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Great book-narration needs a better producer

Revisado: 01-26-16

I really enjoyed listening to this book and sorting out all the angst, desire, values and importance of all the characters, flawed as they may be. The history lesson about the times on an Israeli kibbutz were so interesting and the narration was good. But, about the narrator, who has done so many other books well--perhaps the people involved should actually TRY for five minutes to make a note of foreign words in Hebrew or Yiddish and ask someone to pronounce it for the poor woman. She so mangles the words that it takes you right out of the narrative and makes you laugh. I can't imagine who told her to pronounce the famous deli favorite "kasha varnishkes" the way she did repetitively (it was Zayde's favorite food), or what the heck she was saying when she had to say "the Jewish Agency" in Hebrew--the "Sochnut", which is admittedly unusual, but, really, there are so many ways to just ask somebody!

This book was well-written and engaging and I look forward to other books by this author.

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Clever writing and poignant story--well read!

Revisado: 05-07-15

Three smart and sardonic sisters with a family tree full of unfortunate and/or unlikable ancestors decide the time has come to leave this world behind.This book is, in essence, their collective suicide note which explains their decision. As we root for the sisters we also realize that fate has certainly dealt them an unlucky hand. But we know other people have the capacity to triumph over adversity--why can't they? Each reader needs to come to his/her own conclusions on whether such an act is justified, but I surprised my own self at the end of this book with my empathy and understanding of these complex and likable characters.

The narrator puts on the droll smarmy voice to great effect--exactly as necessary-- and leaves it alone when it isn't needed. She does a great job.

The historical character of Lenz Alter, the great-grandfather, was so interesting that I looked him up to find out he was not real but he was completely based on the life story of Fritz Haber, who was friends with Einstein. I assume since the granddaughters were fictionalized, I guess the author needed to fictionalize Haber's name.

Pet peeve:There are three separate words (in Hebrew or Yiddish) that she was not coached to say correctly and I never understand why producers of these audiobooks just don't ask someone the correct pronunciation. When a listener familiar with these words hears them mangled, it really takes you out of the story and is irritating.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Beautifully performed, great book

Revisado: 11-10-14

The narration was spot on--you really believed he was a 10 year old boy, plus he was able to keep the separate characters differentiated.
The book consists of little vignettes in the life of a 5th grader who is a little bit delayed in reading and school subjects, and it is clear that his parents are disappointed in him.The parents are portrayed as loving, but clueless in understanding their child. When a babysitter comes into his life who he can trust, he begins to learn more about how to navigate the tough world of school.
Kids will come away from this book realizing that a good character (kindness, responsibility) is the thing that counts, and not how fast you can do math. A good message all around, and a wonderfully written story of overcoming obstacles when young. Can be read or listened to by 3rd graders up to adult.

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esto le resultó útil a 17 personas

So interesting and great performance!

Revisado: 04-22-13

What a well written book for young people! I am an adult and enjoyed it immensely even though I think it would be best for 5th - 9th graders. Especially those interested in science or engineering, but really anyone who just wants to know about history.

I knew very little about the subject of the Manhattan Project and I would not be interested in an entire adult book on this subject, so this was perfect. The author keeps the suspense going as if it is a spy novel, which is basically is, except it is all true!

After finishing this I went right to the Internet and looked up all these people and places for more information. The actual book gives great timelines and further resources and photos, but the audio is great just for the absorbing story.

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Performance takes a bit of getting used to

Revisado: 04-22-13

This was a wonderful book, so complex and heartfelt. The comparisons to "To Kill a Mockingbird" are apt in that a young boy learns about his life and his family through experiencing a crime. His father is a judge on a Native American reservation.

Well deserving of the National Book Award.

The reader is a Native American actor, I think, which is great, because he speaks with a cadence that is distinctly from that cultural background. The reason it takes getting used to is that this sort of cadence puts emphases on other parts of the sentence than we are used to hearing from other actors who read audiobooks. It was odd at first, but after getting used to the style, I really enjoyed his performance and I think it added a needed authenticity.

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Just a little too short, but quite engrossing!

Revisado: 04-22-13

Another dysfunctional family saga, but this one is very cleverly written and even though none of the characters are particularly likable, they are all quite human and the author shows great sympathy for their struggles.

