Bookoholics Anon

one of Heinlein's best juveniles

Revisado: 10-21-21

Great visuals a good story and exciting events-- the tale of Bill and his family who emigrate to Ganymede and prove a farm and become true pioneers. the descriptions of the Moon Ganymede and The Moon rises over Jupiter, the speculative science on how Ganymede was terraformed are excellent. it's amazing how much visual information Heinlein was able to impart with economic writing style.

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excellent narration of a mammoth book

Revisado: 07-16-20

this is one of my favorite novels but it is a bear to get through. The arguments between Settembrini and Naphta are a hard slog for the reader but make a bit more sense when read out loud, and you can picture the two adversaries standing out in the Davosplatz arguing to impress their young audience. The narrator does a really excellent job. For people who have trouble getting through this enormous work, the audiobook listen to in segments can make it far more accessible. This the newer John Woods translation which is excellent and updates some of the dated Britishism's of the earlier Lowe- Porter version, good as it was .

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Can't beat LeCarre

Revisado: 11-15-19

Not my favorite of the Smiley books but still gripping. A must if you love the series.

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ends rather abruptly

Revisado: 09-07-19

Not a bad take but sure peters out at the end. Classic Heinlein military story.

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good 'ol sci fi "juvenile"

Revisado: 11-21-18

Reminiscent of Heinlein juvenile genre novels. Adventure, sentient computers, a mystery and plenty of action. Some say it ended abruptly but I think not. I loved it. Excellent reading, a fave narrator.

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one of the best Dune books

Revisado: 10-03-18

great narration.complex, exciting story. the entire series is excellent. recommend reading after God Emperor and read the entire series

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big adventure

Revisado: 08-25-18

kind of rushed at the end and uneven . wished there was more of Kettle Belly Baldwin and the mission of his outfit. But standard Heinlein.

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classic space opera mystery

Revisado: 09-30-17

companion to Caves of Steel, Lije and Daneel solve a murder on strands Solaria, where online friends are the only socially acceptable friends. Everyone knows who did it, and it is the only possible suspect. So why did Solaria have to bring in an Earth detective?

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Excellent history--different viewpoint

Revisado: 02-01-14

What made the experience of listening to Empress Dowager Cixi the most enjoyable?

I've read almost every bio of Cixi there is since high school, when I studied Chinese history. This bio puts a new and modern spin on how Cixi actually tried to modernize China at the turn of the 20th Century--while maintaining order at home and keeping foreign powers at bay. I knew the players well but the new viewpoint on her reign as empress went contrary to many popular opinions that she was reactionary and a deterrent to modernization. Fascinating! And seeing how Japan, Russia, and the Europeans played their part in disrupting the Ching Dynasty and the entire region is likewise a deep look back into a land of mystery to most Americans.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Cixi is one of history's most fascinating women. But Prince Chun, her brother-in-law (doubly so, half brother of the Emperor and married to Cixi's sister) is equally fascinating in this book, where he mostly plays the bad guy but one who reforms in the end.

What does Jolene Kim bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Jolene seems to have good Chinese pronunciation--while I can't be sure, she does seem to do a good job.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Dragon and Phoenix: China's entry into the modern world during the reign of Empress Cixi.

Any additional comments?

highly recommended

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A masterpiece from Thomas Mann

Revisado: 01-19-14

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a great way to read Thomas Mann, who can be long and wordy.

What did you like best about this story?

The descent into lust, madness, obsession and degradation is one of literature's most dramatic scenes. The master artist Aschenbach, restrained, honored, and successful debases himself in a pursuit of beauty. That it is forbidden love makes the debasement more horrifying and sickening. There is always a combination of gorgeousness with absolute ugliness and horror.

What about Simon Callow’s performance did you like?

This is a restrained, refined performance.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The end is one of those passagese in literature that you read and re-read. Though it's inevitable, it still is shocking.

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