R.

great research (I assume); TERRIBLE narrator

Revisado: 03-31-25

I assume the book is well researched - though the author gives nearly ZERO references when he is talking about individual's inner thoughts, verbatim conversations between only 2 people who ostensibly died on a burning and sinking ship, and how someone "felt" just before they died.

nonetheless, the research does seem to be objective and exhaustive.

this it's all the more tragic that they selected the narrator the did. his harsh, northern Midwest accent coupled with his staccafo, jackhammer delivery is nearly unbearable. Sometimes he even seems to revert into baby talk over pronunciation, like English may not be his first language.

my biggest complaint of the book how the authors aggressively, and violently use the word, "particularly.". sometimes using it multiple times in a paragraph, and even using it twice within three words!!! it's amateurish and ridiculous. pick up a thesaurus! if that wasn't bad enough, again, the narrator bits out the word was such vile it seems that he has personal hatred for the listeners and trying to make the word as unappealing as possible.
here's a few suggestions of words they could have used other than particularly: especially, notably, importantly, not to mention, in light of, accentuated by, and uniquely. The Listener will notice that when the authors are talking about the technical aspects, they excel. but when they try to make it "more readable," their vocabulary seems "particularly" limited.

though I would be willing to read other books by these authors, I will not listen to any book narrated by this narrator.

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A huge amount of complaining throughout the book. I love JAMC but, sheesh, there is a fair amount of "woe is me"

Revisado: 11-19-24

I love hearing about the history of the band. but unfortunately, they glossed over one of their best albums which is darklands. I would have loved to hear more about what went into the making and inspiration behind that album. I was also surprised at the extreme glorification about drug use and alcohol. I loved that the authors read the book. it made their stories more authentic and the experience that much more personal.

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the narrator is terrible.

Revisado: 10-17-24

excellent story. excellent subject matter. insufferable narrator who - in a pathetic and transparent attempt to mimic drama and intensity - actually whispers nearly half of the story. terrible. also, the narrative glosses over so many details of Joy Division. but over all, great story

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I am a lifelong fanatic of U2 and Bono, but this guy cannot read his own story decently. it is maddening!

Revisado: 08-29-24

as I mentioned to the title, Bono does a terrible terrible terrible job of reading his own writings. every other word has false punctuation, and the most innocuous of words are given so much emphasis in his voice that the meaningful words lose all significance. Bono has always been his own best enemy anytime he opens his mouth to do anything other than sing, but the reading is so self-congulatory, so falsely introspective (and transparently false modest), and shrouded in the appearance of prophecy that the poor showmanship of the narrative smothers the writing.
unfortunately Bono doesn't spend long enough on the creation of the unforgettable fire, but he does go into fairly significant detail on the early parts of the band- which is enjoyable.
in other parts, there are a number of cases in which he gets international politics completely turned upside down and reconstructs it for his own narrative of trying to prop himself up as (how he imagines) Joe Strummer; which seems like a wasted effort as Joe Strummer was never anywhere close to what people like Bono have made him out to be.
it was highly enjoyable listening to how he and Ali met and his experiences with Larry Mullen jr. Yet, for as much as Bono builds up Brian Eno, the portion with Eno during The unforgettable fire is fleeting at best.
I suspect that this book is more enjoyable to read in your own voice than to have bono's meandering, hesitant staccato and uneven delivery.
it's not Bono at his worst, but it's almost Bono at his laziest; trying to rewrite songs just to justify releasing another album, which isn't really another album. that seems like the modus operandi of the band in recent decades. I think Bono expects wisdom to drip from his lips anytime he opens his mouth, but he gets so caught up in wanting to make sure that whatever he says appears to have esoteric significance, he seems to get lost in just trying to get the basic significance correct.

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so it seems that the templar's were not all that formidable or successful?

Revisado: 08-23-24

the author recounts a lot of history, but at the end of the day, it seems like the template is really didn't win anything. the gloss is over Templar victories if there were any and focuses mainly on the defeats. I don't really feel like I know much more about them than when I started reading the book. but it's fairly interesting

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Poorly narrated and a blueprint for enemies of the USA

Revisado: 07-06-24

while the book was interesting, I could not help but being concerned that it was giving away too much information. but it was very interesting to know how the skunk works has contributed to the defense of the West end of the United states.
unfortunately, the narrators nasally staccato overpronunciation.. and many times mispronunciation of extremely basic words ...was wildly distracting.
well I am glad I listened to the book, I will make sure not to listen to books narrated by him in the future

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The narrator is good, but he needs to learn how to pronounce basic words correctly

Revisado: 06-21-24

The narrator is good, but he needs to learn how to pronounce basic words correctly

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Such a great book but he is not the best narrator of his own story unfortunately. But awesome

Revisado: 05-23-24

this is such a wonderful story of Will Sergeant's tragic youth, and his creation of the pivotal and important Echo & the Bunnymen! it's incredible to think the things that Will experienced that changed the musical landscape forever. it is so fun and enthralling to hear about the beginnings of the band and the lead up to their first album!
as mentioned in the review, will is not the best narrator. his monotone and almost mumbling delivery can make it difficult to understand sometimes. but, I would not want it read by anybody else. his unassuming, self-effacing, and incredibly insightful recollection of this pivotal time in music is mesmerizing.

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Interesting, funny, sweet, and a bit too self congratulatory

Revisado: 04-24-24

Wonderful history of Monty Python and the impressively busy and star studded life of Eric Idle...until the last chapter where is blind hatred of Trump nearly ruins the entire book. It was a strange deviation. even delves a bit too much into self-graduatory and sanctimonious claims to genius, which was entirely unnecessary. But overall it was funny and mostly sweet.

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wish it was longer

Revisado: 04-11-24

I wish it was longer. but overall extremely informative and accessible. The narrator did a wonderful job as well.

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