The Absolutist

By: John Boyne

Narrated by: Michael Maloney

Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Best Solo Narration, 2013

It is September 1919: Twenty-one-year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a package of letters to the sister of Will Bancroft, the man he fought alongside during the Great War. But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He can no longer keep a secret and has finally found the courage to unburden himself of it. As Tristan recounts the horrific details of what to him became a senseless war, he also speaks of his friendship with Will - from their first meeting on the training grounds at Aldershot to their farewell in the trenches of northern France. The intensity of their bond brought Tristan happiness and self-discovery as well as confusion and unbearable pain.

The Absolutist is a masterful tale of passion, jealousy, heroism, and betrayal set in one of the most gruesome trenches of France during World War I. This novel will keep listeners on the edge of their seats until its most extraordinary and unexpected conclusion, and it will stay with them long after they've finished.

©2011 John Boyne (P)2012 Tantor

Dramatic but calm

This book deals with some very large and important questions about life and humanity. Both the narrator and the author seem to know that the audience needs space to ponder and work through their feelings on these topics and they weave it in incredibly well.

Engrossing Story

The narrator is a relatable character, who you grow to like, then you find out how much he suffered and the mistake he made, and somehow you like him even more. He is a victim of his time, but he has found meaning in it. This was a great story and I enjoyed it enough to listen to more books by this author.

Beautiful, intense and tragic

There really isn't a way to review this book without spilling secrets. So I won't. I listened to it without much foreknowledge and was glad for it. I'm not sure I would have started it had I known more - and that would have been my loss.

I wish this had been a book club book. I really needed to talk about it when I was done. Interesting how the big hot issues of today are not so new. Maybe openly talking about issues is new ... but the issues themselves are as old as mankind. It's not only the issues that stick around from generation to generation. Courage and cowardice, too, are timeless. Same with rejection, love, passion and forgiveness.

This book reminds me of others - like Pat Barker's "Regeneration" - but it really stands alone in what it has accomplished. It is beautifully narrated. If you want to listen to a book that will move your soul, this is it. It is not a feel-good story. It is a thinking story. It's perhaps my best recommendation for a book club book in 2014.

Stunning

This remarkable book is my favorite John Boyne novel, so far. I’m a huge fan. Exquisitely narrated and flawlessly created, it has blown me away. I have no words strong enough for my admiration. Boyne has outdone even himself here.

Amazing

This book ripped my heart out, Boyne is a brilliant storyteller and I loved the narration, despite the audio fluctuations. I will definitely be reading more of his work as they hit the details of internalized homophobia and the hardships of queer folks during this period. Amazing.

Excellent writing excellent narration

I only gave the story 4 stars as I wish it ended differently. The book is very easy to listen to and become absorbed in. It is not light or happy however. It involves adult, troubling topics. Not all good stories are happy. This is a very good story.

Main character voice problematic

The narrator is quite good at voicing different characters but I could not tolerate the incessant whispering and rushed voice of the main character, like a moth’s wings in your ear. It was hard to follow and I had to keep turning the volume up and down because other characters were so much louder. It’s a shame because it diminishes the weight of the main character’s words and makes it difficult to appreciate the care with which the author crafted them.

Riveting & Poignant

This story combines subtle references to the sexuality of the MC with graphic, gut-wrenching descriptions of WWI.
It flows seamlessly from past to present & yet ends with a twist you won’t see coming…

Hohn Boynes amazing writing. The magnificent narration.

This was an unusual story, where a man’s life is revealed in a very original way.

Whew!

An intense book. Difficult to review because the plot cannot be described without spoiling the content. Written in an understated British sort of way and in a way that is unforgettable. I'm glad that I listened to it, but uplifting it is not.