Listen free for 30 days
-
The Back of the Turtle
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Doug Philip
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Membership
$14.95 a month
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
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
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.
Written by: Thomas King
-
Sufferance
- A Novel
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Meegwun Fairbrother
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jeremiah Camp, a.k.a. the Forecaster, can look into the heart of humanity and see the patterns that create opportunities and profits for the rich and powerful. Problem is, Camp has looked one too many times, has seen what he hadn’t expected to see and has come away from the abyss with no hope for himself or for the future.
-
-
My favourite audiobook of all time
- By Anonymous User on 2021-06-24
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
-
Indians on Vacation
- A Novel
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspired by a handful of old postcards sent by Uncle Leroy nearly a hundred years earlier, Bird and Mimi attempt to trace Mimi’s long-lost uncle and the family medicine bundle he took with him to Europe. “I’m sweaty and sticky. My ears are still popping from the descent into Vaclav Havel. My sinuses ache. My stomach is upset. My mouth is a sewer. I roll over and bury my face in a pillow. Mimi snuggles down beside me with no regard for my distress. ‘My god,’ she whispers, ‘can it get any better?’”
-
-
FANTASTIC
- By Karen Moffat on 2020-11-01
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
-
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
-
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.
Written by: Thomas King
-
Sufferance
- A Novel
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Meegwun Fairbrother
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jeremiah Camp, a.k.a. the Forecaster, can look into the heart of humanity and see the patterns that create opportunities and profits for the rich and powerful. Problem is, Camp has looked one too many times, has seen what he hadn’t expected to see and has come away from the abyss with no hope for himself or for the future.
-
-
My favourite audiobook of all time
- By Anonymous User on 2021-06-24
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
-
Indians on Vacation
- A Novel
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspired by a handful of old postcards sent by Uncle Leroy nearly a hundred years earlier, Bird and Mimi attempt to trace Mimi’s long-lost uncle and the family medicine bundle he took with him to Europe. “I’m sweaty and sticky. My ears are still popping from the descent into Vaclav Havel. My sinuses ache. My stomach is upset. My mouth is a sewer. I roll over and bury my face in a pillow. Mimi snuggles down beside me with no regard for my distress. ‘My god,’ she whispers, ‘can it get any better?’”
-
-
FANTASTIC
- By Karen Moffat on 2020-11-01
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
-
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
-
Trickster Drift
- Written by: Eden Robinson
- Narrated by: Jason Ryll
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an effort to keep all forms of magic at bay, Jared, 17, has quit drugs and drinking. But his troubles are not over: now he's being stalked by David, his mom's ex - a preppy, khaki-wearing psycho with a proclivity for rib-breaking. And his mother, Maggie, a living, breathing badass as well as a witch, can't protect him like she used to because he's moved away from Kitimat to Vancouver for school. Even though he's got a year of sobriety under his belt (no thanks to his enabling, ever-partying mom), Jared also struggles with the temptation of drinking.
-
-
Great improvement by the narrator
- By Anonymous User on 2020-02-17
Written by: Eden Robinson
-
The World We Used to Live In
- Remembering the Powers of the Medicine Men
- Written by: Vine Deloria Jr.
- Narrated by: Wes Studi
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world lost a courageous leader and a treasured friend with the passing of Vine Deloria Jr. He was, and is, one of the greatest spiritual thinkers of our time. Before his death, Deloria was reexamining native spirituality. His years of collecting native stories of the medicine men and exploring spirituality from different perspectives are brought together in this audiobook.
-
-
Brilliant
- By Reba on 2020-01-31
Written by: Vine Deloria Jr.
-
Return of the Trickster
- Written by: Eden Robinson
- Narrated by: Kaniehtiio Horn
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All Jared Martin had ever wanted was to be normal, which was already hard enough when he had to cope with Maggie, his hard-partying, gun-toting, literal witch of a mother, Indigenous teen life and his own addictions. When he wakes up naked, dangerously dehydrated and confused in the basement of his mom's old house in Kitimat, some of the people he loves - the ones who don't see the magic he attracts - just think he fell off the wagon after a tough year of sobriety. The truth for Jared is so much worse.
-
-
Ended not with a bang, but with Aunt Irma
- By MeVz on 2021-05-20
Written by: Eden Robinson
-
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
-
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
-
Islands of Decolonial Love
- Stories & Songs
- Written by: Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
- Narrated by: Tantoo Cardinal
- Length: 3 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her debut collection of short stories, Islands of Decolonial Love, renowned writer and activist Leanne Simpson vividly explores the lives of contemporary Indigenous Peoples and communities, especially those of her own Nishnaabeg nation. Found on reserves, in cities and small towns, in bars and curling rinks, canoes and community centres, doctors offices and pickup trucks, Simpson's characters confront the often heartbreaking challenge of pairing the desire to live loving and observant lives with a constant struggle to simply survive....
