The Immigrants

By: Howard Fast

Narrated by: full cast

Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

This is a love story of great beauty and great tenderness, the kind of love story that entangles the listener in the lives of the characters, so that after the story is over, one continues to live with those characters. And fortunately, the listener will not have to say farewell to these characters. The Immigrants is complete in itself, an absorbing novel of high adventure, romance, joy and tragedy. But it is also the first in a series that will tell the story of three Californian families over the course of the 20th century.

©1982 Howard Fast (P)2008 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Maling or my Maylin

Really enjoy the performance of al. Story hit me hard for I loved a Chinese woman I have not seen in 34 years. She's back in my via internet.

Narration style kills the story.

Would you try another book from Howard Fast and/or full cast?

I would try another book from Howard Fast, but would not listen to another full cast book narration.

Would you be willing to try another book from Howard Fast? Why or why not?

I believe there was a good story under all the poor narration. I went back several times to "try again", but eventually gave up and didn't finish the book.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narration style made it incredibly hard to follow the story. Sometimes I couldn't understand what was being said, or the context was lost because of the back and forth of voices.

Great book.

Excellent!! I had read it years ago, but this audio version is even more enjoyable.

The weaving of actual historical events with the lives of the fictional characters.

Enjoyed the ups and downs of the lives of the characters and the sense of what life was like during the late 1800s to mid 1900s.

Good story old recording

Good story, but production is outdated. Don’t let that put you off listening to it, it is not terrible just old fashioned. Probably better to read it

Enjoyable story...

I almost gave up on this book early on because the narration in the very beginning was corny... The Italian accent was overboard, but as the book went on both the story and narration got better. Bottom line if you enjoy multi-generational sagas, you will enjoy this love story. Not the same caliber as the Fall of Giants, but an interesting page turner that sucks you into the characters... Recommended...

good story if you can get by with the narration

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

It is a very good family saga. It takes your through the San Francisco earthquake up past the stock market crash... good and interesting

What did you like best about this story?

good strong story that makes you want to listen

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of full cast?

anyone

Was The Immigrants worth the listening time?

yes

Narration

Narrative was good, but most speaking performances were flat. Took away from the overall story.

How to audibly ruin a great book

The Immigrants by Howard Fast is by far one of my favorite books of all time. I was delighted to find it on Audible and look forward to hearing it. How disappointed I am. Admittedly this was recorded in 1988, with multiple voices, and thus the characters become vocally two-dimensional and many a “bad actor.” The over acting with some voice actors and more ruins the beauty of the novel and story.

Dragged

Would you try another book from Howard Fast and/or full cast?

maybe

What was most disappointing about Howard Fast’s story?

the story dragged

How could the performance have been better?

the main character, Dan Levette, sounded as though he was reading his script, not acting it out. That is fine if you are listening to a "read" book but for a theatrical reading it was unnerving. Most of the characters were unbelievable, the exceptions being the Chinese actors who were good for the most part.