William C. Bigler
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Single & Single
- De: John le Carré
- Narrado por: Michael Jayston
- Duración: 12 h y 4 m
- Versión completa
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A lawyer from the London finance house of Single & Single is shot dead on a Turkish hillside by people with whom he thought he was in business. A children's magician is asked by his bank to explain the unsolicited arrival of more than five million pounds sterling in his young daughter's modest trust. A freighter bound for Liverpool is boarded by Russian coast guards in the Black Sea. The celebrated London merchant venturer "Tiger" Single disappears into thin air.
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The spy who came back to the bank
- De Darwin8u en 03-12-14
- Single & Single
- De: John le Carré
- Narrado por: Michael Jayston
I agree…one of the best le Carre’ books there is.
Revisado: 09-26-23
I’ve read a bunch of them, and this one has it all. Some drag a bit and take a bit more to get through as far as themes and deeply (sometimes darkly) introspective characters and descriptions. And I LOVE all that. This one is much more light hearted and fun (to me).
I’d say I’m an aficionado and I love this one.
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The Secret Pilgrim
- A George Smiley Novel
- De: John le Carré
- Narrado por: Michael Jayston
- Duración: 13 h y 5 m
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Nothing is as it was. Old enemies embrace. The dark staging grounds of the Cold War, whose shadows barely obscured the endless games of espionage, are flooded with light; the rules are rewritten, the stakes changed, the future unfathomable. John le Carre seized this momentous turning point in history to give us the most disturbing experience we have yet had of the frail and brutal world of spydom. The man called Ned speaks to us. All his adult life he has been in British Intelligence - the Circus - a loyal, shrewd, wily officer of the Cold War....
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Finish Line & NOT Starting Point for George Smiley
- De Darwin8u en 01-09-13
- The Secret Pilgrim
- A George Smiley Novel
- De: John le Carré
- Narrado por: Michael Jayston
I have to leave 5 stars
Revisado: 06-29-23
If you have not consumed at least the Karla Trilogy, don’t do this one yet. I don’t think it’s really fair to this particular Smiley book and author to do so.
Is this the best Smiley? I can’t say that because not enough Smiley for that. I’m half way through and I love this one. As in all of these, I can re-listen to passages multiple times if I lose focus or just to go back to make sure I got it all, and if I go back “too far” I’m just as happy re-listening to what I have already heard. It will be years before I re-listen or pick up used hard copies as they are so indelible and the way these unfold and the depth of character and humanity stays with me. That said, doubling or tripling back in the moment is great for me. There is very little that isn’t worth a second listen to grasp the density and nuance to almost every passage throughout these books (and all the non-Smiley LeCarre’s I’ve consumed). I simply want these to go on for ever. They are good entertainment, history, diversion, escapism and humanity displayed in triumph and flaw and duplicity and honor and courage and duty and introspection.
And they are also cool as hell.
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The Honourable Schoolboy
- A George Smiley Novel
- De: John le Carré
- Narrado por: Michael Jayston
- Duración: 20 h y 27 m
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The mole has been eliminated, but the damage wrought has brought the British Secret Service to its knees. Given charge of the gravely compromised Circus, George Smiley embarks on a campaign to uncover what Moscow Centre most wants to hide. When the trail goes cold at a Hong Kong gold seam, Smiley dispatches Gerald Westerby to shake the money tree. A part-time operative with cover as a philandering journalist, Westerby insinuates himself into a war-torn world.
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Conrad's Ghost Floats & Haunts this Sad Spy Novel
- De Darwin8u en 07-27-12
- The Honourable Schoolboy
- A George Smiley Novel
- De: John le Carré
- Narrado por: Michael Jayston
I have to give this one 5 stars.
Revisado: 04-23-23
This is a very unique type of author and “spy novel”. I read most of this before I looked up Le Carre’s bio. I was glad I looked it up when I did because it allowed me to be blown away by the imagination and the detail for most of the novel, and then have my sense that this is not all made up validated, AND respect the author for his writing chops and his service.
