Spill Simmer Falter Wither
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Narrated by:
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John Keating
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By:
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Sara Baume
About this listen
Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)
A debut novel already praised as "unbearably poignant and beautifully told" (Eimear McBride), this captivating story follows - over the course of four seasons - a misfit man who adopts a misfit dog.
It is springtime, and two outcasts - a man ignored, even shunned by his village, and the one-eyed dog he takes into his quiet, tightly shuttered life - find each other, by accident or fate, and forge an unlikely connection. As their friendship grows, their small seaside town suddenly takes note of them, falsely perceiving menace where there is only mishap. The unlikely duo must take to the road.
Gorgeously written in poetic and mesmerizing prose, Spill Simmer Falter Wither has already garnered wild support in its native Ireland, where the Irish Times pointed to Baume's "astonishing power with language" and praised it as "a novel bursting with brio, braggadocio and bite". It is also a moving depiction of how - over the four seasons echoed in the title - a relationship between fellow damaged creatures can bring them both comfort. One of those rare stories that utterly, completely imagines its way into a life most of us would never see, it transforms us in our understanding not only of the world but also of ourselves.
Cover image by Helen Fay.
©2015 Sara Baume, first US edition. First published in the Republic of Ireland by Tramp Press in 2015. First published by William Heinemann in 2015. First published in Great Britain by Windmill Books in 2015 (P)2016 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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At 36, Quoyle, a third-rate newspaperman, is wrenched violently out of his workaday life when his two-timing wife gets her just desserts. He retreats with his two daughters to his ancestral home on the starkly beautiful Newfoundland coast, where a rich cast of local characters all play a part in Quoyle's struggle to reclaim his life. As three generations of his family cobble up new lives, Quoyle confronts his private demons - and the unpredictable forces of nature and society - and begins to see the possibility of love without pain or misery.
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Can't Explain Why I Love This Book
- By Polly on 03-06-12
By: Annie Proulx
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Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
- An African Childhood
- By: Alexandra Fuller
- Narrated by: Lisette Lecat
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Alexandra Fuller tells the idiosyncratic story of her life growing up white in rural Rhodesia as it was becoming Zimbabwe. The daughter of hardworking, yet strikingly unconventional English-bred immigrants, Alexandra arrives in Africa at the tender age of two. She moves through life with a hardy resilience, even as a bloody war approaches. Narrator Lisette Lecat reads this remarkable memoir of a family clinging to a harsh landscape and the dying tenets of colonialism.
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An African Childhood of Harrowing Proportions
- By Sara on 10-12-15
By: Alexandra Fuller
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The Trees
- By: Ali Shaw
- Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe
- Length: 18 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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There came an elastic aftershock of creaks and groans and then, softly softly, a chinking shower of rubbled cement. Leaves calmed and trunks stood serene. Where, not a minute before, there had been a suburb, there was now only woodland standing amid ruins. There is no warning. No chance to prepare. They arrive in the night: thundering up through the ground, transforming streets and towns into shadowy forest. Buildings are destroyed.
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Post apocalypse with a little bit of magic
- By Tam on 09-20-16
By: Ali Shaw
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A Death in Kitchawank, and Other Stories
- By: T. C. Boyle
- Narrated by: T. C. Boyle
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Few authors write with such sheer love of story and language as T. C. Boyle, and that is nowhere more evident than in his inventive, wickedly funny, and always entertaining short stories. Here are 14 new tales previously unpublished in book form. By turns mythic and realistic, farcical and tragic, ironic and moving, Boyle's stories have mapped a wide range of human emotions. The stories here reflect his maturing themes.
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Mixed Bag
- By AuntGert on 09-22-20
By: T. C. Boyle
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Jagannath
- By: Karin Tidbeck
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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A child is born in a tin can. A switchboard operator finds himself in hell. Three corpulent women float somewhere beyond time. Welcome to the weird world of Karin Tidbeck, the visionary Swedish author of literary sci-fi, speculative fiction, and mind-bending fantasy who has captivated fans around the world. Originally published by the tiny press Cheeky Frawg - the passion project of Ann and Jeff VanderMeer - Jagannath has been celebrated by listeners and critics alike, with rave reviews from major outlets and support from lauded peers like China Mieville and even Ursula K. Le Guin herself.
