Listen free for 30 days
The Sea
Summary
Man Booker Prize, Fiction, 2005
When art historian Max Morden returns to the seaside village where he once spent a childhood holiday, he is both escaping from a recent loss and confronting a distant trauma.The Grace family had appeared that long-ago summer as if from another world. Mr. and Mrs. Grace, with their worldly ease and candour, were unlike any adults he had met before. But it was his contemporaries, the Grace twins Myles and Chloe, who most fascinated Max. He grew to know them intricately, even intimately, and what ensued would haunt him for the rest of his years and shape everything that was to follow.
More from the same
What members say
Average customer ratings
Overall
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars29
-
4 Stars15
-
3 Stars16
-
2 Stars7
-
1 Stars3
Performance
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars27
-
4 Stars15
-
3 Stars5
-
2 Stars1
-
1 Stars2
Story
-
3.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars19
-
4 Stars12
-
3 Stars9
-
2 Stars3
-
1 Stars6
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- ciarando
- 23-05-18
Dull and self-indulgent
The main point of this book appears to be adolescent self-absorption and it's as tedious to listen to as it is to observe in real life. The male characters are one-dimensional, the female characters are objects. A dash of humour or irony may have lifted the narrative, but this story takes itself extremely seriously. I struggled to the end only because I hoped it would redeem itself in the finale. It didn't.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- Anna Fern
- 12-11-17
Awful book!
This is the first book I have aborted after hour of listening! Boring, lifeless and dull!!!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Richard
- 02-04-12
Okay but not great
I found the writing in this one incredibly over-wrought and florid, almost laughably so at some points. You are left with the impression of the narrator as being a pompous prat - which may well be the intention but it makes it a bit hard to stick with. The last hour or so is stunning, however.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- E. A. Spencer-Goodier
- 29-09-19
Egotistical narrative
It’s clever. Almost like stepping back into the world of Katherine Mansfield.
I did enjoy the book & the telling of it, although it’s slow to get into. Perseverance however will reveal a carefully crafted story, with some sweet twists that reveal our self delusion & eagerness to stereotype.
The internal dialogue of a life navigating waypoints marked by the usual passions, guilt and grief. I liked it.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gerard Frith
- 26-12-18
Stunning
A glorious way to spend 6.5 hrs. Everything about this audio book is perfect. The source text is rich, sad and vainglorious; the narration perfectly matched.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 11-09-17
Finding me in the Sea
I found me in the Sea and realised the brokenness in all of us, the futility of self help and the glory of faith which shone through in its absense.