The End of the Day Audiobook By Claire North cover art

The End of the Day

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The End of the Day

By: Claire North
Narrated by: Peter Kenny
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A novel about life and death and a quest for moral purpose, by the acclaimed author of word-of-mouth best seller The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.

Sooner or later, Death visits everyone. Before that, they meet Charlie: The Harbinger.

Sometimes he comes as a courtesy, sometimes as a warning. Either way, this will be the most important meeting of your life.

But who will come for Charlie?

©2017 Claire North (P)2017 Hachette Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

Critic reviews

"Wholly original and hauntingly beautiful." (Kirkus)

"Funny, ambitious, immensely humane and full of philosophical panache." (Sunday Times)

"A fascinating exploration of what makes us human -and a riveting journey through life, and death." (The Bookbag)
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Usually stories about an incarnation of natural forces follow that incarnation. In this story, we're following the human employee of Death. It shows tragedy, pain, fear, love, joy, and hope.

The pacing is good, the chapters are bite-sized leading to easily listening in brief windows, or leading to a "just one more chapter" bingeing.

Narrator Peter Kenny gives life to the characters, with sufficient distinction in voices to be able to differentiate between them, and without them sounding like caricatures.

I highly recommend, with the caveat that this comes with a trigger warning. It includes contemplations of suicide, discussions of death, and some descriptions of traumatic experiences.

There are a number of what I find to be positive inclusions of LGBTQ representation throughout the novel, though the main character is not overtly LGBTQ.

The life of the Harbinger of Death...

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This is a hopeful story about the end, the end world, the end of life, and the end of ideas. it's hopeful message is one about the beauty and persistence of life even in the face of death. Skillfully told and narrated, the book is compelling, entertaining and thought-provoking.

a hopeful story about the end

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Loved this audiobook. I eagerly read Claire North and this just may be my favorite book by her. Her writing, so good in itself, is greatly enhanced by the audiobook's narrator (Peter Kenney, I think). I love this book because it's as thought provoking as it is enjoyable. Claire North captures the dignity, beauty, tragedy, horror, and ultimately the hope of humanity. I was left wanting more.

Great Storytelling!

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After having listened to the 1st 15 lives of Harry August I was excited to listen to this book. Unfortunately it was anti climatic... What's a redundancy of fame. There's a very interesting concept personifying the harbor of death as well as the other horsemen of the Apocalypse.

I struggled and must have missed the point.

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The story to me was a series of vignettes sticker together through the life of the main character. At one point I thought I had finally reached the dilemma or problem, but by the end of the book I am certain that there really was no problem because of how the author dismissed the problem altogether.

No clear story

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Depends on how you like your stories; sometimes brutality adds realism. I think this is the case in this book that otherwise very kindly open your mind to other vues and ways of life. This is told through the eyes of an ever-forgiving messenger, it definitly brings us in a different world.

Different, humanity's humanity

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This was an AMAZING book.
Brilliant plot and brings the real world of life and death to light.

Everything

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I recommend this book as a masterpiece of literature and of superlative performance art. This book is a profoundly artistic eschatological statement that embodies and transcends human theocratic doctrine. Life is Death. Life is a summoning of Death. Death is an acknowledgement of Life, commingled, inseparable: a definition of life as an end to physical existence and inevitable renewal.

What other book might you compare The End of the Day to and why?

Claire North is a unique and incomparable literary voice. The best way to comprehend it is to hear it performed by Peter Kenny, who is arguably one of the top 10 most accomplished narrators I have heard after listening to more than 500 audio books. His emotional and intellectual comprehension and rendering of a multitude of foreign language accents is worthy of a prolonged standing ovation for the finest theatrical performance on any stage, or through any performance medium.

Which scene was your favorite?

The entire book is a interconnected single scene accented by the profoundly rhythmic literary style of the author: poetic drama comparable to a Shakespearean play.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Awe and Wonder.

DEATH IS LIFE

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while interesting, the narrative wanders a lot, much more than her other books. it was okay, but no i

meandering

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Claire North is a gifted and engaging writer. This story, though not my favorite, is still strangely captivating. And the narrator is one of the finest in the business.

Weirdly Enjoyable Meandering Dream

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