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The Glister: A Novel Audiobook
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(2.05) - 434 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Fifteen-year-old Leonard describes his hometown as a contemporary hell: part industrial ruin, part Dante’s Inferno. The poisoned woods and the derelict buildings are haunted by wild children, a strange, sickly fauna, and the mysterious Moth Man, an itinerant ecologist who appears to be conducting a bizarre survey into local insect populations, but might just as easily be the angel of the Lord. Every year or so, a boy from Leonard’s school disappears, vanishing into the wasteland of the old chemical plant. Nobody knows where these boys go, or whether they are alive or dead. Without evidence to the contrary, the authorities claim they are simply runaways. But Morrison, the town policeman, knows otherwise. Determined to learn the truth for himself, Leonard takes refuge in the poisoned ruins of the plant, where he renews his friendship with the Moth Man and exacts a shocking revenge on the policeman before entering the mysterious Glister.
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"What happened? I was expecting more of a procedural, based on the jacket cover. It was more literary and better than what I expected. It was also a bit on the disturbing side. But what happened? And why? "
— Kelly (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“John Burnside explores with a delicious feathery touch the infectious nature of violence and its capacity to seduce, in ways that are almost beautiful. This tantalizing, horrific novel is steeped in a terrible sense of wonder.”
— Metro (London) -
“What makes Glister most astonishing is that poet-novelists, such as Burnside, seldom succeed. Yet he has shown it can be done gloriously…Glister is a powerful, mesmerizing experience.”
— Observer (London) -
“Burnside brings his powers of pared-down narration to bear on a tale of dereliction, loss and possible redemption…Burnside’s story employs suggestion and ambiguity rather than explicit statement, but it has the power that comes from leaving plenty of space in which the reader’s own imagination can go to work.”
— Sunday Times (London) -
“One of the most original and exhilarating reads of the year…A work begging a second reading, it is an exceptionally rich treasure which goes beyond telling a disconcerting and disorienting story to illuminate the infinite possibilities of the novel.”
— The Guardian -
“Nobody does eerie quite like John Burnside. His exquisite and haunting new novel Glister…has an insistent force, overturning the reader’s expectations and building to a truly shocking climax…I doubt I will read a more unsettling and memorable book this year.”
— Scotsman (London) -
“Burnside can turn from luminous verse to prose that keeps you awake at night…In the end we are left with the resonance of a book whose centre is nowhere but whose circumference is extraordinarily large.”
— Financial Times -
“Bleakly beautiful…Burnside expertly details an apocalyptic landscape where the ‘expectation of failure’ is rampant…Burnside’s flawless prose explores how defeat is only a state of mind.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Narrator John Lee expertly translates the story of the dreary, doomed village to the spoken word. His Scottish accent only adds to the foreignness of the world that Burnside paints. With Lee’s mesmerizing delivery the story slips from one character to another as easily as it slides from the past to the present. This is a book you won’t be able to turn off as you search for the thread that connects the mystery.”
— AudioFile
The Glister Listener Reviews
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" Many layers to this novel "
— Sharon, 2/16/2014 -
" I thought it was well written, but at the same time it is a short story that is about 150 pages too long. I kept reading, hoping that something would happen, something related to the premise of the story. When it finally did I was unimpressed and very disappointed. I wish I had followed my gut feeling about this one and stopped after the first 50 pages. "
— Dean, 2/16/2014 -
" This book was really strange. I tend to start skimming when there are too many details and that is what the author does here. I never really understood what happened in the end either, it was confusing. I couldn't figure out if the kids were dead? In a parallel universe? Stuck in the plant? What, just tell me straight out! "
— Dawn, 1/25/2014 -
" Billed as a horror novel, this bizarre novel goes nowhere frightening or even ... coherent. Trying to be "abstract" it succeeds only in revealing there are no ideas at the core of this "story." "
— Bj, 1/3/2014 -
" Beautifully written, but I was disappointed by the lack of development. So much rich detail, and yet so little was actually explored. "
— Christopher, 1/2/2014 -
" This book started out great - really interesting. By the end, I wasn't sure what is was about, which is pretty annoying after the time investment I made. But, 2 weeks after I read it, I still am thinking about it... "
— Marie, 12/31/2013 -
" An amazing, hypnotic, ominous novel written with shockingly beautiful descriptions of moral emptiness and human culpability combined with innocence and despair. "
— Judy, 12/29/2013 -
" Spooky and sad with a creeping horror. "
— Kathy, 12/19/2013 -
" The basis of the book is the disappearance of young boys, the meat of the book is the philosophy, the horror is the willingness of the boys going to their death. Was there redemption for the boys? "
— Carol, 9/28/2013 -
" Burnside's lyrical writing is imaginative and really nicely done. So The Glister is probably worth reading for that (and for the enjoyment of a few dark, creepy scenes). But the ending is terribly disappointing. "
— Jessi, 3/13/2013 -
" My review is online at Fiction Writers Review. "
— Greg, 2/1/2013 -
" A vivid and creepy hallucinatory tale told from several p.o.v. but Leonard (who enters on p. 51) possesses the voice I won't soon forget. "
— Sam, 11/8/2012 -
" I read this book in one day; each page drew me deeper and deeper into the story. I loved the language, but I have to admit I just didn't "get" the book. Horror tale? Morality play? Not sure what to think of it, but I'm sure I'll be thinking about it for a few days. "
— Laurel, 9/20/2012 -
" What happened here? I think I completely missed the point of the book, not to mention what really happened at the end. Oh well. At least it was short. "
— Gina, 8/4/2012 -
" Strong sense of foreboding with many literary references. Similiar pacing and style to Lovely Bones. "
— Colette, 7/5/2012 -
" This book bored the pants off of me..the only thing I liked about it were some of the descriptive phrases. I don't think I'll be checking out any more of his books. "
— Charlene, 8/22/2011 -
" A page-turner for sure, lyrical and deeply unsettling. The poison wood, the childrens' cruel hunt at the landfill, the madness and suffering of Morrison's wife were all tangible and penetrating, but while the final chapters were suitably skin-crawling, the plot seemed to be left behind. "
— Sian, 7/7/2011 -
" This book starts a bit slowly, but don't be deceived. It is an incredible read. "
— Poietes, 6/5/2011 -
" Darkly Scottish and full of adolescent angst, adult angst, and murderous angst. Great tone and characterizations. "
— Will, 5/19/2011 -
" This book started out great - really interesting. By the end, I wasn't sure what is was about, which is pretty annoying after the time investment I made. But, 2 weeks after I read it, I still am thinking about it... "
— Marielaplante, 4/24/2011 -
" Burnside's lyrical writing is imaginative and really nicely done. So The Glister is probably worth reading for that (and for the enjoyment of a few dark, creepy scenes). But the ending is terribly disappointing. "
— Jessi, 12/29/2010 -
" This book was a landslide. The writing is not bad and the premise had potential but the novel just went into a weird place and then drowned there. "
— Issy, 9/15/2010 -
" What happened here? I think I completely missed the point of the book, not to mention what really happened at the end. Oh well. At least it was short. "
— Gina, 6/15/2010 -
" Beautiful language, very lyrical. Slow in places, with a nebulous ending that was satisfying even though it solves nothing. "
— Laura, 12/1/2009 -
" Beautifully written, but I was disappointed by the lack of development. So much rich detail, and yet so little was actually explored. "
— Christopher, 10/12/2009 -
" Exceptional prose wasted on a meandering plot with an unsatisfactory conclusion. Violence reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange and underage and kinky sex. All just a little too pointless and wierd for me. "
— Joe, 10/1/2009
About John Burnside
John Burnside is the author of the novel The Devil's Footprints and the memoir A Lie about My Father, as well as five works of fiction and eleven collections of poetry published in the United Kingdom.
About John Lee
Armando Durán has appeared in films, television, and regional theaters throughout the West Coast. For the last decade he has been a member of the resident acting company at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In 2009 he was named by AudioFile as Best Voice in Biography and History for his narration of Che Guevara. A native Californian, he divides his time between Los Angeles and Ashland, Oregon.