At the End of the Matinee
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At the End of the Matinee Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 2,993 ratings
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Bestselling author Keiichiro Hirano offers a timeless ode to love’s fragility and its resilience in this delicate, award-winning novel.

Classical guitarist Satoshi Makino has toured the world and is at the height of his career when he first lays eyes on journalist Yoko Komine. Their bond forms instantly.

Upon their first meeting, after Makino’s concert in Tokyo, they begin a conversation that will go on for years, with long spells of silence broken by powerful moments of connection. She’s drawn by Makino’s tender music and his sensitivity, and he is intrigued by Yoko’s refinement and intellect. But neither knows enough about love to see it blooming nor has the confidence to make the first move. Will their connection endure, weaving them back together like instruments in a symphony, or will fate lead them apart?

Blending the harmonies of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Nocturnes and the sensuality of Ian McEwan’s Enduring Love, At the End of the Matinee is an enchanting and thought-provoking love story.

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  1. Listening Length
    10 hours and 51 minutes
  2. Author
    Keiichiro Hirano, see all
  3. Narrator
    Brian Nishii
  4. Audible release date
    April 15, 2021
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Brilliance Audio
  7. ASIN
    B08LDXQJ2C
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 10 hours and 51 minutes
Author Keiichiro Hirano, Juliet Winters Carpenter - translator
Narrator Brian Nishii
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date April 15, 2021
Publisher Brilliance Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B08LDXQJ2C
Best Sellers Rank #159,621 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#2,165 in World Literature (Audible Books & Originals)
#2,688 in Cultural Heritage Fiction
#3,021 in Family Life Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
2,993 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Glynn Young
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful story, beautifully written
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2021
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Satoshi Makino is a classical guitarist, but not just any classical guitarist. From a young age, he was always a prodigy, playing and performing his music with a skill that was breathtaking. He has never married, too focused on his music and his career. He’s now approaching 40, and he’s no longer a “young” prodigy. But his music is still enthralling.

Yoko Komine is a journalist. She’s based in Paris, has had two rotations covering the war in Iraq, and is currently off-assignment. She had her mother heard the 18-year-old Makino perform in Paris and were enchanted. She’s now approaching 41, engaged to an American economist, and preparing to begin a new chapter in her life.

The guitarist and the reporter meet one night at a dinner in Tokyo. The attraction is almost instantaneous, if left unspoken. But both seem to know, even if they don’t act on their feelings.

And so begins “At the End of the Matinee” by Keiichiro Hirano, translated by Julia Winters Carpenter. It is the second of Hirano’s novels to be translated into English, the first being A Man.
It is the story of two people, separated by thousands of miles, previous commitments, and even deliberate deception, who know they love each other but seem fated to remain separated. It is a moving story, often heartbreaking but always true to itself.

Like “A Man,” it is a story about identity, duty, commitment, honor, and love. It’s a story of how easily love can seem to slip away, how self-understanding often must change, and how nothing involving relationships is ever simple.

Hirano received a law degree from Kyoto University in Japan. In 1999, he submitted his unpublished novel “Eclipse” to a literary competition, and it won the Akutagawa Prize, going on to sell more than 400,000 copies. His novels include “Farewell to the Departed,” “Ripples of the Dripping Clocks,” “Dawn,” “Fill in the Blanks,” “The Transparent Labyrinth,” “At the End of the Matinee,” “A Man,” and others. He’s also published several collections of essays and interviews, and he’s been deeply involved in art and music. “A Man” won the 2019 Yomiuri Prize for Literature.

I worried at how “At the End of the Matinee” might end, but the ending is absolutely perfect. It’s a beautiful story, beautifully written.
10 people found this helpful
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Jennifer Lara
4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful story
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2021
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At the End of the Matinee by Keiichiro Hirano, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter is an extraordinary love story. Classical guitarist Satoshi Makino has toured the world and after one particular concert in Tokyo, he lays eyes on journalist Yoko Komine. Their bond is instantaneous. They begin a conversation that would go on for years through phone calls and emails. Even when they had spells of silence, they would always pick up where they left off. Makino is drawn to her refinement and intellect and she is drawn to his sensitivity and tenderness he displays through his music. But both of them are unfamiliar with love to see it blooming and lack the confidence to make the first move. Like the notes on the page and the duet of instruments in a symphony, they seem to be drawn together in a melody only they can hear. Will their love endure or will fate keep them apart?
At the End of the Matinee is a lovely, thought-provoking love story. I enjoyed the poetic and lyrical love story that Makino and Yoko engage in. It had the highs and lows and sweeping movements of a great symphony. It is a slow read as the author’s words describe the beautiful dance that these two seem to be a part of. The two meet late in their lives when their lives are centered around their careers and thoughts of love seem like a distant, foolhardy dream. But love can spring up at any moment. At the End of the Matinee is not a traditional romance that I am most familiar with but I enjoyed the connection Makino and Yoko have and the honesty and openness they have with each other. They discuss many serious topics such as war, PTSD and the lonely side of music. It is a beautiful story. I recommend At the End of the Matinee.

