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High-Rise
- Narrated by: Tom Hiddleston
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
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Publisher's summary
British actor Tom Hiddleston, well-known for portraying the supervillain Loki (The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World) and the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald (Midnight in Paris), brings his acting versatility and smooth voice to this visionary tale by acclaimed author J.G. Ballard (Empire of the Sun). When a class war erupts inside a luxurious apartment block, modern elevators become violent battlegrounds, and cocktail parties degenerate into marauding attacks on "enemy" floors. Human society slips into violent reverse as once-peaceful residents, driven by primal urges, re-create a world ruled by the laws of the jungle.
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can not believe dean koontz wrote this book
- By Anonymous User on 10-05-21
By: Dean Koontz
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Lost Girl
- By: Adam Nevill
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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How far will he go to save his daughter? How far will he go to get revenge? It's 2053 and runaway climate change has brought civilization to the brink of collapse. Billions are threatened with starvation and mankind is slowly moving north in a world stricken by war, drought and superstorms - easy prey for the pandemics that sweep across the globe. Easy prey, too, for the violent gangs and people-smugglers who thrive in the crumbling world where 'King Death' reigns supreme.
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This is an outstanding novel
- By Midwestbonsai on 06-21-16
By: Adam Nevill
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Netherland
- By: Joseph O'Neill
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Alone and un-tethered, feeling lost in the country he had come to regard as home, Hans stumbles upon the vibrant New York subculture of cricket, where he revisits his lost childhood and, thanks to a friendship with a charismatic and charming Trinidadian named Chuck Ramkissoon, begins to reconnect with his life and his adopted country. Ramkissoon, a Gatsby-like figure who is part idealist and part operator, introduces Hans to an "other" New York populated by immigrants and strivers of every race and nationality.
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Get Your Post-Colonial Gatsby ON!
- By Darwin8u on 04-13-12
By: Joseph O'Neill
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Cold City
- Repairman Jack: Early Years Trilogy, Book 1
- By: F. Paul Wilson
- Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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If you've never read a Repairman Jack novel, this is the place to begin. It's 1990. A twenty-one-year-old named Jack has dropped out of college, leaving his old life behind to build a new one in New York City. Manhattan's rough edges are jagged enough to shred any unwary newcomer, but perhaps not one who is determined to stay off the grid, at any cost, in the busiest metropolis on earth. And to do so, he'll have to take jobs of a less than legal nature.
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Fun, as long you don't think too much
- By Andrew Pollack on 01-17-14
By: F. Paul Wilson
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White Noise
- By: Don DeLillo
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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When an industrial accident unleashes an "airborne toxic event", a lethal black chemical cloud floats over the Gladneys' lives. The menacing cloud is a more urgent and visible version of the "white noise" engulfing the Gladneys - radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, ultrasonic appliances, and TV murmurings - pulsing with life yet suggesting something ominous.
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Designed to be analyzed by an English class
- By RI in Canada on 10-15-16
By: Don DeLillo
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Children of the Deterrent
- Halfhero, Book 1
- By: Ian W. Sainsbury
- Narrated by: Sam Phillips, Jaimi Barbakoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The new novel by the author of the best-selling The World Walker series. 'My name is Daniel Harbin, and I'm a child of The Deterrent.' What if a superhuman turned out not to be so super...or even human? Britain's superhero, The Deterrent, was unveiled to the world in 1979 and disappeared two years later. The truth about his origins has never been revealed. The rumours about his children - those that survived - and their mysterious abilities have never been confirmed. Until now....
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Everything Backstory Until Last Few Chapters
- By Sailfish on 06-30-20
By: Ian W. Sainsbury
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The Poison Tree
- By: Erin Kelly
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Successful journalist Erin Kelly has electrified readers and critics alike with her debut novel The Poison Tree. In this scintillating work, Karen and her daughter Alice have established a safe, happy life free from the madness of Karen’s past. But when Karen’s former lover Rex is released from prison, her old associations intrude upon the present - and threaten everything she holds dear.
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I couldn't stop listening the book.
- By Gladys on 07-29-15
By: Erin Kelly
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Transmission
- By: Hari Kunzru
- Narrated by: Hari Kunzru
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Transmission, Hari Kunzru's new novel of love and lunacy, immigration and immunity, introduces a daydreaming Indian computer geek whose luxurious fantasies about life in America are shaken when he accepts a California job offer.
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Thoroughly Enjoyable
- By Don on 07-11-04
By: Hari Kunzru
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Troubles
- By: J. G. Farrell
- Narrated by: Kevin Hely
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Major Brendan Archer travels to Ireland - to the Majestic Hotel and to the fiancée he acquired on a rash afternoon's leave three years ago. Despite her many letters, the lady herself proves elusive, and the Major's engagement is short-lived. But he is unable to detach himself from the alluring discomforts of the crumbling hotel. Ensconced in the dim and shabby splendour of the Palm Court, surrounded by gently decaying old ladies and proliferating cats, the Major passes the summer.
