Listen free for 30 days
-
The Back of the Turtle
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Doug Philip
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $33.54
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
You may also enjoy...
-
The Inconvenient Indian
- A Curious Account of Native People in North America
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Lorne Cardinal
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Inconvenient Indian is at once a “history” and the complete subversion of a history - in short, a critical and personal meditation that the remarkable Thomas King has conducted over the past 50 years about what it means to be “Indian” in North America. Rich with dark and light, pain and magic, this book distills the insights gleaned from that meditation, weaving the curiously circular tale of the relationship between non-Natives and Natives in the centuries since the two first encountered each other.
-
-
Angry, embarrassed, disgusted, horrified, nauseous, scared and so so sad, but hopeful and now informed.
- By Shantelle Lamouche on 2021-01-18
Written by: Thomas King
-
Coyote Tales
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Meegwun Fairbrother
- Length: 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two tales, set in a time “when animals and human beings still talked to each other”, display Thomas King’s cheeky humor and master storytelling skills. Freshly reissued as an early chapter book, these stories are perfect for newly independent readers.
Written by: Thomas King
-
Medicine River
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Wesley French
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Will returns to Medicine River, he thinks he is simply attending his mother’s funeral. He doesn’t count on Harlen Bigbear and his unique brand of community planning. Harlen tries to sell Will on the idea of returning to Medicine River to open shop as the town’s only Native photographer. Somehow, that’s exactly what happens. Through Will’s gentle and humorous narrative, we come to know Medicine River, a small Albertan town bordering a Blackfoot reserve. And we meet its people: the basketball team; Louise Heavyman and her daughter, South Wing, and many more.
-
-
Wry, good humour
- By Jennifer on 2024-02-10
Written by: Thomas King
-
A Short History of Indians in Canada
- Stories
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Curtis Michael Holland
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the McNally Robinson Aboriginal Book of the Year and the Aboriginal Fiction Book of the Year—a collection of twenty short stories told in Thomas King's classic, wry, irreverent, and allegorical voice.
Written by: Thomas King
-
Mamaskatch
- A Cree Coming of Age
- Written by: Darrel J. McLeod
- Narrated by: William C. Wikcemna Yamni ake Wanzi
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing up in the tiny village of Smith, Alberta, Darrel J. McLeod was surrounded by his Cree family's history. In shifting and unpredictable stories, his mother, Bertha, shared narratives of their culture, their family, and the cruelty that she and her sisters endured in residential school. Bertha taught him to be fiercely proud of his heritage and to listen to the birds that would return to watch over and guide him at key junctures of his life. However, in a spiral of events, Darrel's mother turned wild and unstable, and their home life became chaotic.
-
-
Engaging Memoir
- By Trish on 2018-10-10
Written by: Darrel J. McLeod
-
Indian Horse
- A Novel
- Written by: Richard Wagamese
- Narrated by: Jason Ryll
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Saul Indian Horse is in critical condition. Sitting feeble in an alcoholism treatment facility, he is told that sharing his story will help relieve his agony. Though skeptical, he embarks on a heartbreaking journey from the present - and into the woods of Northern Ontario, where his life began in a snowy Ojibway camp. The tale that follows is one of great pain and great determination from Richard Wagamese, an author who "never seems to waste a shot" ( New York Times).
-
-
Heart wrenching and Humbling
- By Anonymous User on 2018-11-11
Written by: Richard Wagamese
-
The Inconvenient Indian
- A Curious Account of Native People in North America
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Lorne Cardinal
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Inconvenient Indian is at once a “history” and the complete subversion of a history - in short, a critical and personal meditation that the remarkable Thomas King has conducted over the past 50 years about what it means to be “Indian” in North America. Rich with dark and light, pain and magic, this book distills the insights gleaned from that meditation, weaving the curiously circular tale of the relationship between non-Natives and Natives in the centuries since the two first encountered each other.
-
-
Angry, embarrassed, disgusted, horrified, nauseous, scared and so so sad, but hopeful and now informed.
- By Shantelle Lamouche on 2021-01-18
Written by: Thomas King
-
Coyote Tales
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Meegwun Fairbrother
- Length: 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two tales, set in a time “when animals and human beings still talked to each other”, display Thomas King’s cheeky humor and master storytelling skills. Freshly reissued as an early chapter book, these stories are perfect for newly independent readers.
Written by: Thomas King
-
Medicine River
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Wesley French
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Will returns to Medicine River, he thinks he is simply attending his mother’s funeral. He doesn’t count on Harlen Bigbear and his unique brand of community planning. Harlen tries to sell Will on the idea of returning to Medicine River to open shop as the town’s only Native photographer. Somehow, that’s exactly what happens. Through Will’s gentle and humorous narrative, we come to know Medicine River, a small Albertan town bordering a Blackfoot reserve. And we meet its people: the basketball team; Louise Heavyman and her daughter, South Wing, and many more.
-
-
Wry, good humour
- By Jennifer on 2024-02-10
Written by: Thomas King
-
A Short History of Indians in Canada
- Stories
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Curtis Michael Holland
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the McNally Robinson Aboriginal Book of the Year and the Aboriginal Fiction Book of the Year—a collection of twenty short stories told in Thomas King's classic, wry, irreverent, and allegorical voice.
Written by: Thomas King
-
Mamaskatch
- A Cree Coming of Age
- Written by: Darrel J. McLeod
- Narrated by: William C. Wikcemna Yamni ake Wanzi
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing up in the tiny village of Smith, Alberta, Darrel J. McLeod was surrounded by his Cree family's history. In shifting and unpredictable stories, his mother, Bertha, shared narratives of their culture, their family, and the cruelty that she and her sisters endured in residential school. Bertha taught him to be fiercely proud of his heritage and to listen to the birds that would return to watch over and guide him at key junctures of his life. However, in a spiral of events, Darrel's mother turned wild and unstable, and their home life became chaotic.
-
-
Engaging Memoir
- By Trish on 2018-10-10
Written by: Darrel J. McLeod
-
Indian Horse
- A Novel
- Written by: Richard Wagamese
- Narrated by: Jason Ryll
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Saul Indian Horse is in critical condition. Sitting feeble in an alcoholism treatment facility, he is told that sharing his story will help relieve his agony. Though skeptical, he embarks on a heartbreaking journey from the present - and into the woods of Northern Ontario, where his life began in a snowy Ojibway camp. The tale that follows is one of great pain and great determination from Richard Wagamese, an author who "never seems to waste a shot" ( New York Times).
-
-
Heart wrenching and Humbling
- By Anonymous User on 2018-11-11
Written by: Richard Wagamese
-
Son of a Trickster
- Written by: Eden Robinson
- Narrated by: Jason Ryll
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone knows a guy like Jared: the burnout kid in high school who sells weed cookies and has a scary mom who's often wasted and wielding some kind of weapon. Jared does smoke and drink too much, and he does make the best cookies in town, and his mom is a mess, but he's also a kid who has an immense capacity for compassion and an impulse to watch over people more than twice his age, and he can't rely on anyone for consistent love and support, except for his flatulent pit bull, Baby Killer (he calls her Baby) - and now she's dead.
-
-
Excellent Story
- By sannna on 2017-12-18
Written by: Eden Robinson
-
They Called Me Number One
- Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School
- Written by: Bev Sellars
- Narrated by: Bev Sellars
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like thousands of Aboriginal children in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere in the colonized world, Xatsu'll chief Bev Sellars spent part of her childhood as a student in a church-run residential school. These institutions endeavored to "civilize" Native children through Christian teachings; forced separation from family, language, and culture; and strict discipline. In this frank and poignant memoir of her years at St. Joseph's Mission, Sellars breaks her silence about the residential school's lasting effects on her and her family and eloquently articulates her own path to healing.
-
-
Thank You!
- By Julia on 2019-02-23
Written by: Bev Sellars
-
Five Little Indians
- A Novel
- Written by: Michelle Good
- Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taken from their families when they are very small and sent to a remote, church-run residential school, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie are barely out of childhood when they are finally released after years of detention. Alone and without any skills, support or families, the teens find their way to the seedy and foreign world of Downtown Eastside Vancouver, where they cling together, striving to find a place of safety and belonging in a world that doesn’t want them.
-
-
Poor narration,mediocre plot
- By Alan Scheer on 2020-09-16
Written by: Michelle Good
-
The Color Purple
- Written by: Alice Walker
- Narrated by: Alice Walker
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Celie has grown up poor in rural Georgia, despised by society and abused by her own family. She strives to protect her sister, Nettie, from a similar fate, and while Nettie escapes to a new life as a missionary in Africa, Celie is left behind without her best friend and confidante, married off to an older suitor, and sentenced to a life alone with a harsh and brutal husband. In an attempt to transcend a life that often seems too much to bear, Celie begins writing letters to God. The letters, spanning 20 years, record a journey of self-discovery and empowerment guided by the light of a few strong women.
