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

This was OK

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Overall the book was only OK, it did not grab my interest from beginning to end

Immersive

What did you love best about Beautiful Ruins?

It was a story of redemption and sacrifice. The richness of the characters made them believable. I also enjoyed how the story switched from the past and present, yet was written in such a way that the story weaved together.

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

The moment Pasquale made the sacrifice to do the right thing. He was left to wonder about the life he could have had, but chose a different path.

What about Edoardo Ballerini’s performance did you like?

Oh, the voices! So rich and memorable. Michael Dean was staccato and Pasquale was fluid. It was easy to visualize the characters by listening to the narration.

Who was the most memorable character of Beautiful Ruins and why?

The depth of Pasquale was memorable and the most typical answer, but I think that Dee/Deb was probably who I will dwell on the most. What she gave up and what she became. In the end, she found value in her life despite all she had lost.

Any additional comments?

This was a most enjoyable book, made better by the narration.

Enjoyable story.

Would you listen to Beautiful Ruins again? Why?

The story line and characters were engaging. I thought it was a poignant and thought provoking book that stayed enjoyable throughout.

Too much hype in marketing left me disappointed

Yes, this was a beautifully written novel. I did find myself enjoying some of the characters deeply. On the other hand, Richard Burton and the Hollywood hangers-on left me completely flat. Edoardo Ballerini as narrator was the highlight.

Author Jess Walter has a gift for intertwining disparate characters in different decades and different continents, but unless the next novel is free of household names (behaving badly), I won't be back.

Narration made this a must.

What made the experience of listening to Beautiful Ruins the most enjoyable?

The narration is what sold me, his voice is captivating and easy to listen to.

The best narrator I've experienced!

Would you consider the audio edition of Beautiful Ruins to be better than the print version?

I would think so, because of all the accents.

What other book might you compare Beautiful Ruins to and why?

The Help. The narration was excellent for this book too.

What about Edoardo Ballerini’s performance did you like?

I loved how he flowed so effortlessly from American, to Italian, from Male to Female. It was a pleasure just to listen to his performance.

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

I just didn't want it to end. I loved the ending, but if it just kept going, I would still be listening. I laughed out loud a few times. I could picture each person, young and old with the great descriptions.

Any additional comments?

I plan to listen to many more books written by Jess Walter and narrated by Edoardo Ballerini.

A Spiderweb of a Story

I was incredibly impressed with this story. The plot was intricate, detailing the lives of separate characters. The author demonstrate a great level of diversity in being able to write in different styles and to be able to put himself in the shoes of so many very different characters and to make it believable.

The story changes time, location, and character often, not in chronological order, keeping things interesting and engaging. In addition to this, the lives of these characters all seem to connect at one point or another and it is incredible and exciting each new connection is revealed.

A theme in this book is responsibility. The motto of one character is "We want what we want." However, the motto of another, and I think a pivotal point in the book, is that sometimes, we may want one thing, but we know it is RIGHT for us to do another. This becomes clear in a small, easily overlooked scene, but very important one, when a young version of one of the main characters finds a ring in the sand, dropped from the bag of a beautiful woman. He glances at his mother, and then returns the ring to the woman. His mother then tells him that she hopes he would do the right thing even if she weren't watching one day.

In addition to an excellent plot, story, and character development, the imagery the author evokes in his writing is superb. I found myself swept away onto the shores of a forgotten town in Italy, into an audience watching a play, or onto a hectic set in Hollywood. I found myself seeing the world through each character's eyes, and being able to see, taste, smell, and experience just through the excellent use of words.

The book is not written in a heavy manner. The text is light, easy to understand, and enjoyable.

Also, while some books may end in a certain point in the life of character, just when you've come to love them, this author has chosen to end the book with you knowing exactly what became of all of the characters, offering closure, lessening the grief that sometimes a reader might have after finishing a book and losing the "friendship" that has been developed with those characters. I felt like I walked away from this text knowing that things ended a certain way. It was a unique way of closing a story, a peaceful way, and I really liked that.

Finally, Edoardo Ballerini performs the audio reading in such a great way. He is one of those readers that bring the story to life. I loved when he spoke Italian in the text. It was so musical. He inserted dramatic pauses, a variety of vocal intonations, and didn't have any annoying tics that sometimes audio readers can have unknowingly.

This is definitely a worthwhile book to enjoy!

Charming!

Nuanced characters and charming locations! This book made me wish to make, and tell, better life stories.

Beautiful Memories

Beautiful book. Many meaningful insights about the meaning of life and its transience. Bravo for the author!!

Made myself finish it.

Didn't enjoy the flipping back and forth between characters and their stories between chapters, but I'm sure that is part of the art of this story.