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Always unique, usually quite good, sometimes meh
- By Eugene on 02-13-19
By: Karin Tidbeck
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Beatlebone
- By: Kevin Barry
- Narrated by: Kevin Barry
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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It is 1978, and John Lennon has escaped New York City to try to find the island off the west coast of Ireland he bought nine years prior. Leaving behind domesticity, his approaching 40s, his inability to create, and his memories of his parents, he sets off to find calm in the comfortable silence of isolation. But when he puts himself in the hands of a shape-shifting driver full of Irish charm and dark whimsy, what ensues can only be termed a magical mystery tour.
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Nooooo way
- By James on 11-17-15
By: Kevin Barry
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The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
- By: David Wroblewski
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 21 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Filled with breathtaking scenes, the elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a meditation on the limits of language and what lies beyond, a brilliantly inventive retelling of an ancient story, and an epic tale of devotion, betrayal, and courage in the American heartland.
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Devastatingly Dark Story
- By Knitme23 on 02-07-15
By: David Wroblewski
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Nothing with Strings
- NPR's Beloved Holiday Stories
- By: Bailey White
- Narrated by: Lorna Raver
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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The mundane and the miraculous stand side by side in these sketches and stories of Southern small-time life by the author of Quite a Year for Plums.
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A real jewel.
- By Mary on 12-31-08
By: Bailey White
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Disappearing Act
- A Host of Other Characters in 16 Short Stories
- By: Robert Sheehan
- Narrated by: Robert Sheehan
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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In his debut collection of short stories, Robert Sheehan disappears into characters, challenging the complacencies of everyday experience, often from entirely unexpected angles. Informed by the author’s peripatetic life, Disappearing Act reflects on the absurdity of human behaviour. Sheehan delves deep into his characters’ streams of self-talk and self-imposed delusions, exploring the dark impulses that lurk below the shiny surfaces of many outwardly normal lives.
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as strange as he is
- By DEKEY on 04-08-24
By: Robert Sheehan
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Scribbling the Cat
- Travels with an African Soldier
- By: Alexandra Fuller
- Narrated by: Lisette Lecat
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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When Alexandra ("Bo") Fuller was home in Zambia a few years ago, visiting her parents for Christmas, she asked her father about a nearby banana farmer who was known for being a "tough bugger". Her father's response was a warning to steer clear of him; he told Bo: "Curiosity scribbled the cat." Nonetheless, Fuller began her strange friendship with the man she calls K, a white African and veteran of the Rhodesian war.
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Astonishing
- By G. Robinson on 06-27-04
By: Alexandra Fuller
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Arcadia
- By: Lauren Groff
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Lauren Groff’s acclaimed debut novel The Monsters of Templeton was short-listed for the Orange Prize. Her second novel, Arcadia opens in the late 1960s with a group of young idealists forming a commune in western New York State. Into this group is born Bit, who grows into a quiet, distant man. Over the course of 50 years, Bit witnesses the utopia crumble and the world change in unimaginable ways.
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Luscious prose, intimate and realistic
- By Kathleen on 03-22-12
By: Lauren Groff
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Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms
- By: Katherine Rundell
- Narrated by: Bianca Amato
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Even a life on the untamed plains of Africa can't prepare Wilhelmina for the wilds of an English boarding school in this lovely and lyrical novel from the author of Rooftoppers, which Booklist called "a glorious adventure". Wilhelmina Silver's world is golden. Living half-wild on an African farm with her horse, her monkey, and her best friend, every day is beautiful. But when her home is sold and Will is sent away to boarding school in England, the world becomes impossibly difficult.
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Wonderful!
- By Clayton on 10-11-24
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Coraline
- By: Neil Gaiman
- Narrated by: Neil Gaiman
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close. The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.
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Scary, but interesting for both adults and kids
- By Melise on 03-19-08
By: Neil Gaiman
What listeners say about Spill Simmer Falter Wither
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Michael C.
- 03-23-16
Poetic novel
The narrator draws us slowly but surely into the mind(s) of two misfits both of whom you come to love for reasons that are hard to define. The performance was stellar. The author avoids sentimentality and brings the story to a conclusion which is satisfying and coherent. I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend to all.
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11 people found this helpful
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- Shelley M. Mather
- 07-03-16
Lovely
Profoundly beautiful. Terribly sad. Beautifully performed. Astonishingly human.
I highly recommend this book, if only to help you find your compassion.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Cheryl Zeyher
- 09-06-16
Disturbing life
Liked the writing
". The narrator
". Many things about the book
Didn't like the ending!
Realistic but depressing
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2 people found this helpful
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- Bernadette Tibazi
- 05-29-17
A taste of Ireland
Would you listen to Spill Simmer Falter Wither again? Why?
Yes, the language was loverly. All the observations were acute and the descriptions and metaphors surprising. It was very 'Irish' in its feel.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Spill Simmer Falter Wither?
The cadence of the three repetitions used throughout the book. "Smoking, smoking, smoking...." etc.
What does John Keating bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Oh his voice was wonderful!
If you could take any character from Spill Simmer Falter Wither out to dinner, who would it be and why?
Ha, there is only one and I felt compassion for him. He was sad, limited but wonderfully complex.
Any additional comments?
Thank you!
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- D. Nelson
- 10-25-16
A very interesting read.
I had some difficulty getting started and feeling my way to the perspective of this story. I stopped and started it twice. It is not a tale that takes you by the hand and leads you to the end. You really have to make a decision to go with the man; almost, to climb into his skin, to understand why he makes the choices he does.
At first, I didn't know if I could do it. As some of his past life becomes revealed, I found myself falling in deeper with his understanding of his world.
It is a profound look, from the inside, of the world of a person that was raised ALL of his life, alone. He is isolated by some sort of deformation that is never given a name, the death of a mother he never knew and a father that felt he needed to be hidden away.
His life takes on new meaning to him when he adopts a dog that is destined to be put down. The man makes some changes to his life for a time and you want to hope that it will all be better for him.
Now, you must read it for yourself to see all that is revealed and all that comes to pass.
I gave this 5 stars all the way around because it is so well read by Keating. I don't know if I would have fallen into this story without him. And without him, I would never have seen this story for the 5 star tale, by Baume, that it is.
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- Reademandweep
- 09-30-16
Ruined by the singsong reading
This is a sweet story and probably would have been nice but it was extremely difficult to get feeling or meeting from the narrators repetitive singsong voice. Every line is treated the same, read the same with no more or less inflection. It's a shame
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- Sandra
- 04-15-16
Wow! Not sure now I feel about this amazing book
What did you love best about Spill Simmer Falter Wither?
Two marginalized souls find and love each other.
What did you like best about this story?
The introspection. I will be thinking about this story for a very long time.
What does John Keating bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
His performance was lyrical, lyrical, lyrical.
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19 people found this helpful
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- Patricia L Stacy
- 03-24-16
Still calling One Eye...calling, calling, calling.
Would you listen to Spill Simmer Falter Wither again? Why?
Yes, because of the prose, the flow, and John Keating's voice.
What other book might you compare Spill Simmer Falter Wither to and why?
None. This book is unique.
What does John Keating bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
The lilt of the Irish. Sometimes hard to follow, always surprising.
Who was the most memorable character of Spill Simmer Falter Wither and why?
One Eye, the dog, so fierce, always.
Any additional comments?
With a few odd words, the picture of a life.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Jay
- 01-25-17
Humdrum
Any additional comments?
I kept hoping this book would go somewhere but it was basically a series of mundane detailed observations of one man's small world as he talked to himself and a dog. This is not a quote, but for me this captures the tone of the book if you imagine it spoken in an Irish/English accent - Do you remember how the tide rose and made the sand wet? Aye, very wet sand indeed, and a few hours later would you believe it but the tide went out and the sand became dry. After 9 hours of such accounts I was glad to move on to another book.
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2 people found this helpful
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- helle
- 09-14-16
Wow
Anyone who loves dogs . will just love this book
I will certainly read this at least one more time. You will have a smile
On your face as you read this
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1 person found this helpful