Archangel
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 3 months for £0.99/mo
Buy Now for £12.99
-
Narrated by:
-
Michael Kitchen
-
By:
-
Robert Harris
About this listen
Critic reviews
What happened:
You’re iimpressed with the author’s craft, his ability to suck the reader in and to convince him that the price of admission is necessary. This is done, not immediately, but eventually, at an unhurried pace. The promise that is signalled in the foyer of the book, so to speak.
The alien (at least for western audiences) landscape is then drawn up with an instinctive verisimilitude. Yes, so far, so good. You slowly realise that Fluke Kelso, the protagonist, is in cahoots with the disembodied narrative as a sort of hybrid delivery vehicle to the real premise and underlying feature of the novel, the ghost of the legacy of Comrade Stalin-let’s call it Stalinism, as it is understood.
This is all done entertainingly, within the ease and mastery of Harris’s writing power, as he builds up the tension & suspense.
And then, after all that build up, at the immediate point that the secret is unveiled and we meet the secret face to face…
…he blows it…the whole bloody thing gets screwed up, the premise dissolves to ridiculousness and disbelief submerges us.
Why? Did the publishing deadline approach too fast and author just run out of time? Out of energy? Out of loyalty to the quality of wha he has previously written?
Who knows, it’ll just have to remain a mystery…and perhaps that was the trick Harris missed. Perhaps, he ought to have let the story play out to an indessive end.
But luckily, the first 80% of the book was good enough to rave about.
The narrator was excellent.
Then Ending is not worthy of the Beginning
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What did you like best about Archangel? What did you like least?
Someone told me that they could not put the book down and read it overnight, so it is probable that my expectations were too high.What was most disappointing about Robert Harris’s story?
The story was over the top and technically sound was not even throughout.Which character – as performed by Michael Kitchen – was your favourite?
I like Michael Kitchen but in this reading the quality of his voice did not come through for me.Do you think Archangel needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
Absolutely notAny additional comments?
This is a second book by Robert Harris I listened to and the first one I liked enough to download Archangel.Over the top
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Superb
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The narrator took a bit of getting used to - if you have watched Foyles War you’ll know how Foyle runs his sentences into one another, seemingly pausing when he runs out and of breath. And his intonation almost sounded bored at times - and the pace rushed.
Enjoyed …but not as much as previous Robert Harris before is
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Absolutely unmissable!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.