I honestly held off on this author because I - for some reason - assumed a formula-based spy series.
I love military and geopolitical history and intrigue. If you know, or cross reference history during the listen, all the gory details are there for those who want that.
I’m glad there were no stunts and no shoot ‘em up. Don’t need it here. That’s for other book series and characters.
I can’t say enough about this book in particular.
I am fascinated by James Clavell’s Asian Saga and this book was right up my alley.
This is different than Clavell as the perspective is from within the intelligence sphere and is less sweepingly historical and “grand”. It’s more focused and more raw and gets into the messy detail of thought processes that are all over the place, and it’s very real in the sense that often “crazy and intrusive thoughts and feelings” come unexpectedly (or not) in scenarios where it would seem there is no place for them.
Although it happens to me all the time…
If the book is hard to follow, it is due in large part to the fact that the subject matter is and was hard to follow and piece together in terms of what happened and was happening in the times and places covered by the novel.
And not much sense is even possible to be made out of a lot of it as it actually happened.
Whole non-fiction books (and multiples thereof) have been written about countless historical references in the book.
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The Sandman: Act II
- De: Neil Gaiman, Dirk Maggs
- Narrado por: Neil Gaiman, James McAvoy, Emma Corrin, y otros
- Duración: 13 h y 47 m
- Grabación Original
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In the absolutely packed Act II, the dark fantasy resumes and the Sandman expands into the French Revolution, ancient Rome, 19th-century San Francisco, eighth-century Baghdad, and beyond. New and familiar characters abound, voiced by a bright mix of performers, including Kat Dennings, Regé-Jean Page, Emma Corrin, Michael Sheen, Kristen Schaal, Brian Cox, John Lithgow, Jeffrey Wright, and so many more, including fan-favorite narrators Simon Vance and Ray Porter.
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A real review after having fully read this book
- De Chuck en 09-27-21
- The Sandman: Act II
- De: Neil Gaiman, Dirk Maggs
- Narrado por: Neil Gaiman, James McAvoy, Emma Corrin, Brian Cox, Kat Dennings, John Lithgow, Bill Nighy
This offering is frustrating to me.
Revisado: 03-13-23
I’m in the middle of the third one. I think these appeal to the author’s faithful the most.
The first one was new and entertaining and it was fun and worthy to try something new.
The second one was just frustrating.
The third one is letting me down as I search for some meaning and themes I can takeaway and apply or at least consider in a new light.
As I search for a comparison, I think of the Dark Tower series. And in drawing that comparison, the richness and depth of the DT series blows this stuff out of the water.
I’ll admit that I probably don’t get it.
That said, I feel like “I get a lot” (I know….big talk on my part) and so it’s frustrating.
I guess if I viewed this as a showcase for pushing audiobook production boundaries and the unique creativity of the author then I might get it.
That said, I’m frustrated that so much mysticism and spirituality and history and culture has imparted so little upon me.
I don’t feel any closer to understanding current or historical cultural phenomenon that I may not fully understand or appreciate after spending 36 hours in all of this.
It seems like it does not try to bring anyone along. It seems to take any outsiders for granted and that’s fine for all the insiders, I’m sure.
At least I tried.
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The Drifters
- A Novel
- De: James A. Michener
- Narrado por: Larry McKeever
- Duración: 35 h y 22 m
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In this triumphant best seller, renowned novelist James A. Michener unfolds a powerful and poignant drama of disenchanted youth during the Vietnam era. Against exotic backdrops, including Spain, Morocco, and Mozambique, he weaves together the heady dreams, shocking tribulations, and heartwarming bonds of six young runaways cast adrift in the world - as well as the hedonistic pursuit of drugs and pleasure that collapses all around them.
