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Turtle Diary

Penguin Modern Classics

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Turtle Diary

By: Russell Hoban
Narrated by: Harry Myers, Lucy Paterson
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Born to swim thousands of miles in the ocean, the giant sea turtles are now trapped in a tank of golden-green water at London Zoo. But not for much longer. Two lonely people, a bookseller and a children's illustrator, have begun thinking turtle thoughts. As they come together to hatch a plan to release the turtles into the sea, their diaries reveal how they find their own lives changing in imperceptible and quite unintended ways.

©2021 Russell Hoban (P)2021 Penguin Audio Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction

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Critic reviews

"Wonderful, life-saving...places Russell Hoban among the greatest, timeless novelists." (The Times)

"Crackles with witty detail, mordant intelligence and self-deprecating irony." (Time)

"This lovely human fable seems to me one of the best things of its kind - a fine and touching achievement." (John Fowles)
Most relevant  
Absolutely wonderful. The novel’s dual narration is brought to life by Harry and Lucy who read the two believable and well-drawn characters that relate the adventure of the turtle release. Of course, it’s not just about the turtles and every short chapter contains a gem of a comment on life, love, loneliness and more. Loved it.

Highly recommended

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This is not a 'big' story, nor is it overly twee. It's beautifully observed and gentle.

Gentle and perfectly crafted

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Something about, or perhaps without, this story connected with me. I was compelled to listen without any of the usual ‘to do while listening’ tasks in my head or occupying my hands. All was put aside to enter completely this world of thoughts, words, pictures and coincidences. Lives. I don’t know what I wanted to happen or what I expected to happen, but what did happen was revealed carefully, piece by piece with great care, precision and patience, and all in the proper order. Time, in my world, passed and at one point I noticed that I had slipped completely into the story and the lives. Submerged. A totally immersive experience in greens, blues and gold. Thank you Russell Hoban and the voices in your head, and to the voices now in my head too. A depth of knowledge and wisdom I had not expected to find in a random audible purchase to use a credit which was about to expire. Thank you. I feel that there might be hope again one day.

Unexpectedly and strangely wonderful

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