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The Glass Room

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The Glass Room

By: Simon Mawer
Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
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About this listen

Cool. Balanced. Modern. The precisions of science, the wild variance of lust, the catharsis of confession and the fear of failure - these are things that happen in the Glass Room. High on a Czechoslovak hill, the Landauer House shines as a wonder of steel and glass and onyx built specially for newlyweds Viktor and Liesel Landauer, a Jew married to a gentile. But the radiant honesty of 1930 that the house, with its unique Glass Room, seems to engender quickly tarnishes as the storm clouds of World War II gather, and eventually the family must flee, accompanied by Viktor's lover and her child.

But the house's story is far from over, and as it passes from hand to hand, from Czech to Russian, both the best and the worst of the history of Eastern Europe becomes somehow embodied and perhaps emboldened within the beautiful and austere surfaces and planes so carefully designed, until events come full-circle.

©2009 Simon Mawer (P)2010 Recorded Books LLC Historical Fiction Fiction Heartfelt Russia

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Wonderful evocation of a house, people and a variety of times in the history of Czekoslovakia and what followed.

Wonderful evocation!

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A captivating story of lives lived throughout the change and chaos of 1930s Europe, with a house anchoring their stories in past & present Czech history. (Is it based loosely on real lives and actual architecture? I’m going to have to research!)
It’s read perfectly - the narrator’s voice holds emotion in an almost passive way and reflects the light and space that fills the house and the relationships within the story flawlessly. I could listen to Mays’ voice for hours (- and did!)
It’s a superb listen. I highly recommend it.

Superb story & flawless narration

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To be honest I only got a 3rd of a way through. This was a book chosen by our bookclub, I thought it sounded interesting due to the historical aspects. The narrator seem to give the characters haughty voices, which made them all feel dislikeable to me, and so I didn’t feel engaged with the book. I really didn’t care about the house or the architecture and gave up!

Couldn’t get into this book

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Jefferson Mays brings this beautiful and moving book to life with his perfect, delicate style. I have enjoyed this immensely and encourage you to read it. Also go to the Villa Tugendhat website and seek out the Virtual Tour to experience the beauty of the house upon which the story is based.

Haunting and beautiful

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This book is so slow I almost gave up but it started to come alive in chapter 24 all the way to about ch 29 we went into repetition again . It comes to life again from chapter 42 to the end..please read this book it explains what true love really is in its many forms.Leasil Landau is a true lady right to the end of this book.

The GLass Room

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