The Recognitions
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Narrated by:
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Nick Sullivan
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By:
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William Gaddis
About this listen
Wyatt Gwyon's desire to forge is not driven by larceny but from love. Exactingly faithful to the spirit and letter of the Flemish masters, he produces uncannily accurate "originals" - pictures the painters themselves might have envied. In an age of counterfeit emotion and taste, the real and fake have become indistinguishable; yet Gwyon's forgeries reflect a truth that others cannot touch - cannot even recognize.
Contemporary life collapses the distinction between the "real" and the "virtual" worlds, and Gaddis' novel pre-empts our common obsessions by almost half a century. This novel tackles the blurring of perceptual boundaries. The Matrix and Blade Runner pale in comparison to this epic novel.
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Superb
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London Fields
- By: Martin Amis
- Narrated by: Steven Pacey
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- Unabridged
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The murderee is Nicola Six, a "black hole" of sex and self-loathing who is intent on orchestrating her own extinction. The murderer may be Keith Talent, a violent lowlife whose only passions are pornography and darts; or the rich, honorable, and dimly romantic Guy Clinch. As Nicola leads her suitors towards the precipice, London--and, indeed, the whole world--seems to shamble after them in a corrosively funny novel of complexity and morality.
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Big chewy novel, excellent narration
- By Sand on 08-21-14
By: Martin Amis
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The Ballad of the Sad Café
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A classic work that has charmed generations of readers, this collection assembles Carson McCullers' best stories, including her beloved novella The Ballad of the Sad Cafe. A haunting tale of a human triangle that culminates in an astonishing brawl, the novella introduces readers to Miss Amelia, a formidable southern woman whose cafe serves as the town's gathering place. Among other fine works, the collection also includes "Wunderkind", McCullers' first published story, written when she was only 17, about a musical prodigy who suddenly realizes she will not go on to become a great pianist.
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Literate short stories
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Cocaine Blues
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A series that just gets better
- By Barbara Kindle Customer on 02-01-11
By: Kerry Greenwood
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Ideal
- The Novel and the Play
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- Unabridged
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Originally conceived as a novel but then transformed into a play by Ayn Rand, Ideal is the story of beautiful but tormented actress Kay Gonda. Accused of murder, she is on the run and turns for help to six fans who have written letters to her, each telling her that she represents their ideal - a respectable family man, a far-left activist, a cynical artist, an evangelist, a playboy, and a lost soul.
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Budding Rand
- By Anthony on 07-07-15
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Life for Sale
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After botching a suicide attempt, salaryman Hanio Yamada decides to put his life up for sale in the classifieds section of a Tokyo newspaper. Soon interested parties come calling with increasingly bizarre requests and what follows is a madcap comedy of errors, involving a jealous husband, a drug-addled heiress, poisoned carrots - even a vampire. For someone who just wants to die, Hanio can't seem to catch a break, as he finds himself enmeshed in a continent-wide conspiracy that puts him in the crosshairs of both his own government and a powerful organized-crime syndicate.
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Book is good - Narration is just terrible
- By Vyacheslav Varlakov on 03-12-21
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The Shadow Lines
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Opening in Calcutta in the 1960s, Ghosh’s radiant second novel follows two families - one English, one Bengali - as their lives intertwine in tragic and comic ways. The narrator, Indian-born and English educated, traces events back and forth in time, through years of Bengali partition and violence, observing the ways in which political events invade private lives.
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Narrator Doesn't Know How to Pronounce
- By Amazon Customer on 08-27-11
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Youngblood Hawke
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Arthur Youngblood Hawke, an ex-Navy man moves from rural Kentucky to New York to assault the citadel of New York publishing with his first novel, an oversized manuscript that becomes an instant success. Toasted by critics and swept along on a tide of popularity, he gives himself over to the lush life that gilds artistic success. Love comes with an affair with an older married woman and an unfulfilled flame with his editor, while wealth pours in with the publication of his second novel, and participation in real-estate developments.
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More than a good yarn
- By Arken on 10-24-18
By: Herman Wouk
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great voice.
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What listeners say about The Recognitions
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kindle Customer
- 03-12-19
It Might Not Be for Everyone, But I Was Ready
I've known of Gaddis and his writing for a very long time, but it was only recently that I acquired the "The Recognitions" on Audible. What a blast! I wish I had attempted it sooner, but something tells me I may not have had the reading chops before now. Nick Sullivan's performance may be the best I have ever listened to. As soon as I saw Mr. Sullivan was reading "JR" as well, I added it to my playlist.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Donny Rice
- 10-11-22
Best to combine with physical copy of book
Stunning performance. Almost as great as his reading of J R.
