Old Friends

Tracy Kidder won the Pulitzer Prize for The Soul of a New Machine. House and Among Schoolchildren were national best sellers. Now this "crackerjack reporter with a common touch" (Philip Lopate, The Washington Post) has turned his talents to his most important and universal theme in this, a close-in study of old age in America. With care and exactitude, with the human compassion and humor for which he is famed, Kidder opens up a fascinating world to us that is, at the same time, foreign and compelling.

The narrative takes place entirely in a nursing home and focuses on two old men struggling with their circumstances, their memories, and their mortality.

©1994 Tracy Kidder (P)2008 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

disappointing narration

I purchased this book dispite the other reviews about the quality of the narration because the story sounded so good. Regretfully when you "listen" to an audio book the narration far more essential than I gave credit. I found this book to be almost unbearable. I have yet to hear anything like it. The narrator is monotone and does not use inflection to emphasise anything. He reads quickly and I found myself rethinking passages trying to add emphasis where it was needed. Almost impossible unless you have insomnia and need to sleep.

Lovely

A lovely story about life in a Nursing Home. A bit sad. I did enjoy the stories about all the different people living there.

Kept waiting for a story line..

I think this might be a tribute to all the dear souls at the end of their lives and the institutions/homes/care centers our elders routinely move to. Since I’m living it weekly with my mom, it was just more of the little joys but overwhelming sadness of the loss of our loved ones, magnified in deep detail. I aborted this novel 1/3 in.

Had to stop listening

I read this book a few years ago and loved it. I decided to purchase it yesterday and so looked forward to listening. I have only made it through the first chapter and won't continue on with the book. The narration is simply awful. The fellow that is narrating reads as if he has to get through this book as quickly as humanly possible and his voice grates on my nerves like I can hardly believe! I am so disappointed, as the book is just so good ~ one of my favorites that still sits on our coffee table. I wasted my money on this one.

I will keep my eyes open for Old Friends to come out with a different narrator and will happily purchase it again.

The Soul of an Old Machine

The Soul of an Old Machine. The first of the authors books I read was: Soul of a New Machine. It was a wonderful and informative read. I have read all three authors books since then. As I am almost 80 myself I found the book very interesting. The nursing home residents were all brought to life; shown to have soul. I was surprised that things took place the nineties. The nursing home wasn’t as depersonalizing as I expected.