Gary

The dialog, the intrigue, the ever present danger

Revisado: 06-04-24

There are parts where I got confused and I’m certain that there are many references that went over my head. This didn’t detract from my enjoyment.

I would recommend reading a little bit about the author first. She was a remarkable woman.

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Simply superb

Revisado: 09-07-18

Professor Johnson is one of my favorite lecturers in The Great Courses. It's a combination of his innate enthusiasm for the subjects he teaches and, I suppose, his slight nerdiness. He delivery style keeps you interested and I like the times he inserts his own life experiences as examples. He explains it all very well, and I speak as a lay person. He's a truly gifted educator. Of course, none of this means anything if the content is no good, but in this case the content is amazing. I am familiar with about 1/3 of the SciFi references he uses in the course and the others are now on a list. As a kid I read Hitchhikers well over 100 times, and I took the whale thing as just a funny sidebar in the book. You'll have to listen to the end to learn how the professor uses it. If you know any of this SciFi you'll definitely see it in another light.

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Incredibly well read

Revisado: 09-13-13

This is actually the first audio book I have listened to over and over (at least a few chapters 5 times). Chapters 12-15 (Audible's numbering) should be required reading for every member of human race. They deal with why we should live well, virtues and vices, making good choices. It amazes me, though it probably shouldn't, that Aristotle was thinking of things like the nature of love and friendship, family, government in 400 BC.

I also cannot say too much about Frederick Davidson, who has become my favorite narrator. He seems to completely understand the subject matter, which means we listeners are given a great advantage. He paces the text perfectly and puts the right emphasis on the complex parts which helps them sink in.

Don't be afraid of it. This really is an outstanding piece of work.

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Hilariously enlightening

Revisado: 08-15-13

Very interesting story on living on the poverty line in the 1920s. Davidson's accents are brilliant.

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Graves brings ancient Rome within easy reach

Revisado: 08-15-13

I moved onto this immediately after I, Claudius. The book picks up from the end of the aforementioned and initially detours to describe the life of Herod Agrippa. Claudius spends the rest of the book chronicling his reign. There were times in the book that the plot became so complex and what with all the Latin names I completely lost track of it, but these places were few and far between. Otherwise I say it was on par with the previous book. The "3 endings" and "Claudius at Heaven" epilogues were a good bonus. These evoked sympathy for Claudius that many say is not deserved and some cite these books are creating a misleading favorable impression of Claudius. I don't agree with that. So many summary executions, unfair executions, even of his lifelong friends don't leave me in doubt as to his moral character. Perhaps it could be said that he was a clever man that got the ship righted after Caligula's reign. At the end of the book, if you are interested Google the excavations of Ostia to get a sense of Claudia's work.

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Great read

Revisado: 07-10-13

I chose this book as I am working through a Christopher Hitchen's reading list. In essence, a fictional "autobiography" by Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Drusus Germanicus) based on historical accounts of the lives of the protagonists. Brutality and cruelty abound, but very educational and quite funny in places. I give it a thumbs up!

Frederick Davidson narrates this book wonderfully. His Caligula was my favorite, followed closely by the voiced Claudius himself. If you listen carefully with headphones you can hear him turn the pages, but never miss a beat. A true master. RIP.

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Moving story, well read

Revisado: 01-07-13

I recently saw a picture taken in the 1970s of a garden with trees and a decorative pool in Kabul. The picture showed young girls playing. Then alongside another photo from the same vantage point today. There is nothing but bare ground and rubble. Although this story is fictional, it depicts the events that create the Afghanistan we see today.

My teenage niece read this book at school, which surprised me as there are some disturbing parts in it.

I didn't like the author's voice in the beginning, but it grew on me and in the in end he does a fine job. It general it's a net-positive when the author reads his/her own work.

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No previous interest in bullfighting required

Revisado: 01-07-13

No fan of bullfighting here. If anything I came into this with a negative opinion. I choose this book, because I felt Hemingway would do something great with it and he doesn't disappoint. Boyd Gaines delivers a fantastic read, with perfect Spanish pronunciations. It doesn't change my opinion on bullfighting much, but maybe a little on life and death.

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A disturbing use of a new technology

Revisado: 12-08-12

Dan Suarez creates stories in which he imagines technology that's a little more than one step ahead of where it is today in 2012 (a statement like that needs a time stamp!).

This book follows on from earlier work, depicting a frightening abuse of a new technology. Today many countries have drone programs including Iran, and groups like Hamas. Very few Americans care when a US drone missile wipes out a terrorist and his family. It's about "bad guys" and it's a new warfare, detached, remote, fire and forget. Suarez takes this paradigm and turns it around, forcing us to consider how we'd feel being on the end of those missiles.

The plot and storyline are superb, but I didn't enjoy this book as much as Daemon and Freedom, Inc. For me it boils down to the "John Wayne" dialog, and the perpetually astonished female protagonist. I think the author can do better. The dialog started to really annoy me and became reflexive reaction as the book progressed.

That said, I really did enjoy this work and recommend it wholeheartedly. Dan Suarez embraces and extends the genre created by Clancy and Larry Bond in the 80s. Looking forward to the next one.

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Superb story, well read

Revisado: 04-25-12

The definitive novel of the Lost Generation. Fast, promiscuous lives in Paris, Spain. Bullfighting and infighting, told in Hemingway's trademark understated, elegant way. Simply outstanding.

William Hurt's choice of emphasis on parts of the sentence struck me as odd at first. Pauses and emphasis where you don't expect it give a feeling of awkwardness, like Macon Leary was reading this book.

As he is vocalizing Hemingway's inner voice I am not sure this is entirely out of place, but it took me a while to get used to it. Overall I really enjoyed the narration. The character voices were simply superb. Mr Hurt does a mean Scottish accent.

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