Excellent audio rendition of a disappointing book

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes and No.
I was impressed by the narrator's rendition of the book.
I was disappointed by the book, which I longed to read for a long time with all the dithyrambic critics and litterary prize. I found it an unconvincing crime book - but a beautiful love story. It is filled with so many repetitions the reading soon becomes annoying.

What about Thibault de Montalembert’s performance did you like?

Everything.
A deep voice, an outstanding and clear diction that conveys meaning.
He gives the many characters their own voice and their own identity.

Could you see La Vérité sur l'Affaire Harry Quebert being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Absolutely. Reworked to reduce the outrageous number of repetitions, it seems to me a 10-20 hour series could be even better than the book.

3 people found this helpful

Excellent scenario - Ecriture moyenne

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

Certainement, l'histoire est captivante, variée et pleine de rebondissements. C’est un excellent livre de divertissement si pas une grand œuvre littéraire. L’écriture est plutôt moyenne et fait beaucoup usage de clichés.

What other book might you compare La Vérité sur l'Affaire Harry Quebert to and why?

L’histoire fait évidemment penser à Twin Peaks même si le traitement est très différent.

What about Thibault de Montalembert’s performance did you like?

La narration est excellente, chaque personnage est clairement caractérisé mais sans caricature. Le rythme est parfait. Ma seule critique est la prononciation erronée du nom « Martha’s Vineyard » répété maintes fois dans l’histoire (Il y a un piège et paradoxalement une prononciation naïve en phonétique française aurait été bien plus proche de la version correcte américaine) .

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

Pas vraiment, même si l’histoire était captivant l’action avance trop lentement pour ne pas se fatiguer et avoir besoin de faire des (longues) pauses.

Any additional comments?

I am really looking forward to the movie version!

1 person found this helpful

NPR reviewer was right; NYT's wasn't

I can see how this book managed to find a large audience among adolescents (as it turns out, that is the selection criterion for the Prix Goncourt *des lycéens*), but I would caution anyone drawn to the "Goncourt" name to lower their expectations. This is a very badly paced—repetitive and rambling—page-turner, without finesse in language, dialogue, or character development. And despite the many red herrings the author threw our way, at least this reader could identify the perpetrator in the first third of this needlessly drawn-out story.

1 person found this helpful

Thriller

It’s a good thriller, as such it’s sometimes confusing because there’s too many flashbacks and repetitions. Very entertaining though!

Amazing

Really great book ! I couldn’t stop myself from listening all the time because I wanted to know what happened next. I finished it in less than 2 weeks. Just amazing. The narrator is also very just. I highly recommend !!

Bien mais des répétitions

Très bon livre mais un peu long pour rien (beaucoup de répétitions) et lecture pas terrible sur le ton, l'incarnation et le rythme.

Story is ok, narrator not so much

I found the story wuite entretaining but the narrator too plain, lack of voice expression in my opinion

J'ai adoré

Je suis un nouvelle fan de Dicker. j'ai tenté de trouver le meurtrier sans me douter jusqu'à de la fin. le lecteur est tellement bon. 2e coup de coeur après le livre des Baltimore.

Opinion of a below average reader

Painful. Chock full of cliche concepts, stick figure characters, predictable dialogues...maybe good for high school students looking for light entertainment, a whodunnit story, but not art or inspiration

So disappointed

I had high hopes for this book given its international success but was so disappointed by all of the clichés and banalities - the dialog between the characters was terrible and made me want to fast-forward through them. Living in New England didn't help, as the characters were mostly caricatures. The principal love story was never believable as there was never any meaningful dialog between them - other than I will love you forever and I love you like I have ne er loved before. These hackneyed declarations are repeated ad nauseated. And although the book started recreating the 33 year old events based on interviews with the-witnesses, by the half-way mark we were privy to conversations between characters who had long been dead so what is the justification for knowing their thoughts and words. Maybe that is permissible in modern literature but it seems lazy to me.