Starlet

Narration Perfect and the story is superb

Revisado: 01-30-11

I thought I read a review where someone stated "....and it's a true story, too" . For the first 500 pages of the book, I thought the story was non-fiction! I enjoyed the book immensely either way. It would have been an incredible true story, but the plot line is so detailed and unusual, is so over the top, that I figured no one could make up this dysfunctional yet loving southern family. So poetic - this is one of those stories where every word counts. Also, I love Southern family literature and forgot about that until reading this. The narrator is Excellent -- and you all know what a difference that makes -- he was perfect!

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This is highly deserving of its Pulitzer prize

Revisado: 01-16-11

This book magnificently draws the reader into the story where there are numerous subplots -- all about the Chinese way of life at the turn of the century. The narrator does a wonderful job of the different vocalizations required -- I listened to it in a weekend -- I wish I could find another classic that was this excellent!

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esto le resultó útil a 19 personas

A Wonderfully True Story

Revisado: 01-09-11

I loved this book -- to imagine that this woman, Edith Hahn Beer , was able to tell her story is just incredible. It does not matter if you are interested in this genre of literature; it is a wonderful story of survival in the most graceful way I have read in any other book. A story of family, friends, despair, hope -- all of the ingredients for a good novel -- yet it is non fiction. Just to think that there could be so many more stories like this written -- and there are! Thanks to Audible.com, I am able to listen to all of them. (I am working on it, anyway, interspersed with other favorite subject matters).

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Opened the door for further reading on the subject

Revisado: 12-26-10

I've read quite a few books on the Holocaust yet never read anything about slavery until The Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl -- especially in this personal type of accounting. It was fascinating yet very disturbing for me to know that in America this went on to such an extent and for so long - such deceitful people many slave holders and traders were. I don't recall anything being mentioned about this in history class -- I only knew what I knew from movies. The book has inspired me to look for other titles in the same genre.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Awesome Story and Narration

Revisado: 10-17-10

This book is truly incredible and when listed to as an audio book -- awesome. I highly recommend it to be listened to with the narration by William Dufris -- it was so realistic that I had to go back to the Editors review of book to confirm that it was indeed Fiction. I've never read anything like it and, personally, think everyone would benefit to listen to, no matter your views on war. I am giving it 5 stars because of this --- it ranted on for a wee bit too long at the end but didn't take away from anything.

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esto le resultó útil a 15 personas

One of the better reads on this subject

Revisado: 10-10-10

This was one of the best books I've read about people who can't get rid of things easily. Even though this is about hoarders, which I am not, I was able to glean a lot of insight from the psychological portraits in the case studies.

It provided possible explanations about why I have difficulty in getting rid of the most mundane things and offers information as to why others are real hoarders. Also, I found interesting the scientist authors' portrayal of hoarders being perfectionists gone awry, lack of focus, creativity to a fault, seeing 'objects' differently than others might. There is nothing positive about hanging on to too much stuff if it becomes a noose around your neck... for me, it's a work in progress!

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esto le resultó útil a 41 personas

The Real Thing

Revisado: 06-11-10

This being a true story of Nazi Espionage, it intrigued me because of my interest in WWII, Holocaust, and Nazi Germany. What I got was a huge glimpse of what International spying is about and especially interesting when it takes place during a war and a double agent to boot! Over half way through I thought about the James Bond stories, but this was even more astonishing in many ways. I found it simply amazing that someone could pull off being a spy, let alone a double spy -- what he had to remember and never be tripped up. It takes a unique personality. I kept thinking throughout the book, I can't believe I'm reading a spy story. In fact, there was a mention of Ian Fleming towards the end of the book -- I think he wrote or directed one of the movies related to Zig Zag's life. I recommend.

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esto le resultó útil a 11 personas

Another Perspective

Revisado: 06-11-10

I enjoyed this book because it offered yet another perspective which is becoming much more prevalent in these types of stories and, thus, more interesting. I read quite a bit in this genre of WWII, Holocaust, Germany and the viewpoint of a German woman's past life and daughter's current life is unique. It is not easy to read the flash back forward, but I think this author pulled it off without causing too much confusion. However, I really did like the memoir and it is a great book about WWII from the German side in portraying that not all Germans were despicable during the war. One likes to think that is true, and this story was yet another way of letting that be known as a possibility

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esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

I now know Amelia

Revisado: 05-29-10

It's an interesting book in that I now know, presumably, Amelia as a person. Her entire life including every family member, friends and foes (actually, I do not think she had any enemies). It is rich with history regarding the beginnings of air flight when it was truly a daring feat. Anyone who is a fan of aeronautics will definitely enjoy this book. For me, it was a little more difficult to get through -- although it was worth the read to learn so much about that time and the types of people who became interested in flying virtual death traps. Even if you have seen the PBS special programs, regarding Amelia, this with take you to much greater heights! However, I have not finished the book yet -- I have a about 4 hours left out of a 19 hour book.

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Still Listening

Revisado: 05-29-10

This is a very long book; at 37 hours, it is double the size of what is already a long listen As anything else, it was worth reading to understand more about a person I only heard about, Che. This is a very unlikely read for me, but I enjoy history and am willing to try to read about anyone I think might be interesting or provide insight,it does not hurt to know a little, even if the book is not finished. The reader learns about Che's parents;s lives, Che's upbringing and attitudes; it follows Motorcycle Diaries very closely during that particular time. I am at the point in my reading that is a little before revolution, so I plan to return to it. There are SO many Latin names that are referenced; so many that I think what I read about how the author was able to get such a great accounting of Che's life was talking to all of these people and promising to use their name in the book. It is humorous. For historical reading, this is worthwhile, which is how I look at it. I have about 15 hours to go!

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas