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

Great story

I enjoyed the back-and-forth passages of time. The performances were spot on. Character development was superb.

Beautiful story.

This story has a bit of everything; scandal. intrigue, old world charm, glitzy old Hollywood. I adored the story, and it made me feel hopeful and nostalgic. Great read.

Excellent performance of a terrific story!

Narrator nails it! Story is wonderfully descriptive and the characters are unique. Thoroughly enjoyable listening.

One of the best combination of story/narrator!

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

I wouldn't know. I'm an audible reader.

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

What this book provides are memorable moments after memorable moments. I could have eternity to answer this question but I couldn't decide on one moment which stood out from the others.

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

He is so vital to the overall experience of this book. His voice bring a richness to each character and his Italian is so Bella.

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

Again I could have eternity to choose my favorite character but it is possible to choose your favorite offspring?

Any additional comments?

Lord knows I'm neither a writer nor a wordsmith. I honestly can't put into words how much I enjoyed this book. I have over 150 books in my library but this book is now and forever will be my favorite.

So great!

I am the worst at writing reviews, but I want to tell you that this story is lovely. Please listen :)

Superb

There are a few authors who can transform storytelling into high art. This is the case with Jess Walter and Beautiful Ruins.

This was not like reading a book. It was like watching the intersections of lives. You get to watch the intersection of well established characters making decisions that will worry you, surprise you, make you laugh out loud, and sometimes make you cringe.

And all the while, Mr Walter's extraordinary use of setting, character development, tone, and language leaves you wanting more.

beautifully braided storytelling

Enjoyable characters, explorative emotion, universal themes, well crafted story structure. A page turner with depth.

A more than "adequate" veiw

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

deliberate, layered, original

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

Pasquale, aged and trying to make sense of a self-absorbed Hollywood agent.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Just not my taste...he was OK, and I did appreciate his authentic Italian pronunciations, but his voice is just a little too narcotic for me.

Any additional comments?

This led me to read the rest of Jess Walters' books. The one regret I had with this book is that the author's sleep-inducing (for me, anyway) delivery caused me to miss and repeat many parts of the book. I'd probably rather have read it, so I could give it the attention it deserved.

Awesome!

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

Awesome, sweet, great read, and great story line.

What did you like best about this story?

Italian writting then the meaning of the italian next to it.

Which scene was your favorite?

when he meets the love of his life.

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

Cry just a bit

Lots of characters, timelines and locations

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

Yes. The depictions of the untraveled Italian coast were great.

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

It tied-up thing s well. It was what I expected.

What aspect of Edoardo Ballerini’s performance would you have changed?

It was great.

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

Yes