The Eighth Life

De: Nino Haratischvili

Narrado por: Tavia Gilbert

At the start of the 20th century, on the edge of the Russian empire, a family prospers. It owes its success to a delicious chocolate recipe, passed down the generations with great solemnity and caution. A caution which is justified: this is a recipe for ecstasy that carries a very bitter aftertaste....

Stasia learns it from her Georgian father and takes it north, following her new husband, Simon, to his posting at the center of the Russian Revolution in St. Petersburg. Stasia’s is only the first in a symphony of grand but all too often doomed romances that swirl from sweet to sour in this epic tale of the red century.

Tumbling down the years, and across vast expanses of longing and loss, generation after generation of this compelling family hears echoes and sees reflections. A ballet dancer never makes it to Paris and a singer pines for Vienna. Great characters and greater relationships come and go and come again; the world shakes, and shakes some more, and the listener rejoices to have found at last one of those glorious old books in which you can live and learn, be lost and found, and make indelible new friends.

©2019 Nino Haratischvili (P)2021 Dreamscape Media, LLC

S Very good read

It’s taken me months to get thru this book the story line is very good but too detailed

Amazing book

I loved this book. The narrator she was amazing. The story is incredible. I definitely recommend this book

A solid 4.5 stars

Long meandering book, sweeping epic, full of tragedy and trauma, yet compelling and human.

Found the narrator did an outstanding job of managing different voices and characters.

wow!!

Makes me wish I knew more about Eastern European history. I realize how American-centric my schooling was. A beautiful story.

Not sure how I feel about this…

Georgia and the Russian Revolution over the course of a century - something I would usually like. And I did like it. Sortof. I stayed attentive throughout most of this long tome, but there was a lot that left me scratching my head. Why the cursed chocolate and the ghosts when nothing else in this novel speaks to a fantasy bent in any other way? Why the letter format until the final chapter? Why was everything written to Brilka, but Brilka was the least-developed character? How did Brilka save Niza exactly? I don’t get it. So much homosexuality packed in for no reason, including disturbing lesbian rape, and then suddenly the lesbian rapist is a key character who I gather we are supposed to sympathize with? I didn’t. As a historical fiction novel, I kinda liked it, but even that was strange because the author didn’t feel comfortable using real names for the historical figures. I’m just lost at the end. I didn’t hate it, but didn’t love it either.

Very, Very Long. Worth not listening to.

I typically love a long audiobook. How wonderful to have hours of imaginative entertainment. But at about the halfway point, I realized I couldn’t take it anymore, mostly because I didn’t like one single character. Likely, Kitty was my favorite, but even then, listening for hours about people with few redeeming qualities—some had none—was too painful, given the hardship and horrors of the setting. So I did something I rarely do with an audiobook—I stopped listening.

Amazing storytelling and the voice acting to match

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! Recommend for anyone who loves history and great storytelling. I loved the voice acting, it was like listening to many different characters. If i could change anything, it would be correct pronunciations of Russian abd Georgia names and places.

Hard to see any happiness here

this book was a tad bit difficult to keep up with, there's a lot of characters and a lot of things happening to them. the performance was phenomenal and you grow to care about the characters. however, I found it difficult to get through as it was just one bad thing after another to these characters and over such minor things that could've been fixed but spiraled consistently.

a worthy investment in listening time

Loved it but very long. Great voice actor. Do think it could be edited down.

A Journey Through Identity, Memory, and Belonging

Oh my goodness, where do I even begin with this book?! It is a story about identity, memory, and the search for belonging. It took me on a journey like no other, delving deep into the souls of the characters and offering a sweeping perspective of generations of woman of one family and society over last hundred years. I was completely transported by the sensory descriptions, as I could almost smell the chocolate, taste the Georgian cuisine, and feel the warmth of a quiet summer evening on a bench in the garden.
At times, I felt like I was transported back to my own childhood, experiencing a sense of nostalgia and familiarity with the story. Other times, I felt like I was discovering something entirely new. While reading this book, I felt an intimate connection, as if I were having a conversation with a friend.
At the evening, I would cuddle up in bed with my headphones on, fully immersed in the story.