The Little Friend

By: Donna Tartt

Narrated by: Donna Tartt

Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

In a small Mississippi town, Harriet Cleve Dusfresnes grows up in the shadow of her brother, who - when she was only a baby - was found hanging dead from a black-tupelo tree in their yard. His killer was never identified, nor has his family recovered from the tragedy.

For Harriet, who has grown up largely unsupervised, in a world of her own imagination, her brother is a link to a glorious past she has only heard about in stories. Fiercely determined, precocious far beyond her 12 years, and steeped in the adventurous literature of Stevenson, Kipling, and Conan Doyle, she resolves, one summer, to solve the murder and exact her revenge. Harriet's sole ally in this quest, her friend Hely, is devoted to her, but what they soon encounter has nothing to do with child's play: it is dark, adult, and all too menacing.

A revelation of familial longing and sorrow, The Little Friend explores crime and punishment, as well as the hidden complications and consequences that hinder the pursuit of truth and justice. A novel of breathtaking ambition and power, it is rich in moral paradox, insights into human frailty, and storytelling brilliance.

©2002 Donna Tartt (P)2002 Random House Inc., Random House Audio, a Division of Random House Inc.

Critic Reviews

"An exceptionally suspenseful, flawlessly written story fairly teeming with outsize characters and roiling emotion." (Booklist, Starred Review)
"Tartt's second novel confirms her talent as a superb storyteller, sophisticated observer of human nature and keen appraiser of ethics and morality." (Publishers Weekly)
"A ruthlessly precise reckoning of the world as it is...filtered through the bright colors and impossible demands of childhood perception." (The New York Times Book Review)

WAYYYYY too abridged!

Any additional comments?

Editing 23 hours down to 6 hours means basically you're just listening to someone read a long list of chapter titles! It's a pity, too, because Donna Tartt reads it SO much better than that awful overdramatic warbling uptalker who reads the full version. Even Tartt's version of narration wasn't perfect though--it was very fast, she rushed through it--it sounds like she reads the whole thing as the character Edie! (OMG, is Edie based on herself?) Anyway. Off to go download and listen to the whole book / brave the other narrator.

I like this book, though. Harriet is fantastic, and the atmosphere is lovely.

Couldn't put it down!

(Can you say that about an audiobook?) I don't understand the negative reviews of this, my boyfriend and I brought it along on a trip to Montreal and found it fascinating. Maybe you need a long stretch of time to listen to it. Donna Tartt has a wonderful reading voice with an ear for accents that brings every character to life. The story is a very moving coming-of-age tale with a lot of touches of dark humor that make for a compulsively listenable story.

Disappointed

Slow, very slow, with an annoying story deficiency. Beautiful descriptions of details, feelings and places, but that isn?t quite enough to keep me listening.

too cute for me

Too many elements here, Nancy Drew among them. it was okay, it had potential, but didn't deliver for me.

chick-lit

ABRIDGED MEANS SHORTEN

This audiobook is shorten to 6 hours rather than the entire 20 hours. If you would rather go about this than listen to the entire audiobook, I would recommend you review chapter summaries on Google because this audio cuts out plenty of important details that are key to the plot.

Good (audio)Book !

I see all those negative reviews, I for one enjoyed the audio cd. It being read by the author is I believe a nice plus too.

A Real Snoozer

I made it through the entire book. I'm not sure why. This book was so descriptive, that there was little space for anything else. Just when it started to get interesting, it ended. What a terrible ending ... it just dropped off. You never found out who or why made this story take place in the first place. I don't want to ruin it for others by giving too much away ... but unless you can handle total boredom, I'd make another choice.

Missing chunks of the book

Caption says it all. Missing passages from the book. On multiple occasions, I’m reading the book and then listening to the audibook, and get confused when I go back to the book because there are multiple pages that simply aren’t in the audiobook.

Have literally never seen this before.

Well crafted, but plot strains credulity

As usual, the book is well written, but the characters seem purposely too much like the kids in To Kill a Mockingbird. The plotlines with the snakes and the high death toll was too melodramatic. Fun to listen to, but it's no where near the caliber of The Goldfinch.

A very abridged version of the original

I got so annoyed by the narrator of the full 25h unabridged of “The Little Friend “ that I switched to this audiobook. The author’s narration is much smoother and I was quite pleased by the first part of the book. That is, until the departure of Ida. The other part is less enjoyable,: somewhat convoluted and confusing. As for as the denouement, it is really unacceptably lame. Harriet may be satisfaite, but I don’t buy it. Compared to “The secret History” I was terribly disappointed.