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The Sound of Waves
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 5 hrs
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Publisher's summary
Set in a remote fishing village in Japan, The Sound of Waves is a timeless story of first love. A young fisherman is entranced at the sight of the beautiful daughter of the wealthiest man in the village. They fall in love, but must then endure the calumny and gossip of the villagers.
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A High Wind in Jamaica
- By: Richard Hughes
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in the 19th century against a backdrop of island life and the vast surrounding seas, A High Wind in Jamaica is the gripping story of the Bas-Thornton children, whose parents send them back to England following a hurricane in the postcolonial Caribbean they call home. Having set sail, the children quickly fall into the hands of pirates. As their voyage continues, things take an awful turn
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Prose that reads like a Child's Fever Dream
- By Darwin8u on 01-02-17
By: Richard Hughes
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The Unreal and the Real
- Selected Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin, Volume One: Where on Earth
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Tandy Cronyn
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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The Unreal and the Real is a major event not to be missed. In this two-volume selection of Ursula K. Le Guin's best short stories--as selected by the National Book Award winning author herself--the reader will be delighted, provoked, amused, and faced with the sharp, satirical voice of one of the best short story writers of the present day. Where on Earth explores Le Guin's earthbound stories which range around the world, from small town Oregon to middle Europe in the middle of revolution to summer camp.
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Shame on you, Audible
- By Audrey McCombs on 07-03-20
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Lighthouse Bay
- By: Kimberley Freeman
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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This breathtaking novel travels more than a century between two love stories set in the Australian seaside town of Lighthouse Bay. In 1901, a ship sinks off the coast of Lighthouse Bay in Australia. The only survivor is Isabella Winterbourne - escaping her loveless marriage and the devastating loss of her son - who clutches a priceless gift meant for the Australian Parliament. Suddenly, this gift could be her ticket to a new life, free from the bonds of her husband and his overbearing family.
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Excellent story!
- By Kate B. on 11-30-17
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Castle of Water
- A Novel
- By: Dane Huckelbridge
- Narrated by: Max Winter
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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For Sophie Ducel, her honeymoon in French Polynesia was intended as a celebration of life. For Barry Bleecker, the same trip was meant to mark a new beginning - turning away from his dreary existence in Manhattan finance to seek creative inspiration. But when their small plane is downed in the middle of the South Pacific, the sole survivors of the wreck are left with one common goal: survival.
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I wanted a happy ending
- By Shanise Bell on 06-20-19
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The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty
- By: Eudora Welty
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat, Jessica Almasy, Victor Bevine, and others
- Length: 32 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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This complete collection includes all of the published stories of Eudora Welty. There are 41 stories in all, including those in the earlier collections A Curtain of Green, The Wide Net, The Golden Apples, and The Bride of the Innisfallen, as well as previously uncollected stories.
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Too Good For Audio
- By Yennta on 06-18-12
By: Eudora Welty
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Zorba the Greek
- By: Nikos Kazantzakis
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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A wonderful tale of a young man’s coming of age, Zorba the Greek has been a classic of world literature since it was first translated into English in 1952 and made into an unforgettable movie with Anthony Quinn. Zorba, an irrepressible, earthy hedonist, sweeps his young disciple along as he wines, dines, and loves his way through a life dedicated to fulfilling his copious appetites. Zorba is irresistible in this charming audio production by veteran narrator George Guidall.
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Drink life to the lees
- By Scot Potts on 04-25-13
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The Sea Wolf
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Abridged
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Jack London worshiped strong and virtuous heroes, and his stories give great weight to the inevitable triumph of good over evil. His telling of the adventures of Humphrey van Weydon in The Sea Wolf is in keeping with this theme of moral man. His powerful and gripping saga of van Weydon's capture by a seal-hunting ship and the ensuing tangles with its dreaded captain, Wolf Larsen, makes this a classic American tale of peril and victory.
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I won the lottery!
- By Bill on 08-11-17
By: Jack London
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The Summer Book
- By: Tove Jansson, Thomas Teal - translator
- Narrated by: Natasha Soudek
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Summer Book Tove Jansson distills the essence of the summer - its sunlight and storms - into 22 crystalline vignettes. This brief novel tells the story of Sophia, a six-year-old girl awakening to existence, and Sophia's grandmother, nearing the end of hers, as they spend the summer on a tiny unspoiled island in the Gulf of Finland. The grandmother is unsentimental and wise, if a little cranky; Sophia is impetuous and volatile, but she tends to her grandmother with the care of a new parent.
