R.A.

No redeeming characteristics.

Revisado: 05-02-23

My wife and I suffered this one until the end because the star-rating is fairly high, so we thought it must have something to it.,, It does not,

Trite, artificial, and simply boring. The narrative is so contrived that we found ourselves annoyed with the author’s lazy tactics (eg constantly referring to the contents of a letter known to both characters and the narrator, without ever sharing the contents; all in an attempt to create interest and suspense. That can pass for an intro chapter, but not as the driving force of an entire book…).

The narrator didn’t help, but it is entirely possible there was nothing much more she could do, given the story itself.

The best part was that it ended. At least we got to share the experience of loathing the book ❤️

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Weird / creepy narration

Revisado: 05-20-20

The meditations themselves are a great source of perennial wisdom, but this is a terrible narration: they went over the top with the “content to fall asleep to” — so the narrator doesn’t read in a natural way, making the sentences difficult to follow. His voice is deep and breathy, so it’s like having a big unknown man whisper Marcus Aurelius in your ear, loudly; bummer because I love the book, but I wish I could delete this from my library.

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A Short Holliday Story

Revisado: 12-16-19

If you enjoy “A Christmas Carol” and stories meant to warm the heart, built around holiday festivities, you’ll surely enjoy this story.

There’s not much more to say about it than that, though. If I recall correctly, I received it for free one Christmas, as a gift from Audible to all its members. I’m glad I didn’t pay for it (though I wouldn’t have regretted it, had I got it as a daily deal).

The story wouldn’t hold up to any sort of reflection: it is contrived to create a sense of “good feeling” and the setting is at a time when “things were simpler,” and the children bare no resemblance to any children in the real world that I have ever encountered etc etc but that’s the point of the story: to evoke a magical world, better than ours, where families are united by the magic of the season etc.

Richard Armitage’s performance was perfect in all respects. I’m not even sure he has to *try* - it just seems to come to him so easily.

Hope you enjoy, if you give it a shot!

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A Different Perspective on A.I.

Revisado: 12-16-19

THE SHORT:

This short story packs a lot of unspoken punch, so to speak. Martha Wells deftly walks many fine lines: including humour without wrenching the reader out of the story; some great world-building without laborious hours of description, and - the finest of all - she evokes provocative questions about the nature of consciousness without any of the sophomoric philosophical self-importance ... All of this wrapped in a genuinely entertaining story. The narration makes an art of unobtrusiveness: Kevin Free shines by letting the story take centre stage (which takes real talent). Highly recommended, especially if on sale.

THE LONG:

As mentioned above, this story is particularly great in that it manages to grapple with philosophical issues without being annoying in that special way that new-initiates to philosophy so often are: you don’t have to think about this story at all, to appreciate it - it’s just plain old good story-telling. However, from start to end, I found my mind spurred on by Wells’ brilliant but subtle, take on A.I.; presenting it, as she does, from the perspective of a “construct” - a complicated blend of technology and organic parts (basically an android) that has hacked it’s own system, effectively endowing it with free will. Even just the choice to present the story from this point of view, creates and sustains interest from start to end.

To my mind, Wells’ brilliance is in making all the fine issues and ideas *implicit* in the story. There is no over-wrought explanation of the philosophical perspectives on free-will or good and evil or anything of the sort. But the ideas are all there, and it seems clear that these underlying currents are to be explored in later books in the series.

She also gives us action, without boring us to death — really, as a story, it is beautifully balanced.

Of course, it’s *just* a story - so don’t get your hopes up. I hate writing positive reviews, because they inevitably create expectations that can’t be met, which ruins a perfectly good book for others. So I’m not saying this book will blow you away: that’s not the scale of this story. You may not appreciate the above elements in the same way, & just find it an ordinary SciFI story. But I think it’s worth a read, and think Wells deserves some credit for her obvious show of craft: I think her talent will be apparent to those who care about such things, and won’t take away from the story, for those who don’t. I really hope you’ll enjoy it, if you do give it a shot.