-
-
Breathtaking
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-08-21
Written by: Alice Walker
-
One Drum
- Stories and Ceremonies for a Planet
- Written by: Richard Wagamese
- Narrated by: Christian Baskous
- Length: 4 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One Drum draws from the foundational teachings of Ojibway tradition, the Grandfather Teachings. Focusing specifically on the lessons of humility, respect, and courage, the volume contains simple ceremonies that anyone anywhere can do, alone or in a group, to foster harmony and connection. Wagamese believed that there is a shaman in each of us, that we are all teachers, and in the world of the spirit, there is no right way or wrong way.
-
-
Engaging and thoughtful
- By Anonymous User on 2020-01-09
Written by: Richard Wagamese
-
Gathering Moss
- A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
- Written by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites listeners to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.
-
-
Beautiful voice
- By Tanya on 2020-10-06
Written by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
-
Moon of the Crusted Snow
- A Novel
- Written by: Waubgeshig Rice
- Narrated by: Billy Merasty
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow. Frustrated by the building chaos, a group of young friends and their families turn to the land and Anishinaabe tradition in hopes of helping their community thrive again.
-
-
Enjoyable for ALL Canadians
- By TheMer on 2020-01-31
Written by: Waubgeshig Rice
-
A Town Called Solace
- Written by: Mary Lawson
- Narrated by: Maggie Huculak, Tajja Isen, Ian Lake
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Town Called Solace, the brilliant and emotionally radiant new novel from Mary Lawson, her first in nearly a decade, opens on a family in crisis. Sixteen-year-old Rose is missing. Angry and rebellious, she had a row with her mother, stormed out of the house and simply disappeared. Left behind is seven-year-old Clara, Rose’s adoring little sister. Isolated by her parents’ efforts to protect her from the truth, Clara is bewildered and distraught.
-
-
What a lovely story
- By Beth Toly on 2021-02-24
Written by: Mary Lawson
-
Monkey Beach
- A Novel
- Written by: Eden Robinson
- Narrated by: Noelle Kayser
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As she races along Canada's Douglas Channel in her speedboat - heading toward the place where her younger brother Jimmy, presumed drowned, was last seen - 20-year-old Lisamarie Hill recalls her younger days. A volatile and precocious Native girl growing up in Kitamaat, the Haisla Indian reservation located 500 miles north of Vancouver, Lisa came of age standing with her feet firmly planted in two different worlds.
-
-
Lived inside the story
- By Krow Fischer on 2018-08-14
Written by: Eden Robinson
-
A Knock on the Door
- The Essential History of Residential Schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Edited and Abridged (Perceptions on Truth and Reconciliation, Book 1)
- Written by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Phil Fontaine - foreword, Aimée Craft - afterword
- Narrated by: Michelle St. John
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“It can start with a knock on the door one morning. It is the local Indian agent, or the parish priest, or, perhaps, a Mounted Police officer.” So began the school experience of many Indigenous children in Canada for more than a hundred years, and so begins the history of residential schools prepared by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC).
-
-
Not an easy read, glad I did
- By me on 2021-06-29
Written by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and others
-
The Reading List
- A Novel
- Written by: Sara Nisha Adams
- Narrated by: Tara Divina, Sagar Arya, Paul Panting
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life in the London Borough of Ealing after losing his beloved wife. He shops every Wednesday, goes to Temple, and worries about his granddaughter, Priya, who hides in her room reading. Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper. It's a list of novels that she's never heard of before. When Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list…hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too.
-
-
Gentle story
- By P. Fowler on 2021-08-28
Written by: Sara Nisha Adams
-
Goal
- St. Louis Sires, Book 1
- Written by: Alexandria House
- Narrated by: Jakobi Diem, Nicole Small
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Maleek Jones, hockey is his wife. Everything and everyone else is his mistress, an aside. When unexpected responsibilities land in his lap, the balance of his world is disrupted, changing the way he sees everything.
Written by: Alexandria House
Publisher's Summary
Winner of the 2014 Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction!
This is Thomas King's first literary novel in 15 years and follows on the success of the award-winning and best-selling The Inconvenient Indian and his beloved Green Grass, Running Water and Truth and Bright Water, both of which continue to be taught in Canadian schools and universities. Green Grass, Running Water is widely considered a contemporary Canadian classic.
