Preview
  • Noah's Compass

  • A Novel
  • By: Anne Tyler
  • Narrated by: Arthur Morey
  • Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
  • 3.4 out of 5 stars (210 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Noah's Compass

By: Anne Tyler
Narrated by: Arthur Morey
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.00

Buy for $18.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

From the incomparable Anne Tyler, a wise, gently humorous, and deeply compassionate novel about a schoolteacher, who has been forced to retire at sixty-one, coming to terms with the final phase of his life.

Liam Pennywell, who set out to be a philosopher and ended up teaching fifth grade, never much liked the job at that run-down private school, so early retirement doesn't bother him. But he is troubled by his inability to remember anything about the first night that he moved into his new, spare, and efficient condominium on the outskirts of Baltimore. All he knows when he wakes up the next day in the hospital is that his head is sore and bandaged.

His effort to recover the moments of his life that have been stolen from him leads him on an unexpected detour. What he needs is someone who can do the remembering for him. What he gets is well, something quite different.

We all know a Liam. In fact, there may be a little of Liam in each of us. Which is why Anne Tyler's lovely novel resonates so deeply.

©2010 Anne Tyler (P)2010 Random House
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Noah's Compass

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    49
  • 4 Stars
    62
  • 3 Stars
    50
  • 2 Stars
    29
  • 1 Stars
    20
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    36
  • 4 Stars
    28
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    25
  • 4 Stars
    29
  • 3 Stars
    25
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Read the Book

I love Anne Tyler books but this audio version is so dull I had to stop listening and read the book instead. The main character doesn't have much personality as it is, but when his voice carries the lines of the other characters in the book it goes beyond blah.
Once I started reading the book, I liked the story better. I was beginning to wish that the burglar had finished Liam off.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Great bedtime story

I actually have no idea what the story was about. It was a few happenings and family dynamics that could have been told in maybe one or two chapters. At first you think that something like "then Bob closed the cabinet door" is going to mean something later. Nope, just giving you a visual of every single movement that you don't need or want. The narrator was like none I have ever listened to before. I listen to books as I fall asleep and this certainly did the trick faster than most books I've listened to, so there's that.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Very slow and plodding narration

Usually love Anne Tyler but this one was a little hard to get to the end of. Not a bad story but ends very abruptly as far as I'm concerned.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Pointless

A bunch of uninteresting characters read by an uninspired narrator. A big yawn. What WAS the point?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Doesn't measure up

I bought this book the day it became available, because Anne Tyler is one of my favorite authors. I have read everything she's written. I am sad to say this book was disappointing. I found the main character annoying, and was unable to empathize with him, and the other characters were no better. I guess that is the trouble with being a great author...we hold our standards very high. This book doesn't measure up.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

good listen

I enjoyed listening to this book despite what I had read in other listeners' reviews. It's not an action-packed story, but Anne Tyler always does a great job developing her characters and this book is no exception. Liam and all of his relatives are typical Tyler: quirky and, for the most part, lovable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

If you love Anne Tyler...

What did you love best about Noah's Compass?

Anne Tyler glimpses into little lives and exposes the complications, little joys, the beauty and the warts. Noah's Compass may not go where you want it to, but the journey of her prose is amazing.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Eunice. She was such a surprise in the end.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Arthur Morey?

I don't recall the narrator. Not because he was bad, I've just been listening to lots of Anne Tyler books. All narrators were very good to excellent, except one was awful, but it was a woman.

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

yes.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

different strokes

Would you listen to Noah's Compass again? Why?

Yes. I've listened to it twice, and plan to listen again in a couple years.

Any additional comments?

As the reviews show, liking this book is a matter of taste. It is reminiscent of The Accidental Tourist, but while Tourist was a brilliant ruby, Noah's Compass is a dusty opal. It is entertaining for those who like the inward musings and confusion of the older man who never quite got into the flow of life.

Contrary to other reviewers, I found the narration absolutely perfect. Arthur Morey translates the author's subtle humor and captures Noah's overwhelmed and underwhelmed personality beautifully.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Didn't do it for me

Any additional comments?

When the book ended I remember feeling relieved that the characters are not real people that I am related to or have as neighbors. I never have to think about them again. I have enjoyed other titles by Ann Tyler, but not this one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book

This is a wonderful book. The sound quality was not that good on my Kindle, so I would download an enhanced version. The narrator is good though. Humorous and touching.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful