Condominium

A Novel

By: John D. MacDonald

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

A classic novel by John D. MacDonald with an exclusive introduction written and read by Dean Koontz.

Welcome to Golden Sands, the dream condominium built on a weak foundation and a thousand dirty secrets. Here is a panoramic look at the shocking facts of life in a Sun Belt community - the real estate swindles and political payoffs, the maintenance charges that run up and the health benefits that run out... the crackups and marital breakdowns... the disaster that awaits those who play in the path of the hurricane...

©1977 John D. MacDonald. Copyright renewed 2005 by Maynard MacDonald. (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Old favorite still has the power

When CONDOMINIUM was first published, I was reading the Travis McGee mysteries by John D MacDonald, and living on a houseboat myself, just like Travis. I picked up this in paper copy. The story totally blew me away!

For someone who lives along the southern coast, it is a cautionary tale. But I won’t go into the story. JDM remains one of my favorite writers.
I listened to it again last night, in bed, headphones on, until three in the morning. Wow, it could have been written yesterday, the subject matter is so apt......my attention was focused, and I could not stop listening.

The audio recording is well done. I speeded up the playback to 1.25 speed, with no sense of rushing the narration by Richard Ferrone. His voice was deep and rich, and he gave a good timbre to the female characters, but was especially great with the male voices.

I have been a fan of John D. MacDonald for many years. He creates memorable characters. He could be likened to the Tom Clancy from an earlier time, a rather honest masculinity to his writing. He honed his craft from Saturday Evening Post short stories to mysteries to novels centered around coastal regions. He lived in Sarasota Florida.

I think I’ve read in print form all books still available. I have other Audible titles by him as well. What a storyteller!

I suggest you listen to this book..... if a tropical storm or hurricane is approaching with any option to come your way, I guarantee it will raise the hair on your head. You will find yourself checking preparedness supplies!

WAAAY TOO LONG

What made the experience of listening to Condominium the most enjoyable?

The characters were realistic if somewhat depressing.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The hurricane actually arriving was the best part.
The least interesting was the tedious description of the structural defects of the condominiums. I now know more about concrete pilings than I ever cared to know.

What about Richard Ferrone’s performance did you like?

If it wasn't for Richard Ferrone's performance, I would have given up on the story about half way through. He has an incredible voice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No.

Review

Yet once again MacDonald proves himself to be a master storyteller weaving a multitude of characters around modern condominium living in the Florida keys.
A worthy take of caution and hubris, we’ll worth the read!

Global warming reignites the relevance of this novel.

Episodic and the plethora of characters makes this the best of late night listens. When dozing off to sleep you can pick up anywhere in the narration.

Same Old Song and Dance

The corporate culture combines with consumerism and ignorance to create a disaster. No this isn't about the sub prime mortgage crisis; it's about a coastal economy that depends on people buying land and building structures where they have no business building anything. No it's not about New Orleans and a hurricane called Katrina; it's Florida and a fictional hurricane named Ella. It's about the combination of a natural and a man made disaster and the unwillingness of people to see what's not in their best interest to see. Human nature changes slowly if at all and the manner in which people deal with issues such as self interest versus community interest; government vs. private business can be placed at the center of many types of stories. With a couple of exceptions it's a story that you can transpose easily to today. The exceptions are that weather prognostications are much more exact now and there are a lot of sources for weather now; there would be far fewer false alarms today than in 1973. The other difference that with new laws the builders would have already written new laws and regulations to exempt themselves from legal action and it wouldn't have taken illegal bribery today. Not when legal bribery is so much easier and safer to conduct. This is not the best of the non McGee books by the author but informative, instructive, entertaining and still a good listen more than forty years after it was written. Like most things written by John D I recommend this one.

Wonderful listening experience!

I thought the descriptions of all the inhabitants would drive me crazy but then I got caught up in all the personalities. If a lesser writer had attempted this, it would never have worked. JM wove a wonderful story with the warp and weft of these disparite lives and desires. The best part was the last third of the book when the pace picks up every so slightly and then roars to an eventful and dramatic finish. I loved it!

Very interesting!

Lots of time to learn about people! We enjoy reading John D McDonald books. We’ve even been to Baha’i Mar.

Disaster Movie Material with Heart and Substance

In his introduction to Audible's edition of this book, Dean Koontz says that many people consider it a masterpiece, but it isn't. That's not the kind of thing you usually read in an invited introduction, but after listening, I'd say it's true.

Condominium is sprawling, fascinating in spots and boring in others, full of cliches but also full of characters--especially the elderly couples who have bought into the "golden years on golden sands" spiel of the real estate developers--who are often poignantly, even heartbreakingly, real. I'd say it's worth the time, if only for Hurricane Climax.

Condominium was written over several years and published in the late 70s. If you've seen the "who will survive?" disaster movies of that era--"Earthquake" or "Poseidon Adventure" or "Towering Inferno"-- you'll recognize the plot line. Also the Hollywood cliches--hunky loner hero, great-hearted, dying, elderly millionaire (today he'd have be a billionaire, but this was the 70's remember) married to beautiful, devoted young wife who fights her attraction to hero, slick amoral developer, greedy realtor, young investigative reporter, corrupt banker, check.

But supporting those characters are the well-drawn condo residents and a great deal of fact-based research by an author who, obviously distressed by the despoiling of Florida, wanted to sound an alarm. John D. MacDonald, like Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiassen, loved the natural beauty of the peninsula's fragile ecosystems and was angry and heartbroken as he watched the race to extract as much as possible, take the money and run, and damn the consequences.

I like Richard Ferrone's performances in general, but he can be a little monotonous, and it is a bit hard to keep some of the characters straight. About halfway through listening I began to get the dramatic personae straightened out, and it was about that time the hurricane made her first appearance. After overly numbing detail about construction, real estate investment banking, condominium owner association legalities, fishing, and oceanic geology, the meteorological facts were actually interesting, especially coming out of an era long predating satellite tracking and The Weather Channel.The last one-third of the book is spellbinding.

Not a masterpiece. But maybe worth the designation "classic."

Still a good read

Any additional comments?

I read this way back when and it is still relevant in so many ways and an excellent book. The dialog of one bickering couple is eerily realistic. Not in my life of course....

Condominium review

Believable. Too technical. Open ended, wanted to know more about survivors. Wanted to know more about deceased.