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Absolutely delightful read
- By E. Kim on 02-25-20
By: J. G. Farrell
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A collection of BBC radio full-cast dramatisations of Jane Austen's six major novels. Jane Austen is one of the finest writers in the English language, and this volume includes all six of her classic novels. Mansfield Park: on a quest to find a position in society, Fanny Price goes to live with her rich aunt and uncle. Northanger Abbey: young, naïve Catherine Morland receives an invitation to stay at the isolated Gothic mansion Northanger Abbey.
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What listeners say about High-Rise
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jeanette
- 04-05-15
TOM HIDDLESTON NEEDS TO READ EVERYTHING
The way Tom brings all the characters to life is amazing!!! Very intense and crazy story! Plan to reread it!
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46 people found this helpful
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- John S
- 03-31-15
Plan to be depressed
First, the narration of this book is fabulous. Second the story is too "strange" The residents of a 40 story apartment building in central London go from "normal" lives to living in a building where raids on other apartments result in murders, cannibalism, and dog eating. All the while in buildings 400 yards away from where normal life go on. The book starts out well with tensions escalating between the tenants living in penthouse apartments and those living in garden level apartments quickly escalating. It goes from rudeness to murder pretty quickly.
The basic premise is that heart man is a savage and will return to barbarity without modern technology. I found it depressing and it is one the few books I could honestly say I wished I never listened to.
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40 people found this helpful
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- TOM R ALLSMILLER
- 04-14-15
lord of the flies in a residential tower...
this was an interesting book. . bizarre in a psychological standpoint, it would take way to many things to happen on a grand scale for this story to play out, did none of these people have realitives that would try to get ahold of them? did the power company not check on why a whole building wasn't on the grid or paying their bills? did none of the exiting staff tell anyone of the on goings of the building? and last but not least, did the building next door not wonder what was with all the f'n balcony bonfires???
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22 people found this helpful
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- Maria
- 03-26-15
Tom Hiddleston Delivers Again in HIGH RISE
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I always recommend audiobooks read by Tom Hiddleston to all my associates. But since I read HIGH RISE prior to Mr. Hiddleston's reading, I've always wondered how he would narrate such a complex, compelling story. And he really did not disappoint.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Dr. Robert Laing has always been my favorite character in HIGH RISE. He is probably the one who appears the most normal among the crazies in the condo, but his gradual acceptance of the deteriorating conditions is a clear sign that he too has succumbed to the perversions that the other tenants were getting into. The fact that he seemed so nice, so ordinary and so matter-of-fact about the goings-on in the high rise make him all the more disturbing.
Have you listened to any of Tom Hiddleston’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Yes, I have listened to all of Mr. Hiddleston's prior performances. Personally, I liked his performance in HIGH RISE more than in OCTOPUSSY. There were only a few characters in Octopussy so he was somewhat limited in displaying vocal characterization. I'm not really a voice expert, but I love the way he modulates his voice when switching from male to female. Some male readers have a tendency to make female characters sound "gay". With Mr. Hiddleston, he softens his voice and adds a light, non-exaggerated lilt. The reader/voice actor whom I consider closest in skill to Mr. Hiddleston is Mr. Jeff Woodman. I'm a huge fan of his readings of Diana Gabaldon's Lord John books.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Definitely. As soon as I got the notice that HIGH RISE was available for download, I quickly went home from my meeting, burned it and listened to it in one go. As I said, I am not disappointed.
Any additional comments?
Personally, I want Mr. Hiddleston to continue doing audiobooks. He is such a skilled voice actor and I don't want him to lose this talent as he pursues more film roles. Now...how about Audible convincing him to read THE NIGHT MANAGER? ;)
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21 people found this helpful
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- S. Freeney
- 04-09-15
A dream voice for a nightmare story
loved this book, and Hiddleston's smooth, modulated voice made this the first audiobook I have actuall ever finished. Cannot wait for the movie.
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20 people found this helpful
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- Katy
- 01-21-16
Everyone is insane.
Would you try another book from J.G. Ballard and/or Tom Hiddleston?
JG Ballard, probably not. Tom Hiddleson, HELL YES. Honestly, his narrating it is the main reason I bought it..
What does Tom Hiddleston bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
His magnificent voice.
Do you think High-Rise needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
No.
Any additional comments?
So... I read another review for this book that said "Lord of the Flies with adults" and I feel this is very accurate. I mean. Everyone goes psycho.
