The Boat Audiobook

" Immaculate fiction writing over a variety of subject matter - the loveliest of story telling. poignant. "

" This terrific book of short stories should win awards this year. The stories are so well written that I visualized all the characters and scenes without being aware of detailed descriptions. Although the author is originally Vietnamese, the stories are set in a variety of countries. Many have teens as major characters so it would be interesting to see what a mature teen thought of the collection. "

" I've learned things of other cultures, lives. Some stories didn't grab me as much as others but it was worthwhile. "

" Writing feels like it's trying too hard. I really wanted to like it but did not grab me. "

" This collection of short stories has been widely hyped as the most promising first collection of fiction in ages. Nam Le was born in VietNam and raised in Australia, then ended up at the Iowa Writer's Workshop. "

" Short stories--well written, dark. All very different, from different points of view... "

" I don't usually get into short stories so much but this was amazing. "

" so much feeling from so few words. "

" A fantastic short story collection from a fresh Austalian voice (even if he was born in Vietnam and lives in the US). Will be fascinated to see if he goes on to publish novels. Highly recommended. "

" "Empty virtuosity" is the faint praise a reviewer used to damn this short story collection and afraid I agree. Gave up after reading about 3/4 of it - just didn't grab me. "

" To be honest, i am definitely not a big fan of short stories - just not enough character development for me. I found the stories difficult to get into. I was disappointed. "

" This is a very uneven collection of stories. Some of them (the first and the last stories, for instance) are excellent, while some of them are pretty weak. The first and last stories of the book ("Love and Honor..." and "The Boat") are, without a doubt, the two standouts. "

" Yep. First two stories were really good and then it just got stale. Why all the hype on this one? "

" the first one was good. and maybe there was another good one. but this book annoyed me. i just didn't care that much. not to say that there's not good writing, but whatever. blah. "

" I'm reading everything twice, and then I'm going to run out and buy the book, so that I may highlight, dog-ear, and enjoy this again and again. Easily the best of the year. "

" Chose it because of recommendation. Doubt that I will ever finish it. "

" Read this for a short story lit class. The stories were not bad,some were definitely better than others but it lacked something. He definitely is skillful in his ability to take on some many characters from different backgrounds. "

" simply great first book of short stories. you WILL hear more about nam le. very reminiscent of frank conroy, joyce carol oates, robert olen butler. "

" You'll either love this collection for its varied settings and voices, or struggle with it for the same reasons. "

" I don't ordinarily read short stories, but I found these well written and very engrosing. "

" what i learned from this book? what a funny prompt... "

" Loved the broad geographic range and yet the focus on parent-child relations. How does a young writer go so far from home, Vietnam, Australia, Tehran, Hiroshima and NYC and yet stay so close to home? "

" Really intense stories & very diverse with respect to style, location, theme. Didn't much like Hiroshima. "

" Some wonderful short stories but too many underwhelming ones mixed in with this series. "

" Hard to say anything but this was the best collection of short stories I may have ever read. Amazing depth and breadth,diverse settings and topics but each one deep and probably more complex, with better character development, than many novels. Truly a masterpiece--read it. "

" Beautifully written, he is able to get into the skins of many different kinds of people, bringing forth their character and surroundings in rich detail. He takes on many voices for each story, and though you feel smothered, sometimes, in their lives, his presence as an author is always subtle. "