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    A Fine and Private Place
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    A Fine and Private Place
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    A Fine and Private Place
    Audiobook8 hours

    A Fine and Private Place

    Published by Conlan Press Audio

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    This is the unabridged audiobook of Peter S. Beagle's classic fantasy novel, read by the author. It was recorded at MondoMedia Studios in San Francisco by Jim Lively, and co-produced by Connor Cochran and Jim Lively.

    For nineteen years, Jonathan Rebeck has hidden from the world within the confines of the Bronx’s enormous Yorkchester Cemetery, making an abandoned mausoleum his secret home. His life is not an empty one. He can speak with the newly dead — as they pass from life to wherever spirits truly go — providing comfort, an ear, understanding, and even the occasional game of chess.

    But now Mr. Rebeck’s reclusive existence is changing, disrupted by events and emotions beyond his control. An impossible love has blossomed between two ghosts, and his own secrets have been pierced by a living woman whose heart cries out for resurrection. Helped along by a cynical talking raven and a mysterious Cuban guard, Campos, these four souls must learn the true difference between life and death, and make choices that really are forever.

    Told with an elegiac wisdom, Peter S. Beagle’s first novel is a timeless work of fantasy, imbued with hope and wonder, sorrow and joy, and a surprising sense of humor. This updated edition contains the author’s final revisions, and stands as the definitive version of an enduring modern classic.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherConlan Press Audio
    Release dateJan 1, 2009
    ISBN9780970680112
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for A Fine and Private Place

    4/5

    345 ratings25 reviews

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    • 2/5
      An interesting premise but not carried out well. Needed more plot, less philosophizing.
    • 3/5
      I think it's better than The Last Unicorn, for whatever that's worth, and I suspect I might like this one more when I'm older.Or perhaps not. Some of the plot contrivances seem awfully convenient, and I don't know that I buy any aspect of the ending. But then I suppose the plot isn't really the point... and so I have to punt it back to "maybe I'll like it better when I'm older." It's possible.
    • 5/5
      A really singular book. Peter S. Beagle wrote something - as a nineteen year-old! - that, whilst not for everybody, is a fine novel and definitely a unique one.Jonathon Rebeck as been living in a cemetery for nearly twenty years. Hiding out in an abandoned mausoleum, his only friends are a talking raven, and the ghosts of the newly dead. It's difficult to add more without unnecessarily spoiling part of this slight novel's charm.Beagle's fully-realised characters really drive the narrative, which is one based foremost on emotions. The book is built on long stretches of dialogue; people talking about their feelings, or responding to others' - yet it never feels meandering or lackadaisical. Indeed, the existential questions A Fine and Private Place brings up are equally relevant in and outside the book, and at times possess an genuine urgency and pathos.Jonathon and the other denizens of the cemetery are always believable and interesting. Beagle has a great ear for dialogue and his descriptive prose is excellent, too; sharply observed but never too flowery.Indeed, these things all combine to produce an environment which is really unique. The cemetery feels like a three-dimensional and complete world, similar to our own, but separate. It lends the novel the feeling of a parable, without a parable's attendant simplicity or easy lessons. Not everyone will enjoy A Fine and Private Place. There are long stretches of little but dialogue; the feeling of almost impressionist unreality which permeates the book will alienate some readers; others may find the characters too self-obsessed or prolix. But I thought this was a real find. In the foreword, Beagle - now in his seventies - calls this his "state-of-grace novel", and I agree. There is something fleeting and wonderful caught between these pages. If you can find it, don't miss out.
    • 2/5
      Alright, I didn't care for it, but you might. A live man is living in a cemetery and he can see and speak with the ghosts of people who are buried there. The only characters I really cared about in this tale were Mrs. Clapper, a live woman who befriends the man living in the graveyard, the raven, who feeds the man, and Campos, the cemetery guard. The rest of them annoyed me. They were constantly spouting out unfounded philosophical statements and pronouncements. It was like sitting in a room full of young men all trying to outdo each other with profound sayings. The mood and action (very little action) in this reminded me of another book which I couldn't abide, "Cider with Rosie" by Laurie Lee. Now, just because I didn't like it, doesn't mean you won't, it simply isn't my type of story. I think the only reason I stuck with this to the end was that I found the author was pleasant to listen to on audio.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book. Like the title, it was just a calming, relaxing story. Sure, it has a few ghosts, untimeley deaths, some other things that would typically seem a little morbid (I won't go into spoilers) but it still manages to be a calm, comfortable read. It's a fine and private book?Additional kudos goes to the awesome picture of author Peter S. Beagle on the back fly leaf smoking a cigarette with the errol Flynn mustache.
    • 5/5
      A beautiful story of haunting love. Michael Morgan wakes up in a coffin at his own funeral. Turns out he is dead and is wife is suspected of poisoning and murdering him. He meets Mr Rebeck who is an alive ghost haunting and living in the cemetary with a raven that keeps him in food. He has taken himself away from life after he went bankrupt and lost his pharmacy business. It is up to Mr Rebeck to teach Michael about death and being a ghost.Death is not the end for Michael. Ghosts lose their memories over time including human mannerisms like walking on the ground properly, but Michael is determined to keep himself together. He meets Laura, another recent ghost who was hit by a car. She had thought about sucicide when alive but never went through with it. It also seems that Mr Rebeck has another chance at a more usual life when he meets widow Mrs Klapper who may be able to help him come back to the world.This was such a beautiful book. The language was consuming somehow, really pulling me in. I loved Beagle's ideas of death and what happens after we die. His characters were really interesting and there were some great surprises throughout the story. It's a ghost story but more a look at humanity and what makes a person. Highly recommended
    • 5/5
      Although A Fine and Private Place is not as well known as Beagle's The Last Unicorn, it also wraps many insights into human nature into a tale of the supernatural. The most advertised plot element is the love between two ghosts who meet in a cemetery after being buried, and while this is certainly touching and entertaining, the book is really about the living man Jonathan Rebeck, who has retreated from the world and must the do the thing he fears most in order to help his friends (the two ghosts who have fallen in love). The story would be insightful and effective even if Michael and Laura were not ghosts, but rather social outcasts like Rebeck, for the main thrust of the story is Rebeck's re-entry into the world, for which he must conquer his fears and step outside of himself, a journey that many readers may be able to relate to in some way. A Fine and Private Place is a simple yet profoundly accurate story that shines with the otherworldy charm of Beagle's other novels.
    • 4/5
      I'm not a fan of Emily Dickenson, but it's a good title. Mr. Beagle has sent us an excellent look at the way the dead stay with us, even when inconvenient. I've always known that a raven in the neighbourhood means well, but doesn't communicate so well with the hasty. Had a good time with this when a friend of mine died.
    • 4/5
      By the same author and also recommended, when you're in the mood for fantasy: The Last Unicorn.
    • 5/5
      hauntingly beautiful. an under-appreciated tale by a master story-teller
    • 4/5
      Beagle is a genius! Cemetaries, death - is this a fantasy?! A new magical realism when it was even extant yet!!
    • 4/5
      This had all the sweetness and poetry I've come to expect from Peter S. Beagle, with just the right tinge of heartbreak along with it. I liked his ghosts, slowly forgetting who they are until they almost-disappear, and I liked Mrs. Klapper, and I liked the ambiguity of the ending, but something about the whole of it together wasn't great for me.
    • 5/5
      This is a beautiful piece. It's filled with ghosts and fantasy; however, it is all about what it means to be human. I literally cried when I read this book.
    • 3/5
      This book is a fantasy, a mystery, a love story, and an affirmation of life all rolled into one. A sweet tale, all told, though it occasionally dragged into the maudlin, and some of the character's were frustratingly, stubbornly teenager-like, for old men. Still, I must say, I am always a sucker for a book featuring a talking raven, so I suppose it would be hard for me not to like it. I'm glad this book was recommended to me (thanks Tanuki), and as I hear that this is Beagle's weakest work, I will be sure to look for some more of his.Excelsior!
    • 4/5
      This is one of those books that many people probably won't like. There isn't a lot of action, and the emphasis is on characters rather than plot. The main character is not especially engaging, although just about everyone else is, especially the talking raven and the reticent guard. We don't know exactly why Jonathan lives in the cemetery and is afraid to leave it, but we suspect that his condition, whatever name we might give it, is what enables him to converse with some of the ghosts whose bodies are buried there. The book is only loosely a fantasy. I found it very enjoyable because of the characters.
    • 5/5
      This is a near-perfect ghost story. But it isn't horror, because it's from the ghosts' point of view. A sunny, almost Bradburyesque comedy, it's more mature, though, than Bradbury. Beagle, who wrote it before he was 20, had a more mature imagination! The perfect cure for similar ideas, such as by Richard Matheson. This is almost a great book.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful story, about two lonely people who are dead to the world around them until they find each other, and a couple of sad ghosts who only find love after death. This one is deserving to be read more than once, it's warm and romantic and even funny at times. Mr. Rebeck, who is still alive by the way, has taken up residence in a mausoleum, afraid to enter the world that he left twenty years ago, he never leaves the cemetery and must hide from the grounds crew and the visitors of the cemetery to remain. Mr. Rebeck has the unlikely ability to talk to people who have recently passed, as well as converse with a cynical raven who brings him food daily by stealing from locals. Mr. Rebeck meets Mrs. Klapper, a recent widow who often comes to visit her deceased husband's grave; and strikes up a hopeful love interest with her, all the while trying to hide his unusual choice of residence. Michael Morgan is a ghost who is unsure about his own death, and tries to work out the details of whether he committed suicide or was murdered by his wife. He soon meets Laura, another ghost and both struggle to remember the most basic things about their earthly lives, now unnecessary. Laura and Michael eventually fall in love, but even in death, some things like togetherness do not last forever.
    • 4/5
      I don't exactly understand how a book can be nihilistic and heartwarming at once, but this one manages it.

      It is really really good, like a children's book for adults, if that makes sense . The content is not at all for children, but it feels genreless and wise the way a children's book is. Also it is illustrated. Illustrated!

      The human insight in this one is scary. "How do you know that about me?" I would demand of Beagle, only to realize that probably it was something he knew about himself.
    • 1/5
      Possibly the most boring book in existence
    • 4/5
      A strange book, but I rather liked it. (To misquote Mr. Beebe in A Room with a View.)
    • 4/5
      A Fine and Private Place is haunted yet humorous. It takes place in a cemetery yet has a talking black bird (a sarcastic one at that). The dead have issues with remembering yet have no problem complaining to the living man lurking in their midst. That man would be Mr. Rebeck, the one time druggist who now spends his days (and nights) in a New York cemetery. In fact, he hasn't left the grounds in nearly twenty years. A Fine and Private Place delves into what it means to have a soul, even if it gets lost from time to time. It's the story of different relationships struggling to make it despite the differences. Throughout the story there are minor mysteries. Why, for example, is Mr. Rebeck living in the cemetery? Did Michael Malone's wife really murder him? What's with the talking bird? Don't expect a lot of action from A Fine and Private Place. The majority of the story is filled with introspective musings and the plot is centered on character development and how those characters interact with one another.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Peter Beagle is one of those writers who I respect on reputation, and I enjoyed "The Last Unicorn" back in the day, but, for the most part, his work doesn't fall into categories that I tend to read. That said, when my book group decided to relaunch after the long COVID layoff, we picked this work since Mr. Beagle is going to be a guest of honor at our local science fiction convention. My main concern is that this was going to be a period piece that really didn't hold up, and is esteemed because of the halo effect of Beagle's long career. One thing is for sure, the man was a good prose-crafter right out of the box, and my interest was engaged from the start. However, the ghost story is still really not my thing, though the twist that detonates the climax was a surprise, and allows for a satisfying wrap-up.
    • 5/5
      It's been a while, but I loved this book when I read it.
    • 4/5
      While Beagle's dialogue and prose are both excellent, and the plot fairly interesting, the subject matter is just not my thing at all, being much too depressing and morbid to be an enjoyable read for me. So my rating is at about the halfway point between how good I suspect this book would be to someone whose tastes are more open to it, and how much I personally got out of it.
    • 3/5
      I think it's better than The Last Unicorn, for whatever that's worth, and I suspect I might like this one more when I'm older.Or perhaps not. Some of the plot contrivances seem awfully convenient, and I don't know that I buy any aspect of the ending. But then I suppose the plot isn't really the point... and so I have to punt it back to "maybe I'll like it better when I'm older." It's possible.