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The Thin Place Audiobook
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(3.00) - 885 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The prize-winning author of Versailles tells the story of a small New England village unsettled by a young girl's unearthly gift. In Varennes, a town near the Canadian border, three girls come across the body of a dead man on the local lake's beach. Two of them run to get help, but twelve-year-old Mees Kipp stays with the body and somehow, inexplicably, brings it back to life. Her mysterious gift is at the center of this haunting and transcendent novel. The Thin Place is the story of these girls, their town, and the worldly and otherworldly forces that come into play there over one summer. Writing at the peak of her powers, Kathryn Davis draws on commonplace forms—police blotters, garden almanacs, Sunday sermons, horoscopes, and diaries—to convey the rich rhythms of life in Varennes. From the ladies in the old-folks' home to trappers, lawyers, teachers, ministers, drug addicts—even the dogs and cats, beavers and bears—she peoples this novel with astonishingly vivid beings. The extraordinary comes to visit an ordinary town.
"A delightful, surprise-filled narrative: Davis's best yet."—Kirkus Review(starred review)
"Cosmic in her vision, provocative and comic in her storytelling, Kathryn Davis draws on sources as diverse as quantum physics and tales of saints and miracles and makes place a key element in her exploratory fiction."—Booklist (starred review)
"Never has Davis' prose seemed more effortless...The Thin Place is a bright, shimmering book."—Chicago Sun-Times
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"I'm among those who think this book is pretty brilliant. I listened to the audiobook a few years ago and was impressed. I finally got around to reading it, in part, to confirm if it really was that good. It is."
— Jenifer (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Never has Davis’ prose seemed more effortless…The Thin Place is a bright, shimmering book.”
— Chicago Sun-Times -
“Cosmic in her vision, provocative and comic in her storytelling, Kathryn Davis draws on sources as diverse as quantum physics and tales of saints and miracles and makes place a key element in her exploratory fiction.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“A delightful, surprise-filled narrative: Davis’s best yet.”
— Kirkus Review (starred review)
The Thin Place Listener Reviews
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" Possibly one of the best books I've ever read in my life. Subtle, mesmerizing, brimming with acute observations. "
— Dormilona, 2/18/2014 -
" Just finished this book in 2 days and really liked it.....anyone that has animals will appreciate her humorous insights! "
— Kathy, 2/15/2014 -
" Lost me towards the end - though as a whole, a striking read. "
— Becca, 1/31/2014 -
" The Thin Place is a metaphysical story with a strong Christian flavour; I took it to be primarily about a loss of innocence. There is an abundance of characters (elderly, adult and child humans, and a range of animals); the omniscient narrator slips from one to the next of these to report their internal monologues - which all have the tone and vocabulary of a white, middle-aged, university-educated woman. This makes the characters a bit difficult to distinguish from each other, and I think that's why other readers have found it complicated. Otherwise, the book is accessible and well constructed, and full of pensive, intricate imagery. It exists in the church, bedrooms, and weeded-over and undeveloped parts of a small town, and Davis' description of this setting is the chief pleasure of this book. Read it in the summertime, preferably in a sunny back yard. "
— David, 1/21/2014 -
" I read 75 pages and I have no idea what was going on in any of them. The individual sentences and paragraphs made sense, but taken as a whole it was incomprehensible nonsense. No thanks. "
— Molly, 1/8/2014 -
" As part of my search for spirtual enlightenment, I have been reading both fiction and nonfiction with "alternative" views. This was one attempt. Interesting concepts, but not compelling as a story. "
— Bryn, 9/27/2013 -
" One reviewer called Kathryn Davis the love child of Virginia Woolf and Lewis Carroll, which seems about right. I loved this masterpiece of a book. "
— Michael, 9/27/2013 -
" AWful, I could not follow . This author liked to use alot of words saying nothing much. I quit half way through, felt I was wasting my time and could be reading something enjoyable. "
