DavidOfOz

A boy with a doll? But the story works!

Revisado: 02-06-12

Dick King Smith has the amazing ability to tell a story about a young boy who gets to take care of a talking doll - and he is meant to be an action loving boy. The relationship with his parents and grandmother is excellent, proving a very believable response from a father that loves his son. I won't give anything away other than say that the father's reaction to finding out his son was taking care of a doll - and a very pretty Victorian Era doll at that - rather than concentrating on being a better football goalie is spot on. The result is not a whitewash of the father's desire for his son to be a man, or irrational actions either.
The narrator captures all the voices very well.
Once more, Dick King Smith made our long country drive very memorable.

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Better than the movie

Revisado: 02-06-12

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Dick King Smith has a knack for writing compelling stories without irrational conflicts. Family relationships are believable and the reader can relate to the personalities of all the characters. The drive on which we listened to this story went so much quicker.
The movie added in the War, violence, conflict and broken families.
The book has an intact, loving family that reacts to a unique situation well.
Our children already want to listen to this story again.

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Theory OK but strained and then fails badly

Revisado: 01-05-12

What disappointed you about The Adventure of English?

The adventure in English anthropomorphises the English language and is an interesting take on how English grew, was challenged and became the international tongue it is today. However, once Bragg gets onto the translation of the Bible into English he loses all objectivity. The Church didn't fight Wycliffe because he made an ENGLISH translation. It was because he made a very bad translation and wanted a destructive transformation of society in line with his faulty translation of the Scriptures. At this point there was little need to continue. If Bragg can get this area so wrong, how can I trust the rest of his story?

What about Robert Powell’s performance did you like?

Robert Powell does an amazing job of pronouncing all the examples in the appropriate Old English, Dutch, German, French and other accents. Very well read.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I was very disappointed that Bragg could so fall for religious propaganda of the reformation period and not attempt to delve a little deeper. If the Church wanted to keep the scriptures from the people, as Bragg claims, why did they have all the artwork and stained glass windows depicting bible stories and lessons? Most people couldn't read, so even if the bible was in English, it wouldn't have helped. The Church was the main source of learning and instructions to read so more could come to love the scriptures.
I was so amazed, the book has been removed from my system, as such a basic misunderstanding of history makes his whole argument flawed.

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Bundling rather than plot

Revisado: 04-24-08

Firstly, the narrator does a magnificent job with all the voices. You know who is speaking before their name is mentioned. Well Done!
It's a pity the narrator is let down by Heinlein with a slipshod plot concentrating more on "bundling" between anyone and everyone - it seems bundling is a sizable proportion of every character's conversations, actions and motivations. From an interesting start, the story wanders about with inexplicable action and mysterious unrelated antagonists settles into a loose and meandering meaningless conversation soaked middle and finally a rushed non ending. This book attempts to be a third in the Moon series - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Very Good), The Rolling Stones (Excellent) and finally this book (Pathetic). Characters have the same names as those in the earlier two books, but their outlook has changed. The moral standards of the Stone Family do not at all belong in the mythos Heinlein created with his "family" structure for Lunies and the free-for-all considered normal in this book.
As Heinlen often states, "There Aint No Such Thing As A Free Lunch" (TANSTAAFL), which doesn't excuse him from a book without a cogent plot. This is the first audible book I am deleting from my iTunes library.

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