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    The Soul Thief
    The Soul Thief
    The Soul Thief
    Audiobook6 hours

    The Soul Thief

    Written by Charles Baxter

    Narrated by Jefferson Mays

    3/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    As a graduate student in upstate New York, Nathaniel Mason is drawn into a tangle of relationships with people who seem to hover just beyond his grasp. There's Theresa, alluring but elusive, and Jamie, who is fickle if not wholly unavailable. But Jerome Coolberg is the most mysterious and compelling. Not only cryptic about himself, he seems also to have appropriated parts of Nathaniel's past that Nathaniel cannot remember having told him about. In this extraordinary novel of mischief and menace, we see a young man's very self vanishing before his eyes.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 3, 2008
    ISBN9781436117241
    The Soul Thief
    Author

    Charles Baxter

    Charles Baxter lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and teaches at the University of Michigan. He is the author of six previous works of fiction, including ‘Believers, Harmony of the World’ and ‘Through the Safety Net’. ‘The Feast of Love’, published by Fourth Estate in 2001, was shortlisted for the National Book Award.

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    Reviews for The Soul Thief

    3/5

    8 ratings7 reviews

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    • 2/5
      imagine merging doppelganger mythology with a Philip Roth novel. If that's your kick, this is your book. I found it's forced attempt to be introspective and philosophical to be rather selfish and drab.
    • 1/5
      It's a good thing this was an audio book. Had I actually had to read it, I don't know if I'd have been able to finish it. While Baxter may be a remarkable wordsmith, I found the story to be uninspiring. I didn't feel anything for any of the characters, felt nothing when they were confronted with conflicts and was relieved when problems were resolved only because I figured that would be a good place to turn off the CD. To give the man credit though, his descriptions are fantastic.
    • 3/5
      There's not much I can say about this book without just saying, "Huh?!" I just didn't get it. For a while I thought I was on the verge of getting it, but by the time I got to the rather abrupt ending, I still felt like there was a giant bubble above my head with lots of question marks in it & a very confused look on my face. Perhaps it was just beyond me & I didn't appreciate it for its true worth, and if that's the case, I guess I'll just avoid books like these. I will say that I read this on audio, and it may have been more helpful to re-read a few portions in writing. Maybe it would've clarified things a little. Or maybe not.
    • 4/5
      Meh. Characters leave me cold (especially in the first section, where everyone is a phoney grad student--I know phoney grad students and Baxter doesn't give his phoney grad students any redeeming qualities or compelling traits that make me want to hang out with them in my spare time), though the writing is often pretty lovely (there's a two-page descriptive bit at the beginning of chapter 19 that made me exceedingly cranky because if the rest of the book had been that good, I'da swooned). I'll probably give Baxter another go sometime; the writing was good enough for that. And everybody ought to be allowed one phoney grad student.
    • 3/5
      Far-fecthed conclusion disappoints this unusual story that had promise.
    • 4/5
      Thoroughly enjoyable ~ those who like a dose of obsession and socio-pathology in their reading might also like it. The frantic world of a group of grad students comes to life through their pairings and lusts, infidelities and separations, desperations and depressions. Doubles are everywhere and fun to figure out. The tone/voice's viewpoint shifts without warning in a way that highlights underlying themes of death, sudden dislocation, and identity theft. Other threads contrasted celebrity with non-descript, suburban lifestyles, as well as geniuses/artists with banal intellectuals. Short, borderline horror story, full of zingers that make it fun.
    • 4/5
      Well-written, intersting tale of college students and what becomes of them. Interedting twist, but I haven't decided how credible it is and how much it really adds to the story.