No previous interest in bullfighting required

No fan of bullfighting here. If anything I came into this with a negative opinion. I choose this book, because I felt Hemingway would do something great with it and he doesn't disappoint. Boyd Gaines delivers a fantastic read, with perfect Spanish pronunciations. It doesn't change my opinion on bullfighting much, but maybe a little on life and death.

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11 people found this helpful

Death In The Afternoon

Still a great narrative on the bull fight...but of course...dated--but that is always good because it gives a micro glimpse of Spain in the twenties & thirties...sheer enjoyment....KBK

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9 people found this helpful

A Life Well Lived

Hemingway's precise writing style adapts well to an audio book. The narrator's voice suits Hemingway's tone of intellectual machismo and handles the Spanish pronounciation of people and place names with aplomb. The book is a superb description of bullfighting between the wars. I wonder what Hemingway would have made of today's danger sports?

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6 people found this helpful

Not your usual Hemingway.

An interesting book. It definitely makes you understand the nuances of bullfighting, and it made me want to see one. I came away from it with a different perspective on the ethics of bullfighting as well.
However, Death in the Afternoon isn't at all like Hemingway's novels, with the exception of the very last chapter, which is like Hemingway on steroids (my favorite part). It lacks his seriousness, structure, and nuanced poetry.
While I would not recommend it as a first or second or third Hemingway book, I would say if you love Hemingway it's worth reading/listening to. I learned a lot from it. About bullfighting and about life.

If you are looking for a beautiful, real life adventure story, his The Green Hills of Africa is brilliant.

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5 people found this helpful

Death in the Afternoon.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Excellent delivery of the classic Hemingway granular narration of the art, pageantry and culture of the bullfight and Matador culture. Very drawn out at times, but that is what one would expect from Hemingway. Brilliant use of narration and auditory selection of Boyd Gaines was a solid choice for the story as he seemed to capture and relay the emotion or lack there of at times that the author seemed to be illustrating. Nice read/listen.

Have you listened to any of Boyd Gaines’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was a fine presentation

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3 people found this helpful

guidebook for touring bullfightimg spain in 1930's

lost attention mid-way, too many outdated practical travelling suggestions, too little of a story or bullfighting ambiance, didn't finish

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3 people found this helpful

A Long Trip Through Bull Fighting

Read as a lecture on bull fighting and bull fighters. A very lengthy discourse. i feel much longer than necessary. The discussions with the older lady were an interesting twist. Not by any means my favorite Hemingway book./

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3 people found this helpful

Very Well Read Non Fiction Account of Bull Fighting

This is an excellent reading of a Hemingway non fiction account of bullfighting in Spain. The reading is very faithful to the actual text. The story is about a gruesome subject of which Hemingway does his best to portray as an art form. I am glad that I read this book. Hemingway is of course, well, Hemingway. There is a good deal of macho "man's man" material and at least a hint of what is now considered homophobia. Some reader's may be offended by some of this material and nomenclature. Thank You...

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2 people found this helpful

Narrator Makes This Book

I recently finished Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises," so I thought I would go ahead and read this book. I thought it was a novel, but not at all, rather a study on bullfighting. Reading the book as text was laborious, and I am certain I would have stopped after the first few chapters. Fortunately, I had the Audible version! I didn't realize until the credits that the narrator was Boyd Gaines, a well-respected Broadway actor. Mr. Gaines excellent narration managed to make a dry book interesting.

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Disappointing

The only well written part of the book is the final chapter in which Hemingway writes of his memories of Spain. Otherwise reads like a poor series of newspaper reports about bull fighting.

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2 people found this helpful