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I Have Lived Today
- A Literary Coming of Age Story
- Narrated by: Steve Aleppo
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
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I Have Lived Today
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Summary
England. 1960s. A cold, harsh autumn.On an isolated island, an abusive man forces his wife to run for her life. Their son Tristan, young and afraid, also flees the island and sets out into the world to escape his demons and find his mother.
Hitchhiking beneath the backdrop of a wild and loveless November, Tristan encounters every possible character, from the genuinely kind to the inherently wicked. Beaten, robbed, and stripped of even hope, Tristan finds himself on the gritty streets of London’s East End, where everything he thought he knew about life starts to shatter and crumble around him. With all hope seemingly lost, the young boy even questions the futility of life itself.
But when he learns that there are others who share his torment and understand his pain, can Tristan find the courage to make it through his darkest hours?
Tristan's tale is a grim exploration into his own conscience. As he discovers the unique ability of humans to do such heinous things - both to themselves and to one another - it's all he can do to keep control, as his passage of internal discovery takes one dark turn after another and sends him to the edge.
I Have Lived Today is Steven Moore's haunting literary debut. This dark, edgy, and painfully honest coming-of-age tale packs a powerful punch.
If you always root for the underdog and want to follow Tristan's trials and tribulations, buy I Have Lived Today, today.
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What listeners say about I Have Lived Today
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Korra II Baskerville
- 09-01-22
Baskerville Book Reviews
This book is depressing. As I was listening to it, I kept finding myself thinking it was called “I Have Lived Today” because “A Series of Unfortunate Events” was already taken.
It starts out, spending a significant amount of time talking about how Tristan’s alcoholic father beats the life out of him and his mother. The mother finally bails, only to leave her son behind. He bails, discovers he has an aunt, who reveals he has a long-lost sister. Then his aunt immediately dies. He gets robbed when he has nothing, finally catches up to his mother, only for her to be raped and murdered. Nobody seems overly concerned with the murder investigation though. It’s mentioned a few times in passing but nothing ever comes of it.
While his mother was on the street, she began to do prostitution. Her first John was a guy who seemed genuinely interested in her. They made plans to meet up later, only for nothing to come of that plot thread. It added absolutely nothing to the story.
Tristan finally finds some info out about his sister, flies to New York. While there, a plot thread about a guy whose son went missing, and now he helps people find missing loved ones. Alright, some world-building. So what’s the issue? Much like everything else in this story, that goes nowhere. Tristan is informed by this man that his sister is back in Europe, where he started.
Tristan flies back to London, where he quickly meets up with his sister and they barely get to know each other. The whole book builds up to it, only to gloss over it. They opt to forgive their father and return home, only to find him dead. Everybody is nonchalant about yet another “family” member dying. Tristan discovers and reads off a note stating that his mother’s friend is his and his sister’s real father. Then it abruptly ends.
Closure? Finishing up loose plot threads? Pfffff. Nah, you listened to an 11-hour audiobook that amounted to NOTHING in the grand scheme of things. What is there to be gained from listening to this story? What’s the moral? What’s the purpose? I’m lost. I have no idea. This story was a depressing waste of time. I normally loathe reviews that are just summaries and try to avoid spoilers. But this book was so infuriating to listen to, I didn’t want to hit at or gloss over what a miserable listen it was.
I couldn’t recommend this book to anybody. The audio narration and narrator were great, as far as I can remember. I didn’t spend too much time thinking about it because I had to pause it constantly due to it being so depressing to listen to.
NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- BookNerd
- 14-11-20
I Have Lived Today...
... has a lazy Sunday afternoon feel to it and I love that: there’s a Dickensian style to the story telling with its serendipitous connections but, at the same time, it has the gritty depth and darkness you expect from a Dickens novel; it’s no fairy story, for sure and is, at times, difficult to read. But you find yourself drawn to the main character, Tristan, whose vulnerability and innocence make you root for him, want to know what opportune encounter he’ll have next, where that will lead, and where he’ll ultimately end up. There’s a sort of sweet sadness to the tale, wrapped up in a descriptive narrative that’s both haunting and bright. The narrator has a natural style and is easy on the ears which makes the audio very listenable.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pattwee
- 21-02-20
Life
What a moving story with such a mixture of emotions, including cruelty and love, but proving that there is still more good than bad in the world
Well narrated
1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Dawn P.
- 22-01-22
Young man coming of age story
In 1960's England you are introduced to the main character, Tristan, and his parents. He has grown up in a home where he witnesses domestic violence, alcoholism and is himself, physically and mentally abused. At age 16, Tristan wakes to his mother having left and he soon follows with the help of a family friend. His adventures on the road, the abuses he suffers, and the other people he meets along the way all teach him about the good and not so good available in this life. He changes as he takes different paths and learns there are also good and helpful people in the world. With great losses and gains Tristan both he grows up and becomes a different person. An interesting and sad coming of age tale that pulls you in and makes you want to root for the main character. 41/2 out of 5 stars.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- BMcLean
- 26-10-21
Loved it
Very good book. Sad, twisted, yes. But very very good. I love all of Steven's books that I've gotten a hold of so far. The narrator did a fantastic job.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- A Lilwomen
- 21-10-20
I have lived today!
This story grabbed my attention immediately. It is a great coming of age story with life’s ups and downs very well written. It made me laugh, and it made me cry. That is a sign of good writing! Thank you Steven Moore for a story with heart!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ellen Oceanside
- 18-10-20
Good
It makes one think of the dark side of Dickens stories, this though is much more. The decision to make at a young age to stay in the bad situation, which had not improved. Now with his mother’s leaving, he too ventures out. The obsticules good and bad, the people he meets strengthen him or challenge him. His quest to find his mother, meanwhile he is maturing. A gripping story, narration was good by Steve. Given audio for my voluntary review
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 29-05-20
Harrowing!
This is a very harrowing tale of a young boy's life and escape from his alcoholic, and physically abusive father. His mother escapes a couple of months prior to his leaving, leaving him to deal with his father alone. He is eventually helped escape the island where he lives and has been kept prisoner all his life. Completely innocent of life outside of his home, he is left to fend for himself as he traces his mother's footsteps to reunite with he. There are some nasty life lessons he learns, friends he makes that help him, and a huge twist in the tale. I spent a lot of time talking to, and shouting at Tristan.
I wasn't too thrilled with Steve Aleppo's narration. There was a lot of slurring, and mispronunciations that relally irritated me. I don't think he was the right person for the job
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David C Taylor
- 23-02-20
Get ready for an emotional roller coaster ride!
I Have Lived Today- what a powerful statement not to mention I have now experienced a book that made this quote by Franz Kafka real for me. “I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for? So that it will make us happy, as you write? Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had no books, and the kind of books that make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves if we had to. But we need books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us. That is my belief.”
Having just finished listening to this story my emotions are raw from all the tugging and pulling. Thanks for the opportunity to experience Steven’s best story. I like The Kane stories, but this is light years beyond most of what I typically read/listen to.
Steve Aleppo’s narration makes this story and it’s characters come alive.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 19-02-20
cruelty and riveting to the end
It was heartbreaking to listen to and the narrator Steve Aleppo made the story feel alive