curtcannon

Some interesting ideas but flawed analysis

Revisado: 08-29-23

The first part of the book (wherein the “7 plots” are discussed) was interesting. However, the book then goes into a very long winded discussion of what has “gone wrong” with storytelling over the past 200 years. The headline is that humans have become more ego centric and have (in his telling) explored storylines that depart from the classic “7 plots” in ways that reveal how many of their authors are unable to “grow up” - and usually have some disfuncional relationship with their mothers.

The historical analysis of this is flawed to say the least. Not least because the author has many examples of stories from the past 200 years that actually do fit the “primordial archetypes”. His casual dismissal of the movements for women’s suffrage, civil rights, and the end of colonialism as somehow emblematic of the age of egocentricity are downright appalling.

Also, this book should’ve been about 1/3 as long as it was.

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Normally skeptical of memoirs, but loved this one

Revisado: 03-03-23

I normally find political memoirs to be shallow and self-serving sources of historical knowledge, but I loved listening to Barack Obama recount his story. Perhaps it’s because I started following current affairs closely in 2006, and so it was just interesting to relive the years of 2006-2011 on which the book focuses. It was both fun to remember some of the highs of those years, and also sad to recall certain things that were occurring that proved to be harbingers of worse times to come - eg Russias invasion of Georgia, Sarah Palin and the anti-intellectual turn in the Republican Party, or how much Donald trump would eventually be rewarded for peddling birther conspiracy theories.

I also appreciate how smart Obama is, and what a great speaker and writer.

My only critique is that there was perhaps too much historical background info on the various international actors and countries that he talks about, though I recognize that might just be redundant info for myself as a history major :).

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Would have been a good novel...

Revisado: 05-08-19

As a piece of history this book is not credible. Circular reasoning, impossible timelines, lack of evidence, confusion of “hypotheses” with “evidence”.

It might have made a fun novel in the vein of “Da Vinci Code.” Unfortunately it’s masquerading as history.

The narrator is great though!

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esto le resultó útil a 35 personas

Starts off strong, tapers off at end

Revisado: 09-19-18

This was a great book, and Robertson Dean is a fantastic narrator whose voice was great for the subject matter. The strength of the book was the first two thirds, especially as a biography of the early Morgan dynasty. The last third of the book, covering the post-World War 2 era, was interesting but also more difficult to follow as the number of characters multiplied. It was, however, an interesting hot take on the downtown of the late 1980s including the 1987 crash. The book was published in 1990, Chernows telling is interesting to read in light of the further evolution of the banking industry that occurred in the 1990s and of course the 2007-08 recession. All in all a great survey of the evolution of the global financial system from the mid-1800s to the 1980s, told through the lens of the Morgan family of banks.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Fascinating story of an unrivaled character

Revisado: 11-23-17

Great biography of a fascinating historical figure.

The story is well paced and the narrator is pretty good. A must read for history nerds, presidential biography afficiandos, and anyone interested in one of the most interesting characters in the story of the United States.

Ways the book could be improved - I️ wish it weren’t such a strictly chronological narrative; tracking the various interweaving things going on can be difficult and the biographer switches abruptly from one event to another. Might have been better to dig into episodes chapters a bit more thematically.

The narrative is fine, but don’t like how the audio “chapters” don’t correlate to the actual breaks in the book. Assume this is because it was recorded in a predigital era, but seems like it should be a straightforward fix to stitch the chapters together

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Terrible narration

Revisado: 12-30-15

Loved the content, but horrible rendition. The narrator states the book and chapter and verse number, and then repeats the verse number, for EVERY VERSE. (Eg "First Nephi Chapter One, One, One... I Nephi.... First Nephi Chapter One, Two, Two...) drove me bonkers and I couldn't listen past the first chapter.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Very helpful

Revisado: 10-21-15

Book contains some amazing ideas for understanding self control and will power. I've read a lot of self help books but this one was one of the best!

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