Brother Fish

By: Bryce Courtenay

Narrated by: Humphrey Bower

Length: 31 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

From the author of The Power of One comes an inspiring human drama and war story of three lives brought together and changed forever by the extraordinary events of recent history. Inspired by real events, Bryce Courtenay's new novel tells the story of three people from vastly differing backgrounds. All they have in common is a tough beginning in life. Jack McKenzie is a harmonica player, soldier, dreamer, and small-time professional fisherman from a tiny island in Bass Strait. Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan is a strong-willed woman hiding from an ambiguous past in Shanghai. Larger than life, Private Jimmy Oldcorn was once a street kid and leader of a New York gang. Together, they reap a vast and not always legitimate fortune from the sea. Narrated by celebrated, award-winning actor Humphrey Bower.

©2013 Christine Courtenay (P)2014 Bolinda Publishing Pty. Ltd

Critic reviews

• 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Literary Fiction

Interesting but better at half the length

I have liked several of Bryce Courtenay's other books, and this one had promise. The narration is excellent--male, female; Australian, Chinese, American, and British characters are all well characterized. I always learn a lot from Courtenay, and this book was filled with historical information about the Korean War, post-war Australia, and pre-war China. However, it was WAY too long. I felt that there was an awful lot of repetition of details and sometimes way too many details were presented. I found myself hitting the "move ahead" button repeatedly. That said, the characters are well-drawn and I cared about them as people.

Bryce Courtenay an exceptional raconteur

Courtenay once again proves his amazing ability to take the reader/listener on an emotional and spiritual journey with an epic scope of characters, landscapes and intricate relationships between all of these.
Bower shines as narrator!

Not my Favorite

What did you like best about Brother Fish? What did you like least?

I have enjoyed every Bryce Courtney book I have listened to on Audible but Brother Fish was one I could have passed on. The book is very long and jumps from one main idea to the next. It felt like it could have been three different books. I found myself fast forwarding through parts of the book just to get finished and to get beyond some of the mundane descriptions which did not add to the story. The violent descriptions of the battles fought in the Korean war were also more than I wanted to hear. I like Bryce Courtney but Brother Fish did not rate high on my list. As always, Humphrey Bower's performance was outstanding.

It takes you on a journey that you hate ends

I was hesitant to begin such a long book but was immediately entranced by the narrator, the characters, their story and the history. I came to love and truly admire the main characters of Jacko, Jimmy and the Countess. They are all quiet heroes. The friendship, compassion and love that spanned decades was heart warming. The story was always entertaining. The narration was perfect. The book was a great listen.

What a great storyteller

Listening to Bryce Courtenay novels is much like sitting down with a really good friend for a fascinating conversation.

I love Bryce Courtenay but this book....

LOVE Bryce Courtenay's work; adore Humphrey Bower's delivery (1/2 the reason to get a book to try out! Fantastic theatre!) I am listening to this book after FOUR FIRE'S (which I loved) and it seems that this book has a similar story line, character's and not enough dialogue. I am 4 hrs into the 1st part and am considering shelving it for a year or so. I am bored. Please understand that I have read/listened to 7 books which might be a factor. My favorite is the Australian Trilogy.
May find another Humphry Bower tho!

wonderful story telling

Courtenay pulls no punches via his main character. The Korean War, being a POW, Australia and racism, America as seen from the outside circa 1950.... you get it all. The story is engrossing. It ranges far and wide. Bryce Courtenay tells a great tale.... and from the author of Power of One I would expect no less.

Well Done !

If you could sum up Brother Fish in three words, what would they be?

I can't sum this up in 3 words.

What other book might you compare Brother Fish to and why?

This book has many of the same elements as Foue Fires - also by Bryce Courtenay and narrated by Humphrey Bower. Small Australian town, poor catholic family, multiple siblings , alcoholism in the family, middle boy child is the main character and he goes into the military.

Which character – as performed by Humphrey Bower – was your favorite?

Humphrey Bower does an outstanding job narrating all characters, but in this story I thought he did an especially good job with Jimmy Oldcorn.

sweet, tragic, poignant, gasp-inducing

With home read them. The books that make you sad when they finish. But when I finished this book, I listened to the acknowledgements at the end. You can tell that the author puts a lot of himself into the characters in the story. He sounds like one of the characters in the story as his humility and gratitude and appreciation of people w/their quirks and goods and bads is revealed. Loved this complex and historical story. Loved the narrator and the humor as the narrator recalled the characters' turn off phrase or accent. Beautiful.

This book has it all!

I generally don't care for books by male authors but since it had great reviews I decided to give it a chance. It took me a while to get into the book, mainly because I had to get used to the Australian accent, and the assorted phone calls and family members interrupting me. I was glad that I stuck with it because it is a wealth of information and entertainment. The characters are so well developed and interesting. The background for different world events allows for a better understanding of that period of history.

I loved James' singing voice of "Johnny I didn't know ya"! Excellent performance! I looked for the same song being sung on YouTube but none of them compared to the performance in the audiobook. Wonderful!

The acknowledgment at the end shouldn't be missed either. The acknowledgments give credit to the many people that were part of the creation of this book and helps explain how one person can create such a work. Bryce Courtenay is a master at bringing the experiences and minds of many people to create an unforgettable literary work.