I kept singing the song "Savages" from Pocahontas to myself throughout the entire 2nd half of the book:
Literally everyone loses their shit.
Would I recommend? Probably not. The best part was listening to Tom Hiddleston narrate.
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14 people found this helpful
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- TinkerMel
- 05-02-17
Yuck!
They ate dogs! pets, they ate peoples pets! even tho they could walk out side and order a pizza, go to taco bell, to the store, they killed and ate dogs!
I could not understand why they just would not walk outside the high rise and get food, or water...
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7 people found this helpful
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- Samantha
- 04-15-15
Not What I expected
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
I spent about two or three days listening to this book and I can't say that I remember much of it. Luckily it was throw away time (I'd listen while cleaning or driving) so it doesn't feel waisted, but it wasn't exactly time well spent either, I hate to say.
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
Disappointing, to say the least.
Which character – as performed by Tom Hiddleston – was your favorite?
I loved the different accents and voices Tom Hiddleston would put on to differentiate between characters. Especially Wilder.
Do you think High-Rise needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
I wouldn't read a sequel regardless if there ever was one.
Any additional comments?
Tom Hiddleston's voice is the only thing that made this worth my time. I was able to get into the story because of him, but in the end, even his velvet voice couldn't salvage the story. Maybe it just wasn't my cup of tea, or maybe I was just too distracted by Mr. Hiddleston, either way, I didn't not enjoy the story at all.
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- Darwin8u
- 02-11-18
HOA from Hell
"The high-rise was a huge machine designed to serve, not the collective body of tenants, but the individual resident in isolation."
- JG Ballard, High-Rise
I love Ballard. He both attracts and repels me at the same time. No. That isn't quite it. He freaks the hell out of me. His stories and novels are so damn sharp and prescient. 'High-Rise' was written in 1975 (43 years ago!), right after Crash (1973) and Concrete Island (1974), but he seems to GET the psychology of Twitter and Facebook. He gets Trump. He GETS the Trump hotel.
It is easy to just call this novel a Lord of the Flies for adults, or a LOTF in a high-rise apartment complex, but that summary misses the unique vision of civilization Ballard is painting. It is like saying 'Crash' is about sex and car crashes, or 'Concrete Island' is living on the Freeway. Yes! Certainly. But, you floor neighbors are missing the whole point. Ballard was painting our now. Not with facts, but with parables and dark visions of civilization, technology, human nature, and class. His isn't an optimistic vision, but it is kinda amazing. I read Concrete Island and Crash YEARS ago in college, but missed this one. I'll have to go back and re-read them both.
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- Troy
- 11-01-17
Masterful Descent into Madness, Not for Everyone
I quite enjoyed this book, and especially Hiddleston's reading of it. The tenants of a high-rise re-create the world in their own image in this thoughtful and bizarre descent (ascent?) into madness and savagery. It begins with the power outages and the drowning of someone's dog. Soon things spiral out of control, but the residents don't want outside interference; everyone seems transfixed by the evolutionary forces at work. Atop the tower, Royal, one of the building's architects, holds court among the rich and social elite. At the bottom, the masculine Wilder becomes obsessed with breaking through the strata above him and forcing himself on the upper class/floor residents. (I feel like the symbolism in those character names is pretty obvious.) In the middle is Laing, who resolves to observe and ride out the affair.
Ballard is at his best in this short work, a witness to a slow apocalypse and the psyche of its victims. But anyone approaching Ballard should be warned about two things.
1. He is not a plot and character driven writer. His stories begin and end like a storm and there often isn't any kind of growth arc or likable protagonist. That's just not his style. Instead, he goes for a kind of brutal and dispassionate honesty that will assuredly make just about any reader flinch at times. Speaking of which...
2. Ballard has somewhat squidgy ideas on human sexuality. This book includes rape, casual violence towards women, voyeurism, oedipal sexuality, and a kind of emotionless sex that isn't just casual but more a kind of dead-inside objective view of the sexual act. It was definitely disturbing at times. However, I didn't feel like it devolved into pure wordplay in the same manner I felt Crash did. (I contend that if you rip out the best 20% of Crash, the rest is just randomization of words for car parts and sexual fluids. I'm sure that's intentional and interesting in its own way as commentary, but ... ew!)
Aside from the problematic elements, I was struck by how amazingly relevant High-Rise is to this decade. Ballard writes messy metaphors without easy answers. They speak to universal things, but never point at them directly. This book kept my mind spinning on matters of fascism, social media, the instability of insular systems, and so on. The book is a carrier for lots of ideas, but no single, pervasive, clear-cut message.
To summarize, High-Rise can be a great read, but it's going to turn off a fair number of readers too.
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