Edinburgh

By: Alexander Chee

Narrated by: Daniel K. Isaac, Josh Hurley

Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Twelve-year-old Fee is a shy Korean American boy and a newly named section leader of the first sopranos in his local boys' choir. But when Fee learns how the director treats his section leaders, he is so ashamed he says nothing of the abuse, not even when Peter, his best friend, is in line to be next.

When the director is arrested, Fee tries to forgive himself for his silence. But when Peter takes his own life, Fee blames only himself. In the years that follow, he slowly builds a new life, teaching near his hometown. There he meets a young student who is the picture of Peter and is forced to confront the past he believed was gone.

Told with "the force of a dream and the heft of a life," Edinburgh marked Chee "as a major talent whose career will bear watching" (Publishers Weekly).

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. Winner of the Lambda Literary Award. Winner of a Michener-Copernicus Fellowship.

©2018 Alexander Chee (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Oof, right in the feels

That one was rough to listen to, not because it was bad, it was actually a beautiful book, but there is so much pain in it and the way it is written and presented by the narrator, it hit me deeply. It's going into my list of favorites, that's saying something, because I own over 1000 titles and only have 8 books in my favorite list. Just make sure you're emotionally ready for this one, It's painful, but so worth it

both compelling and repelling

Beautiful prose, if it was about anything else I'd listen again and again. But it's about pedophilia, suicide, suffering, guilt, almost none of the contents are happy. so sadly I had to find myself in the right mood to tolerate the blast of sadness and despair coming from these pages. But still there are moments, slivers of happiness.

Almost perfect - until the ending

The plot, reading & characters were very engaging “almost” all the way through. I found myself drawn into the narrative and would’ve given it 5 stars across the board if not for the ending, which really was disjointed, rushed, and disappointing. I don’t want to spoil it - but where the majority of the book drew out the character’s storyline’s slowly and with lots of detail, if felt like the author went into overdrive in the later chapters to get to an ending. I actually wondered if chapters were missing from my download, but even if that had been the case, the conclusion was so abrupt and not in keeping with the rest of the book, that it ruined the rest for me. 90% of the story was great, the last 10% killed it.

The Prose of an Angel

Magnificent use of allusions
This author is a superb writer of the English language. Touchingly heartbreaking,,, but I wanted more. I highly recommend this beautiful written book to all. Great narration too.

Gorgeous and haunting

How’s that for a combination? The writing in the first section is poetically overwhelming, drawing attention to its beautiful self almost to the point of losing the story. But I didn’t lose the story and I’m glad I kept reading through to the end. The book I read before this is The Tricky Part by Michael Moran, and they complement each other in some regards. I thought Moran’s book was very well written; this one surpasses it.

Trigger Warning: Child Abuse

Chee weaves beautiful prose in this heartbreaking story that questions identity, morality, and loyalty under the terrible umbrella of trauma.

Awesome

Great book, kept my attention all the way to the end, amazing audio delivery, loved it. Will be reading again, every chapter was received amazingly do recommend you give it a read.

A Beautifully written, tragic story.

A coming of age tale in part, but be aware that it deals with pedophilia. What at first is a relatively straightforward story turns into a skillfully woven and complex one.

Beautifully written and poignant novel

This was an amazing novel that knocked me out— with the main character’s tragic life and the author’s another-level writing. The performance was also pitch perfect. It is is tough story to listen to but do compelling that I could not put down.

This book will shatter you in the best way possible.

Originally I gave this book a go because I saw Josh Hurley was narrating, which by the way he did an amazing job conveying the raw emotion of the characters and made them feel like old friends you were reconnecting with. But once I started this book I couldn’t STOP!!! I was absolutely in awe of Alexander Chee’s ability to blend culture, time and trauma into a salve for a broken heart. In this book he not only makes you feel but he challenges you to to examine why that is. If authors are weavers of stories this piece would be as fine as spider silk. Buy it!