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The Mandelbaum Gate cover art

The Mandelbaum Gate

By: Muriel Spark
Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
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Summary

The Mandelbaum Gate divides the conflict-torn realm of Jerusalem, separating Israel from Jordan. Barbara Vaughn, a stubborn young English woman and half-Jewish Catholic convert, insists upon crossing the divide in order to rendezvous with her fiancé, in spite of the very real danger. Her quest sets off a series of bizarre situations and adventures, set against the backdrop of the Eichmann trial of 1961.

Muriel Spark has created a many-faceted novel, both comic and serious, enriched by a wealth of information.

©1965 Muriel Spark (P)1994 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Davidson] achieve[s] successful transitions through deliberate pauses and changes of voice. Thus, we're able to follow the many tangents the author uses to enrich the story and our listening pleasure." ( AudioFile)
"English-accented Frederick Davidson turns in a memorable performance." ( Library Journal)

What listeners say about The Mandelbaum Gate

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Narration Problem

The narrator uses a very affected English accent. It s very irritating and detracts from an excellent and well written story.
Why couldn't the guy just read it in good old R P ?

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9 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Another good read ruined…

Dreadful narration. A great waste of a good book. I gave up after a couple of chapters.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great Story, nasally narration.

The narrator didn’t work for me. It’s probably just me, definitely try the sample first.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

awful narrator

I'm sure the book is good but I'll never find out because the narrator is awful.

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

I’m an MS fan

Although this novel began somewhat uncertainly it rallied and covered material not present in MS’ other fiction or short stories.
Set in the newly established Israel in the early 50’s, the primary narrative centres about Barbara Vaughan, half Jewish/ baptised Catholic and a pilgrimage that proves more complex than she’s anticipated .
Muriel Spark’s father was Jewish, so one can’t avoid considering that the material and characters represent a personal resonance and that following the IIWW, MS must have visited the region to have recreated the detail for the work.
At times there is a “Carry On… “ sense of events with a humour that is shared across the cultural groups among endearing characters. Overall the plot is well structured, with unanticipated events that work well enough as a novel.
The narration was disappointing; the English voices were authentic but lesser characters became muddled with inadvertent mingling of accents, and there was a lost opportunity to have credible Israeli and Arab accents; one needed however to ignore this and persevere.

I think MS was an excellent writer and I’m a bit of a fan

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    1 out of 5 stars
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boring

the narrators voice was highly irritating, the story repetitive and went nowhere. this book has not aged well

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Only one star for the narrator

Found the voice of the reader unsuited to the text. Love Muriel Stark but did not really enjoy this reading

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very, very amusing

I want to say a good ‘romp’….almost in the Whitehall farce league ….all the old style Brits overseas which permitted the likes of the Cambridge spies to run amok unsuspected….except our protagonist is sharp, suspicious yet still retaining old school bluster. The naive Brits in the hands of knowing foreigners, except it’s a double or perhaps triple bluff. I have only just started reading/listening to Muriel Spark…fabulous writer of great wry humour. The narrator’s style is in keeping with the time in which the book is set. Bear with him.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A terrific tale

A terrific tale, narrated by the wonderful Frederick Davidson who so beautifully adopts the voices of the characters that one feels that one is listening to a whole cast of different actors.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Listen to sample before downloading

I have liked all the previous Muriel Spark audiobooks I have listened to. I can barely follow the story of this one after almost three hours as the narrator is so bad. So affected and mannered and almost every sentence has the same phrasing and cadence. I’m sure there’s some humour in there but it is utterly lost with Frederick Davidson’s narration. Wikipedia describes him as being a ‘Marmite’ narrator, so you might like him. Listen to the sample. I am sure the book would be good if differently read. (Am not allowed to give zero stars for performance… and performance is definitely is - ugh!)

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