Laura Gibbs

Great book; reader... not so great

Revisado: 05-20-24

I am a big fan of this book, and because I enjoyed the print book so much, I thought I would listen to the audiobook. Alas, the performance is very strange. The reader uses a weird mix of voices: there are faux-Eastern-European-style accents along with faux-Southern-U.S.-style accents (I guess because the Southern-U.S. accent is supposed to sound foolish...?). If you are debating whether to read the print book or listen to the audiobook, I'd recommend just reading the print book.

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Great book and a perfect audio performance

Revisado: 01-01-17

What made the experience of listening to The Ruby in the Smoke the most enjoyable?

With this book, Anton Lesser has become one of my favorite Audible readers. I have been a fan of Philip Pullman for many years, and Lesser's wonderful performance does justice to Pullman's wide-ranging cast of characters.

What did you like best about this story?

The twists and turns at the very end really caught me by surprise! I am excited to read the rest of the books in this series.

Any additional comments?

Don't be put off that this is marked as a young adult book. Any fan of Sherlock Holmes and any fan of Charles Dickens would love this book I am sure!

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Beautiful book beautifully read

Revisado: 12-31-16

Any additional comments?

This has long been one of my favorite books, so I was delighted to find it available here at Audible, and the reading by Simon Vance is perfect in every way. This is one of those books that can change your life; read it and see!

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Excellent, wide-ranging intro to the Gita

Revisado: 12-31-16

Any additional comments?

I have now listened to this book three times, and each time I have learned new things. It covers an enormous range of topics, including both ancient and contemporary approaches to the Gita, and it introduces all the historical figures so that they really come to life in memorable ways. Even if you have never read the Gita, this is a great book to read, and the final chapter which compares some different translations will be a big help to you in finding which version will be best suited to your interests.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Astounding audio performance

Revisado: 12-31-16

Any additional comments?

This is one of the best audio performances I have ever heard (and I listen to a lot of audiobooks!). I'm not sure how this book would strike someone who is not familiar with the traditional character of Ravana from the Indian epic Ramayana, but if you are familiar with the traditional Ravana, this re-telling of his story will really surprise you. The writing is excellent, and the reader is brilliant. HIGHLY recommended.

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Wide-ranging analysis, all of it fascinating

Revisado: 12-31-16

Any additional comments?

This is the best book I have read on human consciousness. I really appreciated the blend of cultural background with the reporting on scientific research. Especially if you think the Turing Test is all there is to determining artificial intelligence, think again! I learned a lot from this book and enjoyed every bit of it.

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Mesmerizing story, excellent performance

Revisado: 12-31-16

What did you love best about The Calcutta Chromosome?

Simon Vance really brought the characters to life; the voices haunted me. I immediately listened to the novel a second time after finishing it the first time, which is something I do very rarely.

Any additional comments?

As a combination of science fiction and historical fiction, this is a book like no other that I have read. HIGHLY recommended!

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Adorable Story for All Children (and adults too!)

Revisado: 10-10-15

Where does Kama vs. Yama rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I am a fan of Devdutt Pattanaik's books in general (the audiobook recording of Jaya: Mahabharata for example is fantastic), and this children's book conveys the same fun, intelligent, and very informative spirit of his other books. The audio performance is also very good: the reader does different voices for the different characters (a little girl, Kama the god of love and Yama the god of death but actually the god of Dharma, duty).

What did you like best about this story?

Pattanaik weaves so many different Indian myths and folktales into this short little book. These are stories that would appeal to anyone!

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite is the story of the children who do nothing except what they are told! (Yes, as you can imagine, the parents end up being not very happy about that at all.)

Any additional comments?

Adult readers will enjoy this book as audio. For young readers, it would be important to get a printed copy of the book with the illustrations to help the children follow along while they listen to the book. I have a printed copy of the book, and the illustrations (by the author) are delightful.

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Excellent book - well worth reading!!!

Revisado: 07-20-08

This is certainly one of the best books I have read this year. Previously, I had read David Brock's Republican Noise Machine (also a very good book available at audible.com), but this book was even more thought-provoking, including a much wider range of examples. I was thinking this book might be some light-weight fluff, but instead it is the real stuff, very smart, well-written, and thoughtful. You will not look at your local TV news the same way after reading this book!

In the spirit of this book's themes, I should note that I am NOT being paid by any company for endorsing this book, ha ha. Anyway, it's an excellent book, well worth reading!!!

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Great book, AWFUL reader

Revisado: 06-14-08

I have been listening to audio books at audible.com for about 10 years, and this is the only time that the narrator was SO WRONG for the book that I could not manage to finish the book. I enjoyed Ellison's reading style for City of Darkness, but his style (identical for both books) is completely, totally, absolutely inappropriate for Wizard of Earthsea. All of Ellison's stuttering, pausing, hemming, hawing and stammering, breathless dramatic crescendos, all of that is just plain WRONG \for LeGuin's measured, even, concise, careful prose. The pacing of Ellison's reading is constantly out of synch with LeGuin's own pacing. Given that LeGuin's book is very much about the right use of speech, about the profundity of silence, about the power of words, it is just maddening to hear a reader who insists on imposing his own, alien style on the text. Ugh. Absolutely awful.

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