In The Back of the Turtle, Gabriel returns to Smoke River, the reserve where his mother grew up and to which she returned with Gabriel's sister. The reserve is deserted after an environmental disaster killed the population, including Gabriel's family, and the wildlife. Gabriel, a brilliant scientist working for Domidion, created GreenSweep, and indirectly led to the crisis. Now he has come to see the damage and to kill himself in the sea. But as he prepares to let the water take him, he sees a young girl in the waves. Plunging in, he saves her, and soon is saving others. Who are these people with their long black hair and almond eyes who have fallen from the sky?
Filled with brilliant characters, trademark wit, wordplay, and a thorough knowledge of native myth and story-telling, this novel is a masterpiece by one of our most important writers.
Related Collections
More from the same
Narrator:
What listeners say about The Back of the Turtle
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kathy Tillotson
- 2019-10-26
Find a different audio version of this book
This book is read by Doug Philip and I will never listen to any other books he narrates. Throughout the whole TEN HOURS, he didn't use any intonation or emotions whatsoever. It's impossible to tell who's speaking until they're mentioned in the story, except for Nicholas Crisp, who Philip gives a weird maritimer's accent to. This is a shame because the lack luster performance is sharply contrasted by the brilliant story telling of Thomas King. Despite the environmental disaster that was central to the theme, I never felt bogged down by catastrophic state of affairs. I loved how King weaved his humor throughout the story. His characters were interesting & believable. Do yourself a favor and read the book, do not listen to this rendition by Doug Philip - Audible, you should have better standards than this.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mary
- 2019-03-02
Narrator sounds like a sportscaster
Hard to feel the emotion in this otherwise interesting, thought-provoking story that reflects the ills of unfeeling corporate greed and short attention span of the media. Perhaps intentional but it was hard to care for the characters as the narrator's drone felt like a sportscaster reading of last night's unexceptional highlights. Struggled to pay attention. This from someone who generally loves audiobooks.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Caitlin
- 2021-09-24
Unsettling and cozy
Tom King once again makes the familiar strange, the esoteric familiar, and the mundane and awkward so very endearing and grubby. This is a story that is shaped with stories, the ground level horrors of ecological destruction, and the soporific power of consumerism. It defies proper description.
This narrator, though. It sounds like he's reading ad copy through the whole novel. I feel as though I am being sold a car, a toothpaste, a once-in-a-lifetime experience for only 6 easy payments of 19.95! It was seriously jarring and did not work well for most of the POV characters, aside from maybe the vapid CEO. His is not a storytelling voice and it really detracted from my enjoyment of the story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jpenguin
- 2018-09-13
A timely, enjoyable read
Thomas King's The Back of the Turtle is a rare gem that explores topical themes like environmental destruction, corporate corruption, and the legacy of colonialism without letting the reader lose hope. The book takes place after an environmental catastrophe has destroyed a small coastal town, driving away the turtles and the tourists, killing residents of the local reserve and leaving much of the area deserted.
With wit and tenderness, and copious references to both Shakespeare and Indigenous myth, King weaves together the stories of a CEO who finds fulfillment in conspicuous consumption; an Indigenous scientist fleeing the horrors he's created; a woman who returns to the reserve where she grew up; a young man who hasn't been the same since the town's ecology and economy collapsed, and a Puck-like older man who seems to know just what all the other characters need to know. Oh, and a mysterious and important dog. A good choice for thoughtful vacation reading. #Audible1
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Trish
- 2018-02-17
Cautionary Tale
King is a great story teller. The Back of the Turtle is entertaining, funny and a scary tale of where our practice of abusing the earth is leading. I would love to hear this work read by King himself.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- R Jarvis
- 2021-02-19
It will make you think
An interesting listen where the story makes you ponder issues that are very relevant and often disagreed upon. A beginning or end don't seem to be the objective, more about how you perceive the now.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cynthia M. Hachey
- 2024-03-14
Not the Thomas King I have enjoyed in the past . .
Leaving the dreadful reader performance aside the story is not engaging, with characters you just don't care about. Lovely symbolism with the turtles representing some hope for the environmental destruction humanity has unleashed. I finished it as I am stubborn and cannot leave a book unread when I am halfway through, but I would not recommend it to others.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lynda Geswin
- 2023-09-04
did not enjoy
I found the narrator really hard to listen to. I did not enjoy the storyline either. I got about halfway through before I decided to let this one go.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2023-01-30
Outstanding
A classic novel. Thomas King is a seasoned storyteller, The narration is outstanding, Doug Phillip brings the book to life. I'd recommend this book for all Canadians to enjoy.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- nyom
- 2022-12-23
Lovely story telling
Really enjoyed this book. A different story than I’m used to, but the unique characters and humor in which they were presented carried me through.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!