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The Hummingbird

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The Hummingbird

By: Sandro Veronesi, Elena Pala - translator
Narrated by: Kristin Atherton, Silvia Presente, Victor Vertunni
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About this listen

Marco Carrera is 'the hummingbird', a man with the almost supernatural ability to stay still as the world around him continues to change.

As he navigates the challenges of life - confronting the death of his sister and the absence of his brother; taking care of his parents; raising his granddaughter; coming to terms with his love for the enigmatic Luisa - Marco Carrera comes to represent the quiet heroism that pervades so much of our everyday existence.

A surprising and deeply moving reinvention of the family saga, this is a thrilling novel about the need to look to the future with hope and live with intensity to the very end.

©2021 Sandro Veronesi (P)2021 Orion Publishing Group Coming of Age Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

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Critic reviews

"With The Hummingbird, Sandro Veronesi has re-written the family saga. Ardent, gripping and inventive to the core, it has already been hailed a classic." (Jhumpa Lahiri)

"Extraordinary." (Domenico Starnone, National Book Award Finalist author of Ties and Trick)

"Masterly: a cabinet of curiosities and delights, packed with small wonders." (Ian Mcewan)

"A spellbinding experience: clever, funny and deeply moving." (Roddy Doyle)
All stars
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Average story, ruined by the narrator! Sounded bored throughout and didn't bother with punctuation or emphasis. I feel I would have enjoyed the story more if the narrator sounded like he cared.

Average

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I kept losing concentration and drifting off. some parts are beautiful but lacked interest for me.

not for me

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I found this to be a truly unique book in that it is a story about nothing. Take any of our lives, the trials and tribulations we live through and describe it through beautiful prose, considered observation and snippets of correspondence and suddenly we are all the hero of our own epic. To see how anyone can be the protagonist in their own experience, to be painted a hero just for keeping on keeping on is a quiet epiphany and ludicrously moving.
The true genius here is to have created the extraordinarily mundane and everyday life purely through fiction and to then make it beautiful.

Not for people who love thrillers or drama

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An unusual and beautiful story, translated with authenticity & wonderful to listen to.

Sandro Varonesi should be applauded for this sensitive & magical book.

Excellent.

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I enjoyed the story, but sometimes it's difficult to know who is speaking because the narrator doesn't change his voice.

Good story

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