Struggling with this book

I thought I would give the second book a try after struggling with the first, but found it very disjointed. Not for me

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toe curling !!

David Peace's novel was hard hitting right from the off. His use of colourful language took alittle while to get used to, but the genre giving to Red Riding series on Channel 4 of 'Yorkshire Noir' definately works.

The story line at times is a little hard to follow and I found myself going back and listening over the previous 15 minutes to recap. Originally coming from Leeds I loved the references to landmarks and pubs in the 70's now since gone - very nostalgic. Peace's ability to capture the mood and attitudes in the 70's was brilliant at the same time his brilliance in describing mutilation and abuse was on a par - not for the faint hearted, it really made my toes curl.

I felt that the story took awhile to get going, maybe just for me to get my head around his characters.But overall I really enjoyed listening to the book and look forward to the remaining books in the quartet to be added to the audible catalogue.

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2 people found this helpful

Brilliant!

Some of the listener reviews of the Red Riding quartet have been less than complimentary so I thought I'd write my first review by way of balance...

I came to these books having watched the C4 TV films - which I think are great and are an example of how Britain can produce TV to rival HBO - I had heard the books were difficult so decided [having already seen how the plot goes] I would given them a miss... well that would have been a real mistake and I am grateful to audible for producing these versions...

I have listened to the first three novels and have 83 as treat for when the new year commute commences...

These books are really well read - as good as any I have listened to from audible...

If you are put off because you think, like I did, that having watched the TV films there will be no surprises well you would be wrong - the plot in the book is much richer and differs in many important respects from the TV version... I look back now at the TV films thinking how can they have missed that character, or merged those characters...

In particular - and this is why I attach my review to 1977 - I cannot understand why they didn't film 1977 [I know it was a cost issue] as without this book all that follows really doesn't make full sense... in this book you get a real sense of the mayhem the Ripper caused the police and you get to meet and really appreciate Jack Whitehead [a minor character in 1974 and 1980] as a true embodiment of flawed tragedy... you also appreciate the persuasive power of the Rev Laws...

1977 spirals into a tragic conclusion which you can see coming in inevitable slow motion and 'after the end' Peace gives a stream of consciousness end to the book which I am sure must be his finest writing and stands well above the normal James Ellroy comparisons...

Thanks to audible for producing a marvellous edition of these books...

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5 people found this helpful

Wow!

I loved this as much as 1974 and the narrator made the book come alive

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Just couldn't listen...

I tried this book. I just couldn't get into it...
I don't think I like this style of narration - while it is surely raw and gutsy it just didn't draw me into it.
Definitely I'm no prude and I could sit have a drink with the best of ribald sailors but this narration just felt a bit too rough & nasty for me...
Maybe it's exactly what the author David, and the narrator Saul wanted to achieve - and hats off to them if it was.... but this felt too much like 'seventies grainy black & white movie, warts & all' with all the politics and policies of the Conservative era, full of naked hatred and cynicism..
Too blunt for me I reckon, but ymmv.
(BTW, I did listen to 1974 - all the way through.)
Didn't really enjoy it though.

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Difficult to enjoy

I found this book to be very difficult to finish
I found it difficult to separate the different characters
The story line was difficult to follow
I would not recommend this book in audible form
It may be ok as a read

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1 person found this helpful

hard work

can not understand, where is the story,very upset.but will download next book.must know the ending.

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