Four Fires

By: Bryce Courtenay

Narrated by: Humphrey Bower

Length: 29 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

The four fires in this story are passion, religion, warfare, and fire itself. While there are many more fires that drive the human spirit, love being perhaps the brightest flame of all, it is these four that have moulded us most as Australian people. The four fires give us our sense of place and, for better or for worse, shape our national character.

©2013 Christine Courtenay; 2010 Bryce Courtenay (P)2008 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"Humphrey Bower, speaking as Mole, delivers every possible nuance and emotion of his character’s story, and shows a startling aptitude for other dialects as well. Close family friends and enemies include surviving Polish Jews, an East Indian healer, an Irish Catholic priest, Japanese prison camp soldiers, and many others. All of them, young and old, male and female, spring to vivid life in Bower’s versatile voice. Narrative passages and dialogue elicit tears and laughter by turns, without a minute of boredom in the 30-hour production." ( AudioFile magazine)

A Triumph of historical storytelling

This book is long, and it took some stick-too-it-ive-ness to get through, but it was completely worth the effort. Another brilliant piece of writing from a master.

A great story that lost it at the end.

Bryce Courtney is a master storyteller bringing truth to life. This was a long book and riveting until the last narrative of Mole Maloney when it lost its great story and sunk to uninteresting dejection. It is like Bryce Courtney himself lost interest at the end. The book totally changed at that point of the psychiatrist viewpoint of story. When we give up on life the psychiatrist steps in to ruin it further and so it was with this story.- given over to be destroyed by the psychiatrist. So I give two thirds of the book a five star. The last third let it down. Humphrey Bower was a brilliant narrator as always.

Best listen in a while

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

Yes. Brilliant story and one of the best narrators I've encountered in ages

What was one of the most memorable moments of Four Fires?

Still busy only at chapter 7

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

The visit by Sarah to the old indian woman, when Sarah tried to get rid of her baby

A fire of mind for history

This story catches history geography fire science and the Australian community with love of all of them

Hey Audible - You Blew IT

There is no absolutely no better combination of author and narrator than Bryce Courteney & Humphrey Bower, yet you slipped this one into your library with no fanfare. I stumbled across it by accident and I cannot be the only fan of this combination. Of his earlier books, this one most reminds me of “The Power of One.” The characters are a delight and joining in on the lives of this ordinary/extraordinary family has had me walking around for days with headphones on with a goofy smile on my face.

Come on Audible! Give this author/narrator the promotion they more than deserve.

Another Hit!

While I doubt Mr. Courtenay will ever top Power of One, this is a very good story superbly delivered. Well worth the credit. And like everything read by Humphrey Bower, you hate it end, digger!

Chris Reich
TeachU

Disappointing

Would you consider the audio edition of Four Fires to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version.

If you’ve listened to books by Bryce Courtenay before, how does this one compare?

I liked this the least of the several I have read, maybe because his writing style has become more predictable to me. This could have been a wonderful book had the usual war stories taken up less of the story. Sarah, Bozo and Mike were all great characters that I would have liked to follow. And Murray Templeton who is mentioned only in passing, deserved more words.

What about Humphrey Bower’s performance did you like?

I always enjoy Humphrey Bower's performances and this was no exception.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

I think I have to take a break from Bryce Courtenay for a while.

Bonzer Book

If you could sum up Four Fires in three words, what would they be?

One great yarn

Any additional comments?

This is a true insight to Australian Psyche

Australian humor at its best

Rooting for the underdog

Totally Enjoyable

Bryce Courtenay Does It Again!

I thoroughly enjoyed Four Fires from the beginning to the end. As is typical in many of this author's stories, there is an element of boxing, life in the lower classes, the church, and most of all, Australian history. The characters in Four Fires were as intriguing as those in some of my favorite Courtenay reads including The Power of One, The Potato Factory, Tommo & Hawk & Tandia. I was most enthralled in the last part of the book in which you hear a recollection of a character's stay in a Japanese prison camp during WWII. I also appreciated the attention the author gives to PTSD. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, especially set before and during WWII. Good reading!

A long book - but too short for me!

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

One of the most absorbing books I have read for a long time. It has everything in it - stuff that life throws at this family and how they respond, love, war, work, desires... gripping.

What did you like best about this story?

The tale of one man and his journey through life.

What about Humphrey Bower’s performance did you like?

He got each character perfectly. Made the characters real and believable (though the story does this very well - he made it better).

If you could take any character from Four Fires out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Mole. He would be a fun person to talk with - intelligent with a LOT of depth.

Any additional comments?

Do not miss this book.