SR

Performance amazing, too much imperialism

Revisado: 07-08-24

I’ve always enjoyed Bernard Cornwell but the overtly, persistently, cruelly imperialist storyline just didn’t go down very easily for me. I would have been okay with an ending where every one of the protagonists suffered greatly and decided to run back to Europe and stay there. That said, it was well written as expected and the narrator was one of the best I’ve ever come across on Audible.

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Best audiobook I’ve heard in a long time

Revisado: 01-15-24

I have felt for a long time that I must have listened to all the really good books already. You know, the ones which are so beautifully written that your head occasionally spins a bit at the perfection of a sentence, and so well narrated that you can’t imagine the book could be quite so good if experienced on the written page. In addition to these qualities, the disparate voices and perspectives used to tell the story are so convincing that it’s hard to imagine a single author being behind them all. It’s an epic and beautiful story, and whoever cast the narrators deserves an award just for that. I cannot believe this book wasn’t awarded a Pulitzer.

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One of the best books on Audible

Revisado: 11-27-22

Excellently told riveting story, superbly narrated. I’ve bought this audiobook as a gift for several people and everyone loves it.

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Great book, but the price gouging leaves a bad taste

Revisado: 04-12-22

I enjoyed the story and the performance was great. Would be 5 stars if you’re not paying 10 bucks for 3 hrs of audio entertainment. Stop with the gouging already and combine some of these short listens to an actual book length. If 60 hrs of War and Peace can be 2 credits, so can this series.

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Only if you like breathless romance novels, I guess

Revisado: 07-04-21

I don’t know whether it’s the publisher’s decision or Audible’s decision to place this book under Fantasy/SciFi, but the poor rating is entirely the fault of whoever is responsible. Maybe it’s a good romance novel, I wouldn’t know because I don’t enjoy the genre and cannot say one way or the other. The romance in this book is too much to blend into the story and often hits seriously cringe-worthy, nausea-inducing levels while (as others have pointed out) glorifying abusive behavior and sexual violence. Not for me at all, wish I had read the reviews instead of assuming such a popular novel would probably be enjoyable.

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Miss your toxic judgy friend? Then read this!

Revisado: 09-10-15

First, because of all the support this book is getting from people who identify themselves as realists, I must say that I am rational to a fault and not a fan of the positive thinking approach so lauded by our society. In fact, I hate it. I flat out dislike approaches that favor "seeing abundance in the world" and the "I can do it because I believe I can do it." mentality. I don't find them useful, practical, or beneficial except for temporarily deluding yourself out of a rut. And everyone who liked this book is entitled to their thoughts on it, but I couldn't disagree more. I felt I had to contribute a dissenting opinion.

The author starts this book promisingly, with a number of examples of dangerous positive thinking, instances where just hoping something bad won't happen kept us from responding to danger signs that should have been taken seriously (such as 9/11 or the recent economic collapse). I completely understood her argument and hoped these were the kinds of issues she would elaborate upon for the rest of the book.

I admit that I couldn't force myself past the first section, where she discusses her experiences with breast cancer. It was so bad that I had to turn it off, so maybe I missed out on some actual wisdom later on. But about breast cancer, I get that it's a hard situation that you're not even sure you will survive. I lost my spouse several years ago at a young age (31), and I have some understanding of what the healing process from catastrophe might look like, though it's different for everyone. What I take serious issue with is that the ENTIRETY of what she had to say about it was a series of attempts to shame people who had supportive roles for her during this time. Through the entire chapter, she sounds like the incredibly toxic friend that you eventually just cut out of your life because you have run out of energy to expend on her. This is not commentary on unfounded and harmful positive thinking. It's an indictment against anyone who might dare to have ANY positive thoughts on the subject. She endlessly rails against people for (only perceived) motivations that are truly the worst possible, never giving anyone credit for any good intentions. Let me lay some of this out for you.

1) She takes issue with the doctor who told her she had cancer because he said "there is cancer" instead of saying "you have cancer." She says the wording of that sentence failed to recognize that she was a human being, and cut her out of the equation completely. Seriously? I'm a doctor, and guess what. Doctors are human beings who have different ways of saying things. Maybe the guy didn't have the greatest words to use, but could she take a minute to think maybe she's reading a little too much into his intended meaning?

2) She then complains about the stuffed bears that are used as tokens of support by the Susan G. Komen foundation, because she says they are representative of the infantalizing of women. Huh. Reaching a bit, Barbara? She goes on for a little while about this.

3) She then complains some more, because we don't have enough complainers in our lives, apparently. Next complaint is about women on the online support groups. She claims that some women who developed metastatic cancer were reportedly kicked off the groups because they had no hope of recovery. There is absolutely no evidence of this presented in any way. No stories from those women who were kicked off, no other story from whoever kicked them off, nothing at all. I find it very difficult to believe that a woman with cancer would get kicked off because her cancer metastasized. I have, however, met people who have toxic personalities who get eliminated from people's lives as a result, who then pretty much blame everybody else for their resulting solitude.

4) She tells of how she went onto an online support group and attempted to share her pain by discussing her side effects from chemo and how she has trouble with "those sappy pink ribbons." She then describes how women responded by telling her that she needed to work on having a better attitude, which rankled her. Did she ever consider that her judgemental and insulting comment about something that might be providing comfort to other women in the same situation might have been inappropriate, not to mention rude and cruel? What's the point of shaming women who find the pink ribbons to be helpful? I thought the replies of those other women were amazingly supportive in response.