THE NARRATION:

First stop on reviewing a narrator is to remind anyone reading this to just listen to the sample: I find individual tastes vary too much for anyone’s opinion to be very helpful, especially if you have specific aspects of narration (fry, drop-off etc) that really get on your nerves. The sample here is accurate in its represention of the narration of the whole story.

That being said, Kevin Free deserves special mention for letting the story take centre stage. His performance is of the type where you can’t quite be sure if what you’re hearing is someone who has mastered the craft, or someone who has inadvertently created a masterful effect. For example, he breaks the natural cadence of speech a few times in the story, which creates a very genuine effect of “otherness” in the android / construct. However, it’s the kind of pause that could’ve also come from a flubbed reading, that just happened to work in the context - later books in the series will tell, I suppose.

He doesn’t do much in the way of voices, but characters are distinct and dialogue is easy to follow (as much thanks to Wells’ writing, I’m sure).

The only criticism is that we do get some audible aspirations at the start of sentences, which is surprising because Free seems to be part of a collective or group of performers, and I would’ve thought they’d have training on how to avoid / minimize this. Fortunately, it did not distract from the performance (& may be due to the recording setup - I know it is *very* challenging to get rid of this entirely).

Really and truly, his talent in this book is in not really drawing attention to himself (compare e.g. Will Wheaton, who will never let you forget that *he* is reading the book - which is great, if you like Will Wheaton next to you for every Scalzi book you ever listen to). At a time when trends in narrators seem to be headed in the direction of film-actors with recognizable, distinct, and literally “unforgettable” voices, I found a narration that is “forgettable” in this positive sense - i.e. of letting the story shine through - refreshing and enjoyable.

OVERALL:

A thought-provoking, entertaining short-story that is well-narrated. Altogether, a nice blend of “classic” 20th century SciFi with the best parts of 21st century tech and culture. Can be listened to on it’s own, without purchasing later books in the series, but would recommend purchasing later books in the series if every they are sale. Definitely worth a listen.

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A Good Story & Worthwhile Listen

Revisado: 07-15-19

The Short:

If you like Banks, you’ll like this novel. It is a more solid bet than many others in the series, and it’s pretty much certain you’ll enjoy it, if not love it.

If you have yet to read any Banks, it could be a good place to start (maybe better than the first novel in the series, which is much more space-opera than the others).

_. ._
The Long:

3 stars might seem harsh, especially when matched with “worthwhile listen,” so let me start by saying that, having listened to about 5 novels in the Culture series, so far, I haven’t been blown away as so many other listeners seem to have been.

I’m a big fan of Sci Fi, but have yet to connect with the elements that so many are quick to label as “genius” in Banks’ work. That’s not to say that I don’t think they might be there: I would certainly consider re-listening to a few of the books, for a second look. It’s very possible that the subtlety requires greater attention than what I give the story, when listening to it (i.e. it might be that, in my case, the stories would be more revealing if read, rather than listened to).

That being said, besides a few interesting ideas and a little forays into some disjointed world-building, I just didn’t find very much in this particular story. I *enjoyed* it, but find that Banks relies a lot on a quasi-vacuous form (here I mean vacuous in the technical sense, not in the colloquial sense): he leaves out a lot of the story for the reader to fill-in. This isn’t done artlessly - to some extent it contributes to the interest of the story, and maintains interest; however, it also feels very much like a Dalian curtain winding it’s way up & down, back & forth and at odd-angles to hide the deus (dei?) ex machina that breathes life into his novels.

Personally, I am neither for nor against the use of “deus ex machina” - it can be used to great effect (as it is in the BBC’s Sherlock series), and it can be just be cheap and lazy (see all truly mediocre Sci Fi !); however, in Banks’ case, it feels misplaced. The volume of information and details not explicitly provided makes it feel as though Banks himself was aware of this mis-fit of the narrative tool, and so tried to minimize it’s presence.