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GORGEOUS. FULL OF GRACE. NEEDED THIS.
- By Annie Armstrong on 04-14-22
By: Tove Jansson, and others
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Unsettling writing, flawed reading
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A hopeless stutterer, taunted by his schoolmates, Mizoguchi feels utterly alone until he becomes an acolyte at a famous temple in Kyoto. But he quickly becomes obsessed with the temple's beauty, and cannot live in peace as long as it exists.
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A difficult and disturbing paradox
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After botching a suicide attempt, salaryman Hanio Yamada decides to put his life up for sale in the classifieds section of a Tokyo newspaper. Soon interested parties come calling with increasingly bizarre requests and what follows is a madcap comedy of errors, involving a jealous husband, a drug-addled heiress, poisoned carrots - even a vampire. For someone who just wants to die, Hanio can't seem to catch a break, as he finds himself enmeshed in a continent-wide conspiracy that puts him in the crosshairs of both his own government and a powerful organized-crime syndicate.
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Book is good - Narration is just terrible
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Sun and Steel
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In this fascinating document, one of Japan's best known - and controversial - writers created what might be termed a new literary form. It is new because it combines elements of many existing types of writing, yet in the end, fits into none of them. The road Mishima took to salvation is a highly personal one. Yet here, ultimately, one detects the unmistakable tones of a self transcending the particular and attaining to a poetic vision of the universal.
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SNOOZEFEST
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Beauty and Sadness
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nostalgic literature from Japan
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An extraordinary work.......
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A band of savage 13-year-old boys reject the adult world as illusory, hypocritical, and sentimental, and train themselves in a brutal callousness they call 'objectivity'. When the mother of one of them begins an affair with a ship's officer, he and his friends idealise the man at first; but it is not long before they conclude that he is in fact soft and romantic. They regard this disallusionment as an act of betrayal on his part - and the retribution is deliberate and horrifying.
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Unsettling writing, flawed reading
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A hopeless stutterer, taunted by his schoolmates, Mizoguchi feels utterly alone until he becomes an acolyte at a famous temple in Kyoto. But he quickly becomes obsessed with the temple's beauty, and cannot live in peace as long as it exists.
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A difficult and disturbing paradox
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Book is good - Narration is just terrible
- By Vyacheslav Varlakov on 03-12-21
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In this fascinating document, one of Japan's best known - and controversial - writers created what might be termed a new literary form. It is new because it combines elements of many existing types of writing, yet in the end, fits into none of them. The road Mishima took to salvation is a highly personal one. Yet here, ultimately, one detects the unmistakable tones of a self transcending the particular and attaining to a poetic vision of the universal.
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SNOOZEFEST
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Returning to Kyoto, where temple bells announce the New Year, a grave and penitent Oki is drawn to a haunting obsession from his past. Gently lyrical, yet fierce with the stark intensity of passion, Kawabata's last novel tells the story of the lasting consequences of a brief love affair.
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The story of the doomed love affair of a wealthy sophisticate, Shimamura, and the geisha Komako, at a mountain hotspring resort in western Japan, one of the snowiest regions on earth.
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A beautifully written book
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A Personal Matter
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Oe's most important novel, A Personal Matter, has been called by The New York Times "close to a perfect novel". In A Personal Matter, Oe has chosen a difficult, complex though universal subject: how does one face and react to the birth of an abnormal child?
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Should have been better
- By Erez on 07-24-12
By: Kenzaburo Oe, and others
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Death in Midsummer: And Other Stories
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Recognized throughout the world for his brilliance as a novelist and playwright, Yukio Mishima is also noted as a master of the short story in his native Japan, where the form is practiced as a major art. Nine of Yukio Mishima’s finest stories were selected by Mishima himself for translation in this book; they represent his extraordinary ability to depict a wide variety of human beings in moments of significance. Often his characters are sophisticated modern Japanese who turn out to be not so liberated from the past as they had thought.
By: Yukio Mishima
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In Praise of Shadows
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In Praise of Shadows is an eloquent tribute to the austere beauty of traditional Japanese aesthetics. Through architecture, ceramics, theatre, food, women, and even toilets, Tanizaki explains the essence of shadows and darkness, and how they are able to augment beauty. He laments the heavy electric lighting of the West and its introduction to Japan, and shows how the artificial, bright, and polished aesthetic of the West contrasts unfavorably with the moody and natural light of the East.
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How to listen
- By Anonymous User on 03-25-18
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Voices of the Fallen Heroes
- And Other Stories
- By: Yukio Mishima
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
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A new selection of 14 of Yukio Mishima's best short stories from the 1960s—his final decade—Voices of the Fallen Heroes offers a unique glimpse into the mind of one of Japan’s greatest writers. In the title story, "Voices of the Fallen Heroes," a séance brings forth the spirits of young officers in the Imperial Army and the kamikaze pilots of World War II, who reproach the Emperor and mourn Japan’s modern decline. In another, Mishima recounts the true story of the time a deranged fan broke into his home at dawn, insisting on meeting the author and imploring him to "tell the truth."
By: Yukio Mishima
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I Am a Cat
- By: Soseki Natsume, Aiko Ito - translator, Graeme Wilson - translator
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 21 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Soseki Natsume's comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat, satirizes the foolishness of upper-middle class Japanese society during the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten who comments on the follies and foibles of the people around him. A classic of Japanese literature, I Am a Cat is one of Soseki's best-known novels. Considered by many as the greatest writer in modern Japanese history, Soseki's I Am a Cat is a classic novel sure to be enjoyed for years to come.
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Great performance!
- By mz on 04-03-20
By: Soseki Natsume, and others
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The Woman in the Dunes
- By: Kobo Abe
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After missing the last bus home following a day trip to the seashore, an amateur entomologist is offered lodging for the night at the bottom of a vast sand pit. But when he attempts to leave the next morning, he quickly discovers the locals have other plans. Held captive with seemingly no chance of escape, he is tasked with shoveling back the ever-advancing sand dunes that threaten to destroy the village. His only companion is an odd young woman. Together, their fates become intertwined as they work side-by-side at this Sisyphean task.
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Nihilistic horror
- By Mr. Sagan on 07-20-19
By: Kobo Abe
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Kokoro
- By: Natsume Soseki
- Narrated by: Matt Shea
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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The subject of Kokoro, which can be translated as 'the heart of things' or as 'feeling,' is the delicate matter of the contrast between the meanings the various parties of a relationship attach to it. In the course of this exploration, Soseki brilliantly describes different levels of friendship, family relationships, and the devices by which men attempt to escape from their fundamental loneliness. The novel sustains throughout its length something approaching poetry, and it is rich in understanding and insight.
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The Heart Of Things, Relationships & Feelings
- By Sara on 04-27-15
By: Natsume Soseki
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Sanshiro
- Penguin Classics
- By: Natsume Soseki, Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin
- Narrated by: Andrew Koji
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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One of Soseki's most beloved works of fiction, the novel depicts the 23-year-old Sanshiro leaving the sleepy countryside for the first time in his life to experience the constantly moving 'real world' of Tokyo, its women and university. In the subtle tension between our appreciation of Soseki's lively humour and our awareness of Sanshiro's doomed innocence, the novel comes to life. Sanshiro is also penetrating social and cultural commentary.
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This story had no point.
- By icelandicponies on 12-30-21
By: Natsume Soseki, and others
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Thousand Cranes
- By: Yasunari Kawabata
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 3 hrs
- Unabridged
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With a restraint that barely conceals the ferocity of his characters' passions, one of Japan's great postwar novelists tells the luminous story of Kikuji and the tea party he attends with Mrs. Ota, the rival of his dead father's mistress. A tale of desire, regret, and sensual nostalgia, every gesture has a meaning, and even the most fleeting touch or casual utterance has the power to illuminate entire lives - sometimes in the same moment that it destroys them.
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Painfully beautiful
- By Erez on 12-02-10
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Kitchen
- By: Banana Yoshimoto
- Narrated by: Emily Zeller
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Mikage is an orphan raised by her grandmother, who has passed away. Grieving, Mikage is taken in by her friend, Yoichi, and his mother (who is really his cross-dressing father), Eriko. As the three of them form an improvised family that soon weathers its own tragic losses, Yoshimoto spins a lovely, evocative tale with the kitchen and the comforts of home at its heart.
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First Time is the Charm
- By just asking for some common sense on 08-22-19
By: Banana Yoshimoto
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Of Love and Other Demons
- By: Gabriel García Márquez
- Narrated by: Christopher Salazar
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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On her 12th birthday, Sierva Maria - the only child of a decaying noble family in an 18th-century South American seaport - is bitten by a rabid dog. Believed to be possessed, she is brought to a convent for observation. And into her cell stumbles Father Cayetano Delaura, who has already dreamed about a girl with hair trailing after her like a bridal train. As he tends to her with holy water and sacramental oils, Delaura feels something shocking begin to occur.
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Love/Religion/Family: Making people nuts for years
- By Darwin8u on 09-04-23
What listeners say about The Sound of Waves
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Yes and
- 08-17-17
A simplistic masterpiece!
This was a very unique novel. I loved the Romeo and Juliet aspect of it and the relationships were ever-changing and relatable.
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- Miguel Vela
- 04-06-20
Wonderful Love Story
Rooted in a small fishing island in Japan,
This book is a must read for all those interested in learning about the force of love that exists in any culture and any language.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Lori Primas
- 02-13-24
Beautiful story!
A heart warming story and the writing is so descriptive and beautiful. A joy to read.
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- Satisfied
- 12-06-20
The Sound of Waves
I loved this book. it is rich with culture and perspective. it is amazing the way you get to experience a completely different time and enhance such a wonderful understanding. the story is beautiful with so much symbolism and hope. i would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good romance book, with some history and culture in it. personally i’d rate 10/10
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1 person found this helpful
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- Andrea G Egert
- 08-27-22
Yukio Mishima’s Genius
Masterful, vivid storytelling by a creative genius of the 20th century, served well by the reader.
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1 person found this helpful
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- John A. Mckee
- 06-30-23
Solid story with manhood, coming-of-age, and romance
Sensitive, perceptive writing that still feels vital (in this translation, at least) nearly 70 years later!
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- Bruce
- 09-17-15
Remote Japanese island beautifully depicted
Central Japan's tiny little island is where this story takes place. This is a classical love story in Japanese sense - with characters bound by constraints of a traditional society. A shy boy and a shy guy who both have hard times expressing their feelings toward each other. Some readers might be put off by the underlying male dominant premise of the island community where women have to unite to influence the decision of a powerful male elder of the island, the decision that has a vital bearing on the destiny of the love between two protagonists Shinji and Hatsue.
I actually visited the island which Mishima used as the model for Utajima island in the novel. Mishima stayed on this island called Kamishima while he was writing this novel. Listening to this story, I can picture the island's lay of the land. I'm fully aware that nostalgia and familiarity skew my evaluation of this work. I'm not surprised if others give lower ratings to this as The Sound of Waves doesn't have usual mystical and somewhat eerie air more typical of Mishima's other works. Simple, straightforward love story with not so many twists and turns along the way where (spoiler alert) Shinji and Hatsue in the end see their happy ending. For me, the beauty of the depiction of the place is more than enough to draw me deeply into this story every time I re-listen. I'm also quite fond of it's sunny, optimistic undertone.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Alexander
- 02-10-14
Had my suspicions when the theme was romance
Have you listened to any of Brian Nishii’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Listened to Temple of the Golden Pavillion (also Mishima) right before. He's a bit stiff, but I love that he actually pronounces the Japanese names correctly. There are several other books I have refrained from downloading because of the awful americanized pronounciations.
That said, I guess I could see how some people not familiar with Japanese would find this annoying because it does stick out a bit in the text and feels as there's a slight emphasis everytime someone's name is read. Luckily, Japanese has really simple phonetic structure so I think anyone (regardless of linguistic background) will get used to it very quickly.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The lighthouse scene was very vividly described, so I enjoyed that part quite a bit. Part with the storm too.
Any additional comments?
If you're new to Mishima, grab Temple of the Golden Pavillion first (out of the two I've read, maybe The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea is even better - I refrain from Spring Snow since the sequels aren't available).
Not to be all macho or anything but.. it's a romance novel (youth romance, even) and while I'd never call this book itself bland or boring, the theme really is.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Douglas
- 02-25-16
A Lyrical Tale
of first love in the Japanese tradition. A wonderful introduction to classic Asian love stories.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Not and emotional review
- 10-26-17
Really Liked It
I liked everything. I wish the narrator would pronounce the Japanese words will less of an accent but they still did a good job and I would listen to it again.
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