The Painted Veil

After watching the movie, I wanted to read the book. It was obviously a better book. Much more human ending. The narrator brought the book to life in such a way that it truly moved me. Thank you! Great buy!

I was very taken with the movie of "The Painted Veil." While I still think the film very fine, this novella proves itself better precisely in those places where the film-makers altered the story. Kitty never becomes perfect, and the ending is hopeful, not triumphant. The reading, too, is very well done. Good male voices, as well as the female.

I can't tell you why I love this glimpse into the twenties and early 20th century china. The romance belies romance and kicks the gooey love stuff to the curb. But I came to love the doctor in this book, even if his wife was too shallow to manage that herself. And she in her own way learns to be kind. It's a very interesting book about imperfect lives.

This story really took me by surprise. I thought it might be a dated and quaint journey into another time. While parts of it are quaint, its substance is timeless. It has all the major ingredients of a great story: lust, love, betrayal, adventure, pathos, and an anti-hero(ine) central character who transforms in a plausible way. The woman reading it is a little wooden, but her posh accent is actually quite enjoyable and works well with the story.

It was the reader that drew me in. I listened to the ten minute sample and I was hooked. The story is not gripping all the way through. Some of the characters stay frustratingly distant, but Kitty grows and deepens with every page, and watching her navigate her world is fascinating.

I would listen again; the reader was impeccable. Natural, believable, soothing. The narration was probably the best I have ever listened to.

I most enjoyed that the characters are all so irreparably flawed and damaged. It was human. It was clear that their issues were a product of both the times and just the sheer fact of being honestly alive. Yes, some of their concerns were trivial. Yes, some of their reactions were overly dramatic. Yes, it was like listening to a train wreck as it happens. Isn't life really like that?

Kitty Fane. Of course, that was the main character and her perspective throughout the book, but she just did it SO WELL.

For me, the most memorable characters were all of them—I know, that's a cheater's way out, but none of the lives and situations are really cleared up or explained, so I was left wondering about nearly everyone, even if they had died. What were their real motivations? What would they or should they or could they have done differently? Did they ever find out that (fill in secret or lesson here)? Did anyone else eventually become a victim of the Cholera? I will never know the answers, and will likely think about those loose ends for a long time to come.

Yes. It is so beautifully read, like listening to a play.

Perhaps Wuthering Heights as it has great characters and an atmospheric quality.

I haven't but would certainly do so again.

Not sure.

A beautifully told story of a shallow young woman who learns what is important in life through hardship and the self-giving lives of some French nuns. I thought the ending touching and satisfying, without being sentimental.

I'm not sure who would enjoy this book - but the movie was better. Better ending too.

Romantic, Vintage, Psychollogic

Yes, your system to let oneself to transcribe your audiobooks to CDs, WAS a very good one, BEFORE you changed everything to VERY BAD. It is completely unnacceptable that it is now so difficult to burn the CDs. SHAME on you!