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At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances

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At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances

By: Alexander McCall Smith
Narrated by: Hugh Laurie
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About this listen

 Winner of the British Book Awards, Author of the Year, 2004.
Winner of the CWA Dagger in the Library Award, 2004.

The third novel in the Portuguese Irregular Verbs trilogy sees von Igelfeld suffering the slings of academic intrigue as a visiting fellow at Cambridge and the arrows of outrageous fortune in an eventful Columbian adventure.

Between trips, von Igelfeld returns to his beloved Regensburg only that to discover that while he has been away his murine colleagues have been at play.

©2003 Alexander McCall Smith; (P)2004 Time Warner AudioBooks Anthologies & Short Stories Literature & Fiction Satire Short Stories Funny
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I have been a huge fan of Alexander McCall Smith for years, but was hesitant to download audiobooks of his work since comedy does not always translate well. However, when I saw that Hugh Laurie was the narrator, I thought I would give it a try. How pleased I am with the entire series. The timing and voicing by Mr. Laurie really do bring the characters to life as I remember reading them. A truly excellent and sophisticated performance.

I feel that a special review should go out to the composer, Frank Schulmeyer, for the music. The music, which is robust while being cheerful and uplifting, is as exceptional as the writing and narrating in this series. I would love to buy the music to listen to. It really is that good.

Thank you for a wonderful production. I am looking forward to the next two.

Wonderfully witty and light

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Please write some more with this eminent philologist. He hasn't been to tea with Putin and Trump yet.

Brilliant as always.

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What did you like most about At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances?

I just love to laugh and this third volume of Professor Dr. von Igelsfeld was wonderfully and charmingly funny. Throughout the three volumes one starts to really like Igelfeld, in spite of the perfect caricature of a german professor. I won't tell the story, but von Igelfeld's encounter with the latin American culture is superb and very funny.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved all the von Igelfeld books for themselves, but Hugh Laurie's performance is unbeatable.

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

Definitely it made me laugh.

Any additional comments?

The three charming books and Hugh Laurie's excellent performance gave me some very pleasant hours driving in my car. I wish I knew more of this kind of books and performance.

the best of the three

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