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Robotic narration sucks out the life
- De Deb Mone en 10-08-15
- The Drifters
- A Novel
- De: James A. Michener
- Narrado por: Larry McKeever
This one is harder to peg among other Michener
Revisado: 09-13-22
I can’t give Michener anything less than 4 stars. It is fiction infused with verifiable facts, and it felt more “fictional” and commentary based than other novels. That said, I’ve never not finished a Michener in book or audio form. As usual I was a bit melancholy when the final hours of the story rolled on as I was fairly engrossed. I could identify with a lot, being born in 1980. I checked out and rebelled, and it was all done in and around my hometown in Texas and via road trips in the US. try and fail (willingly) and then succeed in educational attainment, and I was no less checked out, emotional, willing to experiment and get caught up in substances and alcohol, apathetic, and extremely opinionated with little data to back up my opinions than the characters in the book.
I read at 1.1 speed and I like McKeever for all the same characteristics fans of his gravitate towards.
Interesting book that Michener fans who read them all must read.
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The Crazyladies of Pearl Street
- A Novel
- De: Trevanian
- Narrado por: Lee Leoncavallo
- Duración: 15 h y 31 m
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Legendary writer Trevanian brings readers his most personal novel yet: a funny, deeply felt, often touching autobiographical novel destined to become a classic American coming-of-age story.
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A walk down memory lane
- De kimingham en 07-06-05
- The Crazyladies of Pearl Street
- A Novel
- De: Trevanian
- Narrado por: Lee Leoncavallo
Man….really good and shows T’s depth and breadth
Revisado: 05-27-22
This is worth reading no matter what you like. Nothing at all like the zany spy novels (which I wish there were ten of).
It is idealism muddled up by pragmatism and circumstance (and human folly) to use a version of Trevanian’s description of his own fans.
The way this book is written and how it weaves back and forth in time while remaining in the present is pretty remarkable too.
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Dead Man's Walk
- De: Larry McMurtry
- Narrado por: Will Patton
- Duración: 14 h y 29 m
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In Dead Man's Walk, Gus and Call are not yet 20, young men coming of age in the days when Texas was still an independent republic. Enlisting as Texas Rangers under a land pirate who wants to seize Santa Fe from the Mexicans, Gus and Call experience their first great adventure in the barren great plains landscape, in which arbitrary violence is the rule -- whether from nature, or from the Indians whose territory they must cross in order to reach New Mexico.<
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Not Lonesome Dove
- De Richard en 11-05-08
- Dead Man's Walk
- De: Larry McMurtry
- Narrado por: Will Patton
Real good stuff.
Revisado: 09-23-21
As others have said. Not Lonesome Dove, and a great fun story about the younger days of the 2 famous Rangers. Big bold characters all around. I like a good story and this was one. I like the length and it is neat to read about the formative years of Gus and Captain Call’s relationship and personalities as characters. You can “see” the personalities taking shape that define the two men in LD.
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Watership Down
- De: Richard Adams
- Narrado por: Peter Capaldi
- Duración: 17 h y 31 m
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Fiver could sense danger. Something terrible was going to happen to the warren; he felt sure of it. They had to leave immediately. So begins a long and perilous journey of survival for a small band of rabbits. As the rabbits skirt danger at every turn, we become acquainted with the band, its humorous characters, and its compelling culture, complete with its own folk history and mythos. Fiver’s vision finally leads them to Watership Down, an upland meadow. But here they face their most difficult challenges of all.
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Capaldi is FANTASTIC; tech editing, not as much
- De Becca en 05-19-19
- Watership Down
- De: Richard Adams
- Narrado por: Peter Capaldi
Just listen to it!
Revisado: 09-12-21
Took me a a chapter or two to get hooked, and then I had to know more about what was going on with these (at first) guys.
Maybe because of its animal/prey animal/rabbit’s perspective, the performance, and the writing; the tension in this audiobook is unique, vivid and palpable.
