Doug P.

Narrator is unbearable

Revisado: 06-15-23

Don’t audio books have directors or someone to coach the narrator? He reads each paragraph like it’s the story’ dramatic climax. Very distracting. It’s obvious he pays little attention to the meaning of the words and just likes to project his voice. Every narrator should listen to George Guidall and try to emulate him. Just pay attention to what you’re reading for starters.

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Becomes more unclear in episode 5

Revisado: 03-16-23

Given J.K. Rowling’s obvious intelligence and compassion, I suspected that her alleged transphobia was a misunderstanding, as she has claimed. But I’m confused after listening to episode 5, particularly the part where she admits to feeling “furious” (I think that was her word) after reading an article in which natal women are referred to as “people who menstruate.” Why be furious about political correctness? It might be irritating, but if the article triggers fury, there might be something wrong with you. When she joked about the article on Twitter, I assumed she was honestly amused by the disingenuous term, but now she has revealed that her lightheartedness had been dishonest. Now I question her honesty in general. She seems to distrust men in general (for good reason), and she seems to distrust and dislike the idea of men who become women. I don’t think this qualifies as “hate” or “transphobia.” It’s more like wariness and skepticism. I think such feelings are natural and acceptable for any person confronting new and in some ways threatening ideas. But add dishonesty to the mix and it becomes very messy and confusing. However, her comments don’t warrant the violent backlash they have received. It’s baffling to hear trans women respond with threats of sexual violence (that horrible “choke on my thick trans dick” comment) - to hear them respond, in other words, as men. Rowling makes the trans activists look deplorable by describing such threats, as she surely knows, so it would be unfair and irresponsible if she hasn’t confirmed that the threats actually came from trans women rather than internet trolls. I suspect the latter. The podcast does not investigate these crucial issues and clear up the confusion. It fails to ask Rowling what should be obvious questions.

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Worst Bosch book

Revisado: 09-13-22

Pointless subplots; long, dragged-out scenes that read like filler; and, worst of all, a critical loose end that Connelly bizarrely fails to tie up, as if he lost interest in the story, which would be understandable.

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Truly great reading

Revisado: 01-28-22

I'm an almost daily listener of audio content, and Kevin Barry could be the best reader I’ve ever heard. Good story selection too.

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Didn't believe the reviews, had to see for myself

Revisado: 01-01-22

I didn't believe the negative reviews because so many of them found fault with the book for ridiculous reasons. I was also skeptical of the positive reviews for their exaggerated praise and lack of specifics (as if they hadn't actually read the book). I purchased both the Audible and Kindle versions and got about 60% through before returning both items. I found the writing style and narrative structure unnecessarily difficult, as if their only purpose is to make you take the book seriously and believe it's more literary than it really is. (I suppose fans of the book also feel smart for liking it.) Much of the story is overwritten nonsense. The characters' motivations are inexplicable, and the way the different storylines come together is gimmicky and sloppy. Ratings and reviews for books seem to be increasingly unreliable. And awards - this novel won the Hugo. What's happening to sci-fi/fantasy?

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Great feat of ventriloquism

Revisado: 12-04-13

I still can't get over the fact that a white male wrote this book - in the voice of a geisha who grew up in a Japanese village and then city during World War II. The voice is entirely convincing, as are the characters - the sweet Sayuri and cruel Hatsumomo. The supporting characters are not cartoonish like some people have said. Their behavior is well explained and convincing given the desperate circumstances. The twists and turns in the story make it very entertaining and addicting.

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Best audiobook I've ever heard

Revisado: 11-19-13

Until now I've preferred subtle readers (my favorite is George Guidell, who sounds like he's telling rather than reading the story, and the effect is very captivating - you forget he's there). Juliet Stevenson is not a subtle reader, but she is just as captivating in a different way. She performs the narration, often shrieking, crying, giggling, etc. (I wouldn't have known exactly what Jane Austin meant by "laughing affectedly" without Stevenson demonstrating it.) Stevenson is my new favorite reader, and I would listen to anything she narrates. Now for the book itself: it's one of the best I've ever read. Austin balances the frustrating behaviors of her characters and their consequences so perfectly with hugely gratifying events (the rotten, spiteful mother disowning her son only to have it come back to haunt her in such a perfect way). I think this is a way of saying Austin is a master storyteller.

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Fun ride – despite all the belly slitting

Revisado: 11-07-13

Sometimes you just want a narrative that will take you for a ride and not try anything too fancy like jumping around in time or employing a lot of other literary devices. Shogun is that book. Its narrative momentum is powerful, and you soon feel like you're in 1600 Japan. The story doesn't always move quickly, but at least it keeps moving, and I was never bored. The ride got bumpy in a few places when he described certain Japanese customs like seppuku (ritual suicide). Every Japanese person in the book is all too happy to slit their bellies at the drop of a hat – for any interruption, insult, mistake, etc. The main character hangs a pheasant carcass and orders light-heartedly, "Nobody touch this." A servant touches it and slits his belly. At such times the novel seems to descend into self parody. The skepticism an alert reader will feel about the farfetched behavior distracts from the story. If everybody was so willing to die at a moment's notice, wouldn't you see more apathy about life and less passion? I paused the book to google "Shogun" and "seppuku" and found a lot of haters but nothing about this issue specifically. It's a big part of the book so I finished feeling skeptical, but I was entertained throughout.

The reader grew on me. He does an odd robot voice during some of the dialog, which I suppose is meant to express a military quality. But he sounds more robot than soldier. And he seems out of breath at the end of some of his sentences. Nevertheless, he makes the characters come alive.

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Painful audio distortion

Revisado: 10-27-13

Good performance, fascinating book. The reason I'm writing this review is to say that occasionally the audio is distorted. It stutters suddenly and LOUDLY. If you're wearing ear buds it's loud enough to chatter your teeth. Very unpleasant, and probably not good for the eardrums. This should be fixed.

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Full of brilliant bits and pieces

Revisado: 08-06-13

I came to this novel by way of a brilliant short story by David Gilbert in the "New Yorker" in which every detail is realistic and familiar - until the main character gets drunk and vomits, and the vomit turns out to be something like a baby. The rest of the story is about how he deals with the vomit baby, and it's funny, entertaining and truly heartbreaking. I wanted more of that. The novel "& Sons" is not like that short story. Late in the novel there's a bizarre bit about cloning that seems to attempt a vomit baby type vibe, maybe, but in any case it doesn't succeed. There are other parts where the storytelling doesn't succeed as well. The dullest son is a documentary filmmaker who records the death, day by day, of an old girlfriend as cancer consumes her. Then he digs up her grave and continues to record her decomposition day by day. This over-long story line is probably making a clever point about something - art maybe, or grief - but it fails to be compelling or profound or funny. It's a little upsetting, but that's not why I hated it - it's also unconvincing and boring. I almost abandoned the book. I'm glad I continued listening because the book is full of brilliant and entertaining moments. The writing is so good - full of vivid details and descriptions - that I would often pause the story and try to memorize them. It's worth reading despite its obvious flaws.

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