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Should We Stay or Should We Go
- Narrated by: Hannah Curtis
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
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Should We Stay or Should We Go
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Summary
A best fiction book of 2021 for The Times
Determined to die with dignity, Kay and her husband, Cyril - both healthy and vital medical professionals in their early 50s - make a pact: to commit suicide together once they’ve both turned 80.
A lot can change in 30 years, however....
By turns hilarious and touching, playful and grave, Should We Stay or Should We Go portrays 12 parallel universes, each exploring a possible future for Kay and Cyril. Do they honour their agreement? And if not, will they live to regret it?
Critic reviews
"Should We Stay or Should We Go by Lionel Shriver. A married couple decide on a suicide pact to avoid the indignities of old age, in a satire on society’s attitudes to ageing that plays with multiple endings." (Guardian, 2021 in Books: What to Look Forward to this Year)
"The Cassandra of American letters." (New York Times)
"Readers will be entranced by Shriver’s freewheeling meditation on mortality and human agency." (Publishers Weekly)
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What listeners say about Should We Stay or Should We Go
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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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr R E Ewart Smith
- 21-12-21
Why all the criticism of the reader?
Just finished this. It was funny and thought provoking (if a bit depressing at times).
I very almost did not take on this title off the back of the scathing criticism of the performance. This would have been a huge shame. Yes Hannah Curtis does indeed pronounce Aldeburgh incorrectly, as other have helpfully pointed out, but aside from that her lively reading is excellent and gently humorous tone entirely appropriate for the material.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Katharine
- 02-01-23
A novel novel - exploring some interesting ideas
A slightly dull narration spoiled what could have been a good listen.
I do recommend this story to any couple considering joint suicide to avoid the tribulations of getting old, or the sorrow of living without your soulmate.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs H C Schuster Bruce
- 05-07-21
wise words from the guru
A must listen for everyone who grows old! Lionel at her best. she was having fun with the Brexit references and her own cameo!
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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
- Pen Name
- 08-02-22
Brilliant!
Oh I just loved this book. The concept, whilst unavoidably morbid is delivered in such an original, at times heartbreaking and other times hilarious way I just couldn’t stop listening and was genuinely sad for this book (which is all about endings) to come to and end! Excited to explore more by this fantastic writer.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- D. Clough
- 25-06-21
Whimsy with a bite
I really enjoyed this but then I do fit the demographic (being someone 'Death is starting to take an interest in' to steal an image from Amis) Shriver uses a punchy concept - like the Billy Idol song title - to pull together the strands of a number of modern anxieties and preoccupations; Brexit, the pandemic, immigration, to name a few; and then spin them off as a set of whimsical hypotheses. What if they 'cured' old age? What if Britain was swamped in illegals? What if you could be cryogenically frozen - and so on.
Some of it inevitably works better than other bits and the mirroring of images and tropes throughout the different versions sometimes felt contrived. On the whole, though, it kept me entertained to the end. The reader's sing-song intonation, better suited to Austen than the more Muriel Spark-like qualities of Shriver's writing, sometimes jarred; and often gave the impression she didn't really understand the more mordant undertones of what she was saying. But it was at least palatable and that's saying something with audiobooks.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 17-07-21
Great book but poorly read
Found the narrator a bit irritating. Her pronunciation and emphasis on some words completely wrong. Notably: Aldeburgh, Dignitas, Laos....and a few others
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3 people 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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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MR PAUL DUCKWORTH
- 17-07-21
Lionel Shriver definitely should stay.
A unique perspective from the author who apparently spends half her time in NYC, and the other in London, UK. I’ve enjoyed her other novels, but this was particularly amusing.I could tell she was having such fun writing about euthanasia and Covid! Maybe my favourite. In fact I’m going out on a limb. I preferred this to ‘Kevin. Thanks for some laughs and thought provoking ideas. Bravo. Love from the not-so-trendy part of Hackney, London, UK on the hottest day of the year 2021. x
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Shelley
- 03-04-23
A thought provoking book, poorly read at times
A thought provoking book, well written and funny, but poorly read at times. I'm listening for a 2nd time and the mispronunciations are more noticeable. First I noticed was jalopy. Needs some correction
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 04-07-21
Thought provoking
Really interesting with its alternative scenarios. Very poorly read, with mispronunciations, bad phrasing and stresses.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- steve greensleaves
- 19-03-23
V clever and topical but…
I won’t give it 5* because of somewhat shallow characters and clumsy right wing bias - nevertheless the structural cleverness, imaginative variations and admirable conclusion make it well worth reading
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1 person found this helpful