The character development and the “arc” (just read “arc” in another review of another book and it applies here) of each main character rabbit is pretty cool and remarkable too!
I didn’t want it to end, and I did want some parts to hurry up! The rabbits have to make it, right?!?????
I’m not a nose in the air book reader/reviewer and I like shoot em up movies because of the guns and one liners…this “classic” is worth the read for anybody who likes a good story.
Heck…the main character of the ongoing “story within this story” is a really funny rabbit! Maybe Bugs Bunny took some cues from him?!?
I think if you’re even considering this book. You should just go for it.
The foreword is remarkable in and of itself.
Real story teller is Adams.
I’m going to try another one of his soon.
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The Dark Tower I
- The Gunslinger
- De: Stephen King
- Narrado por: George Guidall
- Duración: 7 h y 20 m
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In the first book of this brilliant series, Stephen King introduces listeners to one of his most powerful creations: Roland of Gilead, The Last Gunslinger. He is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil. In his desolate world, which frighteningly mirrors our own, Roland tracks The Man in Black, encounters an enticing woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with the boy from New York named Jake.
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LIKE A DULL AX THROUGH A CALF'S BRAIN
- De Jim "The Impatient" en 01-14-16
- The Dark Tower I
- The Gunslinger
- De: Stephen King
- Narrado por: George Guidall
Read this one…read them all…take on the series
Revisado: 07-16-21
I just got done with every single dark tower book written via audiobooks. It’s crazy stuff. It’s a journey and an adventure that is hard to describe. I was blown away by The Stand and I just don’t even know where to begin to even attempt to cover the content of the Dark Tower series and the spin-off…”Keyhole”. It covers a lot of ground. Steven King seems like he just “went for it” on this one and it works. I used to be a voracious book reader and have since turned to audiobooks due to their ability to come with me and be part of my “day to day” so to speak…road trips, set the sleep timer, and I do still miss the spelling and sentence structure visualizations you get from reading…I know my written vocabulary is likely suffering. That said, I never listen while doing anything that takes away from getting every word and I will go back over sections to make sure I got it all. The performers are all top notch throughout and it’s cool to hear King read one after hearing all of his authors notes included in his voice usually. This is so subtly “over the top” it’s amazing. I find zero pretension in the writing. It’s just a full blown creative effort that is quite something to take in. I gravitate to the longest books I can find by authors that I like and I really enjoyed the staying power of each book and the series overall. I had to take a break in between some books as I did not want to dull my desire to hang on every word. And for me, since it is Steven King, I sometimes need a break from the topics and themes that I ponder often heavily after a reading session. And while the books are fantasy, they are also social commentary which I like. I think you can’t go wrong if you aren’t too squeamish, have a bit of an imagination and you like a good story. There are so many stories within and upon stories that you should be satisfied.
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Shogun
- The Epic Novel of Japan: The Asian Saga, Book 1
- De: James Clavell
- Narrado por: Ralph Lister
- Duración: 53 h y 33 m
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After Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen—Nippon. Thrust into the closed society that is seventeenth-century Japan, a land where the line between life and death is razor-thin, Blackthorne must negotiate not only a foreign people, with unknown customs and language, but also his own definitions of morality, truth, and freedom.
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A Wonderful Story and A Wonderful Study of Bushido
- De J.B. en 03-04-15
- Shogun
- The Epic Novel of Japan: The Asian Saga, Book 1
- De: James Clavell
- Narrado por: Ralph Lister
Great rendition
Revisado: 03-14-20
Read the saga in the late nineties and it has always stuck with me in its beauty and power and mystery and character development. I can’t say enough about how engrossed in the books I was, devouring the saga and subsequent related books one after another.
It’s been so long that it’s like “reading them again for the first time”.
The performance is as engrossing as the written word in my opinion.
I will be quickly moving on to the next books via audible just like I did with the paper backs.
Fantastic stuff all around!
Much better than TV!
Cam
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