"What a sad, tragic, enlightning, memorable tale."
Top 10%
The Muslim cutural enlightning moments and there were many.
Direct realistic contact with the Muslim axperience.
Hospital scene at the end and the meeting with Nathan right after.
The depth of hatred for Jews was something, if true and I'm sure it is, that will probably last as long as there are Arabs like the ones in this book.It's nice to be a person whose life is not ruled by extreme religion. Life is a struggle without that.
"Bryce Courtenay RIP"
Thank goodness for the life works of Bryce Courtenay. I'm so sorry it's over. I miss him like a good friend. It's like I know him through his books. All the main characters reflect the good qualities I've tried to live by for almost 70 years. Loyalty, truth, non-judgemental attitudes of others, etc.
Humphrey Bower is the best narrator I've heard in almost 400 listens.
These are my favorite listens and I don't expect better.
I struggle to get through most of my 1000 Audible listens. I just hope that Bryce is remembered like other authors not 1/2 as entertaining.
"One Of My Fovorites"
How Bryce Courtenay came up with all these wonderful characters and stories narrated by Humphrey Bower completely amazes me.
Whenever I want to be entertained I simply start on a Bryce Courtenay / Humphrey Bower book.
I have bought them all, even Whitethorn. It's listed on Audible, but they won't sell it to "people in my jurisdiction". I bought it on CD from Amazon.
That's how much I like Bryce Courtenay / Humphrey Bower. What more needs to be said.
"Just another Bryce Courtenay / Humphrey Bower Book"
You don't get any better than Bryce Courtenay / Humphrey Bower. I don't know who is most important of the two. As I listen to my 900 Audible books, I am more and more convinced that the narrator can make a good listen or completely ruin a book that should have also been just as great.
Humphrey Bower is the best narrator I've heard, period!
You can't go wrong with this combination if you're looking for entertainment.
"This is as good as it gets!!!!!!"
I have 875 Audible books and have listened to around 300. I can't even remember what some were about, but "Shantaram" was one of first I heard and I can remember it distinctly.
The characters were so well developed and interesting that I was completely captivated. What a tale of interesting people.
I didn't want it to end.
The only others I can compare it to are the Bryce Courtenay books.
Both have wonderful narrators and the more books I listen to, the more I find this to be very important.
Don't miss this one! It's long, but I never got bored at any time. Wonderful listen.
"More twists and turns than a mountain road!"
In part 1 of 3 I thought this book was going to be a real loser. I almost quit on it. Glad I didn't because it really got moving later on.
Without giving too much away, I will say that one of the main characters could not pass the Psychopath Test. That became very apparent, and taking that into consideration the ending was a real surprise and shock.
Get this book and take a wild ride!
"The Human Brain is a Complex Thing"
What happened to William James Sidis is not surprising. Sad, yes, but nothing as complex as the human brain can be predictable. He had great potential as a child but so did Bobby Fischer, the greatest chess player of all time. Both, after amazing feats of brilliance, burned out. "Endgame" can be found at Audible.
If you get a chance, listen to both "The Prodigy" and "Endgame" and compare these two brilliant, but ultimately tragic men. There are many similar examples.
"Who Wears the White Hat?"
I have listened to all the "exploration" type books at Audible. My favorite genre without a doubt. From "The River of Doubt" to "Forever on The Mountain" to "Into Thin Air" to many others, "True North" seems to have similarities to the strengths of all of them.
Unlike the race to the South Pole, however, "True North" has no clear cut winners and losers. No Scott and Amundsen.
Scientific advancement take a back seat to "fame" for the true motivation.
Both explorers, Peary and Cook, are flawed heroes. But that is real life, is it not?. You be the judge!
The intensive research is second to none.
By the way, the author as the narrator may not add to the strength of the presentation.
Otherwise it's a great listen. One of my favorites.
"Awful!!!!!"
I have purchased 840 Audible books in the past 5 years or so. I have listened to approximately 250 so far. Some I loved, some I liked and a few I hated and a few I hated with a passion.
This one I hated more than I can properly explain. I'll try. It did not have one believable character. They were all so "over the top" it was stupid.
And the story line was about everything I hate. Running made easy......really? I jogged for years in my younger days and It hurt. Running barefoot for miles and miles. I would rather be beat with a Cat-o'-nine-tails.
Some of the books I've listened to I can't even remember the plot, but this one I can't forget and want to very badly. It puts me in a bad mood every time I think about it.
I wouldn't do it, but I'd like to beat the crap out of the author.
"The celebration of psychopathy."
Very entertaining, if unusual, storyline. I have never read or listened to a book with the primary character anything like Mr. Ripley I don't think.
Different and surprising, but that is the allure that caused me to get another in the series.