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Hornblower and the "Hotspur"
- Narrated by: Patrick Macnee
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
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Publisher's Summary
Critic Reviews
"With meticulous attention to nautical detail, which no committee of old sea dogs has been able to fault, C.S. Forester has shown himself to be a master of the genre." (The New York Times Book Review)
What listeners say about Hornblower and the "Hotspur"
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Mark
- 05-25-08
Macnee sinks Hotspur
I recently borrowed Mr. Midshipman Hornblower and Lieutenant Hornblower from my local library and couldn't wait to get the next book on audio, so I visited my account here. Unfortunately, the books here do not do the series justice. Macnee is a horrible narrator. Macnee's performance would lead you to believe that all characters except Hornblower are deaf and extremely stupid, including Lt. Bush and other favorites. Macnee never seems to get too far beyond his own, dull voice. Get the unabridged versions from a library or Amazon, and make sure Macnee is NOT the narrator.
12 people found this helpful
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- Bradley G. Bauer
- 06-14-17
Poor Presentation of a Really Good Book...
Is there anything you would change about this book?
Why abridge a good book? Had I had any other option... I would have purchased the unabridged copy.The narrator was absolutely TERRIBLE. The background audio was a mess at times... with interference & annoying music. With such classic, complex characters... you are missing out when you listen to Patrick's version. He fails to convey the emotions, intelligence, & complexity of the characters he narrates... there are perhaps three to four voice variations used for the characters... & most of the dialogue associated with the officers & crew gives one the impression that everyone is on the verge of suffering an aneurysm or stroke. The speech is drawn out & slurred... to the point of comedy & completing defusing any gravity or drama that might be associated with the situation.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Hornblower and the "Hotspur"?
My biggest takeaway was how much I dislike the narrator.
How could the performance have been better?
I believe the book might have been better narrated by SIRI, Amazon's Alexa, or Cortana. I would have rather heard the book 'read' by Stephen Hawkings.
Do you think Hornblower and the "Hotspur" needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
Yes. The books are great.Re-do the audio book... PLEASE.
Any additional comments?
Honestly, suffering through the audio here makes me want my money back.I expect better, Audible... much better.
5 people found this helpful
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Performance
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Story
- Brandon Wilkins
- 08-29-15
A good story...insufferable narration
Downright painfully is the best way I can describe the narration of this book. Some of the worst character voices, or should I say VOICE because there was almost only obe voice used for 90% of the spoken parts.
I did not know until listening to the story that there were six R's in the word sir. Some of the most ridiculously drawn out speech mannerisms I could imagine.
Having said all that in the last 2 hours of the story it was a marked improvement. Throughout the entire story the narration (when the characters were not speaking) we're done quite well.
oOverall if you're following the series you should still listen to this book, but the first two so far out shine the quality of this one that I suppose it's not so bad that it is abridged.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall
- William
- 12-04-09
Excellent book, poor recording
Where as the book is a wonderful classic, saddly the recording has places that the recording is weak and the pitch changes. Audible should review the book and upgrade the recording.
2 people found this helpful
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- Erin
- 11-20-18
ABRIDGED! False advertising
This is not the complete book.
Just went through line by line and chunks are left out; to the detriment of the story. Disappointed that audible would advertise it as unabridged.
1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-22-17
Great story, tedious reading.
The story is excellent. But the narrator chose rather strange and annoying voices for many of the characters. Comboned with mis-pronunciations of terms such as starboard and leeward, this lent an amateurish air to the story.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- TT
- 12-05-07
Still fresh
I've read all the Hornblower books when I was young. I was afraid that listening now would have been a disappointment. It wasn't. The story was still gripping and the reader was engaging. I just wish the other books were also here.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- George Carpenter III
- 02-16-08
Hornblower and the
C.S. Forester's novel about life aboard a British Man of War is ledgendary. In the Hotspur, Hornblower's reputation as an aggresive, determined captain come into fine focus. He is an honorable man with a realistic sense of what can be attained if you work hard, dare greatly and are willing to pay the price. I wish the entire series was available. Patrick Macnee does a masterful job of bring this famous story to life. Highly recommended.
George Carpenter
3 people found this helpful
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- prsd4tim2
- 08-18-21
Music overlay is annoying.
The narrator performs so slowly as to be sleep-inducing and the music overlay is annoying in the extreme.
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- Anthony Williams
- 05-13-21
Book great, narrator no
The book and author was terrific, the narrator not so much. The narrator was irritating.
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- Wendy
- 11-24-15
Great book!
I dis not like the seemingly random placement throughout the book of background music. Very strange.