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    The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios
    The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios
    The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios
    Audiobook4 hours

    The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios

    Written by Yann Martel

    Narrated by John Randolph Jones, Barbara Caruso, David LeDoux and

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Here are four unforgettable stories by the author of Life of Pi. In the exquisite title novella, a very young man dying of AIDS joins his friend in fashioning a story of the Roccamatio family of Helsinki, set against the yearly march of the twentieth century whose horrors and miracles their story echoes. In "The Time I Heard the Private Donald J. Rankin String Concerto with One Discordant Violin, by the American composer John Morton," a Canadian university student visits Washington DC and experiences the Vietnam War and its aftermath through an intense musical encounter. In "Manners of Dying," variations of a warden's letter to the mother of a son he has just executed reveal how each life is contained in its end. The final story, "The Mirror Machine," is about a young man who discovers an antique mirror-making machine in his grandmother's attic. The man's fascination with the object is juxtaposed with the longwinded reminiscences it evokes from his grandmother.

    Written earlier in Martel's career, these tales are as moving as they are thought-provoking, as inventive in form as they are timeless in content. They display that startling mix of dazzle and depth that have made Yann Martel an international phenomenon.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateNov 22, 2004
    ISBN9781598871586
    The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios
    Author

    Yann Martel

    YANN MARTEL was born in Spain in 1963 of Canadian parents. Life of Pi won the 2002 Man Booker Prize (among other honors) and was adapted to the screen in the Oscar-winning film by Ang Lee. Martel is also the author of the novels The High Mountains of Portugal, Beatrice and Virgil, and Self, the collection of stories The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, and a collection of letters to the prime minister of Canada, What Is Stephen Harper Reading?. He lives in Saskatchewan, Canada.

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    Reviews for The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios

    3.5/5

    18 ratings15 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I loved Life of Pi and simply had to read something else by the author. These short stories did not compare to the majesty of that book but was a good read. My favorite story was the titular one. It brought back the same story-telling genius that is exhibited in Pi, although with a muted tone. If it was simply the first two stories, I would have given this a much higher rating. However, the last two were not nearly up to par and really demonstrated that these were early works of a budding writer. Overall, I still would recommend this to any fan of Martel, if only for the beauty of the Roccamatio story.
    • 4/5
      Author won Man Booker Prize for 'Life of Pi'.
    • 3/5
      Four unrelated short stories. I've given the book 3 stars, but: "The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios" (3 stars) "The Time I Heard the Private Donald J. Rankin String Concerto with One Discordant Violin, by the American Composer John Morton" (5 stars - wonderful story, especially if you're a music lover) "Manners of Dying" (1 star - I totally didn't get the point of this one.) and "The Vita Aeterna Mirror Company: Mirrors to Last till Kingdom Come (3 stars)
    • 2/5
      Those of you who seek to find the magic of Life of Pi: look no further. It isn't here. This is a book of short stories that was published in the wake of Life of Pi, when there was no sequel ready, and the editor was scraping the barrel. The last stories (about the last 24 hours of a prisoner, and about a silver mirror, have their qualities. But if this weren't by a famous author, few people would be interested in these first attempts by a budding writer.
    • 4/5
      This is abook of short stories written in the early years of Martel's career as an author. The most moving of the stories was an attempt to entertain a good friend dying of AIDS. The writer didn't know how to relate to his dying friend, so they came up with the idea of telling each other stories about a family they made up. Handles the issues of AIDS and dealing with terminal illness with great wisdom. I found all the stories entertaining.
    • 1/5
      Some of these stories had promise, but none of them felt finished or fully fleshed-out to me.
    • 1/5
      "The facts behind the Helsinki Roccamatios" is a collection of four rather long short stories. The structure and typography of three of these stories is experimental ("blah-blah-blah-blah") and irritating to read. "Manners of Dying" consists of nine letters by a prison warden to the mother of an inmate telling her how her son died. The letters suggest that there are at least 96, the number of the last letter is 96, ways of dying.The longest and most interesting story is the title story "The facts behind the Helsinki Roccamatios". "I'm not going to talk about what AIDS does to a human body." (p.10) is what the narrator tells us at the beginning of the story. However, that is what the story is all about, and that is also what the narrator tells us. The narrator and his friend tell each other stories about the imaginary Roccamatio family from Helsinki, and the history of the family throughout the Twentieth Century. However, these stories are not included in the narrative. The reader will only find the facts behind the story, which are plain historical facts from the 20th century, such as the rise of Hitler. Since these facts are so familiar and boring, the reader has no other choice but to concentrate on the declining health and the progessive stages of the AIDS patient, i.e. the other character in the story.The author goes to great length to emphasize that the character is the story contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion after an accident, and that he is not gay.The experimental structure and programmatic nature of particularly the title story make for a weak and uninteresting collection.
    • 5/5
      From the title novella to the ending story, Martel's work here is graceful and fascinating. His introduction might note that these are early and less masterful works than that which has made him famous, but they are excellent and worthwhile nontheless. Each story shows an adept understanding of how conflicting ideas and threads might be woven together, and gracefully draws together narratives and experiments that bring each page to life. Simply, once you pick this up, you won't put it down. Even my mother, whom I've never known to read short stories, began the first one on a whim...and soon finished the collection.Absolutely recommended for any reader.
    • 3/5
      This is a collection of four long short stories. While I didn’t think that they lived up to Martel’s well-known novel Life of Pi, and the collection is uneven, it is certainly readable. The strongest two stories are the first two, the title story and the one that follows up, which has too long a title to type out here. The title story is about a college student who is watching his young friend die of AIDS. To help divert him, he invents a game where they each have to tell a story about a fictional family—the Helsinki Roccamatios—and each story must relate to an important event in a subsequent year of the 20th century up to the present. The narrator does not provide the stories they told, only the historical events behind them. I have to admit that I couldn’t always see how this related to the main storyline, and it is a complicated conceit, but it’s a moving story nonetheless.The stories that weren’s so successful were a lot more obvious and ham-fisted about the emotions they were trying to elicit. They were also experimental in form, in a way that I didn’t think contributed much to the story. You can see that Martel is learning his craft in this collection, and while I found it entertaining enough, I would probably recommend just reading (or rereading) Life of Pi instead.
    • 4/5
      I don't generally pick up "stories" to read but this was an audio with a description at the beginning, by Yann Martel, of how these were some of the early and favorite stories of his that he wrote---and oh my goodness did he write, between odd jobs and living with his parents so that he "could" write, because, as he says, he just had to. And yes, you could see how Life of Pi sort of came together with the incredible variation in the way this author thinks--often with an autobiographical portion. Although I enjoyed all four of the stories in this collection, I think I was "most enchanted" with the Mirror story. He is a fascinating author and I am very curious about his newest book.
    • 4/5
      4 stories, 2 downers and 2 uppers . All well done and engrossing.
    • 4/5
      The second published work by Yann Martel, this collection of short stories gives some indication as to what he'd be capable of in the future (LIfe of Pi). But, the stories were mostly written much earlier than the publish date I'm pretty sure, so there's not the level of experience or confidence you'll see in a seasoned writer. I believe the stories do give a glimpse of Martel as a person. Unless he totally disassociates himself with characters, I would imagine he's a person with plenty of empathy for his fellow human being. Getting back to the writing - this was an "in that moment" book. I mean, that in that moment of interacting with the text it was good enough, but after putting it down, the moment passed and I don't think the stories will stick much with the exception of the final story.The first story, more a novella and the title story of the piece deals with a friend comforting a man dying of AIDS over weeks and months of his deteriorating health. The second story (I'm blanking on the full title, but it has "One Discordant Violin" as part of it) deals with a concert and an imperfect, yet perfect composition by an unknown composer, played by his friends in a guerrilla-style classical performance and how it haunts the narrator.Manners of Dying - was a quick read because it was the same intro paragraph or two followed by the account of a convict being executed. The story is told maybe a dozen times with variations on what the last meal is, how the individual reacts to his last few hours and how the execution goes off.The final story (another long title that I've already forgotten except for it having "Mirrors" in it). Is about a grandson spending time with his grandmother, but not realizing what he's missing as he's thinking to himself about how he cherishes interaction with people above materialism. In the end, materialism is important to the extent that one particular piece provides a key to something he neglected to grasp. I think this story may be worth re-reading.
    • 5/5
      This was absolutely the best book I read this summer. I loved the short stories and Mr. Martel's writing continues to be sensitive, dark and funny.
    • 4/5
      Story: The Via Aeterna Mirror Company: Mirrors to Last till Kingdom Come.. marvelously incite into humanity.Story: The Time Heard the Private Donald J. Rankin String Concerto with One Discordant Violin, by the American Composer John Morton: Same comment.
    • 4/5
      quirky, impassioned, almost experimental. Each story is different enough to keep your attention. great narration.