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Four Fires  By  cover art

Four Fires

By: Bryce Courtenay
Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
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Publisher's summary

The four fires in this story are passion, religion, warfare, and fire itself. While there are many more fires that drive the human spirit, love being perhaps the brightest flame of all, it is these four that have moulded us most as Australian people. The four fires give us our sense of place and, for better or for worse, shape our national character.

©2013 Christine Courtenay; 2010 Bryce Courtenay (P)2008 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"Humphrey Bower, speaking as Mole, delivers every possible nuance and emotion of his character’s story, and shows a startling aptitude for other dialects as well. Close family friends and enemies include surviving Polish Jews, an East Indian healer, an Irish Catholic priest, Japanese prison camp soldiers, and many others. All of them, young and old, male and female, spring to vivid life in Bower’s versatile voice. Narrative passages and dialogue elicit tears and laughter by turns, without a minute of boredom in the 30-hour production." ( AudioFile magazine)

What listeners say about Four Fires

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1,380
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars

Hit in the solar plexus

I try to rate a book not so much on how much I liked it but on how well I thought it was written. This becomes even more compounded/confounded by the fact that I mostly listen to audiobooks and there is the matter of this person called the narrator. I cannot say this too strongly, I believe a narrator can make or break a book. So, for my reviews, there is this other dimension to consider.

I believe that Four Fires by Bryce Courtenay is a phenomenal book all by itself. It is not, however, a book I probably would have gravitated to nor enjoyed as much in paper form. I picked this selection based on reviews and particularly the reference in these reviews to the narrator Humphrey Bower. I was not disappointed. To call Mr. Bower a narrator does not do him justice. An actor? Okay, that works. He flawlessly plays the roles of so many of the characters in this book. And that would make him an artist. That's good too. But, like the author himself, Bower is a Storyteller extraordinaire and for me, that was the magic of this selection.

I was blown away by every aspect of this book in a "good way" until Mole's dad takes him into the bush and tells him of his time in the war. For me, at that moment, the book became something completely different. It was like it was not even the same book written by the same person. And, while I concluded that the descriptions of all the brutality of war could be taken in context, it might not be for everyone. These events are not pure fiction, but, we are told, are descriptions based on historical facts and perhaps we should not avoid nor look away from such things if we are to diminish their chance of reoccurrence in the future.

So, for the record, I give the Four Fires:

5 stars for personal enjoyment
5 stars for general skill in writing
5 stars for storytelling, acting and narration.

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112 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Hey Audible - You Blew IT

There is no absolutely no better combination of author and narrator than Bryce Courteney & Humphrey Bower, yet you slipped this one into your library with no fanfare. I stumbled across it by accident and I cannot be the only fan of this combination. Of his earlier books, this one most reminds me of “The Power of One.” The characters are a delight and joining in on the lives of this ordinary/extraordinary family has had me walking around for days with headphones on with a goofy smile on my face.

Come on Audible! Give this author/narrator the promotion they more than deserve.

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77 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The BEST of Courtenay

I have been an audible member for 4 years and have listened to over 1000 books since my job keeps me traveling so much. This is the first review that I have written. I have listened to all of Courtenay's books and enjoyed all of them. However, Four Fires is in my opinion the BEST. As for the narration as always there are no words to express how wonderful Humphrey Bower is.

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46 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

His very best!

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the intriguing characters, the humor, just everything about this book. Nothing else can be added about Humphrey Bower - he brings the pages to life. I could listen to Humphrey Bower read a telephone book.
I have read most of Bruce Courtenay and I agree with other reviewers, this is his best.I didn't want the story to end. Another feature I enjoy about Bruce Courtenay is that he teaches the reader - I learned a lot about forest fires. Fascinating.
This is a "must listen" book. Why Audible didn't give it front page headlines is mystifying.

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33 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • G.
  • 11-12-10

Four Fires, Three-and-a-Half Stars

(Assuming you have read the publishers summary) This is a pretty good book. I've read or listened to most of his works and at times can get a little sick of the upbeat attitude and good luck of his downtrodden characters. Four Fires has this problem, but the story ultimately won me over. Courtney has a gift for descriptive writing and vivid characters, and he has put the gift to full use. Like the people, the places are also fully fleshed out and nuanced. I'm feeling a trilogy coming on... If you have never treated yourself to Bryce Courtney I suggest beginning with THE POWER OF ONE or BROTHER FISH. If you are a fan wondering if this is a gem or a dud, I recommend it. Also, as usual, great narration from the wonderfully gifted Humphrey Bower. There is a lot of dialogue in this book and I'm amazed at his ability to create unique voices for everyone and keep them all straight.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic!

