Epic saga of liberal angst & folly

Brilliant narrated, this is a tale that has shades of Dickens. Stories from all parts of society collide. The central character is a mirror man, desperately trying to reflect and refract all he sees. But ultimately he is just part of the furniture, like most of us.

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Wow

This book is beyond exceptional. Incredible read really shines in a mirror to London today. Lots of characters to follow and all get a storyline. This book is heartbreaking at times and uplifting in others. And the narrator does a great job. Characterisation is as great as Zadie Smith.

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Incredible depth. A modern masterpiece.

What an amazing book! Well interwoven with all of today's current problems. I sometimes struggle with a lot of characters, but each of them was fully formed and interesting. The places are real and, having seen the changes in Islington for myself, so true to life, including the modern-day 'cleansing' of the area around Kings Cross. I also know Seasalter, and the gentrification of Whitstable over the last 45 years.
I learnt so much from the book about the underbelly of life in London, the nobility and each different story was like picking up a newspaper. I really felt for the young lads caught up in the gang culture.
The narration was fabulous and the characters easy to distinguish from each other. More of Michael please.
I highly recommend it.

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A Behemoth of a book

I had mixed feelings about this book the entire time of listening to it but I think ultimately I was meant to. It dealt with some incredibly interesting topical social issues in a very accessible way, which I really enjoyed. So ultimately it made for a great read, but strangely I can’t say I enjoyed my time listening to it. I think I’m going to have to listen again and I think I will probably enjoy it fully the second time of listening. There was a lot going on.
I would definitely recommend this book to young and old. It gives a very good snapshot of society in its current form.
I cannot overstate how exceptionally good the narrator was, truly the best narration i have heard.

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Outstanding

I loved this novel. Andrew O’Hagan’s plot, characterisation and turn of phrase makes for a compelling read. A well spent 10 years Mr O. Don’t take 10 years for the next novel! Tick tock….

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A Drama for today

One of the best novels I heard this year. A story of our times.. Andrew if you every dramatise your novel I would love a part. please.

You have captured British society and the political landscape. You also ask and answer the questions Gen Z are addressing, economic influence, unbalances
integrity of government policies & immigration. That's just for starters.

Caledonian Road would make a great social history and English literature reference book.

I loved it soo much I'm on my second read. Caledonian Road brought back memories of my younger days. .

Thank you Andrew O'Hagan

Joyously
Joy 🌻 T Chance

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Narrator is astonishing, story is timely

The narrator performs brilliantly a very diverse cast of characters with such breadth, humanity and skill.

The story itself is a great sweeping narrative that feels like a modern Dickensian tale. At times biting, funny, tragic, brutal and satirical, this is one of the best listens I’ve had in ages.

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Very good

Thank you to Marina Hyde for recommendation. A true Islington life in progress. Thank you

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Familiar smart vacuous stuff

Not far in but already bored rigid. Self-consciously erudite/learned but empty. Rehashing all the familiar tropes. I wish I was wiser with my money.

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Underwhelmed but great narrator

The narrator did a wonderful job with the excessively large number of characters. However, the story felt like one long rant and sought to connect too many political and social issues in a trite and superficial way. Many of the characters were one dimensional cliches. It was easy to guess each character’s story arc and many of the sub plots were thinly disguised recent tragedies. Some bits were quite funny and would probably work well on the screen. This is not the great state of the nation novel as many of the critics claim.

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2 people found this helpful