Brother Fish

By: Bryce Courtenay

Narrated by: Humphrey Bower

Length: 31 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

From the author of The Power of One comes an inspiring human drama and war story of three lives brought together and changed forever by the extraordinary events of recent history. Inspired by real events, Bryce Courtenay's new novel tells the story of three people from vastly differing backgrounds. All they have in common is a tough beginning in life. Jack McKenzie is a harmonica player, soldier, dreamer, and small-time professional fisherman from a tiny island in Bass Strait. Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan is a strong-willed woman hiding from an ambiguous past in Shanghai. Larger than life, Private Jimmy Oldcorn was once a street kid and leader of a New York gang. Together, they reap a vast and not always legitimate fortune from the sea. Narrated by celebrated, award-winning actor Humphrey Bower.

©2013 Christine Courtenay (P)2014 Bolinda Publishing Pty. Ltd

Critic reviews

• 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Literary Fiction

Unforgettable

Superb reader with uncanny versatility. Unforgettable characters; fascinating time period, multiple cultures and locations
"I laughed. I cried." Et cetera.

Wonderful detailed and creative story

I love the breadth and scope of this extremely well-written story. It spans historical events, geographical landscapes, cultural differences, and highlights defining aspects of widely diverse human experiences, such as the dehumanizing experience of a POW, the importance of maintaining ones??? sense of humanity, and the life of a fisherman. Bryce Courtenay does a masterful job of crafting the characters??? personalities and their stories, in a way that results in the reader/listener loving the main characters for their spirit, their drive to survive, their mutual love and affection, their indomitable positive spirit, and their basic good humanity. Adding to the experience, they come alive through the audio palette of Humphrey Bower, who does a truly masterful job of adding to the believability of these characters, adding to the richness and depth of the tapestry of this wonderful story.

Quite the story!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'm impressed by the historical detail. I'm impressed by the wide-ranging content. i'm impressed by the characters in the characterization. I'm impressed by the narrator's ability to do different dialects and accents. As for the story, all the storylines held together and on the loose and seem to be tied up. I like that in the book.

The story itself had a little bit of everything; war and all that goes with it; the sea in all its beauty, danger and abundance; love; honor; friendship and family life. I recommend it to anyone who reads. It is a long book but worth it.

Good book not great.

I liked this book but didn't love it as I did The Power Of One. It does get better towards the end as it stays from the main character. The reader is great with all his voices except for the American voice. They all sounded like John Wayne or of the likes of an old western movie, slow and dumb.

A mesmerizing and rich tale

Another masterpiece of fiction that seems so grounded in reality you start believe these characters must have existed.

Amazing Story & Narrator!

Would you listen to Brother Fish again? Why?

I am loving all of Bryce's books. As a fellow adman I am jealous and appreciative of his command of storytelling. Nice mix of moral, interest and, of course, all the wonderful Aussie and S. African turns of phrase and expressions. Makes me feel dumbs a box of hair :)

Humphrey Bower is the new king of narrators.
He rivals and surpasses in some ways Scott Brick and John Lee.
Amazing with accents, characters and emphasis

The Courtenay books are the best I have listened to in years! And I have 2 accounts listening to about 5 a month while super commuting.
You will love
Enjoy!

What other book might you compare Brother Fish to and why?

The Potato Factory
The Power of ONe--this is a kind of parallel story

Have you listened to any of Humphrey Bower’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Always great

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

All the fights

Best listen ever!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely, loved everything about this book

What did you like best about this story?

The narration was superb and added to the story. This book contained everything, leadership, mystery, love, friendship.

Have you listened to any of Humphrey Bower’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

never have

Any additional comments?

Highly recommended

Another great book by Bryce.

Captivating story. Learned a lot, it forced me to go to google to research history of different places.
My only regret that the main characters are fictional. Everything sounded so real and believable, because it was well written I was difficult to believe it wasn't real.
Thank you Bryce Courtenay for another well thought of and incredibly written story :)

The Best Yet

Where does Brother Fish rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Of all the Bryce Courtenay Books I've read so far, including The Australian Trilogy, The Persimmon Tree, and Tandia, this is by far my favorite, only matched y The Power of One.

Who was your favorite character and why?

By far, Jimmy Pentecost Oldcorn was my fave. A deep and rich character who really made the book. I loved his insights into situations in the book and the fact that as an orphan, he had every reason to be bitter and self centered but was the complete opposite. Humphrey Bower's portrayal was masterful. Spellbinding actually.

Have you listened to any of Humphrey Bower’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the best I've heard from Humphrey Bower. Loved loved loved this book.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

It's could make a great film. I'd give it the tag line.... It is possible to love

Any additional comments?

Read this book. It has tales woven within the main story that kept me in my car wanting to hear more.

Holy Humphrey Bower!!

What an amazing narrator!!! I can't say enough about how great he is and the unbelievable feat he accomplished by creating so many disparate and believable charactor voices. Bryce Courtenay is also an incredible writer. Interesting and real characters... intriguing storylines... heartwarming relationships... great dialogue (loved his colloquial speech)... BUT, I think this book would be better read vs. listened to. Courtenay has a habit of saying the same thing in many different ways. It gets tedious and repetitive and I found myself daydreaming while I was listening. Much could have been cut out. That is the only reason for the 4 rating. Otherwise, it would be a resounding 5. I'm going to read The Power of One vs. listen to it.