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  • Rustication

  • A Novel
  • By: Charles Palliser
  • Narrated by: John Lee
  • Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (27 ratings)
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Rustication cover art

Rustication

By: Charles Palliser
Narrated by: John Lee
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Summary

A vertiginous gothic masterpiece from the best-selling author of The Quincunx. Charles Palliser's work has been hailed as "so compulsively absorbing that reality disappears" (New York Times). Since his extraordinary debut, The Quincunx, his works have sold over one million copies worldwide. With his new novel, Rustication, he returns to the town of Thurchester, which he evoked so hauntingly in The Unburied.

It is winter 1863, and Richard Shenstone, aged 17, has been sent down - "rusticated" - from Cambridge under a cloud of suspicion. Addicted to opium and tormented by sexual desire, he finds temporary refuge in a dilapidated old mansion on the southern English coast inhabited by his newly impoverished mother and his sister, Effie. Soon, graphic and threatening letters begin to circulate among his neighbors, and Richard finds himself the leading suspect in a series of crimes and misdemeanors ranging from vivisection to murder.

Atmospheric, lurid, and brilliantly executed, Rustication confirms Palliser's reputation as "our leading contemporary Victorian novelist" (Guardian).

©2013 Charles Palliser (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

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What listeners say about Rustication

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Intriguing clever well written

I’m A masterclass in neo gothic sensation writing. Excellent narration, totally absorbing I enjoyed this novel from the beginning thoroughly recommended

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant novel slightly let down by performer

Palliser is once again on top of his game here: atmospheric, intricately plotted, and a wholly convincing narrator-protagonist. John Lee is an experienced reader, but not ideal casting for a novel whose narrator-protagonist is a boy of seventeen. I would have preferred a younger and somewhat colder voice.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Superior fuction

Excellent rendition and story. A semi- gothic rural Victorian mystery full of riddles, clues and grotesque characters. As is usual, all is not what it seems.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent stuff

Where does Rustication rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In the top ten.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Rustication?

The twists and turns of the plot.

What does John Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

He brought a tone of authority to the reading.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

I would like to hear Charles Pallisers masterpiece The Quincunx on Audible.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

an excellent read!

Beautifully constructed and the reader does a wonderful job too.

Unforeseen twists and turns throughout and yet each seems inevitable after the fact.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not what I was expecting

The premise of this book sounds really interesting and almost like its going to be very psychological and twisted. Actually it was pretty boring and just the ramblings of the main character. I'm not sure if it was because I listened to the audiobook or not, but the main character just wasn't very likeable, in fact none of the characters were. I found most of them to be very annoying and whiny.
The narrator did a great job making all the voices different but I just found the overall tone very annoying (I actually think that was the point) but it didn't endear the book to me.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

ABSOLUTE DRIVEL.

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

A sadist who likes to hear in gory detail various animals being tortured and disembowelled.

Has Rustication put you off other books in this genre?

Definitely although I would struggle to find a particular genre to place this in.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of John Lee?

Its not so much the narrators fault.I have heard much better having said that.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment and revulsion.

Any additional comments?

Begs the question.What on earth goes on in a particular authors mind to write something as sick as this?.

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3 people found this helpful