Question 7 cover art

Question 7

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Question 7

By: Richard Flanagan
Narrated by: Richard Flanagan
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

By way of H. G. Wells and Rebecca West's affair through 1930s nuclear physics to Flanagan's father working as a slave labourer near Hiroshima when the atom bomb is dropped, this genre-defying daisy chain of events reaches fission when Flanagan as a young man finds himself trapped in a rapid on a wild river not knowing if he is to live or to die.

At once a love song to his island home and to his parents, this hypnotic melding of dream, history, literature, place and memory is about how reality is never made by realists and how our lives so often arise out of the stories of others and the stories we invent about ourselves.

©2023 Richard Flanagan (P)2023 Penguin Random House Australia Audio Essays Nonfiction
All stars
Most relevant  
Not a chronological memoir but a tapestry of memories some crystal clear and others dreamlike. He has had an unusual life and I’m grateful he has the ability to share it the way he has.

An Extraordinary book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Another masterpiece from one of Australia’s best authors and storytellers. Highly recommended. A must read.

Stunning

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love the way Richard weaves his stories together, in the same way that our lives consist of real life and memories, stories from the past and the stories we are creating.

A rich tapestry … I plan to reread it soon xx

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Best Flanagan yet. I love the way the story threads all coalesce into a life.

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A must read. A truly great work. It is made well by Richard’s voice, the sound of authenticity. Hearing his very real feelings come to life through the reading of his writing gave me a sense connection to my own authentic Australian story.

Superb

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The heartwarming, heartbreaking truth about being just human - endlessly trying, often failing, to be kind.

Complicated truth made clear and somehow comforting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It’s Richard Flanagan’s meticulous research, his rendition of it in his own particular context, his (incredibly brave) personal honesty, exceptional narration and thought-provoking reflection that makes this book the masterpiece it is. Quite breathtaking.

What an incredible book !

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Felt like listening to long meditative essay which meandered like the river it references from Chechov, Wells and Kafka to Hungary, Los Alamos and Japan all via a man in a search of a question with no need of an answer. If that which asks questions is art
and that which gives answers is propaganda then this is art.

Meditation on Hiroshima and the Franklin river

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It’s three weeks since publication and I’ve read it twice. Too quickly the first time. The second, with the benefit of hindsight, so rich and thoughtful.

The audio production is a little scratchy, even to the extent of leaving in an editorial comment by the narrator. But it felt like I was in Flanagan’s study with him reading to me.

Historical, memoir, love letter, time, genocide. It packs a lot in, and there is space for the reader to ponder.

Well worth my reread

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Beautifully written and read by Richard Flanagan. Part memoir, part reflection on life and memory, part rumination on indigeneity, colonialism and racism. Thought provoking exploration of the use of the atom bomb against Japan in World War II and the nature of war itself. Ranging widely and deeply this was a pleasure to listen to…

A meditation on life and memory

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
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.