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Death of a River Guide

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Death of a River Guide

By: Richard Flanagan
Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
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About this listen

Widely regarded as a classic in Australian literature, Richard Flanagan's debut novel takes us on a swirling journey into Tasmania's past and our river guide's own violent ancestral secrets.

Beneath a waterfall on the Franklin, Aljaz Cosini, river guide, lies drowning. Beset by visions at once horrible and fabulous, he relives not just his own life but that of his family and forebears.

In the rainforest waters that rush over him he sees those lives stripped of their surface realities, and finds a world where dreaming reasserts its power over thinking. As the river rises, his visions grow more turbulent, and in the flood of his past Aljaz discovers the soul history of his country.

Richard Flanagan's 1994 debut about a mythical Tasmania dazzled audiences around the world, and is now recognised as one of the most powerful and original Australian novels of recent decades.

©1994 Richard Flanagan (P)2017 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

Critic Reviews

"Haunting and ambitious." ( The New York Times Book Review)
"A torrent of a book - take the plunge." ( The Independent)
All stars
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Great story. Tricky to follow sometimes with the interweaving story lines but overall, amazing book. Had to sit and think for a while when it finished.

So many feelings

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im late the party here. i can see his influence on trent dalton who i also love. cant wait to hear/read more. was in tears at the end

phenomenal

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Australian history, human emotions, love and the indomable Tasmanian outback. Sometimes a bit heavy to follow.

A great Australian classic

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The most stunning and beautiful imagery that we've come to love from Richard Flannagan. An unusual concept beautifully brought to life in a stream-of-conciousness style of story telling, interwoven with historical layering. Parts had me in tears from the tragedy but also the beauty of his descriptions. Absolutely stunning.

Absolutely beautiful

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Beautifully written and told. A story of life, love and culture throughout the history of Tasmania. Powerful and a book you will not forget.

fabulous

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Fantastic story by a brilliant Australian author. Perfectly matched narrator, with an appropriately sardonic tone. Enthralling listening.

This is why Audible can be awesome

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The morbidity of the plot will make you depressed! But the lyrical style of writing, wit, and depth of the characters will make this journey into death worth the trip. The starkness of a life lived only experiencing death seems hopeless and pointless and you cannot help but wonder that this is not all there is to life but dying. It spends much time tracing a history of violence that has reincarnate consequences that you may miss the forest for all the trees, making the titular event anti-climatic because by then you are desensitised to what you came all that way for! You will not love any of the characters, but you will pity them all. The empathy levels are in for a bumpy ride and there is little redeeming or hopeful in a life that only tells of death, though it has not been better written of anywhere else that I know of.

Observing a History of Death

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started well but got bogged down in visions. should have stuck to the river action

ordinary

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don't like the narrator
previously listened to him narrate Shantaram.
this book is exceptional though

sorry....don't like the narrator.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.