Beautiful Ruins

By: Jess Walter

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Fiction and Best Solo Narration, 2013

The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying.

And the story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio's back lot - searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier.

What unfolds is a dazzling, yet deeply human, roller coaster of a novel, spanning 50 years and nearly as many lives. From the lavish set of Cleopatra to the shabby revelry of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Walter introduces us to the tangled lives of a dozen unforgettable characters: the starstruck Italian innkeeper and his long-lost love; the heroically preserved producer who once brought them together and his idealistic young assistant; the army veteran turned fledgling novelist, and the rakish Richard Burton himself, whose appetites set the whole story in motion - along with the husbands and wives, lovers and dreamers, superstars and losers, who populate their world in the decades that follow.

Gloriously inventive, constantly surprising, Beautiful Ruins is a story of flawed yet fascinating people, navigating the rocky shores of their lives while clinging to their improbable dreams.

©2012 Jess Walter (P)2012 HarperCollins Publisher

Wasn't what I expected

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. The book kept jumping from past to present. Didn't like that.

If you’ve listened to books by Jess Walter before, how does this one compare?

N/A

What didn’t you like about Edoardo Ballerini’s performance?

N/A

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

I didn't care for the story.

Starts off picturesque and finishes as bland

I didn't completely dislike it but found it lacking in character development and a bit wordy and predictable. Good narrator for the audiobook.

A more thoughtful Tom Wolfe-style novel

Wonderfully written and performed set of characters--a bit extreme, exaggerated to highlight who they are. Through events and their stories, which are skillfully braided together, the characters ask hard questions of themselves and life.

it shows me a beautiful scene from the story

Where does Beautiful Ruins rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

this is the first book I listened to so far, and absolutely it is the no. 1

What was one of the most memorable moments of Beautiful Ruins?

The moment that DI Morry's tender voice appeared

Which scene was your favorite?

The shore, the quiet villiage. I hope those were the real places I could visit someday

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I'm not sure.

Any additional comments?

none

I truly enjoyed the story and the characters.

Ballerini did a great job and following the characters through their journey during the different time periods was captivating. I love how the wnding broke down where everyone ended up. people who like closure will love this book.

Beautiful

This was the story in which you lose yourself in the moments of the characters' lives. The characters were wonderfully drawn and events and locations were wonderfully visual. I had to stop what I was doing towards the end of the story to cry, not because it was sad, but that the story was ending.

Slice of many lives

I enjoyed this book. It is different read than my usual read, which is mystery or murder/CSI. There were so many characters to follow and they were brought together in such a fun way. Unexpected marriage, child, parent, etc.

I really enjoyed the author's use of different writing styles. His own first, then to an unsuccessful war writer, to a Hollywood screen writer want-to-be and famous Hollywood producer. All so different and clearly stated. As the stories came together I enjoyed making the connection and seeing the characters motives. I felt I really got to know some of them personally. I love Italy and always enjoy the pictures in my mind of places like Cinque Terra, a place I love. Thanks.

Great Audible book

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I listened to this book on my drive home from work each evening. It made my hour commute go by much faster. Listening to the book made the story more interesting than if I would have read the book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I enjoyed the story line with Pasquale. He was a lost soul and was a dreamer. I was anxious to see what would happen to him.

Could you see Beautiful Ruins being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I would really like to see this in a movie. I enjoyed all of the characters story lines and how they eventually are woven together. The scenery would be beautiful in Italy.

wonderful book

Great book. It's like a Robert Altman film with several characters whose lives all connect in some way. The only issue I had was with Richard Burton being a relatively main character and certainly a central part of the plot. It was hard to suspend disbelief. All in all a great novel with an extremely well written and poignant ending.

Not as good as I hoped

This was on a number of "must listen" booklists so I finally downloaded it. Although the story was good, I did not find it "great". It was a book I could have read at the beach on a holiday, I was able to pick it up and put it down without much effort. I "must read" for me is a book, like Gone Girl where I end up listening to it start to finish. Beautiful Ruins.. an OK story, worth one credit but not a must listen.