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)

Fascinating history novel.

I was fascinated throughout the book. There is a lot of history covered in book which I was unaware of.

Immersive Storyteller!!

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

Yes. Haven't heard a thing from Bryce which didn't resonate with me. As a South African, Bryce's style of prose and terminology ring familiar to earlier times of my childhood.

Which character – as performed by Humphrey Bower – was your favorite?

Humphrey Bower is arguably the best narrator I have heard (and I have heard a lot!). Wonderful accents and emotive timing helps create an immersive listener experience which does justice to a great story by Bryce.

Excellent but

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

How would I know ...

Which character – as performed by Humphrey Bower – was your favorite?

He is wonderfully talented. They are all good.

Any additional comments?

A little too much of Viet Nam.

Captivating Book

Would you listen to Four Fires again? Why?

Actually, I never listen or read books more than once unless they're instructional. I loved this book and feel I got to know the characters and became interested in their individual stories. I even looked up Sandakan and did a little research about that part of the world during WW2. The book was so informative and well written that I enjoyed learning about Australia, a part of their culture, and the tragedy their troops endured during WW2 in Borneo. I've listened to several of the author's books and while I enjoyed them all, I liked this one the best.

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

The stories about the troops in Borneo during WW2 were heart rendering.

The Best

Not sure who I love more; Bryce Courtenay or Humphrey Bower but one certainly can't be without the other. Four Fires is the best so far. Couldn't stop listening. so many scharacter stories masterfully woven together. I laughed ; I cried and I despaired at the atrocities of the Japanese and the multi generational affects PTSD has on families of victims. At one point I was so distressed I had to stop listening and wasn't sure I could come back and finish it. I'll never look at a Japanese the same way again. Courtenay relies on his team's intense historical research and accurate detail.

Waiting Again

I loved this book - it was pure Courtney! The characters - especially all of the Maloneys were believable, larger than life, comic and sympathetic. I have been waiting for another Courtney family to follow. I kept checking his website to see what was coming and to make sure that I had not missed a book. I gobbled this one up so quickly that I find myself waiting again for the next one (sigh).

I can always determine who is speaking when Humphrey Bower creates his vocals. I recommend the book and Humphrey Bower is the bonus.

SEVEN-STAR LISTEN!

I was distracted by the publisher's blurb. In fact I thought this might be four novellas or something like that. Australians are much like Californians or anybody else. They do indeed have great brush fires, but we have forest fires, too. Anyway, the book is a story about one small town in Australia and one family in that town. The family members struggle to look good in the community; they're really fine, hard-working smart people, but some in the town hold their noses even higher in the air. As it happens, the family are Irish Catholic with a dad who drinks too much and a large, outspoken mom. Most of the kids are not from that father, who has problems from the war. The mom and older kids (and dad if he's out of jail) have a garbage route to run before dawn every weekday. The kids scrub and bathe in cold water before dressing for school. The mom supplements that income with her fancy sewing -- what we call in the U.S. "heirloom" sewing. This huge woman comes in from the garbage run and sits down to an old Singer to turn out fancy christening gowns! One of the boys submits his embroidery in the local fair under his mom or sister's name and wins every time. The kid telling the story grows up as the story is happening. This injects unintended humor as he learns about people having to go to special camps to learn to concentrate. Soon, an old East Indian woman herbalist and a Jewish couple from Poland join the family circle of love.

As the kids grow up and head out for further education, our young story-teller is the last. The last part of the book is about military life. We have already seen the pretty sister fight her own battles and the clever brother with his transit company and the other brother -- the one who embroiders -- charm the sewing ladies. So it's time for Mole to tell about time in the bush with his dad and then fight fires with his dad, and then learning jungle combat. This hit me hard for some reason; I am a veteran and have strong ideas about how veterans are dealt with. But Mole is so successful that he just moves on up and up. I have only listened one time so far. I believe Courtenay has balanced the lives of the four kids. He even tied things up for the little sister who is engaged to the nephew of a family friend.

Through the 29 hours, whether it's walking in the bush or rushing a sewing order or trying to outrun a bush fire pedaling a little kid's bicycle -- there are absolutely no dull moments. Bryce Courtenay has written a masterpiece right up there beside Power of One or Brother Fish. And without Humphrey Bower, I can't imagine how it would be. Bower can talk like an old Indian lady, a wily Irish priest, a 300-pound Australian-Irish momma, a little Polish Jewish doctor and a big sweet African-American dude.

This is the best kind of fiction. It teaches things. We find out what happened and then we listen again to admire HOW it happened. I am sorry Mr. Courtenay is gone now. We will just have to keep listening again.

Exceptional talking book all round!

What made the experience of listening to Four Fires the most enjoyable?

Quintessentially Australian story with a rich lineup of characters.

Which character – as performed by Humphrey Bower – was your favorite?

Mole as he was so believable.

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

Mole- he felt like I knew him and could easily spend time talking.

Aussie immersion

This was a wonderfully engaging and emotionally involving book. The account of the conditions for POW's in Borneo was heartbreaking and historically very accurate. After the book ended I felt a bit bereft without the Maloney family. Some minor quibbles with the plot - it seemed as if everyone in the family was a bit too brilliant to be believed. I don't want to give the ending away, but it was marred by a glaring violation of professional boundries that would in reality be grounds for a loss of one's license to practice medicine. Humphrey Bower reads this wonderfully - not too much or too little expression, and his command of the subtle differences in Australian accents adds to the reading.

Wonderful story

Where does Four Fires rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Toward the top... It was a deep, lighthearted book, if there is such a thing; the narrator was phenomenal

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked all the Mallony clan... they all had dreams and, with very degrees of success, went after them.

Which character – as performed by Humphrey Bower – was your favorite?

I have to pick just one? Seriously, though, Humphry Bower is so talented that I doubt I could pick just one character to be a favorite; I felt like I got the know them all

Any additional comments?

With the exception of two quite uncessary coincidences at the very end of the book, I really enjoyed this book. It was a great introduction to Bryce Courtenay. I'm glad I started off with this book, because while it dealt with difficult themes and topics, it was generally light-hearted. His other works? Not so much