Well read in the wrong voice...

I read this book a few years ago and went on to read and enjoy the two consequential Bascombe novels. I got the audio book to refresh my memory of these novels before embarking on the fourth of Ford's novels about Frank, Let me be Frank with you.
I'm enjoying the audio book only so far as it jogs my memory to reading it previously. I find John Wests voice far too old sounding to be convincingly 38 years old and it makes some of the scenes (when describing anything to do with sex with his 32 year old girlfriend) sound pretty sleazy. maybe his voice will suit the later books.
I have to admit, Frank is not always a likable character and other reviews have alluded to this. But this book and the rest of Ford's writing does a particularly good job of presenting an imperfect man in a very believable crisis of identity after suffering life altering grief. Rather than delving into the psychology of Frank or using emotional cheap shots at 5he reader (a child dies so this could have been easy) to draw the reader in, Ford shows us the mind of a certain kind of man dealing with things the only way he really knows how to. Sometimes with (often misguided) wisdom, sometimes with wry observations and typecasting of the people that populate his existence. Very occasionally within all this is a moment of true heart aching profundity.
I have to admit, as unlikeable as Frank is at times, For married men (myself included) who have fantasised about being a bachelor and all that it may entail, this book acts as a sort of window into that life that one minute makes jealous for Frank's girlfriend and then reminds you of all that's at stake if you mess up with someone you truly love as Frank loves X.
All in all a great book, but read the paper back first!

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hmm

I read this in the late 80s and admired it. Having just listened to it again in 2020, I think Frank is a self absorbed, sex addicted prick with a nice turn of phrase. The wriiting and reading performance are excellent but...
a difficult one as a bedrock of my literary past is undermined, genuinely, listening to the audiobook has disturbed me

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2 people found this helpful

Audio-proofing and editing incomplete

I do recommend this title because William Hope is the perfect voice for the interior world of Frank Bascombe and is a delight to listen to. The problem here is with the post-production and editing, which hasn't been properly or carefully carried out. Hope was, I suspect, mainly bang on with his reading first time, but occasionally will re-take a unit, a word or phrase, a clause or a whole sentence because he has mis-emphasised something or done an accent or voice that the prose itself later characterises in a different way. I'm sure Hope imagined the editor would snip the first attempt out, and they should have done so, but just haven't. It doesn't happen that often, so won't both most listeners, but it's sloppy and the production company should get their act together.

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1 person found this helpful

Very Dull

This is not an enjoyable read, at all. It’s incredibly dull, nothing really happens, it’s one dreary paragraph after another. I wish I’d given up at chapter three but stubbornly persevered.

Frank is having a midlife crisis. Frank is in denial about his midlife crisis, he’s pretending things are okay but actually spends pretty much all his time not being okay. Frank is mourning and is depressed but calls it dreaminess. Frank is extremely sexist but doesn’t appear to know it. Frank claims to love his wife but cheated on her after their son died.

It’s of it’s time, aka sexist and full of prejudice which made me hate it even more.
I found it rather offensive that Frank’s ex-wife is only referred to as X. Frank is utterly dependent on women yet treats them terribly.

This book is on a list of 100 essential novels. There are thousands of books much more deserving of a place on such a list. Don’t waste your time reading this. I wish I hadn’t.

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