The Sportswriter
The Bascombe Trilogy
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The Sportswriter
Narrated by:
William Hope
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Narrated by:
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William Hope
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By:
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Richard Ford
About this listen
Frank Bascombe has a younger girlfriend and a job as a sportswriter. To many men of his age, 38, this would be a cause for optimism, yet Frank feels the pull of his inner despair and especially of his recent losses - his preferred career has ended, his wife has divorced him, and a tragic accident took his elder son. In the course of this Easter weekend, Frank will lose all the remnants of his familiar life, though he will emerge heroic, with spirits soaring.
This is a magnificent novel that propelled Richard Ford into the first rank of American writers.
©1986 Richard Ford (P)2018 Audible, LtdListeners also enjoyed...
a difficult one as a bedrock of my literary past is undermined, genuinely, listening to the audiobook has disturbed me
hmm
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Audio-proofing and editing incomplete
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I'm enjoying the audio book only so far as it jogs my memory to reading it previously. I find John Wests voice far too old sounding to be convincingly 38 years old and it makes some of the scenes (when describing anything to do with sex with his 32 year old girlfriend) sound pretty sleazy. maybe his voice will suit the later books.
I have to admit, Frank is not always a likable character and other reviews have alluded to this. But this book and the rest of Ford's writing does a particularly good job of presenting an imperfect man in a very believable crisis of identity after suffering life altering grief. Rather than delving into the psychology of Frank or using emotional cheap shots at 5he reader (a child dies so this could have been easy) to draw the reader in, Ford shows us the mind of a certain kind of man dealing with things the only way he really knows how to. Sometimes with (often misguided) wisdom, sometimes with wry observations and typecasting of the people that populate his existence. Very occasionally within all this is a moment of true heart aching profundity.
I have to admit, as unlikeable as Frank is at times, For married men (myself included) who have fantasised about being a bachelor and all that it may entail, this book acts as a sort of window into that life that one minute makes jealous for Frank's girlfriend and then reminds you of all that's at stake if you mess up with someone you truly love as Frank loves X.
All in all a great book, but read the paper back first!
Well read in the wrong voice...
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Frank is having a midlife crisis. Frank is in denial about his midlife crisis, he’s pretending things are okay but actually spends pretty much all his time not being okay. Frank is mourning and is depressed but calls it dreaminess. Frank is extremely sexist but doesn’t appear to know it. Frank claims to love his wife but cheated on her after their son died.
It’s of it’s time, aka sexist and full of prejudice which made me hate it even more.
I found it rather offensive that Frank’s ex-wife is only referred to as X. Frank is utterly dependent on women yet treats them terribly.
This book is on a list of 100 essential novels. There are thousands of books much more deserving of a place on such a list. Don’t waste your time reading this. I wish I hadn’t.
Very Dull
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