Janet L. Washbon
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Life and Fate: The Complete Series (Dramatised)
- By: Vasily Grossman
- Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh, David Tennant, Raquel Cassidy, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 277
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 236
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 238
Kenneth Branagh stars in BBC Radio 4's ambitious eight-hour dramatisation of Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman's epic masterpiece set during the Battle of Stalingrad. This powerful work, completed in 1960, charts the fate of both a nation and a family in the turmoil of war. Its comparison of Stalinism with Nazism was considered by Soviet authorities to be so dangerous that the KGB placed the manuscript under arrest and Grossman was informed his book would not be published for at least 200 years.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate
- By Alifa on 02-13-12
vast yet riveting
Reviewed: 09-22-24
I began with that "Big Russian novel" fear but was completely captivated. Great performances and presentation. I'll come back to this book again. lts that good.
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A Life Worth Living
- By: Louise Guy
- Narrated by: Cat Gould
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 109
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 103
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 101
Eve and Leah are identical twins - but beyond that, they’re polar opposites. Struggling journalist Leah envies Eve’s seemingly perfect life - the loyal husband, the beautiful twin daughters, the stellar career - little knowing that what Eve longs for most is Leah’s independence. When a shocking event upends their world, one woman seizes a split-second chance to change everything and follow her sister down a different life path.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Things Are Not as They Appear.
- By L J Shel on 06-25-23
- A Life Worth Living
- By: Louise Guy
- Narrated by: Cat Gould
Implausible Romance
Reviewed: 08-01-22
This was a new kind of book to me. The author does not seem to have known identical twins, the Melbourne realty scene, nor the impact of pregnancy on the human body. The lead characters are dense beyond belief. I know men are often castigated for being unobservant when it comes to women but does the author really expect us to believe that pregnancy stretch marks, breast coloration etc. were entirely missed. Did Eve had makeover belly surgery?
For me, the book was poorly written with a tin ear for dialog and strange views of 6 and 7-year-old language and understanding. I was most taken aback by the repetition of stock phrases. Perhaps this is a typical romance novel. The pacing seems formulaic. The language appears rigidly kept at the beginning high school level and the vocabulary is also tightly restricted, All in all not for me.
I see that many reviewers liked the novel. It was just too implausible and poorly written for me.
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