The Adventures of Augie March Audiobook By Saul Bellow cover art

The Adventures of Augie March

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The Adventures of Augie March

By: Saul Bellow
Narrated by: Tom Parker
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Augie is a poor but exuberant boy growing up in Chicago during the Depression. While his friends all settle into chosen professions, Augie demands a special destiny. He tests out a wild succession of occupations, proudly rejecting each as too limiting - until he tangles with the glamorous perfectionist Thea.©1949 Saul Bellow (P)1993 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Action & Adventure Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Jewish Heritage Literary Fiction National Book Award Psychological Urban Adventure Heartfelt
Beautiful Prose • Vivid Characters • Philosophical Insights • Rich Descriptions • Authentic Portrayal

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While I wasn’t wild about the readers voice, Bellows writing makes it worth listening to. The second time reading it 20 years later, the slow-ish beginning pays off in wild and unforeseen adventures worth the listen. I first picked this up in my 20’s while traveling from Russia to the UK while utterly broke. Augies adventures more than made up for my lack of dough and made the trip so much better. Reading second time was a bit of reliving those days lolling around parks and cafes reading.

Well crafted narration, vivid language, imaginative storyline

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A stylistic breakthrough for its time but reading this in 2021 it lacked the fresh force it must have had when it was published in the 1940s. Bellow is obviously a very skilled writer, and his prose and reflections on life captured my interest well into the book. He is a master of the novelistic apercu, a comment that makes an illuminating point. But the plot structure is weak and after a while the character and plot didn't develop enough to maintain my interest. If I had a greater capacity to enjoy well crafted descriptive prose and scattershot philosophy, I'd have given it a higher rating.

A stylistic breakthrough for its time but...

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Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

To some friends only -- those who are into literary fiction that has no real plot. I would recommend it to persons who revel in language and turns of a good phrase, to people who are so well educated as to "get" all the references, allusions and "inside" jokes. I would not recommend it to a traveler needing a long read. I gave it to my son for a trip to London and he gave up after 20 pp. It's a tough sell, this book. It is based in Chicago (mostly). It is about a boy growing up and how he makes his choices and finds a way to live a life that is not a disappointment. But Augie's telling of it (1st person) is so tedious, so drawn out that even at the end I could not champion the boy's overcomings. Few (1 or 2) characters were interesting and memorable -- and Augie is NOT one of them. Some of the episodes of his life were interesting. none was laugh out loud or tear-jerking.

By the end, I believe Bellow summoned up every "great" book ever written -- and he managed to incorporate no less than Don Quijote de La Mancha, Frankenstein, Robinson Crusoe and a hundred other ancient texts and parables as well.

I felt as if I was watching as Bellow trotted out his lofty education, as if he wanted the reader to know he had "made it." I am not speaking of Augie March, but of the author himself.

I cannot understand how this was a Nobel winner. Yes, it details the life of a young Jewish American boy, and it underscores the myths of what makes a life, but really, it's just too tedious. Augie's sufferings are minor, his joys are diluted, his fears are tepid, his actions are null -- if action is what you call his responses.

So, what was good about it? Language, references to those arcane texts (if you're into the scholarly stuff). Unbelievably, there were no dates of any sort. No placement on the timeline, though all the literature says it starts in Depression era Chicago. We can surmise through the aging of the characters that it ends in the late 50s, early 1960s, but not sure. Perhaps this is Bellow's idea of making it an everyman bildungsroman that could land in any era, but I found it inaccessible.

Am I glad I read it? Yes... another notch on the bookshelf.. I feel I accomplished a great feat by finishing it and trying hard to exact some value from it.

Recommend it? Yes, with the qualifications stated above.

Has The Adventures of Augie March turned you off from other books in this genre?

No..

What about Tom Parker???s performance did you like?

Clarity, emotion (where none was in the text), apparent effort to make us care about the characters who were white-washed and stiff.

Did The Adventures of Augie March inspire you to do anything?

Some thoughts of Augie's are very deep and profound. It will cause me to go back to my highlighted passages (Kindle and Audible) because they did resonate with me and I felt some of the philosphies applied to me.

Any additional comments?

Taking on this text requires a dedication that may work best in intervals. It is valuable because it is part of the canon of American literature. As for being a Chicago-based book.. I don't think so. There are about 4-5 chapters that transpire in Mexico, some more in Paris, and others in New York. Except for Augie's propensity to deal in certain illicit activities (and that's not specific to Chicago either), Chicago is only mentioned in wistful reminiscences or references to where characters hang out, get the streetcar, go and party, etc.

I expected more ethnicity out of this Chicago born Jewish writer. It just was not there. Adjust your expectations and it will be fine.

A lousy choice for 1Book 1Chicago

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I am thankful to have experienced the world of Augie March and to have met the many cherished characters. Only the mind of a genius can create such beautiful work like this.

Thank You Mr. Bellow

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What made the experience of listening to The Adventures of Augie March the most enjoyable?

I read a lot of contemporary books, Occasionally, I try something a little older, and sometimes I am put off by the writing styles of authors who wrote before the mid-twentieth century. So, it was with some hesitation I picked up Saul Bellow’s “The Adventures of Augie March.” I was delightfully surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel. Mr. Bellow writes with a beauty and skill that does not distract from the story but makes his story more personal and valuable to the reader.
Many older novels, though beautifully written lack a compelling story that is relevant to the twenty-first century reader. “The Adventures of Augie March” gives today’s readers a taste of the first half of twentieth century America in a way that is both relatable and entertaining. Augie March and most of the characters who interact with him in this story are not at all loveable people. But what they do have is a certain authenticity that Mr. Bellow systematically and skillfully reveals to the reader. These characters through their actions and a parlance steeped in speech of their times that vividly portray life in the 1920’s, 30’s and forties.
Tom Parker does a masterful job in narrating this book. His performance added much to the enjoyment of the Audible edition.
Recommended: Yes.

What did you like best about this story?

Vintage Writing That Works Today

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