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The Listener Audiobook
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(2.04) - 190 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Critically acclaimed author Shira Nayman has been praised by School Library Journal for her "breathtaking storytelling" and her ability to write with "stunning clarity." Nayman's debut novel, The Listener is a tale of madness and passion set in a psychiatric hospital just after the end of WWII.
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"Loved it! I could hardly put this down. Well written and a great psychological thriller. I don't understand the low ratings for this book as the plot was so complex and interesting. Read it!"
— Heidi (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“The Listener explores with great subtlety and perceptiveness the issues of trama and quilt, illustrating the complexity of the way in which a mind that has experienced horrors—whether as perpetrator or victim—may create elaborate defenses that are paradoxically self-destructive.”
— Charles Palliser, author of The Quincunx and The Unburied -
“Nayman turns a jaundiced eye on her own profession…The line between sanity and insanity and the questioning of the rules that govern the patient-doctor relationship are consistently intriguing.”
— Booklist -
“Vividly imagined and evoked.”
— Kirkus Reviews
The Listener Listener Reviews
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" Bah. Read it for book club and couldnt finish it. I felt like I didnt really care about the main character and he was more creepy than anything. I felt like the author was trying too hard to write from a man's perspective and just could not deliver. There was nothing holding me to stay with this book. Good book club discussion though. "
— Risapopelka, 2/7/2014 -
" I really enjoyed this book--the writing and the story--right up until the end when I had NO IDEA what happened! The book was obviously building up to have a mysterious twist and I thought I'd had it figured out--but I guess not. Can anyone explain it to me? "
— Karen, 2/2/2014 -
" Had the potential to be really good, but i just got confused... "
— Elizabeth, 2/1/2014 -
" I had very high hopes for The Listener, the blurb made the book appear exciting and with lots of twists and turns. The first two parts of the book lived up to expectation. The psychology was riveting and the characters were well shaped. However the third part of the novel just crawled along to an easily predictable conclusion. "
— Katie, 1/13/2014 -
" A funny book - I found it absorbing, even though I wasn't sure if it was a good book. I have noticed that books about psychiatrists often portray them as creeps, or not so astute as they are supposed to be, or messed up people. I'd love to hear others' thoughts about it. "
— Merry, 1/12/2014 -
" Interesting plot but the writing was disjointed. The most interesting character in the book, Bertram Reiner, is the one you end up learning about the least. I wish the flashbacks and jumping from scene to scene had been more seemless. "
— Kt, 1/10/2014 -
" Boring & contrived. "
— Laura, 1/4/2014 -
" A strange story of madness. Takes place in a private asylum in New York in 1948 which caters to men with war neurosis. You have to "stay sharp" while trying to figure out this book. I found the effort not worth it. Nothing was clear cut. Everything was filled with ambiguity. "
— Donna, 12/21/2013 -
" North Side Book Club (NSBC) selection for April 2010 "
— Kat, 10/12/2013 -
" Really tried to like this book, but just couldn't stay interested. "
— Mindy, 10/2/2013 -
" I know this book did not get a lot of positive reviews, but I liked it. It posed a lot of moral questions about behavior in war & madness. "
— Joye, 9/29/2013 -
" Excellent psychological thriller "
— Lori, 9/27/2013 -
" predictable, story itself was eh "
— Jess, 4/7/2013 -
" This book was disappointing for me. It started off strong and interesting but about one third of the way through the plot started getting lost in its own muck and mire. It just seemed to degenerate into torpor. "
— Bridget, 2/4/2013 -
" I never like it when the narrator's sanity is in question. I feel like that's cheating. A crazy narrator gives the author license to write anything and there is nothing for the reader to hold on to that's rational or reasonable. "
— Melissa, 12/11/2012 -
" I thought this book started out strong but halfway through lost itself. The plot became oddly rushed halfway through and the payoff was, in the end, not worth it. What a shame, as I was completely enthralled for the first half, but ultimately I would not recommend it. "
— Joanna, 10/2/2012 -
" It is very unusual for me to not understand a book, but this one got me. It left me confused, and it wasn't very good to begin with. "
— Sarah, 10/5/2011 -
" Started good, then i got bored and didn't finish. "
— Barbara, 5/3/2011 -
" i got almost halfway through and realized the book was boring me. "
— Abigail, 3/1/2011
About Shira Nayman
Shira Nayman is a writer and psychologist/consultant. She also teaches literature and fiction writing. She is the recipient of the Cape Branch Award for an Emerging Woman Writer and of three grants from the Australia Council for the Arts. Born in South Africa, she grew up in Australia, has lived in Israel, Mexico, and France, and currently lives in Brooklyn.
About Jefferson Mays
Christine Lakin is an Earphones Award–winning narrator and acclaimed television actress, best known for her roles as Alicia “Al” Lambert on the hit family comedy Step by Step and as Joan of Arc on Showtime’s Reefer Madness.