OYENTE

Alexandria

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  • 263
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  • 320
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Disappointing narration ruins the book

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
1 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 05-04-16

I recommend reading this book in print rather than listening to the audio. I bought this book two years ago and found the narrator extremely irritating. I've just given it another go, and I cannot focus on the narration for the failings of the narrator. The narration is done in a whisper (for no apparent reason), so it's necessary to turn the volume up all the way. She does a good job with dialects, but so do a thousand other narrators who would have been a better choice. The sound quality is also inconsistent, as if the recording was done by an amateur. The narration ruins this book and detracts from the story.

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The bond amongst enemies

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 08-11-15

In the end, the terrorist and the American hero are very nearly the same man. There were several aspects of this book I did not like, mostly to do with the simplistic, cocky, and patronizing view it conveyed towards anyone who is non-American in the book. The majority of the narrative really reinforced the negative mentality behind the worst of American foreign policy and xenophobia towards the Middle East, and particularly against Arabs and Muslims.

So why am I giving it 4 stars? There are two reasons. First, quite simply, the story entertained me. It made me curious to see where it was going and I really enjoyed the investigative aspect of it. I liked the weaving of many stories and locales into one.

But more importantly, I found its saving grace embodied in a deep criticism of this misinformed but very common American patriotism within Hayes' writing. The main character - by whichever name you prefer to call him - is drawn almost in parallel to the would-be terrorist he is hunting. Hayes' depiction drew for us the ways in which the War of Terror has essentially lead Americans to participate in and even condone actions they consider terrorism when done by others. There is a deep empathy on behalf of the protagonist towards the man he is hunting, not only conveyed through the trouble he goes to in order to understand everything about this man, but also to understand and empathize with how he was lead down a path to destructive actions. Likewise, the book conveys a similar journey for the protagonist, to understanding exactly how he got to where he is as a secret agent, the atrocities he has committed, both in terms of physical and emotional violence. Yet he rarely articulates his actions as being on behalf of his country or some great ideal, and rather talks about them as almost an expression of self-hatred and self-discovery based on his own tortured past.

His actions towards his enemy near the end confirm their shared bond; it is an act of compassion from one nomad to another, one outlaw to another, one of the rejected to another, and one who lives his life through violence and destruction to another who does likewise.

Ragland's pronunciation of Arab names was painful to listen to, even pronouncing "Allah" wrong. His accents were similarly destructive, and his Arab accents sounded more Russian than anything else. His voice is a bit youthful, and it took me some time to recognize his credibility as the man telling the story, but eventually I got used to it and stopped noticing.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

A Critique of Modernity

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-24-15

This novel asks questions about the destructive nature of science in a world of limited resources and of dwindling native populations. It repeatedly draws attention to the price that is paid for the sake of "progress" - both by the Amazonian natives and by the Western scientists conducting research outside their own native environments. It asks questions about the privilege of scientific education set against an environment where the only useful education is one concerning nature, survival, and tribe and it draws attention to the power dynamics implicit in such opposing forms of existence and beliefs. I did not view this as a story about individual struggle or salvation, and I found the ending to be apt. Considered within the broader framework of the story and its message, another sort of ending may not have so well emphasized the privilege inherent in the scientists' ability to decide their own futures and the prices they are willing to pay (juxtaposed against the Natives, who are granted no such privilege of choice, even over their own bodies and resources). It is an excellent exploration of the cost of modernity and Western belief systems.

I think those reading this novel only for the surface narrative about the protagonist and her experience will find it disappointing. I found it helpful to engage with this story through a postcolonial reading, and I found Patchett's choice of subject matter deftly navigated muddy and complicated waters of issues of modernity, science, and privilege. Her decision to set the story in the Amazon could not have been an accident, for the issues she navigates are just as complex and intertwining as the Amazon River itself.

I found this to be a very rewarding and enlightening read/listen. Patchett makes a contribution to the discourse of power, ethics, and modernity through a refreshing perspective.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Inconsistent audio ruins a good book

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
2 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 08-22-14

The narration of this book was extremely frustrating and blocked me from enjoying it. Maloney melodramatically whispers the majority of the book, so that I found myself constantly tuning the volume instead of taking in the book. After whispering the voice of the main character for an extended period of time, he would suddenly switch to the booming voice of a supporting character, causing me to hurry to re-adjust the volume again. He differentiates the voices well, but he needs to speak up. The whispering melodrama does not benefit this audio in the least.

I strongly suggest reading this book rather than listening to Maloney's narration.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Front Line Conservation

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 07-25-14

This book surprised me. First, it is important to note that, unlike the Elephant Whisperer, the rhinos in this book are more in the background; they are not all-pervasive and the personalities and personal stories of individual rhinos are not emphasized. Instead, it is much more a story about what happens outside the reserve, really touching on the human issues that help or hurt conservation efforts: politics, economics, social and welfare elements, war. Anthony's involvement in the Juba Peace Talks between the LRA and the Ugandan government provided a huge portion of this book, and with good reason: it emphasized the dueling roles of war and peace in conservation efforts, and also highlighted other not-so-glamorous roadblocks, like mundane paperwork and the absurdities of bureaucracy.

This book is a fitting addition to Anthony's corpus of conservation memoirs, providing new perspectives and highlighting how even the minutiae of human existence play vital roles in saving (or losing) wildlife species like the white rhino.

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esto le resultó útil a 13 personas

Not Vonnegut's best, but not bad

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 07-21-14

The topic of this book serves as a satirical commentary on American capitalism and the place that money - and the people who have it - hold within society. It is a theme worthy of exploration, but this book lacks the typical spot-on punch of Vonnegut's best work. The message still gets through and in a fairly entertaining fashion, but it falls short of ensuring a lasting impression.

Summerer's narration irritated me at first, but I soon warmed to him. His voice contains a gleeful irony that is perfect for Eliot Rosewater's particular brand of "madness."

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Eloquent parable about greed

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
2 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 07-15-14

This is more of a parable than a short story. It is concise and to the point and very easy to reproduce orally. For example, after hearing this story just once, I know that I could repeat it easily and quickly to another person in order to illustrate a salient point about the human weakness for greed. Tolstoy does it beautifully all the way to the last line, which is perfectly ironic.

Walter Zimmerman's halting, dispassionate, and monotone narration is all the more ironic for the story's exceptional oral qualities.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Owen the faithful

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 07-15-14

This is a marvelous book, and exemplary of the level of achievement that can come out of an author's staggering commitment to the exploration of a specific theme. In this case the theme deals overwhelmingly with religion and morality and in particular Christianity - what might it really look like to be a person of faith in the modern world, and what might be the implications on an individual level? Is a human society capable of supporting non-hypocritical morality; and considering a person is capable of such a feat, how would it impact those around him/her? 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' is John Irving's nuanced by flawed answer to that question, and remarkably his Owen is the type of person whom Irving has said would not be able to survive in the modern world ("modernity" being a secondary theme of the novel) because of the weakness of the human character, the willful ignorance of the masses, and lack of faith of most "people of faith". Yet this fact is not explicitly stated in the book, which instead provides a complex exploration of how such a scenario might play out set against a modern Western backdrop whose forces are opposed to both morality and faith - while purporting to be both. Most religious people would probably not recognize themselves in Owen Meany, a fact which Irving exploits as a consuming, fascinating study of what faith actually means, and how it actually shows up. I am not a Christian, but you don't need to be to enjoy this book or take something from it; the message is complex and transcendent.

John Barrett was an exquisite choice to read this book. The best singular narration I've ever heard.

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Ebb and flow, up and down

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 07-02-14

This is audiobook made me laugh hysterically for a few bits, then bored me to tears for a few bits. But in the end, I really only remember laughing. George Carlin read to me before bed every night for about two weeks, and his extremely enthusiastic (if I can use that word) narration held me rapt, even while listening to long lists of oxymorons and Carlin's pet peeves for minutes at a time (some of them were quite witty).

George Carlin reading to me was a nice change of pace.

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A very grim classic

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 07-02-14

I am not opposed to gloomy stories generally, but I found this book so profoundly depressing that it started to affect my quality of life and I was relieved when it was over. Kate Winslet's narration is quite good, but her tone certainly does nothing to relieve any of the darkness from the tale, though I doubt it was supposed to. The book is well written but at times seems directionless and un-anchored, though I think that may have been the point.

If you enjoy some of the more grim classics, this is definitely for you.

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