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

It started off so well

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

It was excellently narrated.

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

The ending was expected, but that isn't a bad thing.

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

He did a great job will all of the characters and didn't try to talk in falsetto for the women.

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

No.

Any additional comments?

This novel started off strong, but unraveled in the middle. There is a fictionalization of a real life person which was unnecessary. The story would have been stronger without it.

Obsessed!

I absolutely LOVED this book: maybe because it takes place often in the summer and I was in the mood for something summer-y, maybe because I'm an actress living in LA and much of the book revolves around the entertainment industry. But, most of all, I loved this book because of the writing. "Beautiful Ruins" is wonderfully written. Jess Walter twists together the different character's effortlessly. The end of each chapter left me content while simultaneously desiring to hear more about that person's path. It can be a little hard to start listening to each chapter because there are a lot of character's to follow. And sometime's I just wanted to hear the previous character's storyline continue. For example, the first chapter from Alvis Bender's point of view was hard to get into at first, but when it ended it was my favorite one in the book. Edoardo Ballerini is incredible. As an actor, I was impressed with his many dialects and inflections. He had his work cut out for him in this project and he rose to the occasion. It's a great novel by a great writer. Just give it a listen.

Loved This Book

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

I didn't read this book yet, but I really enjoyed the narrator's performance, so I would assume that he just took a great book and made it better. With so many reference to things in Italian, it was a plus for me to hear the correct pronunciation, which I don't think I would have accomplished on my own, just reading this book. I will probably give it a read myself at some point.

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

There were many. I really enjoyed any of the scenes that took place in the village.

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

See above.

Any additional comments?

My only critique would be that some parts could get a little slow and wandering with maybe a touch more flowery philosophical musings than was absolutely necessary. But, it was a minor annoyance, and did not take away from the overall story. I knew there were exciting things coming up, and sometimes felt like it was taking too long to get to them. But like I said, not at all reason enough to no love love love this book.

Great story, well told

Beautiful Ruins is the kind of novel that when you finish reading it, you gently take out your earphones and reflect. Jess Walters’ storytelling kept me pleasantly engaged with the characters as they navigated different eras (and places) in their life journeys. Edoardo Ballerini's characterizations were well done, adding to my immersion into the story (unlike other narrators who can be over-the-top and distracting).

If you don’t like character studies, or simply want a “point A to point B” book, then look elsewhere. But I found the journey surprisingly entertaining, humorous, and moving. I don’t usually write reviews, but I am so impressed with Beautiful Ruins that I want others to experience it as well. Enjoy.

the ending makes it

beautiful summation. the entire time I had little taste for the Era described but at the end this book has become. a favorite statement to human transition

a must listen

I have read this book in the past but it is so much better when it is being read to you with the Italian accents and language. Great story. Worth the $.

A fascinating and complex journey

This book is beautifully written, particularly sequences like his passage describing early morning in Los Angeles. I truly enjoyed the way these stories within stories where interwoven into what eventually became a very satisfying conclusion that tied everything together.

Eduardo Ballerini did a magnificent job performing this book.

Marvelous

Would you try another book from Jess Walter and/or Edoardo Ballerini?

Definitely would try another by this combo.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I am listening to The Mark of the Assasin by Daniel Silva now I like to change genres when I start a new book. i also just listened to The Tiger's Wife and The Cove. Next up The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene.

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

nothing

Any additional comments?

The narrator was really ideal for this book. The characters were human and well defined.There were parts I listened to again, just to hear the words again. I did the same thing with Summer in Provenace,

Great history, amazing performance

I love the way the writer submerges you on all this different places and times with very well thought characters and scenarios.

Book, like hotel depicted, "adequate", no charm

Lots of characters and tangled plotlines, well-performed by the narrator, but a story without charm. Also a little unbelievable that Richard Burton would not have investigated just what happened to the woman pregnant with his child. And that the woman would not tell the child of his heritage when he was such a loser and might have benefited with some "self-esteem" from having a famous father. While I read it to the end, to see how it turned out, it felt flat. The author says he fell in love with the Cinqueterre, but this version of the area feels impoverished and less ravishingly beautiful than that place is today. Surely even tho' the era depicted was the war and the 60's, the place still is smashingly gorgeous, and that gets downplayed. The "Hotel Adequate View" that is the scene of much of the action kind of says it all about this book: adequate, but limited view, and I did not like any of the characters very much. Some wise and lyrical passages here and there. Narrator did the Italian accents very well.