Scott

Poor ending

Revisado: 11-27-16

Tedious and predictable. Lazy writing. 10 minutes of actuarial tables. The reunification of Germany meets only a side bar. But a cricket match gets treatment as high drama.

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Words cannot describe Burke's way with them.

Revisado: 11-03-16

I love to listen to Patton read Burke"s books. Wherever the story goes, sometimes I rewind to listen to them over and over again.

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Shrill, repetitive, poor quality audio

Revisado: 10-12-11

Would you try another book from Ayn Rand and/or Christopher Hurt?

Hurt is a good reader and Ayn Rand's

Would you ever listen to anything by Ayn Rand again?

Yes, I have

What didn’t you like about Christopher Hurt’s performance?

The audio quality is very poor with a echo, probably due to the tape transfer to digital. It's just annoying. The reading is well done, but I put my iPod on FASTER mode to get it over with sooner.

Could you see Atlas Shrugged being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

The book is very dated in it's attitude toward women. For example the scandal created in society by an affair between two characters. Also, the technology is very dated. Since it's a bit of futuristic science fiction book, it does not resonate in this century very well. It's been tried to make it into a TV series and there is one part of a movie released.

Any additional comments?

Don't waste your time. Read the sypnosis on Wikipedia and be done with this or read the pages that outline Rand's philosophy in the last few hours.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Male perspective

Revisado: 08-22-11

At great peril to my manhood, I listened to this book. Outstanding performances. Worth every minute.

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Accurate View of a Difficult Time

Revisado: 01-26-11

Follett has taken on a period so near to our own, but so foreign to our 21st century life. We typically misunderstand how different the world was to our own prior to 1914. Follett nails the tone in all of the broad scope he captures. England, America and Germany are culturally captured through some thin composites of characters. I have to be disappointed that there is little about France. But it's thin enough without further dilution. This is a monumental page turner novel with enough story and mind candy to be engaging. But Follett has taken it deeper to explore the real issues and give a fascinating sense of real time in the long unfolding of the war and it's horrors. He un-apologetically captures the arrogance of nations prior to the war, the carnage, the role of America and the prelude to an even greater tragedy to follow. Brilliantly deep and built for the masses.

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the real thing

Revisado: 08-19-09

college has not changed that much. Wolfe captures the crude essence of the language and the cynical motivation of all. Not for everyone! Very, very rough and it will offend everyone. But it cuts like a sword through the pretensions of all the characters, from the frat boyz to the bb players to the wanabe scholars, not forgetting the faculty and college president. Motivations? Higher purpose? Wolf finds his way in an ending which is almost sure to disappoint. We want more, but it's just not there in his cold reality. Mr. Baker as narrator is simply brilliant.

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Long, in depth, illuminating

Revisado: 03-30-09

This period of history always gets the short stick. We go from revolution to civil war to WWI and 20th cetury without a pause into the largest technological, business, political, religous and social changes which enabled our 21st century ethics around the role of government, equal rights, the use of technology which seems so natural to us was quite different in 1812, but much closer to our current world in 1850. The discussion of women's rights, the revolutions of 1848, the great awakening, the war against Mexico, the development of the Whig's, and the anti-slavery movement are particualry engaging. Central is the change from the world of the horse to the technology of the railroad, telegraph, newspaper and strong federal government, complete with the central bank. This period of change rivals the change we feel has ocurred in the 20th century. Enjoy a great book.

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esto le resultó útil a 11 personas

Violence, the Devil and the West

Revisado: 07-30-08

To come to terms with this violence described in unrelentless detail and frequency is not possible to our 21st century minds. The face of the brutal wars of the western conquest cannot be reconciled. Yet here we are, the ancestors of these people who defeated Mexicon and tamed the natives. This is a novel about squarely facing our bloody past, without ambiguity. I'm now struggling to view any depiction of evil without the Judge. He is dancing, light on his feet, he thinks he will never die. McCarthy makes the connection at the conclusion to the ambiguous main character, to us, to our silent violent past and our continuence of the western ethic, to this day. Brilliant reading and narration. I'm far from being over this one.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

not for everyone, but fantanstic and fascinating

Revisado: 07-15-08

A story about an old man (the sheriff) who is out of time and place and ending his working life. He starts it and finishes it. This is not a story about the guy who finds the money, the girl, the killer, the mercinary, the banker, the mexicans, or the deputy. It comes to a plodding stop, unresolved, just like the sheriff's life. Well read and written, but not what you may expect in the mix of the action and blood and moralizing. One of my favorite audible choices.

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esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

Critisism without solutions

Revisado: 11-13-07

Great thesis about the shift from scientific realism and elightenment to manipulating opinion and facts to fit what you want. Then 8 hours of why Bush is such a loser. Then some incoherent stuff about how the internet will change things....duh. I would have liked to know what Al would do. Well read by Patton.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas