The Extinction of Irena Rey

De: Jennifer Croft

Narrado por: Lanessa Tremblett

Duración: 12 h y 1 m

Resumen del Editor

From the International Booker Prize-winning translator and Women's Prize finalist, an utterly beguiling novel about eight translators and their search for a world-renowned author who goes missing in a primeval Polish forest.

Eight translators arrive at a house in a primeval Polish forest on the border of Belarus. It belongs to the world-renowned author Irena Rey, and they are there to translate her magnum opus, Gray Eminence. But within days of their arrival, Irena disappears without a trace.

The translators, who hail from eight different countries but share the same reverence for their beloved author, begin to investigate where she may have gone while proceeding with work on her masterpiece. They explore this ancient wooded refuge with its intoxicating slime molds and lichens and study her exotic belongings and layered texts for clues. But doing so reveals secrets—and deceptions—of Irena Rey's that they are utterly unprepared for. Forced to face their differences as they grow increasingly paranoid in this fever dream of isolation and obsession, soon the translators are tangled up in a web of rivalries and desire, threatening not only their work but the fate of their beloved author herself.

This hilarious, thought-provoking debut novel is a brilliant examination of art, celebrity, the natural world, and the power of language. It is an unforgettable, unputdownable adventure with a small but global cast of characters shaken by the shocks of love, destruction, and creation in one of Europe’s last great wildernesses.

©2024 Jennifer Croft (P)2024 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

A book about obsession

What happens when 9 translators get obsessed with the writer they are translating for? Beautifully written but hard to stay focused on content. Made myself finish the book

beautiful language, good questions, unlikeable characters and frustrating ending.

A pet peeve: I thought I was going to lose it every time the narrator pronounced it "Chaise LONG"

I found myself wanting to read Grey Eminence more than The Extinction, wanting to see and live in Białowieża forest more than watch these 9 translators shuffle through their indecision.

Is it a mystery? Yes. But it's unresolved, and not in the way that reveals something new instead. I found the resolution left too many questions about logistics and intent. Why did Irena do what she did? I still don't know. And neither do the translators.

This book gave me a lot of miscellany to think about: the role of translators, of conservation, the invasion of land and mind. But I'm not sure the story landed as well as was planned. Ultimately I was exhausted listening to the petty squabbles of the two main translators, and the jealousy of Spanish around Swedish. I'm unsure why that relationship was even relevant. So many symbols left unexplored in this book. So many people I still don't know.

Unexpected ending with a brilliant story

Such keen insight into translation as an art and human nature/psyche. So many beautiful descriptions of nature, history and language. A joy to read/listen with a wild ending that left me stunned. Much different than the author’s previous novel, “Homesick,” and delivering just as much soul and introspection. Loved Extinction immensely and looking forward for more.

Unique plot

Weird, original, most unusual book, not an easy read, your brain hurts trying to keep up. Would love to see Białowieża in Poland some day.