The book is so intricate, it's probably best to also have a physical copy to follow along with. Also helpful to review Moore's summaries for each chapter.
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Overall
- andrew
- 11-17-10
Breathtaking, Dizzying, Stimulating, Funny
This is not a perfect rendition of The Recognitions. All of the narration annoys when dialogue is absent- the actor sounds as though he is trying out for the Smart Ass's Encyclopedia. However, he plays all of the characters very distinctly and very respectably, and that is saying a lot as these are difficult, varied, and plentiful characters. The production is really 4 stars, but the book itself is a 5, and so great that I am giving the whole a 5 in the hopes you will read it. A lot of brilliant ideas float through "God cares as much for a moment as for an hour", "Do you think your Dutch masters never made bad pictures just because we have a few masterpieces passed down to us?", "How can I write a novel when I only know boys? Easy, I'll just do what Proust did and change half the boys names to girls", and so forth. Gaddiss perhaps more than any author is strengthened in the audiobook form because he writes in a stream of consciousness or a stream of reality where snippets of conversation come to you as if you were just sitting on the street, or walking through the novel. Don't dare try this book if you need very linear progression with distinct chapters and chronology like it was 7:45 am on October... and it was raining outside with a temperature of... you won't get any of that. One character asks another "Don't you ever wear a coat?" And that tells you it is winter now in this scene. No hero emerges either, though you expect it and wait for it. The novel feels drawn out near the end and is by no means perfect, but quite great and brilliant. Sadly overlooked, as was Gaddiss, though he fell to pure satire and snarkiness after this one book. For further reading see the Clementine Recognitions, The Golden Bough, and any other apocrophal early church writings. JR is much funnier but less rewarding and narrower in its reach.
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38 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Mark
- 06-01-11
Brilliant book, excellent rendering.
Gaddis is not easy and it is not surprising that some readers/listeners do not find his work worth the effort. For readers, like me, who do, there is simply nothing to match the richness and depth of Gaddis' novel(s). If you enjoyed David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest" or, e.g., James Joyce's "Ulysses", neither of which is easy but both of which offer a great deal of pleasure to those whose tastes lean in this direction, you will like "The Recognitions."
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24 people found this helpful
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- Justin Kern
- 02-27-19
this narrator rules
book was good at some parts, others sucked. top notch reading, great variety of voices. I don't think I could've made it through this book w/out such great voice work, bringing the characters to life.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Joseph Wendt
- 01-31-22
Too long.
—It was…
—Too lo…
—Too long?
—Yes, it was… there are 4 more words required.
—Just long enou… it’s too long.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Darwin8u
- 04-17-12
Mr. Gaddis' Opus
My first impulse was to just copy some old, obscure review of 'the Recognitions' and claim it as my own. Alas, even the reviewers, academics, and cult worshipers of the God of PoMo all seem at once thunderstruck AND intimidated by Gaddis' opus.
What I understood was brilliant, what I didn't understand is most likely obscene. This is not a novel for the casual beach read, although as I write this, I am on a beach...washing sand out of my ebbs and salt off my flow, so never mind.
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27 people found this helpful
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- Peter Hoffman
- 01-11-16
I listened to this book.
Would you listen to The Recognitions again? Why?
Sure. It's a great story that's basically filled with character flaws so it's very funny and very human.
What other book might you compare The Recognitions to and why?
I don't know. It's unique. Perhaps "Women and Men" due to its quality and of being in the category of books with around 1000 pages.
Who was the most memorable character of The Recognitions and why?
The homosexual. He was the lynch pin and kept the gears of society going, just as it is in real life.
Any additional comments?
Is it just me, or did it seem to have a section that repeated itself? It's very likely I made a mistake.
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- Sher from Provo
- 09-22-18
What Story?
It’s not that I hated this book, it’s just that life is too short to listen for 50 hours to something that keeps going around in circles. It is a funny book, and an insightful book, and I actually enjoyed it in some ways, but it also wore me out trying to make sense of why there was so much detail that went nowhere. I made it for 18 hours and just felt like enough was enough. If you love this book, that is awesome. If you couldn’t hang in there for 50 hours, I’m with you. On to other things.
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- Jean
- 11-29-16
Hard to grasp
I can't believe persevered through it all. I was hard pressed to keep my attention focused. While it had very elegant and well structured sentences they seldom moved me.
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