Skippy Dies

By: Paul Murray

Narrated by: Nicola Barber, Fred Berman, Clodagh Bowyer, Terry Donnelly, Sean Gormley, Khristine Hvam, John Keating, Lawrence Lowry, Graeme Malcolm, Paul Nugent

Length: 23 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

This touching and uproarious novel by author Paul Murray made everyone’s best fiction of 2010 lists, including The Washington Post, Financial Times, Village Voice, and others. Why Skippy dies and what happens next is the mystery that links the boys of Dublin’s Seabrook College (Ruprecht Van Doren, the overweight genius obsessed with string theory; Carl, the teenager drug dealer and borderline psychotic; Philip Kilfether, the basketball-playing midget) to their parents and teachers in ways that no one could have imagined.

This unique production of Murray’s heartfelt exploration of the pain, joy, and beauty of adolescence features an all-star narrating cast of 16 Audible favorites: John Keating, Graeme Malcom, Khristine Hvam, Nicola Barber, Fred Berman, Clodagh Bowyer, Terry Donnelly, Sean Gormley, Lawrence Lowry, Paul Nugent, Tim Smallwood, Fiona Walsh, Fiana Toibin, Declan Sammon, Heather O'Neill, and Ed Malone.

©2010 Paul Murray (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Hilarious, haunting, and heartbreaking, it is inarguably among the most memorable novels of the year to date." ( Booklist)

"Dazzling... If killing your protagonist with more than 600 pages to go sounds audacious, it's nothing compared with the literary feats Murray pulls off in this hilarious, moving and wise book." ( Washington Post Book World)

"Extravagantly entertaining." ( The New York Times Book Review)

Really Bad

What would have made Skippy Dies better?

This book was terrible. I tried really hard to finish it but just couldn't - I wound up deleting it from my phone a third of the way through.

Can't get through the first part

What disappointed you about Skippy Dies?

The narrator does not hold my attention, very dry. I story is hard to follow. Since I used a credit to download it, I'm going to try to get through, but it's going to take FOREVER!!! DO NO WASTE YOU CREDIT!!! The reason it got so many stars by others is lost to me.

Would you ever listen to anything by Paul Murray again?

NO!!

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment & boredom

Not My Kind of Story

What disappointed you about Skippy Dies?

When I first read the premise of the book, it seemed to be something that would capture my attention. The beginning of the audiobook also was engaging - and then it got into the backstory of what led up to Skippy's death. I enjoyed the the various voices and characters that were created by after awhile I couldn't listen anymore. The language of the story was just too vile and much of it seemed extraneous to the actual point of the story. This story is in three parts and I couldn't even make it through the first part. I found myself really caring about Skippy and whatever his problem was but, unlike a hardcopy book, I couldn't skip ahead, skipping over the parts that were totally offensive, to find the heart of the story. I did like some of the other characters, some of the teachers, but in general I found the content of the story to be nauseating. Perhaps I'm out of touch with the raw language of teenagers.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Currently listening to a series of books by Victoria Laurie.

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

Have not listened.

What character would you cut from Skippy Dies?

There's a boy from Russia or Italy (see how much I paid attention) who was nothing but offensive.

Any additional comments?

This is definitely a book I would return if that option was available.

Wish the book had died in production!

What disappointed you about Skippy Dies?

Couldn't follow it at all and I am a very experienced listener. Also did not care at all about the characters.

Would you be willing to try another one of the narrators???s performances?

Yes

You didn???t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No

What the #$@%!

I find it incomprehensible this book was a hit. Call me a simple minded cretin, but this book is Skippy poo. Did the reviewers actually read or listen to this tome. What a waste of time.

This from a reader who is the quintessential happy pappy, yuppie puppy, oop dee doodle kinda guy.
Yuck!

Not what I expected, regretfully.

I am pretty consistent with checking reviews and narration ahead of purchase and this purchase was not different. I just finished the recording, even though I purchased it some time ago, mostly because I don't like to leave a book unfinished, even the ones I don't like. This was an interesting story, great cast of narrators especially, but I couldn't stay with it. A group of boys in an Irish boarding school, supposedly friends, intertwined with their teachers and Catholic priests. After finally finishing the book, I still don't really know the main point of the story. It jumped around quite often, the author used inappropriate language in many places, not that often a story is enhanced by language, this just didn't seem to fit. Many sexual references, innuendo; I know that is often the mind of teenage boys, however, it just didn't seem to fit into the story. I use the term inappropriate, because the swear words or sexual terms didn't seem to fit, not inappropriate in the sense that I oppose the use of such language. Even the drug use, which was a major theme, didn't seem to fit well into the story and was a bit confusing.

There are 3 parts to this story, the last one seemed to be the easiest listen, but still not that interesting. I didn't feel like some of the main characters dilemmas were resolved, even at the end of the book. The only reason that I did finish the story was because I can't leave a book only partially read, so I muddled through. It did have some interesting parts, but regretfully, not enough to make me like the book.

Rambling story that required much edit to be improved

Rambling and too long for the story that was being told. Overly detailed and tangential storylines that did not progress plot.

Very disappointed!!!

This book is not good. I do not consider myself a conservative person, and generally have no complaints regarding content of books. Unfortunately after 4 hours of going nowhere, and then hearing various Simpsons characters having sex with each other, I had to give up on this title. Not worth the credit. It is interesting to see how few reviews it is getting given that is has been a best seller. There are a lot more quality titles available than this trash.

Couldn't finish it

As always, it is best to know what you are getting into when you start a book. If you are looking for great writing, snappy dialog, a glimpse into an Irish boarding school, and painful, but searingly honest, insights into adolescence, this is the book for you. But it wasn't the book for me - I found it too painful and not a lot of fun. Many of the kids discussed are lonely, unhappy, and starved for love and attention.

Child Porn

Let me get this straight we have 14 year old boys in a Catholic boarding school next to a girl???s Catholic boarding school bullying and stealing drugs then selling them to 14 year old girls for sexual favors and with date rape motives. Not to mention the graphic detailing of porn sites no one would want to ever get caught visiting. All of this under the guise of that???s what 14 year old kids with raging hormones are thinking and doing. This is not even a fun book to listen to.