The Back of the Turtle
A Novel
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The Back of the Turtle
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Narrated by:
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Doug Philip
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Written by:
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Thomas King
About this listen
Winner of the 2014 Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction!
This is Thomas King's first literary novel in 15 years and follows on the success of the award-winning and best-selling The Inconvenient Indian and his beloved Green Grass, Running Water and Truth and Bright Water, both of which continue to be taught in Canadian schools and universities. Green Grass, Running Water is widely considered a contemporary Canadian classic.
In The Back of the Turtle, Gabriel returns to Smoke River, the reserve where his mother grew up and to which she returned with Gabriel's sister. The reserve is deserted after an environmental disaster killed the population, including Gabriel's family, and the wildlife. Gabriel, a brilliant scientist working for Domidion, created GreenSweep, and indirectly led to the crisis. Now he has come to see the damage and to kill himself in the sea. But as he prepares to let the water take him, he sees a young girl in the waves. Plunging in, he saves her, and soon is saving others. Who are these people with their long black hair and almond eyes who have fallen from the sky?
Filled with brilliant characters, trademark wit, wordplay, and a thorough knowledge of native myth and story-telling, this novel is a masterpiece by one of our most important writers.
©2013 Thomas King (P)2017 Audible, Inc.You may also enjoy...
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When Will returns to Medicine River, he thinks he is simply attending his mother’s funeral. He doesn’t count on Harlen Bigbear and his unique brand of community planning. Harlen tries to sell Will on the idea of returning to Medicine River to open shop as the town’s only Native photographer. Somehow, that’s exactly what happens. Through Will’s gentle and humorous narrative, we come to know Medicine River, a small Albertan town bordering a Blackfoot reserve. And we meet its people: the basketball team; Louise Heavyman and her daughter, South Wing, and many more.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wry, good humour
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5 out of 5 stars
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Angry, embarrassed, disgusted, horrified, nauseous, scared and so so sad, but hopeful and now informed.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Y gay?
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Otter Lake is a sleepy Anishnawbe community where little happens. Until the day a handsome stranger pulls up astride a 1953 Indian Chief motorcycle - and turns Otter Lake completely upside down. Maggie, the Reserve’s chief, is swept off her feet, but Virgil, her teenage son, is less than enchanted. Suspicious of the stranger’s intentions, he teams up with his uncle, Wayne - a master of aboriginal martial arts - to drive the stranger from the Reserve. And it turns out that the raccoons are willing to lend a hand.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book
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As she races along Canada's Douglas Channel in her speedboat - heading toward the place where her younger brother Jimmy, presumed drowned, was last seen - 20-year-old Lisamarie Hill recalls her younger days. A volatile and precocious Native girl growing up in Kitamaat, the Haisla Indian reservation located 500 miles north of Vancouver, Lisa came of age standing with her feet firmly planted in two different worlds.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Lived inside the story
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Medicine River
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Wesley French
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 23
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Story4 out of 5 stars 23
When Will returns to Medicine River, he thinks he is simply attending his mother’s funeral. He doesn’t count on Harlen Bigbear and his unique brand of community planning. Harlen tries to sell Will on the idea of returning to Medicine River to open shop as the town’s only Native photographer. Somehow, that’s exactly what happens. Through Will’s gentle and humorous narrative, we come to know Medicine River, a small Albertan town bordering a Blackfoot reserve. And we meet its people: the basketball team; Louise Heavyman and her daughter, South Wing, and many more.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wry, good humour
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Written by: Thomas King
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The Inconvenient Indian
- A Curious Account of Native People in North America
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Lorne Cardinal
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 919
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 798
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 792
The Inconvenient Indian is at once a “history” and the complete subversion of a history - in short, a critical and personal meditation that the remarkable Thomas King has conducted over the past 50 years about what it means to be “Indian” in North America. Rich with dark and light, pain and magic, this book distills the insights gleaned from that meditation, weaving the curiously circular tale of the relationship between non-Natives and Natives in the centuries since the two first encountered each other.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Angry, embarrassed, disgusted, horrified, nauseous, scared and so so sad, but hopeful and now informed.
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Written by: Thomas King
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Jonny Appleseed
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- Narrated by: Joshua Whitehead
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 406
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 363
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 363
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1 out of 5 stars
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Y gay?
