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  • May We Be Forgiven

  • By: A. M. Homes
  • Narrated by: Nathan Osgood
  • Length: 19 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (248 ratings)
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May We Be Forgiven cover art

May We Be Forgiven

By: A. M. Homes
Narrated by: Nathan Osgood
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Summary

Winner: Women’s Prize for Fiction 2013

Harold Silver, a Richard Nixon Scholar, has spent a lifetime watching his younger, taller, and more successful brother, George. But Harry knows that George has a murderous temper, and when he finally loses control the result is an act of violence which hurls the two brothers into entirely new lives. A savage and dizzyingly inventive vision that penetrates the dark heart of contemporary America to tell a darkly comic tale of 21st-century domestic life and how one deeply fractured family might begin to put itself back together.

©2012 A. M. Homes (P)2012 W F Howes Ltd

What listeners say about May We Be Forgiven

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Don't believe the other negative views. This book is fantastic, crazy, compelling, funny and touching. Buy it.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Cain and Able in America

I feel compelled to write a review since the others are so poor. I really enjoyed this book with its story about brothers at odds with each other, a shocking event that comes of their rivalry, and the eventual evolution of the central character into someone who cares and allows himself to change. It is not an exciting adventure but an unfolding examination of American lives and how a man can still grow and deepen as he gets older. It kept me absorbed and gave me food for thought. If you're looking for a romp, or an action story, this is not the one, but if you want something more thoughtful - give it a go.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

All about Harry

This is the story about what happens to Harry after his brother's terrible act. The brothers cannot be more different. George is violent and dominant whereas Harry is reflective and scholarly. Despite that Harry is still capable of wrongdoing and this is really a tale about Harry's quest for forgiveness.

This book is filled with intriguing characters and fascinating little vignettes, some of which were incredibly tense, but mostly they were hilarious. There are parts of this tale that made me laugh out loud and the dry New York humour is a delight. I must admit I didn't completely understand the sub-text about Richard Nixon but that didn't really detract from my enjoyment. The only slight criticism I would make is that I thought the plot fizzled out towards the end. I also would have liked to have learned more about Harry's relationship with George. I thought their exchanges were the best parts of the book and I wish there were more.

The narrator is does a brilliant job and is perfect for the material. I would have given this 4.5 stars if I could.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Perfectly pitched satire - along with a plot

If you like your humour satirical, bone-dry and pitch-black, you will probably like this acidic novel whose premise is the state of 21st century American life, and society.

The plot is quite meandering and although the main characters are middle-class, professional Americans, you do feel the ferrous under-tow of sub-culture, of people falling through the gaps in society - or deliberately slipping away from the 'norms'.

It is also a story of love, murder, family, damage and friendship. I found it very edgy and so it is not a relaxing read, but it did fascinate me.

The key characters are Jewish New York state Americans and a lot of the pleasure in the book is to be had from these often very funny cast-members. The thread about the main character's Nixon obsession was very enjoyable too.

Very well written prose and the narration is good. The reader has a gruff voice and yet managed to convey the characters with often very tiny changes to his tone.

Content is fairly adult (sexually) and quite graphic (medically/physically), not that it bothered me, but you might not have it on during the school run.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Mo
  • 04-07-14

Not what I expected at all!

The first 100 pages of this book were drama filled...full of shocking murders and near death occurrences and things that go bump in the night. The stage was set; Who would go to trial? What would come out at the trial? And were things really as they seemed? On top of that, it was funny and quirky and endearing with just that slight twinge of eccentricity that homes does so well. So far, so good. And then it took a bit of diversion into old school American politics and internet dating...hmmm...Ok, I'll have patience as the writer is still talented enough to keep me engrossed even though I'm kinda keen to get back to the story as I understood it to be. It turns out that the diversion is not a diversion at all. Many hours later, I realized with resignation that the diversion had become the story. I found out more than I ever needed to know about President Nixon, I cringed in disbelief as woman after woman threw themselves at the ailing boring auld fart that was the main character. So it's about a journey of discovery for said ailing boring auld fart. It's just that the dude was soooo...well, I couldn't care less about him really. He didn't at all have the humility of the chap in 'This book will save your life'. The story was very over weight and flaccid and so needed a good editor with to pull it into shape. I was pleased enough with the ending, as in, their was a happy enough resolution, but God...It was a very long 21 or so hours.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

good in parts

What made the experience of listening to May We Be Forgiven the most enjoyable?

Several funny moments mostly unrelated to to the farcical plot swists.

If you’ve listened to books by A. M. Homes before, how does this one compare?

NA

What about Nathan Osgood’s performance did you like?

Suited the book.

Any additional comments?

Plot became strained and ended in an orgy of motherhood and apple pie, you can almost hear the star spangled banner. On the other hand, I listened to the end and laughed out loud a few times. 3.5 is probably fair.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Poor!

Its started off well but it got boring.
No real story to speak of, maybe I didn't get it but I am not the only one.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I love anti-heroes!

What made the experience of listening to May We Be Forgiven the most enjoyable?

A hero despite himself and his upbringing

Who was your favorite character and why?

Harrry, flaws and all and Nate

Have you listened to any of Nathan Osgood’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Never heard Osgood before but would choose again based in this. He is sympathetic and human in his delivery

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

If I could but time would not allow!

Any additional comments?

Harry is a bit of an antihero, and put me in mind of Willaim Boyd's A Good Man in Africa, but he redeems himself so much more. The book is touching, funny and life affirming but not at all twee. Not sure that I really got the Nixon issues! All men are flawed???

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Prize winning.

If you could sum up May We Be Forgiven in three words, what would they be?

Engaging, interesting, enjoyable

What did you like best about this story?

A lot can happen in a single year, which is what happens from one Thanksgiving to the next.

Have you listened to any of Nathan Osgood’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Good narration.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This made me laugh out loud a number of times.

Any additional comments?

Although I very much enjoyed this book, I felt it was over long. I was beginning to tire of some of the characters before the end, which is unusual for me (sometimes I dread a book ending as I have become so engrossed with the characters). I also struggled with the lack of realism about much of the plot. I probably read it because of its prize winning status and can understand why it succeeded.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

A very long and boring 19hours

Nothing really happens in this book, it is boring and incredibly long and the narrator sounds like he's half asleep. I struggled my way through it, and have spoken to other people who said the same.

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3 people found this helpful