P. Ben

The story is not very creative ...

Revisado: 08-09-20

It would be interesting if any sci fi writer would try to imagine a different world. Like many other books, the future in this one is just like t he present: powerful selfish rich people who are in charge and their power is unchallenged. Can anyone have the creativity to imagine a world that doesn't sound like an article from the New York times?

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Entertaining with insightful bits

Revisado: 02-04-19

Perhaps the most interesting aspect is how despite the world's collapse, people are not all ultimately evil. That part is unexpected and very creative, I'm tired of stories where the entire plot is based on an alleged inherently evil human nature. Such idea implicitly organizing so many fictions of doom today is not only cheap philosophy and biology, it makes for very uninteresting plots where everything is quite expectable. Station eleven follows a different path, the world does collapse as in many of our other contemporary fantasies, but many people keep acting with a degree of decency. It allows for much more unexpected twists and creates more suspense.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Useful but a bit shallow and anecdotal

Revisado: 02-03-19

Although the book provides some geographical and historical contextualization that is useful to understand Italy, it focuses too much on the anecdotal. In addition, the author sometimes pays more attention to how the British have perceived Italy rather than providing an analysis of Italy itself. There is not much explanation of how life in Italt has changed over time and there is too much emphasis on dropping names of "great men", nobles, kings, leaders, and other "important figures. Not much reference to historical processes, scarce explanation of economic issues, not much about Italian culture.
The description of the ancient period is best, and analysis of contemporary Italy lacks depth, ressembling a collection of contemporary news from the media.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Description of major facts is adequate.

Revisado: 05-14-18

Not much serious conceptual analysis, just a barebone survey of the main themes surrounding Bolivar's life organized in chronological sequence. The anecdotal prevails and gives the book a certain shallow character. Yet, this is a useful book for those who are new comers to the study of Latin American history and willing to learn about Bolivar. In summary: useful and instructive overall, but no masterpiece.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

very superficial analysis

Revisado: 09-15-17

Many of the claims in this book are well documented by multiple studies (mass extinction of wildlife species, epidemics of obesity, rise of more resistant bugs due to overuse of antibiotics in industrial farms, etc). All of these issues, however , are also widely reported by the more serious news outlets. What is the point of reading a book that basically repeats what you can get from a Google search, a few Wikipedia entries and some NYT articles? This books basically repeats widely available information in an arrogant tone and through lots of stories that range from irrelevant to deeply unrelated examples. These stories are brought to make the narrative more dramatic, and they take a lot of space from what should have been extensive analysis of serious research. I expected a book that could explain the complexity of the latest scientific research on issues like the overuse of antibiotics in farms, I already know this is an issue, as most people who read the news. instead of deepening my knowledge on this, the book offered sad stories about dying children.
Some fundamental topics are not discussed at all. I only listened to half the book because I got tired of hearing a collection of sad stories with no scientific analysis. Most sad stories are about animals. Working conditions in intensive farming are not even mentioned. The author cares about animals, surrounding communities and consumers . Workers don't seem to exist. They are barely mentioned. Stories about the chickens owned by the author occupy more space than the analysis of working conditions.
a waste of time...

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Great start for beginners

Revisado: 10-30-16

Would you consider the audio edition of The Fall and Rise of China to be better than the print version?

Prof. Richard Baum provides a high-quality academic presentation of the main events in Modern Chinese history. As is the case with any other scholar, his historical narrative is informed by his own point of view. However, his explanation is rich enough for the informed listener to begin developing her own conclusions. I deeply regret that audible does not provide access to the companion book that The Great Courses provide when you purchase this series of lectures from them. That companion book not only summarizes the main points, it also suggests further readings. On the positive side, audible offers these lectures for a much more affordable price.

What does Professor Richard Baum bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Some of his anecdotes show the extent of his knowledge and his personal involvement with China.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It's too long for that. I did listen to several hours in a row, though. And I did so while washing the dishes and cleaning my apartment. I had no difficulties following his explanation, which is very clear.

Any additional comments?

At times, it seems like all sentences follow the same cadence. However, this is an absolutely minor issue. Part of it is related to the fact that he is not a professional reader and he is following his own explanation rather than reading from a text. Other audible books where a professional reads a book are more enjoyable, but I didn't choose this book only for enjoyment. You can't get everything, and I have not found another more appealing narrator that would give you the depth of knowledge that prof. Baum provides for beginners. There is a history of China book in audible, but I have the impression that it is way worst in terms of content. In any case, despite this minor problem I enjoyed these lectures immensely.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Formulaic narrative

Revisado: 09-15-16

What would have made Earth Afire better?

The author is a great narrator. His skills as a writer are impressive. His imagination, on the other hand, is severely limited by his worldview.
I had read Scott Card many years ago when I was a teenager. I loved his prose, but I only read one novel by him. More recently I purchased two of his latest books on audible and I listened to them. The first book was a pleasant surprise. As I was listening to the second book, however, I realized that the story followed the same pattern that the previous book. Once you have read Scott Card for a while, you realize that he is basically a great weaver words with no ideas behind. There are two types of characters in his books: those who are loyal, intelligent, decent human beings, and those who are evil, arrogant, and doomed. The good guys always remain good guys, they are already fully grown adults even when children. They have the best qualities a human being can have, and they stick to that. There is no character development. No surprise. Just plain Manichean good vs. evil. All characters follow a type with overall similar patterns. For instance, the good guys are ALWAYS members of tightly knit families. The bad guys are individualistic. After a while, you realize that the good guys basically follow the sort of bonds typical of Mormon families, whereas the bad guys are the outsiders. Scott Card does not need to tell you that the good guys are religious and family oriented, he is smart enough not to say that out loud and he is a brilliant writer who knows how to build that idea through a long and sophisticated narrative. Underlying the complexity of the narrative threads, however, are always the same patterns repeated over and over and over again. At some point, the reader gets tired of cheap narrative tricks with no character development, no unexpected turns, no new ideas, no conceptual understanding of anything. Scott Card has an idea of how the ideal human beings should be, and how they should act in the world to make it a better place. He uses that view to basically filled it up with different characters and slightly different stories. Behind that, there is always the attempt to lead you to the same "morale" behind it. It gets old.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña