Past Imperfect

De: Julian Fellowes

Narrado por: Richard Morant

Damian Baxter is hugely wealthy and dying. He lives alone in a big house in Surrey, England, looked after by a chauffeur, butler, cook and housemaid. He has but one concern--his fortune in excess of 500 million and who should inherit it on his death. Past Imperfect is the story of a quest. Damian Baxter wishes to know if he has a living heir. By the time he married in his late 30s he was sterile (the result of adult mumps), but what about before that unfortunate illness? Had he sired a child? He sets himself (and others) to the task of finding his heir.©2008 Julian Fellowes (P)2009 BBC Audio

Oddly Interesting

The book easily caught my attention early on, but then the pace draaagggged along extremely slowly. I wouldn't have made it through any other book, and (at one point) almost didn't make it through this one. I was interested in the final outcome, and I couldn't bring myself to just skip to the end. So, I tucked this one away from time to time and listened to other books here and there. It took me several months to finish this book. The story itself had such a grip on me that I couldn't make a clean break before knowing how it ended. For that alone, the author deserves no less than 3 stars. I'm glad I finished the book.

nostalgia/social commentary/meaning of life

I'd owned this book for more than a year before I finally listened and it was one of those books you could doze off while listening to and not really mind. Much of what other reviewers have said I agree with, that it can be a bit repetitive, sometimes snobbish, but I thought he wound up the story in a very satisfying way. As the title suggests, the narrator acknowledges his own limitations while exposing those of others, which is endearing (see Salman Rushdie's Joseph Anton for just the opposite). I'd say read over all the reviews and decide if it suits you, then don't expect too much and you may enjoy it!

Way with a phrase

Delightful change of pace style, syntax and all that. Good story. Great narrator. Pleased to "read" a love/sex scene that isn't about grabbing this and twiddling that ... less is more sometimes. Wish I'd read the last part first to know what the dinner in Portugal was all about.

Calling all Angliophiles!

What did you love best about Past Imperfect?

An insider's view of how the British upper class live and commune. Almost like spying - wonderful.

What does Richard Morant bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

As with any wonderful audible book, I forget the narrator and become lost in the story.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

As a devotee to everything British, I appreciated the perspective and detailed views on just about everything (food, dress, etiquette).

Window into British upper class mores of the past

I bought this book on sale with few preconceptions about the story or the author. I found it to be a revealing window into the manners and morals of the British upper class of the 1960s. I enjoyed the narrator - he represented the protagonist credibly to the point that I forgot there was a narrator, which is no bad thing. One minor critique - the fateful dinner in Portugal was mentioned so many times throughout the story that it was a bit anticlimactic when the big reveal finally took place. But other than that, it was an enjoyable narrative about revisiting the past as one ages and, if lucky, getting some closure. I'm glad I took a chance on this one. 4.5 stars