If all this crap about narrative techniques annoys you, let me say that I’m (normally) with you on that front - literary analysis has its limits. More than anything, the above is simply an attempt to understand why it feels as though there was perhaps 5-8h of story missing from this novel. In plain language, that is really what it felt like: some interesting ideas, some great characters, but a few parts that just don’t fit together, and it seems as though the author knew it, as well.

Overall:
Not a waste of time or money. Definitely entertaining. Not genre-defining Sci Fi, nothing to blow your mind. A safe bet for entertaining listening.

I hope this was helpful to you in deciding whether or not to purchase the book. Please take a moment to click on the button, if it was, so i can continue to provide helpful reviews. Happy listening!

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Could’ve Been Good but Goes Off Course

Revisado: 06-07-19

THE SHORT:

A story with a strong start and so much potential with a veer in the narrative that renders it absurd and strips it of all its dignity and interest. Great performances, great production, terrible waste of good character development. Not recommended (even if it’s free — there are better things to listen to, with your time).

The author definitely has a lot of potential, though — just made a lazy choice for resolving the story (unless it was the actors who brought the first half to life).

__ __
__The Long__

__ __
__The Story__
This story starts off well: told through phone class & voice-messages, it builds the story of the life of a young Indian girl in the US and her relationship with her mother, turning around finding a husband. The characters are well-developed and the story captures some moments of family exchange with an impressive poignancy.

However, what starts out as a storyline with subtle, curious undertones, veers to the absurd as the author suddenly wrenches the narrative out of reality and makes a farce of the entire piece. For the life of me, out of all the options available to the author, I cannot understand why they chose this direction: there is no redeeming value, other than some fleeting drama.

In the end, I am just left feeling disappointed: like I missed out on a story that could’ve been really good — one that successfully captured the difficulty of the uncertainty of life, and the complications of family etc. Instead, it’s just meh-entertainment.

__ __
__Performance__

Really solid performances across the board. A range of emotions and difficult scenes that were carried off with complete success. The entire team should be proud of their work.

Major kudos to the recoding and production teams as well: a masterful bit of audio. The performance and production were the redeeming parts of this audiobook.

__ __
__Overall__

If it’s free and you have nothing else to listen to, give it a shot & see what you think. I’m sure some people will enjoy it for its entertainment value. Personally, I was too disappointed by the ending, as it framed the entire story; unfortunately, it was a cheap IKEA frame and the whole thing came crashing down as soon as it was hung up.

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A Genuine 5-Stars

Revisado: 06-07-19

THE SHORT:

If you know (and enjoy) Vonnegut — there’s no reason to hesitate on this one. Without a doubt, it is amongst his best work.

If you don’t yet know Vonnegut, this is *not* a comprehensive introduction to his style and range, but it exemplifies the thoughtful social commentary that is always present in his work. A good place to start, but if ever you don’t like it, I wouldn’t dismiss him without also checking out Slaughterhouse 5, Breakfast of Champions and Sirens of Titan.


THE LONG:
__. __
__THE STORY__
The humour in Player Piano is much drier and more attenuated than other, more fantastical, Vonnegut novels; perhaps because it mostly plays on very on-point social commentary. The story itself is very engaging: Vonnegut paints the picture of a society using ~3 parallel, non-intersecting, threads. Unlike many other novels where such narrative structure is used as a gimmick to create artificial suspense (ie a hook to keep you reading that would not work if you were to re-read the novel), in Player Piano, Vonnegut has used it so deftly that, even though the characters in the various parts have nothing to do with one another, there is no sense of a split story line: all of them carry the central theme forward, seamlessly.

The near-future world that Vonnegut imagined resembles ours so closely that his prescience alone makes the story gripping, and his ability to articulate the discomforts accompanying a technocratic world gives the whole thing a eerie prophetic feeling. I just wish he had been a bit more clear in his final statement: on a first listening, there is not a clear conclusion to the “discussion” he has with the reader, throughout the story.