5) She complains some more (surprise!) about women who claim that their lives have been improved by their experience with breast cancer. Now, what I find interesting is that these women were people who felt that the experience taught them about valuing their lives, experiences, etc, which basically means that it allowed them to see past the mundane events and feelings that drag us down otherwise. That's NOT positive thinking for the sake of positive thinking. That's seeing reality, but apparently these women have committed the heinous crime of seeing a reality that is hopeful, instead of being terribly depressed about it. What's wrong with that?

And I ask, how are ANY of these ladies with breast cancer "undermining America"? She never says. These are just people who are doing the best they can do with the cards they were dealt. If it doesn't work for you, just find something else that will. Why crap all over them? I haven't met anyone who is trying to develop breast cancer because some other woman said it "improved" her life, have you?

That was just one chapter, folks. That's where I had to hit the pause button and cut this toxic person out of my own life. I totally understand that the rest of the book might have been better, but honestly, by this point I didn't want to give this author any more of my valuable time. She is a troll, I'm not going to keep listening just to see if she has a tiny bit of wisdom buried somewhere in the sea of her personal misery.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Meh

Revisado: 11-02-14

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

NOS4A2 is a well-written book and the narration is superb. But I couldn't finish it, had to stop with about 4 hours remaining, I just didn't really care about any of the characters enough to have to know how it ends. The very beginning was excellent, downright terrifying. But I didn't encounter that degree of creepiness again. Even the very suspenseful sections didn't really grip me. I confess I don't listen to this genre much so I may not be representative, clearly this book has gotten lots of rave reviews and if you are a horror fan I wouldn't discount those reviews. I'm disappointed that I didn't love the book more, I was hoping for a good scare for Halloween. With 4 hours remaining it just felt like it was losing steam rather than gathering it.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Couldn't finish it so can't comment on the ending.

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

She did a fantastic job. Her performance definitely helped shape the characters.

Any additional comments?

The writing is good enough that I would check out other books by the same author, definitely will check out books by the same narrator.

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Fresh, funny, inspiring!

Revisado: 07-03-14

Any additional comments?

This was quite an entertaining listen, both for content and performance. Sophia Amoruso's story is compelling and inspiring, and she's very honest about her past successes and failures. I think what really stood out to me was the clarity she has in assessing why things went the way they did for her. She's very insightful as well as funny, and she gives some damn good advice. This book could be categorized as a memoir, as business advice, or self-development, it's really all three. Go, GirlBoss!!

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Is this a joke?

Revisado: 07-03-14

Would you try another book from Jamie Cat Callan and/or Laura Darrell?

Absolutely not. I am going to avoid them both like my cat avoids the vacuum cleaner.

What was most disappointing about Jamie Cat Callan’s story?

Well, let's see. It could be the fact that in the first hour and a half, the only information relevant to this book's stated topic is that French women don't go on dates (they meet at group dinner parties and a first date might be a walk in the park). Or it could be the constant intolerable caricatures of what is French vs. what is American. Or it could be the self-satisfied tone of a preachy author who in reality has little to no experience with what she's writing about. Or it could be the bad writing. I'm at a loss. You choose.

How could the performance have been better?

It could have been better if the person chosen to read a book which is heavy on French words could actually pronounce those words. Possibly the most horrendous performance I have ever heard on Audible.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from French Women Don't Sleep Alone?

The whole freaking thing. Though to be fair, I'm only about an hour and a half into the book. So at least the entire first hour and a half. Did this book even have an editor?

Any additional comments?

I am no quitter when it comes to audiobooks. I'm a slogger, I slog through even the disappointing performances and the driest prose. But holy cow, the endless blather about god-knows-what completely unrelated page-filler nonsense! I don't really need to know how to cook a rabbit! Maybe I should have waited until tomorrow to write this review. I just now turned it off when I just couldn't take it anymore and I was beginning to have homicidal thoughts. How this book ever got positive reviews, either on Audible or Amazon is way, way, way beyond my understanding. Sure, I'd rather listen to this book than have a hot poker in my eye, but either one would constitute torture.

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Pretty good if you REALLY like the subject matter

Revisado: 07-13-12

What other book might you compare Genes, Chromosomes, and Disease to and why?

I have a great interest in books on biology and genetics, and this book held my attention mostly because of this personal interest. It's not as engaging, either the writing or the performance, as some of my true favorites: "Genome" by Matt Ridley, "The Emperor of All Maladies" by Siddhartha Mukherjee, "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins. I know the subject matter is slightly different, and this is decent science writing, it's just not GREAT science writing. The great ones compel you to keep reading on the topic because of their ability to explain what is truly fascinating about a complex subject in a manner which ignites your curiosity and imagination. I did enjoy this audiobook and finished it, but mostly to pass the time, not because I couldn't stop listening to it.

What aspect of Joe Barrett’s performance would you have changed?

Dry delivery, and lots of mispronunciation (over and over again). If you know the subject matter at all, it's so distracting to hear him repeatedly mispronounce the same words. Makes you wish he had read it ahead of time and consulted with someone on how to say the words right.

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