The Faraway Nearby

By: Rebecca Solnit

Narrated by: Rebecca Solnit

Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

This personal, lyrical narrative about storytelling and empathy from award winner Rebecca Solnit is a fitting companion to her beloved A Field Guide for Getting Lost.

In this exquisitely written new audiobook by the author of A Paradise Built in Hell, Rebecca Solnit explores the ways we make our lives out of stories, and how we are connected by empathy, by narrative, by imagination. In the course of unpacking some of her own stories - of her mother and her decline from memory loss, of a trip to Iceland, of an illness - Solnit revisits fairytales and entertains other stories: about arctic explorers, Che Guevara among the leper colonies, and Mary Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein, about warmth and coldness, pain and kindness, decay and transformation, making art and making self. Woven together, these stories create a map which charts the boundaries and territories of storytelling, reframing who each of us is and how we might tell our story.

©2013 Rebecca Solnit (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Great Book - Author shouldn't read it

Would you listen to The Faraway Nearby again? Why?

I'd love to, but I don't think I cold listen to the author reading it again.

What other book might you compare The Faraway Nearby to and why?

It's a unique story

What didn’t you like about Rebecca Solnit’s performance?

The author could benefit from working with a vocal coach. The intonation of her voice is monotonous and she speaks through her nose and mouth, so the voice was muddy, nasally, and drone-like. It sounded like she had a cold. All G's were pronounced hard - as in 'talking' became 'talkink'. So many words in the English language end in 'g' - this vocal quirk became distracting and ultimately annoying (or as would be read, "distractink" and "addoyink". I almost stopped listening when she clearly struggled to pronounce the word "numbing".

For such a brilliantly written book, it was surprising and extremely disappointing to listen the the stuffy, noisy and flat reading of of this immensely creative book. What was especially surprising was that these issues could have been remedied with vocal coaching, which should have occurred upon the first trial readings!

My favorite writer/poet/prose artist!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Faraway Nearby to be better than the print version?

I love hearing this woman's lilting voice as she reads her own written words.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The entire book is beautiful, emotional, insightful, lovely.

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

Her voice. The depth of emotion comes through as her truth, which is an additional dimension to the story. Lovely and visionary.

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

Yep. Twice

Any additional comments?

This woman is amazing. Highly intellectual, yet more than anything, insightful and spiritual. Thank you, Rebecca.

Great Story - Worst Narrator Ever

Would you consider the audio edition of The Faraway Nearby to be better than the print version?

With a different narrator, this could bring this fine book alive, but this narrator is just wretched. Flat and repetitive tone with a pace that disrespects the words and story.
Looked up to see who the narrator is so as to never to get another from her so poor is the performance, she essentially detracts from a great story. Learning that this lame narrator is the author explains much. Such an sad circumstance to have a great story and have allowed the author to make it unlistenable.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Rebecca Solnit?

A professional narrator. Any professional narrator. Maybe even a synthetic voice would have life and variety in the performance

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

The first two chapters are unsurpassed in poignant and compelling description of the mother daughter relationship as many of us experienced it. World class writing.

Any additional comments?

Do this author a favor and get a professional narrator who cares about the work and does not force the reader to read this painful audible rendering. She is a skilled writer doing her book no good in narrating it.

Voice was so hard to listen to

Some interesting ideas, but I just couldn’t get them to register - the voice was tedious and distracting.
Long winded and self-pitying

Do not recommend

Monotonous Narration

One of the most tedious narrators I’ve ever heard.
Why would someone, clearly, with no experience in performance someone decide to read their own book? Siri could have done a more enthusiastic job. Hard to concentrate on the content when I’m working so hard not to fall asleep. Needs a competent narrator to redo this.

Essential

To the very raw core of meanings. Essential to understanding Rebecca. Rich and variegated, superb and haunting. Thank you!

Great author on an incredible adventure

Loved this one as with all Rebeccas books. You feel like you are on a first name basis with her after audio reading 5 or 6, and its wonderful. This one had so much research backing, and built an interesting weave. There was a palpable and persist sadness in this one that was dift than the longing in some of her others. Dealing with matters of grief and Alzheimer’s and familial dynamics around caregiving combined with the far north Intuit, Iceland, and all things extraordinary, you wont regret reading this.

this was a little depressing

struggled to be interested it may have been the reader. monotone and not engaging for me.

As near perfection as is achievable

A beautiful intricate clockwork of a book, in which one gear turns another and another and they somehow come back to the first and are all turning and working together, driven by the spring of the authors perception and imagination. And, thankfully, performed by the author - no other could have done it justice.

beautiful Solnit, as always

excellent book about the untouchable ideas that mean the most to us. rebecca solnit is a f&$king genius.