__ __
__The Narration__

In a word: perfect. I have never heard anything else read by Christian Rummel, and I think he is the first or second narrator out of ~450 audiobooks, for whom I’d considered buying other books simply on account of his talent.

I don’t recall seeing anything about Rummel having won an award for this novel, but I don’t know how that could possibly be the case. Not only does he distinguish characters effectively, without blowing the dynamic range, he absolutely nails several characters, bringing them to life.

I’m not one to be excessively enthusiastic: there’s nothing worse than a huge endorsement to get your expectations up so that the actual product can’t possibly live up to them, but if you’re able to give Rummel a fair listening, I think you’ll agree that his performance is spectacular: a few of the characters are so spot-on, that I wondered if he had met Vonnegut. He definitely transformed the book for me, as I would not have been able to imagine such perfectly matched voicing for those characters. Of course, not *every* character has something special that you wouldn’t get with another narrator, but there’s no doubt he was the perfect choice for this book.

He also carries off some Vonnegut-esque sound effects (onomatopoeic machine noises) to great effect: capturing the playful sarcasm and irony that colours so much of Vonnegut’s writing.

__ __
__OVERALL__

Highly recommended. A book I will listen to again, without a doubt - which is ultimately the highest praise I can give any book :)

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Didn’t Expect this Pleasant Surprise

Revisado: 06-03-19

THE SHORT:
For whatever reason (overall ratings / other reviews etc), I didn’t expect much from this short piece, but I gave it a chance and quite enjoyed it. Billy Crystal describes it as “a movie for your ears” and that’s what it felt like. If you enjoy Crystal’s comedy, you’ll likely enjoy this story. It’s not genre-breaking comedy, it’s not unparalleled story-writing, it’s a good piece built around the simple truth of the ephemeral nature of our lives, and what really matters, with a few laughs, Crystal-style. I enjoyed it & will undoubtedly re-listen; & hope that you will enjoy it too, if you give it a chance.

THE LONG:

I got this for free, as part of the audible-originals selection offered to members. I didn’t chose it because it really called to me, but rather because the other selections appealed to me even less than this one. I wasn’t even sure I would listen to it. I’m not sure if the summary didn’t make clear that this was a story, or if the reviews suggested it was mediocre, or if I was judging it based on the cover, which made it seem like it might be Billy Crystal chatting / joking with people he knew — at any rate, I’m glad I ended up giving it a shot.

THE STORY (no spoilers)
There’s not much to say about the story: it’s a good variation on an old theme (key word: *good*, it’s not just a re-hash, even though it’s not a complete re-inventing of a story).

It centres on the fact of our mortality, in “A Christmas Carol” sort of way (minus a Scrooge, and without the plot being as clearly layer out, from the beginning; NB I’m not saying they are the same story, just similarly themed :D), and what that means for our lives; specifically, how our mortality shapes what is meaningful and important in our lives, if we take the time to reflect upon it. Despite the potentially depressing subject matter, everything is carried-off with levity (though not too much), and Crystal doesn’t get too carried away with sappy emotionalism at the height of the story.

As mentioned in the short review: it’s not ground-breaking comedy or story-telling, but on both counts it is good, and I appreciate that he *does* just try to tell a story and make a few jokes, instead of trying to be clever.

THE PERFORMANCE:

It’s a full cast production, with tons of talent that I imagine most people know better than I do. Crystal makes an indirect apology for potential stage noise that is inevitable in a live recording, but I didn’t notice it at all (at least not on a first listening). Sound effects were used effectively throughout and contributed enormously to engaging one’s imagination, so that you get that delightful effect of feeling like you’re almost watching the story in your mind’s eye.