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Coyote Tales
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- Narrated by: Meegwun Fairbrother
- Length: 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 10
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 9
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Story5 out of 5 stars 9
Two tales, set in a time “when animals and human beings still talked to each other”, display Thomas King’s cheeky humor and master storytelling skills. Freshly reissued as an early chapter book, these stories are perfect for newly independent readers.
Written by: Thomas King
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- Narrated by: Drew Hayden Taylor
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
Otter Lake is a sleepy Anishnawbe community where little happens. Until the day a handsome stranger pulls up astride a 1953 Indian Chief motorcycle - and turns Otter Lake completely upside down. Maggie, the Reserve’s chief, is swept off her feet, but Virgil, her teenage son, is less than enchanted. Suspicious of the stranger’s intentions, he teams up with his uncle, Wayne - a master of aboriginal martial arts - to drive the stranger from the Reserve. And it turns out that the raccoons are willing to lend a hand.
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5 out of 5 stars
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What listeners say about The Back of the Turtle
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Lori
- 2022-03-28
Characters and story both keep you wanting more
I really loved this one! wish it kept going hah hah the characters are very memorable and even at the end you are left with the sense something supernatural is afoot, although it is never explicitly stated.
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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
- Memememe
- 2019-07-16
Great Book
Highly recommend. The story and performance well done and amusing. Narrator does a great job with characters.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Michelle
- 2022-01-17
Had to buy the book
Because the way the narrator read this book was disconcerting. Inflection all wrong and so much more. Great story…badly read. Buy the book and read it yourself.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jpenguin
- 2018-09-13
A timely, enjoyable read
Thomas King's The Back of the Turtle is a rare gem that explores topical themes like environmental destruction, corporate corruption, and the legacy of colonialism without letting the reader lose hope. The book takes place after an environmental catastrophe has destroyed a small coastal town, driving away the turtles and the tourists, killing residents of the local reserve and leaving much of the area deserted.
With wit and tenderness, and copious references to both Shakespeare and Indigenous myth, King weaves together the stories of a CEO who finds fulfillment in conspicuous consumption; an Indigenous scientist fleeing the horrors he's created; a woman who returns to the reserve where she grew up; a young man who hasn't been the same since the town's ecology and economy collapsed, and a Puck-like older man who seems to know just what all the other characters need to know. Oh, and a mysterious and important dog. A good choice for thoughtful vacation reading. #Audible1
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Book Mom
- 2021-02-06
That narration...
What on earth. Remarkable story but I couldn’t listen to that narration. Horrible. Very disappointing
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Pauline Witzke
- 2024-10-16
A somewhat enchanting story
I liked the cultural and spiritual aspects of the story. The narrator’s voice is a very poor match for the content, as it is too bright and sounds like one long commercial. Maybe that was intentional?
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mary
- 2019-03-02
Narrator sounds like a sportscaster
Hard to feel the emotion in this otherwise interesting, thought-provoking story that reflects the ills of unfeeling corporate greed and short attention span of the media. Perhaps intentional but it was hard to care for the characters as the narrator's drone felt like a sportscaster reading of last night's unexceptional highlights. Struggled to pay attention. This from someone who generally loves audiobooks.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Caitlin
- 2021-09-24
Unsettling and cozy
Tom King once again makes the familiar strange, the esoteric familiar, and the mundane and awkward so very endearing and grubby. This is a story that is shaped with stories, the ground level horrors of ecological destruction, and the soporific power of consumerism. It defies proper description.
This narrator, though. It sounds like he's reading ad copy through the whole novel. I feel as though I am being sold a car, a toothpaste, a once-in-a-lifetime experience for only 6 easy payments of 19.95! It was seriously jarring and did not work well for most of the POV characters, aside from maybe the vapid CEO. His is not a storytelling voice and it really detracted from my enjoyment of the story.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lexus
- 2021-12-16
What was that narration?
This is a fantastic book, and Thomas King should be proud of it. However, the narrator was just awful. It made this book a slog, which is impressive considering how good it is otherwise. I recommend reading this story, rather than listening to it. If you can only listen to this story for whatever reason, this isn't the book for you.
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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
- Amazon Customer
- 2023-01-30
Outstanding
A classic novel. Thomas King is a seasoned storyteller, The narration is outstanding, Doug Phillip brings the book to life. I'd recommend this book for all Canadians to enjoy.
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