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

Brilliant Story Telling

It’s not a predictable love story. It’s the story of a life…or six. Stories within stories told by the incomparable storyteller Jess Walters.

The Perfect Summer Read

"Beautiful Ruins" is set in Italy, in Hollywood, in Edinburgh, Portland, Idaho and Seattle, but mostly it is set in summer -- even the darker passages are warm and lit by humor. A nimble series of interlocking plots is set in motion during the filming of "Cleopatra" in Rome, which plays out into the present. Since there are so many colliding (or colluding) stories, it is a pleasure to note that there are no stock characters, no CGI extras on hand: even minor characters assert their individuality. In particular, Richard Burton has an extended cameo that is both hilarious and irresistible -- the reader gets a real sense of the actor's intense charisma, as well as a cool assessment of the damage left in a narcissist's wake. Of the major characters, my very favorite is the wily, amoral puppet-master Michael Deane: he is so entirely shameless, so entirely and unconflictedly himself, that all is bulldozed before him. He makes the mess that starts the story, and more or less cleans it up eventually.

This is a satire, but one with warmth and humor as well as anger.

The narration, by Edoardo Ballerini, deserves special praise, for his fluent reading of Italian as well as for his subtle acting.

THIS IS NOT LIKE THE HELP

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

Yes, I'd try another book from this authors.

Was Beautiful Ruins worth the listening time?

This book was entertaining but in no way should it be compared to "The Help". It caught my attention but it wasn't a book I couldn't stop listening to. I gave it three stars because it was just alright. This is the first time I ever wrote a review and I am doing so because I was duped into listening and perhaps I can save someone else the $$$ or a credit.

Disappointed

Any additional comments?

Superb performance and lovely descriptions of place aren't enough to fluff up the rather flat characters and rather predictable story. Pasquale and Dee, were probably the closest to fully fledged characters, but still not enough to drum up emotion to really drive the story for me. Lacking some real character driven events, the storyline is injected with a few odd, somewhat awkward, turns to keep it moving to the desired conclusion. Overall, not a completely unpleasant diversion though, the actor's performance is brilliant and it's easy to imagine losing oneself on one of these islands.

Beautiful Ruins

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

wouldn't rush for another one

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

the selfish and egotistical character of the film producer. The Italian hotel scenes

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

she did the best she or he could with the text.

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

no

A Lovely Surprise

Would you listen to Beautiful Ruins again? Why?

Edoardo Ballerini is a great reader. He uses such different voices for each of the characters that it's almost as though there are multiple narrators. And his Italian is impeccable.

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

The first transition from Italy to Hollywood is startling in its change of tone.

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

Dynamic characterization and great accents — Italian, Welsh, Scotch, Californian.

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

I think most people would say Pasquale, but for me it was Dee, less for what she said or did than how the cast of characters reacts to her, and the way their lives are changed by coming in contact with her. But also for the way she ages.

Any additional comments?

I loved this book because of the different styles of writing (the chapter of a novel within the novel, the first act of a play, the first chapter of a memoir, the movie pitch), the way the writer changes tone from Italy to Hollywood, from the past to the present. Each chapter is compelling. Every character is individual and distinct. And though it could have played out as a vapid romance, Jess Walter took it to a much higher philosophical plane.

The next "Help", I don't think so.

I listened to the whole book, sometimes I don't make it. It had great reviews, but was a disappointment. It was a little disjointed, but not to the extent that one loses the thread of the story. The main failure to me, was that I never got engaged with the characters. There was nothing that made me care. I suppose one is suppose to get intrigued by the characters of LIz Taylor and Richard Burton showing up, perhaps a voyeuristic thrill. I found it to be pretty boring. the writing was not a problem, the story so-so. There was nothing to identify with or care about. There was something I can't put my finger on that is missing, maybe it is character development??

A rich word picture

What did you love best about Beautiful Ruins?

It was a amazing walk through the lives of a group of unlikely people that are brought into contact in a wonderful way. A story that feels credible and feels good. You are left feeling thoroughly satisfied with lives torn apart yet healed.

Bravo!

This is a beautiful, extremely well-written story. One of my favorite books of the last two years, ...make that one of my top favorites, period. The characters were interesting, quite adeptly "fleshed out", ...and very likable. Even if their actions weren't likable at every turn, the author definitely brought to life the humanity and multi-demensions of these characters. I felt that Walter did a skillfull job of conveying the span of geography and time. The very idea and plot of this story were refreshing and unique to me...If I have ever read a story even somewhat similar, it did not feel like I had. E. Ballerini has a lovely voice that is a joy to get lost in, and it's very hard to imagine anyone else performing such a compelling and spot-on interpretation of this memorable novel. I just want to help other reader-fans in saying don't misunderstand your fellow bibliophiles' comparisons of this book to "The Help"... This is a very different story and a different book, but what it has in common with that other wonderful book is excellent writing, memorable, stand-out characters and it's just overall a great reading (or listening) experience. Belissimo!

Clever and hard to stop listening

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

Narrator is excellent but the book is so interesting, it just keeps you interested all the way to the end.

Who was your favorite character and why?

it was the Italian young man who became the old man. I don't know how to spell his name.

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

Same, he just did the best job!!!! made him seem so humble.

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

yes, if I could have!

Any additional comments?

Narrator was awesome!Book was awesome.I hate cursing in books and there was just way too much in this one, so if that had been left out, I think it would have been a five for me.