would be good if differently read. (Am not allowed to give zero stars for performance… and performance is definitely is - ugh!)

Listen to sample before downloading

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Although this novel began somewhat uncertainly it rallied and covered material not present in MS’ other fiction or short stories.
Set in the newly established Israel in the early 50’s, the primary narrative centres about Barbara Vaughan, half Jewish/ baptised Catholic and a pilgrimage that proves more complex than she’s anticipated .
Muriel Spark’s father was Jewish, so one can’t avoid considering that the material and characters represent a personal resonance and that following the IIWW, MS must have visited the region to have recreated the detail for the work.
At times there is a “Carry On… “ sense of events with a humour that is shared across the cultural groups among endearing characters. Overall the plot is well structured, with unanticipated events that work well enough as a novel.
The narration was disappointing; the English voices were authentic but lesser characters became muddled with inadvertent mingling of accents, and there was a lost opportunity to have credible Israeli and Arab accents; one needed however to ignore this and persevere.

I think MS was an excellent writer and I’m a bit of a fan

I’m an MS fan

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I want to say a good ‘romp’….almost in the Whitehall farce league ….all the old style Brits overseas which permitted the likes of the Cambridge spies to run amok unsuspected….except our protagonist is sharp, suspicious yet still retaining old school bluster. The naive Brits in the hands of knowing foreigners, except it’s a double or perhaps triple bluff. I have only just started reading/listening to Muriel Spark…fabulous writer of great wry humour. The narrator’s style is in keeping with the time in which the book is set. Bear with him.

Very, very amusing

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A terrific tale, narrated by the wonderful Frederick Davidson who so beautifully adopts the voices of the characters that one feels that one is listening to a whole cast of different actors.

A terrific tale

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razor-sharp comic novel in a fascinating historical-political context - read with incredible range (cut-glass RP narration but convincingly cosmopolitan in the various characters) so it's a fabulous listen

modern classic

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The narrator uses a very affected English accent. It s very irritating and detracts from an excellent and well written story.
Why couldn't the guy just read it in good old R P ?

Narration Problem

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The narrator didn’t work for me. It’s probably just me, definitely try the sample first.

Great Story, nasally narration.

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