The Lighthouse

By: Michael D O'Brien

Narrated by: Kevin O'Brien

Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Ethan McQuarry is a young lighthouse keeper on a tiny island, the rugged outcropping of easternmost Cape Breton Island on the Atlantic Ocean. A man without any family, he sees himself as a silent vigilant, performing his duties courageously year after year, with an admirable sense of responsibility.

He cherishes his solitude and is grateful that his interactions with human beings are rare. Even so, he is haunted by his aloneness in the world and by a feeling that his life is meaningless. His courage, his integrity, his love of the sea and wildlife, of practical skills and of learning are, in the end, not enough. He is faced with internal storms and sometimes literal storms of terrifying power.

From time to time he becomes aware that messengers are sent to him from what he calls the awakeness in existence, the listeningness. But he cannot at first recognize them as messengers nor understand what they might be telling him, until he finds himself caught up in catastrophic events, and begins to see the mysterious undercurrents of reality - and the hidden face of love.

They that go down to the sea in ships, trading upon the waters, they see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. - Psalm 107: 23

©2020 Ignatius Press (P)2021 Ignatius Press

truly a great story.

Great story of a man seeking goodness, and finding it in his surroundings, and in himself. leaving that he was loved. wonderfully read. This is a great story.

No man is an island.

This seemingly simple story is in reality very profound. Every life touches other lives inevitably, for better or for worse. In this story, the lighthouse keeper, Ethan, whose past has been filled with rejection and abandonment, rises to the grace offered, his difficult life notwithstanding: he becomes in a very real way his brothers' keeper. Because of his painful past Ethan is a man who keeps to himself, and yet he nevertheless chooses to make himself vulnerable to a series of mysterious visitors of his lonely lighthouse island, and to a few persons on the mainland of Nova Scotia. Not only are all these lives changed for good profoundly, but Ethan himself is allowed to participate in the Love that is eternally listening.
P.S. I noticed some listeners did not appreciate the narrator. My experience was the opposite: I found Kevin O'Brien's rendering of the story sensitive to the characters and perfect for the plot. From his name I am tempted to assume that he might be related to the author, thus having an affinity not only to the content and the setting of the story, but for the author's values.

Glad to have a Michael O'Brian book on audible

The story is reflective, full of detail, and beautiful. It is one that brings the reader/listener to ponder life and the big questions. Other reviews here harshly criticize the narrator, but I thought, after getting used to his style, that his performance fit the feel of the story well. I listened on 1.5 as I often do, and that helped with the pace.

Loved it!!

This is a wonderful story had me in tears at the end. It’s worth getting

Excellent story

The story draws you in with it's warmth and evocative descriptions of the coast and sea.

Expert storytelling

The set up takes a little while, but once the kicker hits, you won't be disappointed. I'm working my way through all of Michael O'Brien's books, and none have disappointed so far!

if you want to read this book, READ it yourself

The writing was good, really descriptive in both character development and imagery, but i really disliked the narrators sore attempt at making different voices for the characters; it detracted from the story.

Almost a Perfect Story

Strong, beautiful writing. It felt as if the author got in his own way, forcing religion when it was already deeply crafted into the grain of this story. The ending was also sentimental and could have been mostly eliminated. Still, I would recommend reading this book.

A great Michael D O’Brien story terribly read.

I have read all of Michael D O’Brien’s fiction and really enjoyed this story. It was shorter than usual for O’Brien who often nears a thousand engrossing pages for his tales. Sadly, none of his books have audible versions until now.

Unfortunately, the performance of this book by Kevin O’Brien was awful. The pedantic intonation grated my ears at nearly every moment. It was as if the reader had determined the periods and commas of the author were not where they should be. I tried increasing the speed to 1.1-1.3 but it didn’t help. I couldn’t get past the third chapter and purchased a hard copy instead.

Story Good Performance not so good.

The story is really good. Not sure if I like exactly how it ended I might change one thing. The performance was ok not the worst but not the best either.

I put it this way if I did not use my credit I would probably want my money back.