Fishing for Stars

De: Bryce Courtenay

Narrado por: Humphrey Bower

Nicholas Duncan is a semi-retired shipping magnate who resides in idyllic Beautiful Bay in Indonesia. Grieving the loss of his wife, Anna, he is suffering for the first time from disturbing flashbacks to WWII, the scene of their first meeting. His other wartime lover is the striking Marg Hamilton, a powerful Australian political player still close to Nick.

Encouraged by a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Specialist, Nick sets about writing his life, drawing us into the compelling tale of the life he has lived since his war-hero days, building a shipping empire, and loving the women who inspire him.

©2008 Bryce Courtenay. By arrangement with Penguin Group (Australia). Christine Courtenay (P)2008 Bolinda Publishing

Reseñas de la Crítica

"The right level of intellectual and emotional stimulation for a relaxing holiday read." (The Sunday Age)

'"Thrilling" (The Gold Coast Bulletin)

'"...certain to join its predecessors on the bestseller lists." (The Launceston Examiner)

'"The wait is over" (The Sunday Tasmanian)

Not one of Courtney's Best

What did you like best about Fishing for Stars? What did you like least?

As always, Humphrey Bower's does a masterful job of bringing the story to life, but unlike other Courtenay books this one never really grabbed and held me. It felt like Courtenay wasn't sure where he was going with this one. At several points I was tempted to abandon the book but trudged on to a so-so ending. Glad this wasn't the first Courtenay book I listened to as I would likely have passed on his other very excellent books.

The worst of Courtney's...

I'm a big fan of the author's, but this book was a struggle. The characters are annoying and I really ended up hating them towards the end, plus, there's some perverse justification for heroin, which is a complete fantasy co concocted from someone who obviously doesn't know much about it, as well as a weird version of throuple (what, there aren't enough men in the world for the characters to dite over the same one?) ... I just couldn't root for Anna, as she in my opinion, was just a traumatized annoying brat, always getting her way from the main character, who seemed just a pushover. I'm disappointed and couldn't wait to finish this book.

Butterflies

Fantastic narrators, complex life shared in a warm compassionate manner. Many thanks to the author and his staff.

Wish there was a trilogy

Loved both these books particularly Humphrey’s narrating - intriguing story that keeps current and weaves in history

Stellar read

This is the fifth book I have read by this wonderful author and I am at the point where if I am not sure what to use a credit on I can always go to a Bryce Courtenay book and don't even need to see what it's about and know that it will be a marvelous read. This was very much the case with this book. It is just shy of 23 hours long and I wish it could have been twice that long since I enjoyed it so much. Humphrey Bower did a fabulous job as the narrator as well.

Loved everything except Marg

I was thrilled to realize The Persimmon Tree had a sequel, and settled in to listen. To keep my review brief (and avoid spoilers), I loved every part of the story that involved Anna and disliked nearly every part of the story that involved Marg. Even allowing for that personal opinion, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it.

Good vs Evil/Love vsHate

Where does Fishing for Stars rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

LOTS OF TEARS

What did you like best about this story?

THE STORY OF WHAT WAR DOES TO PEOPLE. NOT TO MENTION THE TERRIBLE THINGS THAT PARENTS CAN SOMETIMES DO THAT PERMANENTLY AFFECT OUR MINDS.

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

ANNA, BY FAR SHE HAD EVERY REASON TO BE THE TYPE OF PERSON SHE TURNED OUT TO BE.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

YES!!!!! MOSTLY CRY. IT ALSO CAUSED ME TO LOSE SLEEP AND BECOME VERY DEPRESSED.

Any additional comments?

IF THIS AUTHORS' GOAL WAS TO CAUSE ME TO DESPISE MARG AND DISLIKE A SELFISH SELF CENTERED MAN, WHO BELIEVED HE COULD/SHOULD HAVE IT ALL, THEN IT WORKED. NICK WAS SO INTO HIS OWN SELF I WANTED SOMEONE TO KNOCK HIM OUT....AND THEN DO AWAY WITH MARG. WHILE THE BOOK HELD MY ATTENTION (MAINLY BECAUSE OF ANNA) I WOULD NEVER CONSIDER IT FOR A REREAD.

Loved every minute. So sad it is over and missing the voice of the author.

This is a fantastic read. A spot of Storico fiction that follows the person and treat it is those enjoyable to read as well as to listen to. I love the Saucer and how he brings hard truths to reality and raises awareness all while enjoying the plot want.

Boring, Disappointing, Unreal Clear to the End

This book gets 5 stars because it is Courtenay. That said, I am disappointed and confused. I was not ready for Australian history, much less Indonesia or the Japanese mafia or the birth of the Australian Green party. Gosh, this book has something for everyone! I have trouble believing that a heroin addict can stay beautiful for years on end. Neither woman is all that devoted to the man because neither married him or even lived with him fulltime. Maybe I'm old-fashioned for wanting legal marriage with full penetration and maybe even babies -- and the other stuff just for fun once in a while. And I certainly don't consider fame and fortune and designer clothes a fair substitute for not achieving some kind of normal family life. Politically I sided with Marg, the animals and old growth. As for Anna, I expected healing for her! Sure she was sitting on a shitload of bad stuff, but many people manage to move on. I enjoyed the unabridged audio version of Kiana Davenport's masterpiece Song of the Exile about comfort women of the Japanese and loved it. It is about enduring and surviving; that book helped me heal my own difficulties at the time. So my attention was indeed held by some of the insights about the Japanese. I appreciate the research. And I loved some of the creative philanthropy in the book, i.e., managing a new life for the little artist who was officially dead. However, much of the book sounded more like BBC radio news than an exciting novel. Perhaps Bryce rushed to finish this book. Having Saffron do great things in the last few minutes is not my idea of a happy ending. Nick should have bailed from both of those relationships and gotten himself a proper wife. I still love this author.

A Sequel for Fans Only

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would condense the content, a lot of the story from The Persimmon Tree is repeated and re-repeated far too many times in this book. There are a lot of cliches and editorial misses that should have been excluded and detract from the telling of this sequel.

What could Bryce Courtenay have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

restricted the amount of cliches about women and expanded more on the final outcome of his writing his story and Marg Hamilton.

What does Humphrey Bower bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

he redeems some of the self depreciating humor and allows you to overlook the authors at times tedious repetitions and cliches.

Could you see Fishing for Stars being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

yes but only if it were together with the first book, The Persimmon Tree. No idea on actors!

Any additional comments?

Read the Persimmon Tree first or you'll be disappointed and irritated. I read this sequel and can understand why other readers were disappointed and given poor reviews. This is not his best book, but I did enjoy most of it as part of the previous story. It took me a while to get into the first book, so I read The Four Fires which was more fun and more akin to The Power of One. I felt I had to got into the style of this author and so decided to go back to the Persimmon Tree but had to make an effort to tolerate some cliches and repetitions of storyline especially for Fishing for Stars.I still enjoyed it overall. There is some good storytelling and information in there, once you get used to the writing style but not everyone's cup of tea! One for fans I think and not the best Bryce Courtney book to start with.