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Shibumi
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
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Shibumi
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Publisher's Summary
Now living in an isolated mountain fortress with his magnificent Eurasian mistress, Hel faces his most sinister enemy, a super-monolith of espionage and monopoly. The battle lines are drawn: ruthless power and corruption on one side and on the other, shibumi.
What the critics say
- 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Solo Narration (Male)
"It's hard to imagine a more nearly perfect spy story." (Milwaukee Journal)
"Novels about international intrigue demand intricate plotting. Shibumi delivers." (Los Angeles Times)
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What listeners say about Shibumi
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Matthew
- 2020-04-18
I love this book.
All around great story and fantastic narrator. I jugky recommend it. Wish someone would make it into a movie!
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- ignoblesavage
- 2021-05-29
... how times have changed ...
I first read this action/assassin/hero novel in my teens, when it first came out. It captivated me. Through the years I've remembered it as one of the most engrossing action novels I'd ever read. So, on a whim, I decided to audit it. The performance was very good - there are a lot of tough and disparate accents which Mr. Barrett articulates with efficiency, and occasionally inspiration.
Then, there's everything else. First, I must acknowledge the idiom is strictly 70's. But beware, this translates poorly to modern sensibilities. The narrator is thoroughly judgmental, opinionated and utterly racist. He routinely intrudes subjective invective into the story, then retreats to proper third person perspective, so that the line between description and opinion blurs. Women are presented as male appendages while the male protagonist is an amalgam of every assassin/spy/hero/lone-wolf type, super-sexual, super-sensory, and just subtly super.
If the story was originally written as a parody, I suppose it succeeded back in the '80's; now it flounders. Modern action tales tend to leave socio-political exposition to newscasts or documentaries. Shibumi is a study in generalizations, cliche's and stereotypes.
On the plus side, gripping descriptions of spelunking.
Did I enjoy it the second time. Frankly, I endured it for old times' sake.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Tim jones
- 2023-02-02
laughable
would have given this a 5 star all the way when i read it in the 70s at 17 ish ..didn’t remember anything about it only that it was awesome ..now at 61 it’s ..incredibly stupid and boring ..the accents on the characters are the worst i’ve ever heard in an ebook ,they are so bad it’s a huge distraction ..all you can do is marvel at their ineptitude..and wonder if they have ever heard a middle eastern accent .. who signed off on this ? it is interesting only in the fact that it’s an insight into how things were when this was written ..i’m surprised i didn’t hear the n word 😂😂
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