There was very clearly a great amount attention to detail in the production of this piece, and it was apparent from start to finish: the timing was perfect and, aside from one actor’s over-the-top caricaturization of his role, the performances, effects, editing and production all worked very well to immerse the audience in the story, as opposed to drawing attention to themselves, and pulling one out of the story.

OVERALL:

For a short piece, there isn’t more to say. If you like Crystal’s movies and other work, I imagine you will enjoy this. For reference, I have enjoyed the movies I’ve seen, in which he has starred, or which he has written; however, I do not make any special effort to follow his work, and would simply say he is an actor and writer that I appreciate. Off the top of my head, I’m can’t even think of the title of a movie I’ve seen him in (even though I know there are many).

If offered for free or at a discount, I’d definitely recommend taking a chance on it, if you’re on the fence. I don’t tend to buy short pieces at full price and do not even know what the asking price is, but this is a piece easily shared with a partner or the family (don’t it would appeal to young kids), so if full price is under $10, as I imagine it would be, it’s a good buy regardless, for this reason. I’m sure I will share it with my parents and my partner.

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So Much More Delightful Than the Movie

Revisado: 05-15-19

The Short:

|| Story || The book offers a great deal more subtlety and art than the movie. The story sweeps you up and is very easy to listen to, and there is a great deal more to the story - especially the characters - than what is covered in the movie.

|| Naration || Laurel Lefkoe, while making some small mistakes in pronunciation of scientific terms, proper names etc, has an eminently mellifluous reading voice that delights the ear. & I don’t mean this in a flowery, abstract sense: her narration is really enjoyable to listen to and, in the ~450 books I currently have in my library, Lefkoe’s performance stands out for this reason. She seems to know her strengths and plays to them well, while minimizing her weaknesses.

Overall - highly recommended, especially if on sale.



THE LONG:

_____ ____
_____ NOT SURE I WANT TO REVISIT THE MOVIE. ____
The movie was a favourite of mine when I was young. I re-watched it many times through my childhood and adolescence; however, I retain a memory of it being a bit slow, a bit sappy and have not revisited as an adult, for fear of ruining a good memory. Similarly, I had read several of Carl Sagan’s books between the ages of 12-15 (Billions & Billlions, the Daemon-Haunted World, Cosmos etc), and was similarly hesitant to tarnish my fond memories of the excitement those books inspired in me at that age. As such, I was a bit hesitant to give Contact a chance.

All that really matters, for the purpose of this review, is to say that I’m glad I gave it a chance. The story pulls one in quickly, and I was genuinely impressed with Sagan’s narrative style and the techniques he employed to build a strong sense of the main character without dragging us through hours of backstory. It has left me with a keen interest in his work and a desire to explore his other novel(s) to see if this was a one-off piece of good luck (or editing) or if Sagan really possessed a thorough-going talent as an author of fiction, as well (I don’t expect to be disappointed!).

____ ____
____ THIS ISN’T SCI-FI, IT’S A (GREAT) NOVEL. ____
Unlike many sci-fi novels which seem to view character development as nothing more than an unfortunately necessary afterthought to some playful, clever idea that the author wants to share, Sagan has not simply written “sci-fi,” he has written a novel that engages with fascinating questions about the nature of faith, the possibility of life beyond earth, and the fact that, at times, being human is hard and can hurt.

This makes _Contact_ a great “sci-fi” novel for readers who would not usually manifest an interest for sci-fi, so long as they do not carry any bias against an enthusiasm for math or science (just as a novel about a character passionate about gardening can be enthralling to non-gardeners so long as they don’t have a strong aversion to plants or ... soil; however, aversion to math and enthusiasm for science seem more common — no doubt due to the extreme deficit of agriculture in our primary and secondary curriculum :D).

So even if you don’t usually go for “sci-fi” — this novel is worth a try, because it does what truly great sci-fi is meant to do: it explores aspects of our humanity that are revealed through our engagement with the world, using science as one of many elements to develop the narrative.