At the End of the Matinee is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook.
2 people found this helpful
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Richda D. McNutt
5.0 out of 5 stars Bittersweet and Lovely
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2021
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Few books have affected me in the way that this one has. It is, quite simply, one of the most beautifully written books I've had the pleasure of reading. Bittersweet, melancholy - yes, but also one of the most serene. So many themes, yet they cohere without friction: the present as altered by memory and/or perception, which has implications for the future - the multiple choices of free will that we experience, and the difference those choices make in our lives - forgiveness and unexplainable reconciliation with the wrongs that are visited upon us. And our continuing efforts to make sense of our lives in a way that will produce the best results. Ms. Hirano has to be an extremely contemplative and sensitive individual, and I hope she continues to write books that give as much to the reader as this one does.
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kmthoennes
3.0 out of 5 stars Well written
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2021
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I found this to be an exceptionally written book, but fell a little flat with me personally. I can't figure out why exactly. The characters were down-to-Earth and likeable. Maybe I was craving more from the love story, but it was muted and then interrupted over something dumb (a misunderstanding and sabotage). It did make me a bit curious about classical guitar music. The ending left a lot open to the reader's imagination, but left me without true closure.
One person found this helpful
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Bram Moya
5.0 out of 5 stars The Present Can Change The Past
Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2023
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Just finished the book. I could not believe the ride of emotions created in me while reading this story. A bittersweet take on how chances, decisions, stepping stones and opportunities can change the course of our lives - - of love itself despite its persevering presence. "The present can change the past" and the context of this line is one of many lines in this story that have left a mark in me.

I felt quite a wide spectrum of emotions through this story. I urge you to grab this book and let it take you through that wide spectrum of emotions. This story is one I will not forget, despite its bittersweet nature.
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Top reviews from other countries

Felipe Oliveira Luz Silva
5.0 out of 5 stars Ok
Reviewed in Brazil on May 25, 2021
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Ok
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Lucky2200
3.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in Canada on April 28, 2021
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Good
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Tham Chee Wah
5.0 out of 5 stars A love story with music
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 15, 2023
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This is a beautiful Japanese garden-zen-ism kind of meditation. The story is so quiet you can hear the beautiful chords being strummed. It is a musical extravagance in the whole story—a lovely repertoire.

The music is still playing even after I’ve closed the book. It’s reverberating with the love of two beautiful souls. A story about a boy and a girl who met and knew from that instance they were made for each other. Yet, fate turned their encounter into a big whirlwind joke of the century.

Sad, but endearingly captivating. Heartbreaking at times, but still mesmerizing!
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Dr.Stephan Teichmann.
5.0 out of 5 stars A Japanese Love Story not to be missed
Reviewed in Germany on November 24, 2022
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After a Live-concert in Tokyo’s Suntory Hall the classical guitarist Satoshi Makino celebrates with his staff and management and hosts a small party in a hip restaurant. By pure chance the visiting journalist Yoko Komine - for a short time back from a job in Bagdad - is invited by Makinos manager Korenaga and joins the party. This marks the tender beginnings of a great and somewhat tragic love story between Satoshi and Yoko. As with Keiichiro Hirano’s other translated novel “A Man” also here are a lot of cross references to classical composers, opera and famous European novelists and poets, Thomas Mann and his main character Aschenbach from Death in Venice and Rilke’s Duineser Elegien on the forefront. Reading the novel I admit, that in the end I had classical guitar music playing on Spotify, with Satoshi’s repertoire now performed by Andrés Segovia, Julian Bream or others and I even reread Rilke. 5 stars for this novel.
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Manoj Paprikar
5.0 out of 5 stars A poignant powerful tale of true love!
Reviewed in India on October 31, 2021
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It’s a beautiful depiction of true and deep love which is tested over time and tribulations. It’s enduring and haunting quality makes you turn pages, much like a classical piece of fine music….
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