Grantchester Grind

By: Tom Sharpe

Narrated by: Jonathan Cecil

This sequel to Tom Sharpe's classic comic novel Porterhouse Blue takes the listener back to the hilarious goings-on at Porterhouse College.

The instinct of the true Porterhouse man faced with a crisis is to reach for the bottle and then to fall back on the subtle tactical skills honed at Cambridge down the centuries: blackmail and kidnap. But will these be enough? Menaced on all sides - by the collapse of the Chapel, by the tentacles of organised crime, and by the hovering threat of the abominable Dog’s Nose Man - will Porterhouse be forced to unleash the most fearsome weapon in its armoury - the college food?

©1995 Tom Sharpe (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Sharpe at his Best combined with perfect narration

After been through a few Audible disappointments lately, it's Sharpe who does it all - once again.
Unfortunately haven't found anything comparable to Sharpe yet.
Also, great job by Jonathan Cecil, thank you guys for some hours of pleasure and smiles.

good

good stuff hilarious wonderful excellent great . . . i liked it can you tell?

Another funny book from Tom Sharpe

If you’ve listened to books by Tom Sharpe before, how does this one compare?

The only other Tom Sharpe audiobook I've listened to is Porterhouse Blue, the first book in this series. Although I enjoyed listening to both these books neither of them were as funny as the two books I read as paperbacks - Ancestral Vices and Wilt in Nowhere. I couldn't read either of those two books in public because I laughed so hard that people would edge away from me in alarm. I'm not completely sure whether those two felt so much funnier because the stories were in fact funnier, or whether it was because the narrator sounded funnier in my head than it did read out loud by a professional.

What aspect of Jonathan Cecil’s performance would you have changed?

I feel terrible for saying this because Jonathan Cecil is a great reader too.... but there is a certain kind of story that makes me think wistfully of Martin Jarvis.

Was Grantchester Grind worth the listening time?

Yes.

WARNING: Don't listen in public - too funny!

Continuously, outrageously, laugh-out-loud hilarious throughout. I embarrassed myself several times on a trip to the supermarket whilst listening to this. My uncontrolled outbursts of raucous belly laughter drew so many uncomfortable looks had to pause it.

I'd only ever seen one TV adaptation of a Tom Sharpe book previously and this was even better.

His caricatures of stuck up, cloistered, pompous Brits, the lower classes and unrefined Americans gangsters, who all end up colliding in the most unseemly ways thinkable are stylish, incredibly vulgar, and so, so funny, all at the same time.

I wondered if this is something that would only appeal to Brits who know something of the ''old order", but I suspect not. If you enjoy British caricatures along the lines of PG Wodehouse or Evelyn Waugh all from the viewpoint of someone with a preoccupation with repressed, absurd, sexual deviance you'll love it. Think very up market ''Carry On" films minus the corn.

Beautifully written - the story lines are wonderful and the dialogue is superb.

I couldn't stop listening to this once I'd started. I got through it in 3 sessions.

The narration is exquisite. Every character has his or her own believable voice. My only criticism is that the narrator's American accents aren't nearly as polished as the English ones. Even so, they are still unique and clearly identifiable. What the narrator lacks in the American accent department is easily made up for by Sharpe's wonderfully colourful dialogue.

Will definitely be listening to more Tom Sharpe.

Strongly recommended.

Well-read funny story of intrigues and murder

NOT a book for your mother or vicar. Machiavelli could learn a thing or two from the heads of this Cambridge college.