The Middlesteins is aptly named: they are middle America, middle class, and suffering from every average American angst you can think of. The Jewish aspect is well-played and not overdone. The comedy parts are not done broadly--they are just funny. It would be a good movie, I think. It is a character based novel and the characters are complex and the author writes with pathos about them.

The reader is excellent. My only complaint is that I felt the book could have been longer. It is sort of like a short version of a book by Jonathan Franzen. We could have understood these people more if she had another hundred pages about them.

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a bit slow-going

Revisado: 11-04-12

I can't place why this book seemed to be so draggy--I have read all the other three in the series and The Giver was so good, I was hoping for more from this. I think perhaps the author simply chose to write for a 4th grade audience and kept her vocabulary and situations at that level. There was a great deal of over-explanation and repetition that an adult reader would not appreciate, but certainly it would be good for children.
An example would be something like getting introduced to a character and a fact about him, and then in the next chapter, the same fact is repeated in an different way, like within the narrative, "She remembered that he had lost his mother as a child and therefore..." it just really seemed for younger children than her previous books so I was disappointed.

And there is a lot of suspension of disbelief --not because it takes place in an alternate society, but because certain things seem too unlikely even within that society.

The narrator has a sort of odd, cheery tone, particularly in the beginning, and it is clear she is trying to channel the freakishly happy dystopian society, so there is a reason for it, however, it was somewhat annoying to me.

I was also not satisfied with the ending as I think it was resolved very quickly and artifically. I believe Lowry is a good enough writer to be able to have made the ending more complex.

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What a fascinating and beautifully written story

Revisado: 10-18-12

The narrator of this book had such a difficult job because there were so many various foreign words to overcome, but he did his job perfectly--as if he knows German, French and Japanese himself.
The lyrical writing is really beautiful and the meditation on the nature of family, history and art makes this book memorable. It builds up to the climax of what we all know will happen to Jews of Europe, but the set up is masterful and conjures up a bygone era so masterfully.
I recommend looking at the book too because there is a really useful family tree in the front of it that is quite helpful. There are also photos that the author included of his family and they help explain the story.
Kudos to Michael Maloney, who is a wonderful narrator.

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kind of Da Vinci code-ish

Revisado: 07-25-12

A lot of historical research went into this book, and the author's note at the end is the most interesting part of the book. He imagines that Columbus, who was a very mysterious man in real life, was actually a committed Jew, and was responsible for hiding very important Jewish artifacts on the island of Jamaica during his lifetime. I was ok with the unlikely premise, but the plot holes were just too much for me to overlook. When stuff happens like, speeding away from bad guys in a car that seems to show up from nowhere, (that would have been an easy set up!) or being able to watch a video of a car chase a continent away (the camera seems to have been held by the driver?), it got a bit corny. The relationship between father and daughter is strained (she hates him, and is so mean and stupid, the listener wishes her kidnappers would just do her in already) and gets resolved in the end very neatly.

The narrator is good except he has to perform a few accents, and not all of them are successful. He does fine for the Jamaican, and perhaps the Spanish, but for some reason he thinks the Austrian girlfriend is from Russia, and I have no idea where the Israeli ambassador is supposed to be from, but...those accents are always hard for actors, I think. I do commend him on the proper pronunciation of the Hebrew and Jewish terms, because these things are usually horribly mangled, and I always fault publishers for not doing homework in that regard.

I think people who generally like thrillers will think this moves along well and they would enjoy it for the genre and the interesting historical facts, but, for me, I will stick with a different kind of fiction from now on.

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This should be popular with teen girls

Revisado: 04-02-12

I didn't care for this book mostly because it was predictable in the story arc and did not engage me with the characters because they seem to be "types" rather than true people. The cleverness of the new idea for the future dystopic society will be what draws the reader to the book--especially after The Hunger Games, which is pretty close to the this one in many ways, but with better writing.

Beatrice, the main character, is constantly cheating death or maiming by a hair--and even, after a month or two of practice, beating many larger and better young men at fighting or boxing or jumping off cliffs, etc. It reads like a feminist heroine Angelina Jolie movie star, but she is supposed to be more like Katniss, I guess.

The teen girls will love it--it is about girl power and brooding, mysterious teenage boys--also with little character development.

Very long, rather unrelentingly violent. Get ready for the movie version. This is the first of a trilogy.

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