-
-
What a great collection
- By Jeanette M. on 2020-07-12
Written by: Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
-
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse
- Written by: Louise Erdrich
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than a half century, Father Damien Modeste has served his beloved people, the Ojibwe, on the remote reservation of Little No Horse. Now, nearing the end of his life, Father Damien dreads the discovery of his physical identity, for he is a woman who has lived as a man. To complicate his fears, his quiet life changes when a troubled colleague comes to the reservation to investigate the life of the perplexing, difficult, possibly false saint Sister Leopolda.
Written by: Louise Erdrich
-
Sand Talk
- How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World
- Written by: Tyson Yunkaporta
- Narrated by: Tyson Yunkaporta
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A paradigm-shifting book in the vein of Sapiens that brings a crucial Indigenous perspective to historical and cultural issues of history, education, money, power, and sustainability - and offers a new template for living. As an indigenous person, Tyson Yunkaporta looks at global systems from a unique perspective, one tied to the natural and spiritual world. In considering how contemporary life diverges from the pattern of creation, he raises important questions. How does this affect us? How can we do things differently?
-
-
Enlightening
- By M MB on 2022-03-30
Written by: Tyson Yunkaporta
-
The Science of the Sacred
- Bridging Global Indigenous Medicine Systems and Modern Scientific Principles
- Written by: Nicole Redvers
- Narrated by: Essie Bartosik
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Modern medical science has finally caught up to what traditional healing systems have known for centuries. Many traditional healing techniques and medicines are often assumed to be archaic, outdated, or unscientific compared to modern Western medicine. Nicole Redvers, a naturopathic physician and member of the Deninu K'ue First Nation, analyzes modern Western medical practices using evidence-informed Indigenous healing practices and traditions from around the world - from sweat lodges and fermented foods to Ayurvedic doshas and meditation.
-
-
Excellent
- By Peach and Daisy on 2020-02-26
Written by: Nicole Redvers
-
Starlight
- Written by: Richard Wagamese
- Narrated by: Wesley French
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The final novel from Richard Wagamese, the best-selling and beloved author of Indian Horse and Medicine Walk, centres on an abused woman on the run who finds refuge on a farm owned by an Indigenous man with wounds of his own. A profoundly moving novel about the redemptive power of love, mercy, and compassion - and the land's ability to heal us.
-
-
Didn't want it to end - and it didn't
- By Anonymous User on 2019-04-01
Written by: Richard Wagamese
-
Jonny Appleseed
- A Novel
- Written by: Joshua Whitehead
- Narrated by: Joshua Whitehead
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A tour-de-force debut novel about a Two-Spirit Indigiqueer young man and proud NDN glitter princess who must reckon with his past when he returns home to his reserve. “You're gonna need a rock and a whole lotta medicine” is a mantra that Jonny Appleseed, a young Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer, repeats to himself in this vivid and utterly compelling debut novel by poet Joshua Whitehead.
-
-
bought without review
- By Theresa snow on 2021-08-12
Written by: Joshua Whitehead
-
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
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.
4 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.
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
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.
2 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.
1 person 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.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Lori
- 2022-03-28
Characters and story both keep you wanting more
I really loved this one! wish it kept going hah hah the characters are very memorable and even at the end you are left with the sense something supernatural is afoot, although it is never explicitly stated.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michelle
- 2022-01-17
Had to buy the book
Because the way the narrator read this book was disconcerting. Inflection all wrong and so much more. Great story…badly read. Buy the book and read it yourself.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lexus
- 2021-12-16
What was that narration?
This is a fantastic book, and Thomas King should be proud of it. However, the narrator was just awful. It made this book a slog, which is impressive considering how good it is otherwise. I recommend reading this story, rather than listening to it. If you can only listen to this story for whatever reason, this isn't the book for you.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Snow Walker
- 2021-09-16
Entertaining
*3.5 ⭐
Easy listen, enjoyable characters, well written.
The narrator sounds like an auctioneer at full speed though, had to dial it back speed wise.
A little too much time dedicated to certain components of the story (demidian, Dorian). Pages could have been better used in my non literary professional opinion.
Happy listening!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Graham
- 2019-09-08
Classic King
Perfect for those already familiar with King, and those who have never read/heard him before. A playful blend of Indigenous and Euro-Western allegories, with something to say about contemporary life.