Fortune Cookie

By: Bryce Courtenay

Narrated by: Humphrey Bower

Length: 21 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

It's the 1960s and the world of advertising is coming alive - and it's an exciting world to be part of. Simon Wong, a Chinese-Australian and a promising young advertising executive, is sent to Singapore to establish an office. He finds himself thrust into an environment that is at once strangely familiar and profoundly different, one where the rules that govern behaviour - both in business and in personal life - differ wildly from what he is used to. And where all is not what it appears to be.

Under the veneer of the commercial world lie some shocking truths - of people smuggling, drug trafficking, and murder. And Mercy B. Lord, the woman Simon falls for, is caught up in it. From wartime Asian comfort houses to CIA spy rings, Bryce Courtenay takes us on a thrilling journey with a great love story at its heart.

©2013 Christine Courtenay; 2010 Bryce Courtenay (P)2011 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

My favorite Author/ Reader!

If you could sum up Fortune Cookie in three words, what would they be?

Exciting storyline, well read

What other book might you compare Fortune Cookie to and why?

You can pick up any of Courtney's book series, like Persimmon Tree or Potato factory and you will be enthralled. He is my favorite story teller taking me to Australia, China or Japan, with vivid characters.

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

Humphry reads all of Courtney's books, he has the perfect ability to produce the accents for each character...you won't believe how great he is!

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

Bought and read the second book in this series right away!

3 of 5 stars for this one of Courtenay

Not one of his most riveting of stories - if you can get through the boggy and sometimes sappy beginning, then you will make it to the end. There just wasn't enough "oomph" for me in this one.

Always enjoy Humphrey Bower as Narrator

Bryce Courtenay is a great story teller - but Mr. Bower brings his books to life.

Always a good story

Any additional comments?

Bryce Courtenay is my favorite author; I am so sad that he will be writing no more books. Fortune Cookie is another great listen. Characters are interesting and situations they get into are unpredictable. I am always sad when Courtenay books end - it like the listener becomes part of the family.

Great Historical Fiction

I loved the story. Bryce Courtney really knows how to weave a story and pull you in, he's one of my favorite story tellers!!

Solid, but has a feel like the rest of his books..

this just felt like anyone of his other books, just in a different setting. Also way too long. That being said it was still enjoyable.

You need a refresh Mr Bower and Mr Courtenay

I am a big fan of Humphrey Bower and have downloaded and listened to books I would not normally consider due to Humphrey being the narrator.

However I think I must have heard to many because Humphrey does not have the range of voices and accents to differentiate characters across books, especially in the Bryce Courtenay books, the Chinese characters in this book sound exactly the same as the Japanese characters in Persimmon Tree, the ladies are always the same plummy English accent across all the books, and the Australians are so stereotypical it is a little annoying, even for me as an Englishman abroad.

Having said this I will still actively search out books narrated by Humphrey and only hope he can develop some additional character voices in the future.

In the same way, Bryce Courtenay needs to refresh his approach to his novels, again I would suggest he tries to expand beyond the narrow view he has of what he wanted to be and trying to realise this through his writings, we all know of his amazing life story which we all wish we had, but some may consider it is just that a story developed in an active mind that is able to translate this to paper. I think the line between Mr Courtenays real life and written life through his novels have blurred into each other to the point where one cannot be sure of the sincerity in either. Yes his books are fantastically descriptive and I cannot help myself but download any offering by the Courtenay/Bower partnership, but I do become more cynical with each tome.

So in Summary, a great book well narrated but maybe just a bit to much like all the rest for the avid, long term listener, if this is you first book by the dynamic duo then you will get great pleasure by spending the next 20 plus hours immersing yourself in the wonderful characters. If, however this is your sixth or seventh by the Courtenay/Bower team be prepared to have heard it all before (I bet like me you still get it though)

Worst Bryce Courtenay book ever

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Somebody with a limited attention span or poor memory, since the book is extremely repetitive and has many internal inconsistencies.

What could Bryce Courtenay have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

The book needs a good editor, and I was itching all through to get my hands on it. We are told the same things over and over again, and then still again, the main character is not believable or logical (when his beloved calls him in tears, sobs and says they can never see each other again and then abruptly hangs up, he questions why she is so heartless; he comes from a wealthy family and is highly educated yet talks like a builder ), the characters are like stereotypes with no depth, there are so many internal inconsistencies (phone calls described then later moved to another time, information shared then shared again as if the character had not heard it 3 pages before), and we are told weird things which have nothing to do with the story and which the author claims are of no interest to anyone, yet relates in detail (how brandy is made??). The story itself is interesting, but poorly told, with all the really interesting stuff occurring in the last 60 minutes of a book that takes over 21.5 HOURS to listen to. A whole speech about the CIA involvement in the drug trade in Asia occurs very late and is interesting information, but somehow detracts from the story rather than adds to it.

What aspect of Humphrey Bower’s performance would you have changed?

I think his asian women sounded very strange. Normally I love his multiple voices, but I think he was stuck with appalling dialogue and unbelievable characters. So I could not really separate his reading from the poor storytelling.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Interesting story overall, interesting view into advertising in Australasia in the 60s. With editing to remove about 50% of the useless text, it would have been a good book.

Any additional comments?

I am very sorry I listened to this...I have always loved Bryce Courtenay and his characters, and this has sort of ruined my opinion of him, that he would publish such a mess of a book.

Too long.

This book was just too long. There are some interesting bits in it about the culture of Singapore at the time, and about Australia in the gold rush, but not enough to sustain the length of this book.
I also had some trouble with the romantic aspects of the plot, which did not do it for me.
The narrator was good, but could not bring this book above average for me.

Incredibly disappointed

What disappointed you about Fortune Cookie?

Sadly, I purchased this book whilst on holiday, hoping for the regular brillance and story telling of Bryce Courtenay, but I was sadly disappointed.