The Son

By: Philipp Meyer

Narrated by: Will Patton, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Shepherd, Clifton Collins Jr.

Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Finalist, Literary Fiction, 2014

Soon to be a TV Series on AMC starring Pierce Brosnan and co-written by Philipp Meyer.

The critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling epic, a saga of land, blood, and power that follows the rise of one unforgettable Texas family from the Comanche raids of the 1800s to the oil booms of the 20th century.

Part epic of Texas, part classic coming-of-age story, part unflinching examination of the bloody price of power, The Son is a gripping and utterly transporting novel that maps the legacy of violence in the American west with rare emotional acuity, even as it presents an intimate portrait of one family across two centuries.

Eli McCullough is just twelve-years-old when a marauding band of Comanche storm his Texas homestead and brutally murder his mother and sister, taking him as a captive. Despite their torture and cruelty, Eli—against all odds—adapts to life with the Comanche, learning their ways, their language, taking on a new name, finding a place as the adopted son of the chief of the band, and fighting their wars against not only other Indians, but white men, too-complicating his sense of loyalty, his promised vengeance, and his very understanding of self. But when disease, starvation, and westward expansion finally decimate the Comanche, Eli is left alone in a world in which he belongs nowhere, neither white nor Indian, civilized or fully wild.

Deftly interweaving Eli's story with those of his son, Peter, and his great-granddaughter, JA, The Son deftly explores the legacy of Eli's ruthlessness, his drive to power, and his life-long status as an outsider, even as the McCullough family rises to become one of the richest in Texas, a ranching-and-oil dynasty of unsurpassed wealth and privilege.

Harrowing, panoramic, and deeply evocative, The Son is a fully realized masterwork in the greatest tradition of the American canon-an unforgettable novel that combines the narrative prowess of Larry McMurtry with the knife edge sharpness of Cormac McCarthy.

©2013 Philipp Meyer (P)2013 HarperCollinsPublishers

Memorable performance

Sweeping saga of 5 generations of a Texas family during the 19th and 20th centuries. It reveals human weakness vs struggle. Discrimination vs ignorance. Morality vs immorality. It is an inside perspective on early American frontier history.
All of the performances were amazing. So much emotion from the spoken word. It must have been a great coup to get these respected actors to read. I had never heard of Scott Shepherd but Patton, Mulgrew and Collins are very familiar to me from TV and movies.

The story is unbelievable

loved every second of this amazing story. the audio performance from multiple people really kept the whole book exciting and colorful! amazing book a must have.

Best, best, best ❤️

Maybe because my grandmother’s family lived along the Rio Grande at this time n history, maybe because I truly loved these narrators... in any case, this was, simply, one of the best books I’ve ever listened to on Audible.

Fantastic

Great performance, great story. If you’re a fan of westerns, Texas or native history or will Patton, you’ll like it. All three performers are excellent and the different timelines flow smoothly

Not since lonesome dove have I been so captivated

What made the experience of listening to The Son the most enjoyable?

I loved the development of the three main characters. The readers were also excellent.
The emotional conflict each character has with his/her family and the time in which they live

Who was your favorite character and why?

Eli is so interesting. In some ways he is such a cowboy with an individual code of honor that the reader may not agree with. At one point he remembers seeing a 9 year old American Indian and says he is worth 1,000 men of his current time.

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

All three were very good, probably great

If you could rename The Son, what would you call it?

Family is who you love and who you despise

Any additional comments?

I'd you are a lover of the Lonesome Dove Books I believe you will be very happy with this book

EXCELLENT!!

This is one of the best stories I've listened to. Mr Meyer is a fabulous storyteller, with a gift for dialogue and dry humor.

Talented author, but some caveats

This title was released quite a while ago, so I assume Audible has improved since then on not making listeners feel like 2nd class citizens compared to print readers. A PDF with the family tree, list of characters & perhaps a map would have helped. The plot was compelling but confusing at times. Way too many characters to keep track of.
This country has a violent history, so one expects some rough passages. However, the copious detail of torture and killing went too far. The accuracy of the details doesn't give license to the author's choice of dwelling on it. It's just a creepy distraction to the story. And yes, other groups besides Native Americans engaged in killing and torture, so the author may have felt he wasn't singling them out. But one scene in particular was not equivalent to the passage that explains how they made use of all parts of the buffalo. You'll know which one I'm talking about. It was dehumanizing.
The story held my interest in spite of alternating between rewinding to get characters straight & feeling tempted to return the title because of the level of gore.

1/3 Great, 1/3 Meh, 1/3 should have been cut

The portion of the story read by Will Patton deserves 5 stars for content and performance.
The opposite is true for that portion read by Kate Mulgrew. I will avoid any titles performed by her in the future. There's an expression that someone has "a face made for the radio". Kate Mulgrew has a voice made for still photos.

Great read

MUCH better than the TV series, as is true with most books. Gives a unique account of how Texas came to be.

A must for Austin area residents!

Great storytelling by the author and the actors! Brings the hill country history to life.