Wow, what an enthralling story presented by a very talented narrator. Humphrey makes the characters come alive with superb personalisation of each voice. I came away with a new appreciation of the rough, yet tender life in rural Australia. I loved the aussie slang that is peppered throughout the book.

Bryce wrote this novel with such exquisite detail that it made me feel like I was a part of the Maloney family, experiencing the ups and downs of fire, war, religion and relationships.

Highly recommended!

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Waiting Again

I loved this book - it was pure Courtney! The characters - especially all of the Maloneys were believable, larger than life, comic and sympathetic. I have been waiting for another Courtney family to follow. I kept checking his website to see what was coming and to make sure that I had not missed a book. I gobbled this one up so quickly that I find myself waiting again for the next one (sigh).

I can always determine who is speaking when Humphrey Bower creates his vocals. I recommend the book and Humphrey Bower is the bonus.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Very moving and powerful

My favorite Bryce Courtenay book before reading FOUR FIRES was TANDIA (although I rated most of his books 5 stars or 4 stars), but FOUR FIRES is right up at the top of my favorites. Courtenay's books are so well-researched that you learn a lot whether it be about AIDS, apartheid, alcoholism and (in this book) personal history slowly revealed in a powerful and beautifully written final "going bush" trip with Tommy and Mole (the son). Humphrey Bower as always reads the book so well that I have trouble hearing anyone else read something by Bryce Courtenay (as I did with JESSICA although it was also the worst of Courtenay's books). It's a long saga of this family (the Malonie's) and people they interact with including an Indian herbalist, two concentration camp survivors, snobs, a pries tin the Catholic Church, bigots, fire fighters, the garment district, the Australian soldiers in World War in the struggle with Japan, and ends with Australia's role in Vietnam.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

SEVEN-STAR LISTEN!

I was distracted by the publisher's blurb. In fact I thought this might be four novellas or something like that. Australians are much like Californians or anybody else. They do indeed have great brush fires, but we have forest fires, too. Anyway, the book is a story about one small town in Australia and one family in that town. The family members struggle to look good in the community; they're really fine, hard-working smart people, but some in the town hold their noses even higher in the air. As it happens, the family are Irish Catholic with a dad who drinks too much and a large, outspoken mom. Most of the kids are not from that father, who has problems from the war. The mom and older kids (and dad if he's out of jail) have a garbage route to run before dawn every weekday. The kids scrub and bathe in cold water before dressing for school. The mom supplements that income with her fancy sewing -- what we call in the U.S. "heirloom" sewing. This huge woman comes in from the garbage run and sits down to an old Singer to turn out fancy christening gowns! One of the boys submits his embroidery in the local fair under his mom or sister's name and wins every time. The kid telling the story grows up as the story is happening. This injects unintended humor as he learns about people having to go to special camps to learn to concentrate. Soon, an old East Indian woman herbalist and a Jewish couple from Poland join the family circle of love.

As the kids grow up and head out for further education, our young story-teller is the last. The last part of the book is about military life. We have already seen the pretty sister fight her own battles and the clever brother with his transit company and the other brother -- the one who embroiders -- charm the sewing ladies. So it's time for Mole to tell about time in the bush with his dad and then fight fires with his dad, and then learning jungle combat. This hit me hard for some reason; I am a veteran and have strong ideas about how veterans are dealt with. But Mole is so successful that he just moves on up and up. I have only listened one time so far. I believe Courtenay has balanced the lives of the four kids. He even tied things up for the little sister who is engaged to the nephew of a family friend.

Through the 29 hours, whether it's walking in the bush or rushing a sewing order or trying to outrun a bush fire pedaling a little kid's bicycle -- there are absolutely no dull moments. Bryce Courtenay has written a masterpiece right up there beside Power of One or Brother Fish. And without Humphrey Bower, I can't imagine how it would be. Bower can talk like an old Indian lady, a wily Irish priest, a 300-pound Australian-Irish momma, a little Polish Jewish doctor and a big sweet African-American dude.

This is the best kind of fiction. It teaches things. We find out what happened and then we listen again to admire HOW it happened. I am sorry Mr. Courtenay is gone now. We will just have to keep listening again.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

a great read

This was a great read. I wasn't sure at first why so much of the WW2 experience was in it, but then it became clear. It was very moving and tragically only too true. The story has some wonderful and very believable Aussie characters in it, but perhaps they are not unique to Australia. Interesting relationships. I was sorry when it finished. Highly recommended.

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9 people found this helpful