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Days Without End

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Days Without End

By: Sebastian Barry
Narrated by: Aidan Kelly
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About this listen

Having signed up for the US Army in the 1850s, aged barely 17, Thomas McNulty and his brother-in-arms, John Cole, go on to fight in the Indian wars and ultimately the Civil War. Orphans of terrible hardships themselves, despite the horrors they both see and are complicit in, they find these days to be vivid.

Both an intensely poignant story of two men and the lives they are dealt and a fresh look at some of the most fateful years in America's past.

©2016 Sebastian Barry (P)2016 W.F. Howes Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction War & Military War Heartfelt

Critic Reviews

"[Barry's] words have a stony allure of the Irish poets and the lyrical pull of an epic storyteller." ( The Boston Globe)
"Sebastian Barry's handling of voice and cadence is masterly. His fictional universe is filled with life, quiet truth, and exquisite intimacy." (Colm Tóibín, author of the Costa Novel Award-winning Brooklyn)
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I didn’t want this book to end. It was beautifully crafted. The sensitivity, and kindness contrasted with the brutality kept me anchored to the story.

Mesmerising narration

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What a beautiful book! The author uses language so well, to bring what could have been another dull account of war, to a meaningful measure of the depths of humanity reached in these situations. Bravo!

Beautiful

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It was a fantastic book and the narration was perfect. Unfortunately it was let down by its ending.

Great narration

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The story is extraordinary & quite haunting. Set in the Civil War but very relevant to today's world. The characters of Thomas McNulty, john Cole & Winona stay in your head. This is a great story & the performance by Aidan Kelly is brilliant! He is a very gifted reader. I'm definitely going to listen to his other books.

Wish this book wouldn't end!!

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How can a writer write so many lines that take one’s breath away? And the narrator - a perfect match

A perfect book, narrated sublimely

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Could not turn this off. The harsh lives imposed on the characters is offset by the tender love between the boyhood friends, John and Thomas. Indian/soldier conflicts, civil war, famine and hardship are overcome time and again by love and true friendship. A great book.

Riveting

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I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Especially the language and beauty of the words. I've not been all that interested in the civil war, and thought I'd read enough grief on the massacres of Indians. But Barry wrote such a compelling tale of honesty, and commraderie and love. I had no choice but to hear it all. The last paragraph had me holding tightly to my device and begging for a good end. To not know which way it would go right up to the last page was just one last enjoyment of this truly magnificent tale.

How to make the bleak beautiful.

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Wonderful narration and story.
My first experience of Barry’s writing and will be seeking out more.
I wasn’t sure about the story for the first 1/3 but persevered and so glad I did.

Builds well, great story

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An exceptional novel, written with great sensibility and insight. I really recommend it as a fine book.

A most beautiful, exciting and moving novel by a great Irish writer

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I wish I had the gift of writing and the art of narration to express how deeply human, how utterly beautiful the characters, how real they are and just how close they come to the experience of love, loss, friendship, war, society and more, this book comes.

I wish it had not ended

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

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