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The Instant
- Narrated by: Amy Liptrot
- Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins
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The Instant
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Summary
Shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing
Wishing to leave behind the quiet isolation of her Orkney island life, Amy Liptrot books a one-way flight to Berlin.
Searching for new experiences, inspiration and love, she rents a loftbed in a shared flat and looks for work. She explores the streets, nightclubs and parks and seeks out the city’s wildlife—goshawks, raccoons and hooded crows. She looks for love through the screen of her laptop. Over the course of a year, Amy makes space, hoping for the unexpected. And it comes with an erotic jolt, in the form of a love affair that obsesses her.
The Instant is an unapologetic look at the addictive power of love and lust. It is also an exploration of the cycles of the moon, the flight paths of migratory birds, the mesmerising power of Neolithic stonework and the trails followed by a generation who exist online.
This audiobook contains an exclusive essay by Amy Liptrot.
Critic reviews
"I loved this book." (Raynor Winn, author of The Salt Path)
"Utterly absorbing." (Lucy Jones, author of Losing Eden)
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What listeners say about The Instant
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- POS638
- 03-09-22
Honest beauty of heart break and adventure
Loved Amy’s second book with snapshots of Orkney, London and Berlin and her journey into self discovery, love, loss and redefining herself. Powerful, entertaining, educational and reminiscent of my upbringing in Orkney.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 13-06-23
Insightful
Beautiful vocabulary & true honesty. Really touching & insightful. It was both raw and emotional. Really different to anything I’ve read or listened to before.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Alice Lane
- 04-03-22
Exquisite
I was so looking forward to this book and it did not disappoint..A brutally honest account of her heartbreak in Berlin when her love affair ends abruptly and the importance of her relationship to the moon. Amy Liptrot writes and narrates beautifully.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- DANIEL L.
- 18-03-22
A beautifully read, poetic journey
Otherworldly yet totally of this world. Amy really nails what it is to be human. A magical and infinitely relatable book.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Nomi
- 10-07-22
Underwater Techno
Listened to it all in an afternoon, the world through Amy Liptrot's eyes is riveting to me, I particularly loved her oceany description of a techno club in Berlin. Her emotional experiences are empathic and relatable and so very human. I loved the outrun, I loved this one too.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Huskyaddict
- 17-03-22
stunning....again
I loved The Outrun, one of my favourite books ever and thought that the instant could not possibly match it. So, in some way I approached this book nervous that I might be disappointed....which I did not.want to be as I kind of felt in love with Amy from her debut, stark, brave and beautiful tale.
The Instant is a lazily sensual delve into one chapter of Amy's life; a life that is already amazing but also familiar to each and everyone of us. Amy's courage to look at life in the face and allow herself to notice the enormity and minutiae of this experience is commendable. The fact that she shares her journey with us feels like a privilege, like cutting through the small talk and getting to the heart of a conversation....the conversation you really want to have.
This is not a long book, however it will be one I read again and joins The Outrun as one of those books that truly move me.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Linda Nicholson
- 08-11-23
Very Interesting
This book did keep me interested I love the information on birds and nature the most
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- BetsyB
- 05-03-22
Superb writing - honest, moving and funny.
I so enjoyed this - memoir, (urban) nature writing, creative practice. A pleasure to listen to and beautifully read by the author.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- John
- 11-08-22
Honest simple and direct. Poetry in prose form.
The subject of The Instant is wide ranging, from belonging and the way people live online, to nature writing and recovery from addiction, to loneliness and longing, love and despair. There is a rare honesty here as Amy describes her heartache. And her thoughts are poetic and lyrical yet her writing style has a wonderful simplicity that is both original and direct.
The Instant is a quiet, unambitious book that punched far above my expectations.
Top marks, and then some more, from me.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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- Lizzy h
- 19-03-22
A personal memoir of life
Really loved The Outrun but this book was lacking a connection to the natural world.
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