— Jan, 8/19/2013 -
" Parts of it, I loved; but sometimes, the style made me cringe; some moments were too contrived. The polyphonic "gimmick" was often clunkier than in someone like Faulkner; or Joyce; or Woolf. Still, has made me want to re-read "To the Lighthouse". "
— Richard, 5/29/2013 -
" Not sure, it was deep and thought provoking, but at the same time the overall story seemed shallow. I almost want to read it again, but the ending was such a let down. Just not sure. . . "
— Melanie, 5/12/2013 -
" Interesting concept, no so good in execution "
— Nancie, 1/29/2013 -
" this book was so so strange. bizarre. not so sure about the climax "
— Ali, 1/21/2013 -
" Beautifully written. Certain turns of phrase stayed with me for days. At the same time, I found the storyline hard to follow. I think I'll have to read this again to feel like I actually understand what happened.... "
— sydney, 11/4/2012 -
" I still can't figure out whether I liked this book or not- either one of the best or one of the worst- at least it has me guessing. "
— Jill, 10/10/2012 -
" Cool book, great writing. But it was perhaps a bit over my head. I didn't finish it because I didn't understand it! "
— beth, 9/30/2012 -
" Beautifully imaginative writing at times. Some aspects and characters I LOVED. Others, eh. The animal perspectives were highly amusing and lovable. I just wanted more of what I loved, less of what I didn't. Definitely unlike anything I've read before. "
— Sarah, 3/9/2012 -
" I almost never abandon books, but I stopped reading this around page 60. All of the other one-star reviews say what I felt: too many characters, none of which are developed or sympathetic, with the possible exception of the dogs. "
— Roby, 2/9/2012 -
" eah. I had heard a bookseller talking about this on NPR as part of a story on Good Summer Reads. I liked the small town, lots of interconnected characters format, but the story was not great. I kind of slogged my way through this. "
— Katywhumpus, 6/8/2011 -
" I read up to chapter 11 and still had no idea what this book is about. Very disappointing! "
— Hayley, 5/18/2011 -
" Beautifully written. Certain turns of phrase stayed with me for days. At the same time, I found the storyline hard to follow. I think I'll have to read this again to feel like I actually understand what happened.... "
— sydney, 5/11/2011 -
" It was weird and quirky but still a good read. "
— DuctTapeDiva, 4/24/2011 -
" I like her observations, but I wonder it would be more suitable for a treatise than a novel.<br/><br/>I had hard time keeping up with who was who. The pieces would make an interesting short story collection and are a bit strange as a novel. "
— Ke, 4/9/2011 -
" I don't enjoy miracles when they are explained. "
— Megan, 3/30/2011 -
" I still can't figure out whether I liked this book or not- either one of the best or one of the worst- at least it has me guessing. "
— Jill, 12/23/2010 -
" Not sure, it was deep and thought provoking, but at the same time the overall story seemed shallow. I almost want to read it again, but the ending was such a let down. Just not sure. . . "
— Melanie, 10/25/2010 -
" Unusual narrative, beautifully written. Disappointed in the ending. "
— Terri, 9/15/2010 -
" Loved this book, I'll be reading all her stuff if the rest is any like this "
— Sholeen, 8/24/2010 -
" Truly, one of the most exquisitely written books I have ever read. I wish <br/>I wrote this one. "
— Mira, 6/25/2010 -
" the tale of the citizens of Varennes, a little town close to the Canadian border – metaphysical even the dogs and cats have stories to tell "
— Mary, 6/21/2010 -
" Weird and disjointed - it started with some great ideas that seemed to have been dropped along the way. "
— Nancy, 6/19/2010
About Kathryn Davis
Kathryn Davis is an award-winning American novelist. She is a recipient of the Kafka Prize, both the Morton Dauwen Zabel Award (1999) and the Katherine Anne Porter Award (2016) from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a 2000 Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction in 2006. Davis is senior fiction writer on the faculty of the writing program at Washington University in St. Louis; she lives in Montpelier, Vermont.
About Shelly Frasier
Shelly Frasier has appeared in many independent film and theater projects in Arizona and Southern California and has done voice-over work for commercials and animation projects. She trained at the Groundlings Improv School in Hollywood and South Coast Repertory’s Professional Conservatory in Costa Mesa, California. She has performed at theaters throughout North Hollywood and Orange County.