____ ____
____ A GREAT, IMPERFECT, NARRATION ____
I want to say that Laurel Lefkoe’s performance is not really a performance. However, when I pause to think about it more closely, it’s true that she did develop a few character’s voices, although only one stands out to me. Perhaps this was intentional and is the sign of great craft; even if it is not, the narration was wonderful. It is also worth emphasizing that the lack of elaborately distinct voices did not lead to any confusion, whatsoever.

There were several clearly unintentional errors in pronunciation. For example, at one point “Vegans” (meaning people from the planet Vega, pronounced “Vay-Gah”) which is normally pronounced (including elsewhere in the novel) as “Vay-Guns” was read as “Vee-Guns” — as in people who don’t eat any animal products. Given the enormous work and long hours that go into narrating and producing an audiobook, such small inconsistencies seem inevitable to me, but if that’s the kind of thing that’ll ruin a book for you, then stick to print for this one :)

Other similar mistakes were made with a few proper names of scientists, mathematicians, philosophers or philosophical terms but, personally, I find the more I listen to audio books narrated by individuals from different parts to the world, the less attached I become to a particular pronunciation of words. Admittedly, names are a bit less less susceptible to this flexibility, but unless the pronunciation renders the text incomprehensible, the fact is that variation in pronunciation has existed, still exists and is likely to continue to exist so long as there are speakers, so none of this seems like a good reason to pass up a great story, nor cause to criticize a very enjoyable narration — but, again, if it gets under your skin, stick to print for this one.

___ ___
___ Overall ___
Very much enjoyed it & — really the highest praise I can give any book — I will undoubtedly re-listen, for the pleasure of the ideas, the story and the narration.

Why not 5 stars? It’s a great production without crossing the line to “brilliant” or “masterpiece.” It’s good, even great, and that’s definitely more than enough, but there is neither literary nor creative “genius” at work — and although I don’t consider that a slight against the book, we’ve got to keep the 5-stars for those gems amongst gems :)

I really hope you found this review helpful, if you did, please be sure to click the “helpful” button, below, so I can continue to provide useful reviews (or learn to improve for future ones). Happy listening!

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A Collection of Anecdotes & TED Talk Summaries

Revisado: 03-12-19

THE SHORT:
As the title of this review says: it's anecdotes and TED Talk theses with no meat. The narration is lacklustre; completely lacking in any enthusiasm. In a word, the entire production was uncharsimatic. I persevered in listening and cannot think of one valuable take away.

THE LONG:
I took a chance on this title when it was on sale, as the premise intrigued me. I had hoped to find solid research-backed information about how to optimize "charisma." Instead, perhaps all too predictably, I found a collection of dubious methods based only very tenuously on inconclusive studies, all of which will be familiar to anyone who has read nearly anything related to public speaking or "presence," some of which have been widely discredited.

To give a feel for the level of material, there is actually a section explaining -- point by point -- how to give "the perfect handshake." I'm sure some people would find use in this, but it's just not interesting or relevant, to me -- it just comes across as sophomoric.

Another example: the book opens by discussing the fundamental importance of "presence" to charisma, then offers up vipassana-style meditation as "the key" to ensuring this presence. Anyone who has meditated even a little will know that meditation is not sufficient to guarantee greater presence at any other *specific* time. It is certainly an aid, and may even be an important tool, but the topic is treated so superficially that no real benefit could be expected. All that is presented is a "meditate and you'll be more present" solution. Again, no discussion of research or review; no analysis of how it functions to improve presence (let alone charisma).

Globally, the impression one gets listening to this book is that Ms. Cabane has had some success in personal coaching, and has conflated this success with actual knowledge. This is not meant as frivolous disparagement of her work, merely a lament that she did not do herself justice in her presentation of the foundations of her work. These may well be the tools she uses in her coaching practice; however, that does not mean that the tools themselves are the source of her (and her clients') success. Had she brought a more critical eye to her process, she may have come up with a more interesting book.

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