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

wonderful

wonderful characters, so absorbing, pitch perfect sweetness - just do it! you will not regret it

Engaging and well-read

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

"Beautiful Ruins" is among my favorite audiobooks. It ranks in my top 10 of the audiobooks I've listened to thus far.

What did you like best about this story?

The story was very well-paced. The way Jess Walter switched back and forth from the past to the present kept up the intrigue and engaged me completely. I also loved the well-developed characters and their interactions with each other.

What does Edoardo Ballerini bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He has an excellent lyricism to his voice that makes you forget you're listening to a narrator at all. He also has an excellent command of Italian, so his accents were well done. A poor accent can take me right out of a story, but Ballerini's ability to shift effortlessly from woman to man, Italian to American, and young to old made his narration completely effortless.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I loved the early scenes set in Porto Vergonia, especially those featuring the American writer.

Good not great

The story is good and has some surprising humor. It is an intricate weaving of dates, places, and characters, so definitely not for anyone who likes a beginning, middle, and end. There were some parts that were a bit tedious. This was the first book I finished where I didn't feel the need to rewind if I caught myself wondering off because I didn't miss much; that's usually not a good sign. I'm glad I did finish it; it was alright.

Extremely entertaining!

What did you love best about Beautiful Ruins?

I loved the setting! The way the author described the sea side village! I want to go there! Absolutely delightful!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Pasquale, both of them!

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene was when Pasquale and Dee were in the cave watching the light over the paintings!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I wanted to stretch it out as long as I could!

I wish this book had never ended.

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

Among the first five.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Pascale. Such a gentle, honest soul

Which character – as performed by Edoardo Ballerini – was your favorite?

Pascale. Loved the accent.

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

Pascale. So many things to learn from his life story.

Any additional comments?

Masterful writing, gorgeous performance. It was really a true pleasure to listen to it.

Such an enjoyable listen!

If you could sum up Beautiful Ruins in three words, what would they be?

The plot and characters are full and memorable. The narrating is top-notch. I couldn't wait to get into the car/walk to listen to this novel. The literary form and language brought visuals and were so smart that I often had to rewind to listen again. Pasquale was such a colorful and poignant character!

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

Meeting Dee at the German hideout area.

I loved this!

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

This was a wonderful book. I loved the stories and how they were told

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend

Entertaining with some flaws

I felt the story goes downhill at the end. It felt like such an abrupt closure after 9 hours of build up. Worth listening to, though. The performance was done really well in my opinion.

A beautiful book

What did you like best about this story?

I had tears in my eyes several times; not of sadness. Of revelation. This book is awesome; literally--it induces the feelings of awe and elation. Loved it.

Skips a bit, but the story is good

I wonder if this could be true? I don't know, but what if. A strange woman appears at a family hotel; very ill and kind of pretty. This story goes back and forth for 50 years, through the relationships and individuals, until the circle is complete. The story keeps you interested in following each character, both individually and as a group, through the years, until the end.