Excellent book, weak reading

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

This is one of the best Historical fiction I have ever read

What did you like best about this story?

Great writing, and its organization as a set of letters is brilliant.

What about Robin Field’s performance did you like?

He is trying to change his diction for the various narrators.And it sounds terrible, particularly when narrating women.
YOu should get a different narror for this wonderful book.

12 people found this helpful

Send me to Pandataria...to die

If you want to experience Julia's painful exile to Pandataria, then pick up this audiobook. The male narrator does this impersonation of Julia that is absolutely brutal. The best way to describe the performance would be Barbara Bush impersonating an old woman. I think that's the best I can do. I would rather copulate with Julia after she's been infected with venereal disease by most of the Roman aristocracy. That at is at least treatable. Now I'm just stuck with this dude's voice in my head.

And the story is getting pretty high praise on here, and I'm a little surprised. The history is fine. The story of the Julian-Claudian reign is great. But so much of the exchange via letter is subject matter that both the sender and recipient know. I appreciate this is epistolary, but come on. Try harder. For example, a letter might start, "I know you're my son and married to _______." And the reader needs that information, but there are so many more graceful ways to convey the information e.g., "A mother will never experience the joy I did when you married _______." Or something. I just listen to them; I don't write them. But go check out I, Claudius or something else first.

11 people found this helpful

The son of Caesar calls to you.

“One does not deceive oneself about the consequences of one's acts; one deceives oneself about the ease with which one can live with those consequences.”
― John Williams, Augustus

John Williams read some Robert Graves and said, "Yeah, I got this Roman. I can do this." I'm trying to think of equivalent historical fiction that orbits the same level of prose mastery: Norman Mailer, Robert Graves, Hilary Mantel, E. L. Doctorow and a few others belong on this very short list.

There are some writers (like Pynchon, etc) who seem to find their groove and mine that style/approach for all it is worth. Others like Williams just appear to get bored with one style, form, or approach to literature. They want to master all. John Williams who is also known for his college novel Stoner and his Western Butcher's Crossing decided to give writing an epistolary, historical novel a try. What he created is one of the greatest historical novels of all time. Probably not as good as Robert Graves (or dare I say Hilary Mantel), but damn close.

21 people found this helpful

what a sad story

this was a tragedy with out equal not kaid out through folly but gently with and by the success and accident of the life of the main character.

1 person found this helpful

NOT THE BEST FORMAT FOR THIS HISTORY

Interesting the author chose to construct his history from letters and dispatches etc and it worked for me for about 6 or 7 hours but then the necessarily fragmented and often too subjective viewpoints began to irritate and it all became too chatty and I quit before the end. I didn't feel I was given any particular insight into Augustus' character, but I had expected to gain this perspective from this work. I think this book could be better enjoyed alongside a more objective history of the first emperor.

1 person found this helpful

An interesting introduction to Roman history

What did you love best about Augustus?

The book is presented as a series of letters by people who know or knew Augustus constantly providing different perspectives and thoughts about a larger than life figure sometimes with the perspective of the times of the events sometimes years afterwards. It made for an interesting format. The book seemed packed with realistic details.

What other book might you compare Augustus to and why?

I cannot remember another historical fiction book with the constantly changing narrative device of Augustus.

Have you listened to any of Robin Field’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but the narrator gave an impressive easy to follow performance. I was almost put off this recording by a negative review which I'm glad I ignored.

Any additional comments?

A very interesting read to introduce me to the character of Augustus Caesar. The book neither dwells long on gossip nor goes deep into battle tactics or economic theories. A good balance for me. I found he pace of the book good until the final soliloquy at the end which dragged a bit. I definitely recommend the book.

1 person found this helpful

Wanted to finish, but the narration....

Would you try another book from John Williams and/or Robin Field?

Robin Field - No! His attempt at voice acting was terrible, with the majority a minor variation of feminine pubescent boy voices. Unbearable. I tried twice to finish because the book itself is interesting but it just left me angry both times. Drop the voice acting.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Feminine voice acting.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Read the book.

3 people found this helpful

poor reader

How did the narrator detract from the book?

This reviewer is hard to listen to. He has a dour reading style in this book and the other I've listened to, Stoner. His reading is replete with distracting mannerisms, such as his affected snicker. His characters are so pat that they seem to return from past books to the current ones. Others may like his style, but he makes all the writing seem flat and negative; and he distracts from the story at hand.

5 people found this helpful

Mispronunciation distracting.

If you’re interested in Augustus, read the book. Robin Field’s mispronunciation of Roman names is borderline offensive. If feels as if he did no prior research. For someone familiar with the time period, it’s a tough listen.

Impressive achievement

Not a straightforward biography of Augustus - more like a three part history of three periods of his life, told mainly through letters and journals. The first part focuses on the maneuvering of Octavian and his friends after Julius Caesar's death, the second focuses on the long-running relationship with Marc Anthony and Cleopatra until Actium and the third on the life of Julia and her relationship with Tiberius and her father. The stories are still fresh and at times moving, and the book does a service by dwelling on people often neglected in political histories of the period. The narration is good though occasionally marred by affected accents.