Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
Warlight
- Narrated by: George Blagden
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
99p for the first 3 months
Warlight
Buy Now for £13.00
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
Summary
Random House presents the audiobook edition of Warlight by Michael Ondaatje, read by George Blagden.
LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2018
An elegiac, dreamlike novel set in post-WW2 London about memory, family secrets and lies, from the internationally acclaimed author of The English Patient
‘The past never remains in the past…’
London, 1945. The capital is still reeling from the war. 14-year-old Nathaniel and his older sister Rachel are abandoned by their parents who leave the country on business, and are left in the dubious care of a mysterious figure named The Moth. Nathaniel is introduced to The Moth’s band of criminal misfits and is caught up in a series of teenage misadventures, from smuggling greyhounds for illegal dog racing to lovers’ trysts in abandoned buildings at night.
But is this eccentric crew really what and who they claim to be? And most importantly, what happened to Nathaniel’s mother? Was her purported reason for leaving true? What secrets did she hide in her past? Years later Nathaniel, now an adult, begins to slowly piece together using the files of intelligence agencies – and through reality, recollection and imagination – the startling truths of puzzles formed decades earlier.
Critic reviews
"A novel of shadowy brilliance." (The Times)
"Fiction as rich, as beautiful, as melancholy as life itself, written in the visionary language of memory." (Observer)
"Ondaatje brilliantly threads the mysteries and disguises and tangled loyalties and personal yearnings of the secret world...and has constructed something of real emotional and psychological heft, delicate melancholy and yet, frequently, page-turning plottiness. I haven’t read a better novel this year." (Telegraph)
More from the same
What listeners say about Warlight
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- jason parker
- 31-01-24
Elegant shadows
A characteristically beautifully written story about what happens when the espionage ends and normal life (almost) resumes.... there's nothing sepia toned, or whimsical in this, an array of characters weave in and out of Nathaniel's (the books narrator) early years like silver shadowed spectres, all charged to keep an eye of Nathaniel and his sister Rachel, while his parents are...where?
There are endings not finished and beginings never really explained - indeed like the shadows created by the war time searchlights sweeping across a night sky trying to pick out enemy aircraft... post war London feels so tired, dark, lost and as shell shocked as the folk appearing at the side of Nathaniel & Rachel...the contrast to rural Suffolk made the county feel bright green and almost wholesome by comparison.
It reminded me a bit of Childers 'Riddle of the Sands' in that it doesn't appear much is happening - but early on you begin to feel the quiet drip of tension... but the writing is so good, so deceptively simple you find yourself there in the varied homes, or on the canals.
Read with especially quiet elegance by George Blagden - he knew and understood every breath and comma and full stop - and it was his reading that really added to the story's drama...
A really quite brilliant book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bascot
- 08-03-19
Achingly beautiful and infinitely surprising
This is an uncanny experience of a book. One enters small worlds and existences radiant with beauty and stillness or suddenly alert and stark. A mesmerising evocation of the twilit wartime experiences of the protagonist and those he thought he knew, or longed to know. Some enthralling characters here; George Blagden has just the right voice, tone and pitch to bring them alive.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cate kelly
- 31-08-18
Warlight
Compelling, yet subtle drama where past and present are cleverly interwoven to keep reader’s attention throughout. Sad, complex themes conveyed in Ondaatje’s masterly prose. I found the narrator excellent. Definitely recommend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- A S Ravenscroft
- 31-03-24
Haunting and beautifully written
A subtle novel of characters glimpsed through a teenager’s and then young man’s eyes as he tries to understand the world of espionage his mother lived and worked in. Touching and credible.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Ruben
- 01-08-18
4 stars for the good writing, 2 for the story
never really got into the story, only occasionally was I really curious to see what would happen. maybe more of a reading book than a listening one. that being said, there are plenty of beautiful sentences and original images that transport you to the mysterious world of the main character's cloudy recollection of his youth. glad I read something by Ondaatje, but not really hungry for more.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- Manda N
- 14-08-18
Oh dear, a tad on the dull side.......
I had great expectations with this being a man booker nominated read. Certain aspects I loved; the historical period, the sublime language. Simply a shame the story is somewhat dull, I only wish the author had written the story from a more interesting characters perspective such as the sister, Rachel.
The audible presentation is faultless and the narrator wonderful.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 06-06-19
Thoroughly recoomend
Excellent narration; great story. I enjoyed not having everything spelled out to me: allowing the listener to fill-in the gaps.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- K. I. Myers
- 01-03-19
Perfect...
What an absolute treat, wonderfully measured writing and read beautifully. I will definitely return to it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- bookylady
- 10-09-18
Loved every minute.
From the first page to the last, I found this to be a great novel to listen to. The narrator's voice was just perfect for this tale of skullduggery and espionage during and after WW2. The cast of characters was both entertaining and intriguing and the historical details were well-researched and often unusual.
A war story with a difference and a really nice, satisfying twist at the end. Utterly believable.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 10-07-19
Ripples in the water
This book considers the influences of other people's decisions on the live of the central character. The links about how this information is discovered at times seems tenuous.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful