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    The Fire-Eaters
    Unavailable
    The Fire-Eaters
    Unavailable
    The Fire-Eaters
    Audiobook3 hours

    The Fire-Eaters

    Written by David Almond

    Narrated by Daniel Gerroll

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Bobby Burns knows he's a lucky lad. Growing up in sleepy Keely Bay, Bobby is exposed to all manner of wondrous things: stars reflecting off the icy sea, a friend that can heal injured fawns with her dreams, a man who can eat fire. But darkness seems to be approaching Bobby's life from all sides. Bobby's new school is a cold, cruel place. His father is suffering from a mysterious illness that threatens to tear his family apart. And the USA and USSR are testing nuclear missiles and creeping closer and closer to a world-engulfing war.

    Together with his wonder-working friend, Ailsa Spink, and the fire-eating illusionist McNulty, Bobby will learn to believe in miracles that will save the people and place he loves.


    From the Hardcover edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 11, 2004
    ISBN9781400085651
    Unavailable
    The Fire-Eaters
    Author

    David Almond

    David Almond is an experienced author who specializes in paranormal fiction. The recipient of a Hans Christian Andersen Award, a Carnegie Medal, and a Michael L. Printz Award, he currently resides in England.

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    Reviews for The Fire-Eaters

    3.5/5

    74 ratings7 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Unabridged version read by the author.This was a cleverly written book, with several themes weaving themselves in and out of the narrative.The Fire Eater, of the title, is also an escapologist and war veteran. He makes his living as a street performer, dealing with his demons from the war by inflicting pain on himself. Meanwhile the whole of the Western world is consumed by fear of the War ships steaming towards Cuba in a showdown with the Russians (1962). Again the theme of fire haunts the reader, this time from nuclear explosion.Closer to home, Bobby Burns spends time on his East Coast beach, trying to retain a normal life amongst the adults' tensions. When he joins the local Grammar School he finds the severe (excessive) discipline daunting. Meanwhile, his father seems to be suffering from some mysterious illness and no-one will let Bobby know what is happening. His two close friends, Ailsa and Jimmy keep him sane and the new boy from The South, Daniel, often helps him see things in a different light.The characters were wonderful and the descriptions of the coastal world teemed with life. I had never heard of sea coal, which Ailsa and her family dragged from the sea for a living.My only complaint about this book would be the excessive violence exhibited by the Fire Eater on himself, the thought of a skewer through from one cheek to the other made me cringe and could be quite upsetting for a sesitive child.I was lucky enough to have the unabridged audio version, read by David Almond himself, although he has a very thick Northern accent that was a bit hard to comprehend at times. I am keeping my copy for another listen in the future and I will definitely look out for more by this author.
    • 5/5
      This was one of the best books I read last year. There are a couple of intertwined themes here all set in the background of a working class family in the Durham coalfields.The protagonist passes the 11 plus and is thus accepted into a grammar school, where he is nevertheless subjected -along with other children there - to daily cruelty, and ingrained prejudices, which during the novel, and through a friendship, he gains the power to overcome.At the same time there is a theme with a character - McNulty - of mental illness, as well as the strains on the family under the threat of a life threatening illness - all set against the fear of approaching apocalypse in the cuban missile crisis.There is so much in this book, it cannot be described - it has to be read. And Reading is not a chore, because David Almond is such a good writer. His prose is simple, but still manages to be vivid and engaging. This is a book to read and ponder. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      This one is set in a sleepy, off the beaten path, coal town near New Castle, England. As usual, Almond writes of coming of age experiences with a cast of characters both soft and hard, gritty and kind.As the United States and The Soviet Union prepare for potential nuclear disaster during the Cuban missile crisis, Bobby Burns witnesses McNulty, a fire breathing illusionist, carnival-like man who, as the story progresses, symbolically represents destruction and the power of fire to charm, and harm!As the world approaches disaster, Bobby's father, who is mysteriously ill, is a survivor of WWII and knows all too well the terrors of war. Bobby and his friends and family find a way to believe in miracles that have the power to heal.As in his book Skelling, Almond weaves a motley group of characters who, through reaching out to the unknown and different, find the power of love and redemption.
    • 5/5
      A stunning book that touches on the territory of Lord of the Flies in its use of the apocalypse and exploration of the cruelty and exploitation common humanity is capable of.The Rite of Passage we observe is that of all humanity as it totters on the brink - a multi-layered brink with elements of the political and the personal brilliantly exploited by Mr Almond to give a book not only accessible to young people but enjoyable to a more adult readership.At the centre is the character of McNulty with his cry, "Pay!" He is the fire-eater and escapologist who illuminates, in a way worthy of Beckett, the condition of man at the end of a century of world conflict.As a teacher of English I would recommend this to any of my students as a thought provoking text which will grip them from the first page. As a human being I am glad I read what is sure to become a classic.
    • 5/5
      A truly beautiful story with stunning characters. It also has one of the most tense and desperate scenes you'll find anywhere - and a romantic moment you'll never forget.Rarely does a week go by that I don't remember this book. Read it to your children!
    • 3/5
      Since I have read Skellig and Mina by David Almond, I was looking forward to reading this book. I liked some aspects of the book but felt it never really tied all the different story lines together. The story is about a teenage boy growing up in a mining town. His family is considered working class but Bobby is offered the opportunity to attend a more advanced school which may offer him other opportunities although he is content with his family, friends, and station in life at the moment. There is the undercurrent of darkness and danger from a possible nuclear event between the U.S. and Cuba/Russia and he worries about his father's health. It is definitely geared towards high school students rather than middle or lower school students. Maybe that's why I didn't like it as much as other books by Almond.
    • 4/5
      In the last days of summer, 1962, Bobby Burns first saw McNulty, the Fire-Eater. He could wriggle free of binding chains, or stick a skewer through one cheek and out the other, so it stretched the span of his mouth. Or McNulty could breath fire, so that you couldn’t tell where the man ended and the fire began. McNulty’s past is dark and full of violence, but Bobby cannot stop thinking about him. As he begins his first days at a new school, as he worries about his father’s hacking cough, as he waits outside of the new boy’s house and peers through the windows, Bobby is always thinking of McNulty. Even as his family watches the Cuban Missile Crisis unfold on their television, Bobby wonder what McNulty could teach him, and what the strong man hears as the ocean crashes on their beach. The Fire-Eaters feels somewhat disjointed throughout the first half of the book. Almond introduces several different characters and issues for Bobby: class, power, war, death, religion, civil rights, and personal heritage. This makes the book a slow read, though it picks up nicely towards the end, connecting and resolving several of the issues. The moments in the book that stand out the most are those with McNulty, the fire-eater. He is a mystic character that brings those scenes to life, whereas others sometimes fall flat. The historical issues that Almond addresses are particularly relevant and allow the reader to view a world crisis beyond the perspective of Americans.