Linda

First 2/3's are OK

Revisado: 08-08-19

I don't usually read this type of book. The first 2/3's were better than I thought they would be. The last 1/3 is all downhill. Coasting on soap.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Emoting Central

Revisado: 12-31-18

The narrator is terrible, over-emoting over every sentence. To be fair the book might not be quite as terrible as the narrator makes it. But the book is pretty terrible. Could have been an interesting story but the writer decided to just wring it like an emotion sponge. I hate books like this.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Appalling

Revisado: 11-23-17

I completely agree with Ruth Nielson's review. She does a great job of summing up the problems with this book. The actions of Barbara Havers are appalling and out of character. I wonder if the author actually wrote this book. I am done with this series.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

When you think it can't get any worse

Revisado: 01-13-17

I think what makes this book so bad is that other works by Pat Conroy are so wonderful.

When you think it can't possibly get worse - it gets worse.

Thank goodness it is over.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

In the world of books

Revisado: 10-25-15

Some will dismiss my low rating. However, it is my feeling that in a world of worthy books, this one is best skipped. It is written to entertain and it will do that, but at a cost. There are many other "popular" books that are equally lurid or much worse. That doesn't make this one better.

I see no value in this book and I do see a lot of harm. I won't be reading anymore of this series.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

A Personal Memoir of the life of a researcher

Revisado: 08-13-15

I had heard lectures by Robert Sapolsky on the internet and was expecting this to be a more in depth science discussion along with some personal experiences.

It turned out to be a memoir of his personal experiences in Africa. His experiences are of two cultures - one human and one Baboon.

At first I was a little disappointed in that there was little scientific discussion of his research. Secondly I didn't like the reader and the writing was odd to say the least. To give credit to the reader, he did the best he could with the strange writing.

None the less, the memoir is authentic and heartfelt. I would not have missed it. Well worth struggling through with the strange delivery.

The power of the message is such that it is hard to rate the book. It probably deserves better than 3 stars but I can't go higher with such strange writing. I will say that the writing is not what is typically encountered as "poor" and "amateurish". The writing is just odd, mixing references to current events, cultural phenomena, Baboon interaction described as animal behavior but lapsing often into human behavior, etc. I wonder if a younger reader (I am retired) could even follow it. The book needs one of those sidebars to explain the odd language and references.

The book gives lots to ponder and to wonder about. The book is a gift of sorts by Sapolsky to everyone else.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 14 personas

enjoyable - more romance than crime

Revisado: 02-15-15

I found this an enjoyable listen. I would say the story is- more romance than crime but not insipid romance.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Mixed Review

Revisado: 12-31-14

This seems to me to be two stories, one technical, the other human. The human story makes my guts hurt. The technical story is in my opinion quite flawed. Perhaps the author tries to overwhelm with words what is not quite understood. The book is very long. There are endless technical discussions that more often than not poorly tied to any underlying thread or understanding of Alan Turing.

I am technical and I long suspected that subjects described in length and with which I was not so familiar were gummed up, not quite on the mark and poorly related to telling us of the genius of A. Turing. When the topic turned to one with which I am quite familiar, this indeed proved to be the case.

There are endless passages where there is no "thread". Topics are jumped back and forth through time with little coherency.

The confusion of the story is increased by the faltering delivery of the reader. The reading is quite bad in the first 1/3 or so. The reader often hesitates where he should continue and continues which he should pause. You can try this yourself by reading a few sentences with the wrong inflections, pauses, etc and simple english will be rendered into nonsense. I found myself often jolted as sentence delivery was just "off".

Thankfully, the reader got much better by the end. Of course, he had lots and lots and lots of practice.

I think what I learned in this book will help me to quickly go to other sources and get a better understanding of Turing's technical contributions.

However, it seems to me that the author misses almost completely the incredibly important point that Turing cut his way through previously unknown jungles of ideas. Many of the ideas discussed, at length, are long now, a daily reality of people's lives, so much so, that the ideas no longer seem remarkable. The book needed not just a discussion but a creative device to not just explain this but to make the innovative thought and problem solving significant to the twenty-firth century reader.

Perhaps that's the most damning thing to say about this book, with its endless pages about the work of a truly creative man, is that the book showed no creativity in it's delivery of a very very long story.

This book, with all its words, is not all bad. It just doesn't inspire - at least it did not inspire me.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 88 personas

Romance not Contemporary Fiction

Revisado: 12-16-14

This is a romance. If you like romance fiction, this is probably one of the better ones.

I thought it was predictable and insipid, but I abhor the genre.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

I think this is supposed to be funny

Revisado: 12-07-14

Might as well listen to a random word generator. So much gibberish. I think there is supposed to be a plot, but you could have fooled me and I have listened to 90 % of it.
There may be little left, but it's too much more for me to listen.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas