Stella Maris Audiobook By Cormac McCarthy cover art

Stella Maris

powerful literary fiction from a Pulitzer Prize-winning author

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Stella Maris

By: Cormac McCarthy
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Julia Whelan
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A profound exploration of the nature of reality and the human mind, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Road and No Country for Old Men.

'A drought-busting, brain-vexing double act’ – Guardian

Alicia Western is the following: Twenty years old. A brilliant mathematician at the University of Chicago. And a paranoid schizophrenic who does not want to talk about her brother, Bobby.

Told entirely through the transcripts of Alicia’s psychiatric sessions, Cormac McCarthy's Stella Maris is a moving companion to The Passenger. It is a powerful enquiry that questions our notions of God, truth, and life itself.

‘Cormac McCarthy was such a virtuoso, his language was so rich and new . . . his books were terrifying and absolute. His sentences were astonishing.’ - Anne Enright

 Literary Fiction Psychological Women's Fiction Genre Fiction Family Life Exciting Thriller & Suspense

Critic reviews

Remarkable… a staggering achievement
His sentences have the solidity of stones and the clarity of diamonds
A true work of literature… If McCarthy’s goal was for these books to haunt readers long after they are set aside, then he has succeeded.
Remarkable… [Stella Maris] harmonises both sadly and gorgeously with its recent predecessor. Side by side, both novels affirm the extraordinary poetry and strangeness of McCarthy’s vision
Like Bach’s concertos, these triumphant novels depart the realm of art and encroach upon science, aimed at some Platonic point beyond our reckoning where all spheres converge
Great additions to McCarthy's already outstanding oeuvre and proof that the mind of one of our greatest living writers is as sharp as it has ever been.
All stars
Most relevant
perfect connection to the passenger. Loved the voices and the word battle. thank you Cormac

fabulous

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Mathematics, psychiatry, philosophy - these are a few of my favourite things! I liked the book, but struggled to take it as seriously as I think it wanted to be taken. Certain ideas that McCarthy wants us to challenge (understating/material of reality, for example, via the not-hallucinations) are made difficult by his presentation of it (…hallucinations?). Other events (e.g. one-true-love decided at the age of 12) cast a shadow on the reliability of the character’s observations overall.

Many interesting ideas, questions, ponderings, but all made slightly questionable via the ‘oddities’ of the character.

Despite that, the mathematical insights were delicious. And the voice actors were superb! McCarthy has an interesting writing style whereby he ignores certain use of punctuation, making it slightly challenging to follow character differentiation sometimes. But these two voice actors made the conversation seem so natural. “What else?”, which is asked so many times and can feel unnatural when read, is done so naturally when spoken. Praise to them!

Fantastic Voice Acting!

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