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Prophet Song

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Prophet Song

Written by: Paul Lynch
Narrated by: Gerry O'Brien
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About this listen

Winner of the Booker Prize 2023

On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother of four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find the GNSB on her step. Two officers from Ireland’s newly formed secret police are here to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist.

Ireland is falling apart. The country is in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny and when her husband disappears, Eilish finds herself caught within the nightmare logic of a society that is quickly unravelling.

How far will she go to save her family? And what – or who – is she willing to leave behind?

Exhilarating, terrifying and propulsive, Prophet Song is a work of breathtaking originality, offering a devastating vision of a country at war and a deeply human portrait of a mother’s fight to hold her family together.

2023, Booker Prize, Winner

2023, An Post Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year, Short-listed

©2023 Paul Lynch (P)2023 Bolinda Publishing
Disaster Fiction Dystopian Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction Ireland Marriage
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What the critics say

'I haven't read a book that has shaken me so intensely in many years ... The comparisons are inevitable – Saramago, Orwell, McCarthy – but this novel will stand entirely on its own.' (Colum McCann, author of Apeirogon)
'Monumental ... You remember why fiction matters. It's hard to recall a more powerful novel in recent years.' (Samantha Harvey, author of The Western Wind)
'Prophet Song is a literary manifesto for empathy for those in need and a brilliant, haunting novel that should be placed into the hands of policymakers everywhere.' (The Guardian)

What listeners say about Prophet Song

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This is a timeless masterpiece.

The writing is absolutely breathtaking. The narrator is more than equal to that task. What a tender and profound performance of a very challenging, and deep dive into humanity in all is beauty and horror.

The writer has been compared to Cormac McCarthy and Faulkner and I now know why. A stunning work that will be read for generations to come.

I stepped into this without really knowing anything about it other than I probably wasn’t interested in the subject matter. I thought I’d give it a chapter or two and see how it went since it won the Booker Prize.

Oh my God, what an amazing experience. The subject of the book, the power and the darkness is not for everyone, but if you appreciate great literature, this is it.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Written More for the Author than the Audience

The story was somewhat compelling but the message was often lost and/or combersomely entangled in an over explanation of setting and feeling.

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

Compelling story

Great premise, compelling and profound story.

Overuse of simile in prose; felt as if writer penned a few rough sentences and asked an AI boy to embellish. The story stood beautifully on its own and was diminished by these redundancies. This is my opinion and perhaps not widely held, as the novel received acclaim.

The narrator (or perhaps the recording/editing) ‘swallowed’ the first letter of any use of the pronoun “she”, in particular at the beginning of a sentence, to sound like “he”. This was so prevalent that it became a distraction.

Despite these criticisms, thought-provoking tale that many would do well to listen to.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping tale

I devoured this book in three days, though I would have listened to it straight through had I had the opportunity. Through excellent writing, Lynch takes you by the lapels and urges you to turn your thoughts to those in far-flung conflicts, serving as a not-so-subtle warning that the slide to dictatorship and chaos can come to any shore, any city, any people.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

I had higher expectations

“Prophet Song”, by Paul Lynch (2023 Booker Prize Winner)

3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved the audiobook but hated reading the book.

There are no quotation marks, breaks between dialogues or paragraphs breaks.
You really have to be completely focused in order to identify the voice.

Fortunately the audiobook was on sale, and the narration is excellent, and because I read and listened simultaneously, it made the reading a lot easier.

Still… this was quite boring.

It is for sure beautifully written (quotations or not) but the storyline did not impress me or entertain me, or even touched me in any way.

It was definitely not for me, never mind the fact that it won a literary award.

I forced myself to finish it only because I purchased a copy and also because of the excellent narration of the audiobook.

Hardcover (Grove/Atlantic): 320 pages

Ebook (Kobo): 290 pages (default), 90k words (9 chapters)

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful and devastating

If you are a person who needs a book to be cheerful and delightful, this might not be for you. I found the beauty of the insights into families and war and peace to be inspiring, and I was riveted. It’s been a long time since I have cared so much about the characters in a novel.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Too many literary devices, too little storytelling

Too many allegories, metaphors and similies, most of which did little to advance the story. As a result, the story itself was slow, dull, and uneventful. It also had no inherent message. Instead, it conveyed the ‘awfulness’ of a country’s descent into totalitarianism that was far less interesting and compelling than many stories in actual, recorded modern history. I really did not enjoy this book.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Could hardly wait for it to be over

I did not enjoy any of this story. I couldn’t wait for it to be over.

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