Touches the deepest of the humanity

Puts the most essential human question Igę context of one othe most damaging human achievement and destruction - development of the nuke. Perceived, proccessed, explained by a daughther of one engaged scientists. Evolves into a wider reflection upon the humanity, etternal life, relations between individuals and the world. Containned in a simple, so well known by most of readers, form of a dialogue between a patient and psy.

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Absolutely brilliant

Should be performed on the stage. I enjoyed listening to every single minute of book.

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Engaging read from CM

Jump into a portal of voyage and discovery on a relentless investigation into thought and parameters of being. Such detail and disclosure for a beautiful read. Thank you very much,

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Exceptional performance by both actors

I enjoyed the questions posed and the subject matter of Stella Maris when I read the book, but I couldn’t help but feel it was a little cold and clinical in it’s presentation and that lessened it’s impact.

The audiobook really addresses these misgivings and truly brings the dialogue and emotion to life: the rapport between Cohen and Alicia is really evocative thanks to the masterful performances of Julia Whelan and Edoardo Ballerini and gives the content an almost voyeuristic quality.

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it is brilliant just brilliant

it covers a range of deep ideas in an interesting format.
McCarthy always writes beautiful prose

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Captivating

I listened the passenger (which I now plan to relisten to) a few months ago, and I liked but, didn't quite love it. This however, I did love. I haven't read/listened to anything that hit quite as hard as this for some time. Maybe it is a little self-indulgent, but the conversations between the two characters are so captivating, that I really didn't care. It left my head spinning for some time after.

In terms of the narration and production, I can't think of a better audiobook. Both narrators are fantastic. I also loved how the ending was punctuated with a piece of music, that was significant to the protagonist and mentioned earlier in the book - Really nice touch.

I cannot recommend this enough, though it absolutely is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea - but if it sounds like yours, I think you'll really like it.

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Take my hand

Beautiful swan song. Great performances, great story, a perfect ending to a great writers work.

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Yet another masterpiece

This is amazingly narrated and the story I will have to continue to unpack for years to come.

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Outstanding

Difficult to fully understand but makes you want to try and I will read it again, a fantastic production by everyone involved,
Thank you.

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The end of something.

If this is his final novel then McCarthy has chosen to say goodbye by showing us that there is beauty and wonder, even in the bleakest depths of the human experience. The novel is presented as a series of transcripts and therefore almost entirely a dialogue, between Alicia Western, (whose brother is the central character in McCarthy’s The Passenger), and her psychiatrist. The conversations (perfectly performed by Julia Whelan and Edoardo Ballerini) between the pair range across themes familiar in McCarthy’s work - violence, cruelty, grief, incest, but also explore ideas his characters have rarely ever had a chance to ponder openly - mathematics, quantum physics, linguistics, the mysteries of consciousness, hallucination, dream - with Alicia being revealed as at times dishonest and manipulative and at others, blunt, open and profoundly honest.

I understood the exploration of her lonely existence as McCarthy’s way of painting in micro, the paradox of human experience - the beauty even in the most devastating places that our minds can take us. The longing to be rid of it and the acknowledgment that without it, we are not truly human. At one point there’s a short discussion of the comfort that can be derived in knowing that we can commit suicide, at another of hallucinated “familiars” becoming companions.

I could go on for ever about this novel, I listened to it in one sitting. and will listen many more times.
Like The Road, this is a bleak, unnerving and deeply humane book. Alicia is flawed and often unlikable whilst being deeply sympathetic and ultimately, just like the rest of us, fearful of what it means to exist and and fearful of ceasing to exist also.

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6 people found this helpful