Daniel José Older's Narration is Poetry

I generally love books read by their authors. I think there's something intimate in getting to experience a novel the way its creator conveys it. "Half-Resurrection Blues" often sounds like poetry in Older's voice, and I'm glad I got to experience it.

The story itself is interesting and engaging. The characters and their reactions were believable. Carlos, the protagonist and who we obviously hear from the most, has plenty of depth and I felt all his emotions - anxiety, stress, love, lust - acutely. Kia and Baba Eddie were also very interesting and I hope to see more of them in the next book in the series.

Older's version of the supernatural setting is a refreshing break from the glut of similar backdrops that dominate the genre. I am eager to read more of his work.

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His voice and words are home

As a woman from NY, living far away, I found myself drinking in his speech rhythm and turn of a phrase. Daniel Jose’ Older gave me back NY, and story, and poetry.
I bought book 2 even before I was Hal way through book 1.
My heart is home, even with a supernatural tale that mimics no other part of my NYer life.
Thank goodness for this gift of literature.

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People who don't like Older's narration

People who don't like Older's narration don't get it. I didn't get it at first. But now I do.

It's pure Beat poetry.

Take Jack Kerouac out of the 50's and plant him in modern day Brooklyn in the body of a half-dead Puerto Rican ghostly enforcer, and this is exactly what he would sound like. Older's poetic waxing needs a soundtrack. Maybe 50's vintage jazz. Maybe a solemn Rumba. I don't know but bongo drums for sure.

Don't listen to it like a theatrical production. Listen to it like a spontaneous prose/poetry mashup. And soak it in.

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I liked it. A lot. But...

First let's get this out of the way. Writers reading for their own audiobook is always a mixed bag. On the plus side, they get the tone and the general intent of the book better than anyone else possibly could. On the down side, they often aren't the best actors in the world, and tend to over-enunciate to the point that it's distracting from the storyline. I thought that was the case with Neil Gaiman reading his own audiobooks, and also true for Daniel Jose Older on this book.

Plus his overuse of the word "fuck" got a little monotonous and distracting. At first, I wondered does this writer know any other adjectives? or verbs? or descriptors? non sequiturs?

Luckily, the answer is yes.
As the story progresses, Older's luxuriant use of the English language is one of the main reasons to read this book. I'm not sure what he was after in the first 1/3 of the book, but so many "fucks" came across like a nerdy kid trying to prove he could fit in with the cool kids, but overdoing it. It was almost enough to make me not give a... well, you get the idea.

Now for what I loved. Too many Urban Fantasy books follow the same wish-fulfillment formula. There is always a useless comic relief character that is there for no other reason. Most portray every male character that is not the protagonist as evil, or worthless, while every female character instantly desires the hero (or hates him at first before admitting that she desired him all along). And of course there are the equivalent female wish fulfillment variants where the males all fight each other for her favor while the petty females all hate her.. but everyone talks about how much they all love her... you know the ones.
The humor in this book stems from situations that are naturally funny. So silly characters that behave like something from a Saturday morning cartoon. The main character doesn't suddenly make Road Runner sounds during the most critical, tension-filled scene of the story. Very refreshing. These characters are adults and written for an adult audience. Also very refreshing. The "bad guy" thinks he's the good guy, and just can't understand why someone would want to oppose him. Yes, that fits. That's how real humans behave.

Another thing that many fantasy books don't get, that this one handled well: no matter how outrageous our situation is, human beings tend to behave like normal people while we're in it. An over the top situation just becomes our "new normal", and we deal with problems accordingly. I liked the feel of that in this book. These people were used to their supernatural lifestyle and dealt with the situation like real folks would.
I'm looking forward to reading the next story in the series. Hopefully, the dialogue will rise to the level of the excellent storyline and great characters.

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18 people found this helpful

Great atmosphere

Older does a good job narrating his own work. The atmosphere is great however the story lacks a bit in connecting details which would allow it to flow a little more smoothly.

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So many twists and turns!

Carlos is such a badass!
Although I loved salsa nocturna , I loved this much more. Eagerly awaiting Older's next offering

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4 people found this helpful

Unusually good

Any additional comments?

This is a well written book with a good main character. I gave the narration 4 stars, but that was generous. I think the author give a cool latino vibe to some of the dialogue, but the overall story would have been better with a different narrator. Still, a good listen!

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1 person found this helpful

dark and beautiful urban fantasy

listening to this book took a little getting used to. Olders narration sounds like a long form beat poem, and when it comes down to it that's what it is. is voice rolls and roils with emotion comma humor, confusion... and story is beautifully told. It's a joy to find an urban fantasy that isn't about another runaway white kid, or aspiring musician. the characters have lives and emotions, and they don't do the most logical things or the most expedient. They live on their own.

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The soulful cadence of a Blind Willie Johnson tune

“Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot.” ― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country

“A secret's worth depends on the people from whom it must be kept.”― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

Carlos Delacruz lives as an enigma. Well, half-lives. You see, when the New York Council of the Dead brought him back, they literally did a half-assed job. With only the faintest memory of having suffered horribly, the rest of his life before his half-resurrection is a blank. He thinks he is Puerto Rican (well, at least that is what they told him – and he has to admit, it does feel right) but other than that? His life began on the day he died.

Now Carlos works for the council, taking care of the unseen of New York, the maybe-sorta-might-be-dead and others collectively known as the inbetweeners, making them really dead with the sword concealed in his cane. Hey, it may not be much of a life, but it’s his. He gets his fun from pissing off the council members whenever possible, and he has a few close friends – even if most of them are ghosts. It is difficult, being so alone, so different. As far as he knows, he is one of a kind, the only inbetweener he knows of who exists in this half-resurrected state.

But that is about to change, because there really are more like him. And they are determined to take down the wall between life and death, to open the entrada to the Underworld.

I listened to Half-Resurrection Blues, which is narrated by the author, Daniel José Older. His delivery is, in a word, musical. The story caresses the ear in a flow of lightly Puerto Rican accented English with a Brooklyn tone that carries the soulful cadence of a Blind Willie Johnson tune. I would compare his writing to one of my absolute favorites, James Lee Burke (and if I did that, you know I enjoyed it), in setting a tempo that draws you into the life of not only a man lost in pain and loneliness, but also into the attitude and rhythms of the Brooklyn Barrio. The imagery is knife sharp, cutting away artifice and revealing the soul of the character, and of the world in which he lives.

Carlos is sarcastic, with a biting humor that often takes a moment to comprehend, something I totally enjoyed. He is the perfect noir hero, Malaguena cigar tucked firmly between his lips, sharply dressed, calm and collected. He strolls the barrio, sliding between the worlds of the living and the dead, always calm, cool and collected. The perfect Puerto Rican don, hat pulled low and shoes shined. The people he knows, and the people he meets, though some cannot really be called “people” any longer – they are ghosts, trapped in the world of the here-and-now – have their own quirks, worries, and existences, often beyond even Carlos’ comprehension.

Mr. Older’s story offers that edge of heartbreak and loneliness that gives his characters depth, while his own voice is the perfect vehicle for the narration. I loved it, and will be reading (well, listening to) the others in the series.

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1 person found this helpful

Rollicking good fun

West Indian New Yorker detective noir meets Ghostbustets meets The Twilight Zone. Older is a fabulous reader. Gonna make a great movie.

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