Christo

Exciting Story about Shackleton and His Crew

Revisado: 01-09-20

This was a great audiobook. Performance was ok. Sound quality a bit off. Might like to read the actual hard cooy.

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Breathing life into Waugh's stylish comedy

Revisado: 11-22-16

Michael Maloney does a brilliant job of bringing this witty text to life. All his character impressions are spot on and his rendering of Lady Circumference is excellent and really funny. Waugh's black comedy is relevant today. So much depends on who you know, how much money you've got and what particular circumstances happen to befall you. Paul Pennyfeather is a kind of Everyman that listeners and readers can easily identify with. A brilliant performance of a great book.

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Fallible human characters from the Deep South

Revisado: 02-22-16

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

I would certainly recommend this audiobook. The tales of Flannery O'Connor really do reveal the subtle hypocrisies and prejudices of even the best, most likeable people. All are too human in the O'Connor universe and none can escape the revelation or epiphany that she has planned for them.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the excellent work of all the voice artists. I was conveyed to the Deep South of the Fifties by their superb acting.

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

The narrators bring a sense of real live actual people by the way they speak. It was easy to visualize the characters.

If you could take any character from Everything That Rises Must Converge out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I would take the tattoo man out to dinner. I would want to understand his obsession with covering every inch of his body as well as why he chooses to stay with his plan, dull wife.

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Lyrical portrayal of a bleak, dystopian future

Revisado: 02-02-16

What did you love best about Fahrenheit 451?

I loved the prophetic quality of this novel. It may have been written in the fifties but the author seems to have had a good idea of how society would evolve moving into the future. It is a very true novel in the sense that it predicts society's demise into ready-made opinions, shallow leisure time activities and a dim view of the individual's thoughts and opinions.

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

I was pleased by the ending because it was hopeful. All is not lost for the main character.

What three words best describe Stephen Hoye’s performance?

Lyrical. Emphatic. Polished.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The disappearance of Clarisse moved me because it means that Montag loses a soul mate.

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Decadence in 1930s Germany

Revisado: 01-20-16

Would you try another book from Christopher Isherwood and/or James Clamp?

Yes I would. I am really interested in the decadence of the 1930s in Germany leading up to World War II.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The theme of being gay in stiff-upper-lip England and working class Germany in the twenties and thirties.

What three words best describe James Clamp’s performance?

Studied. Enthusiastic. Articulate. Not always a smooth performance.

Did Christopher and His Kind inspire you to do anything?

It kindled my interest in Isherwood's other novels and in his real-life story. I contacted a hotel in Japan where he stayed and I've made friends on facebook with the Christopher Isherwood Foundation.

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A brilliant performance of a timeless classic

Revisado: 01-20-16

Where does Bleak House rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Bleak House ranks close to the top of all the audio-books I have listened to. However, being a lengthy 19th century English novel by Charles Dickens, it required a lot of personal listening commitment by me. At times I struggled but I knew that it would be worth it in the end to persevere and to allow the story to come to its completion.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the psychological realism of the characters, especially Miss Flyte who keeps her birds in cages until "Judgement Day" and Richard Carstone, who is addicted to his belief that he will get something out of the hopeless Jarndyce and Jarndyce lawsuit. Dickens had such a thorough understanding of what makes us mortals tick. How typical Carstone's behaviour is of many people. And Miss Flyte reminds one of Miss Havisham in Great Expectations. Poor, wretched individuals actually driven quite mad by a fatal combination of circumstances and character traits.

What about Sean Barrett and Teresa Gallagher ’s performance did you like?

I think the range of voices employed by each artist was nothing short of phenomenal. They were both quite exceptional. Mrs Guppy's ridiculous and hysterical outburst towards the end of the novel was a real highlight which Gallagher rendered with great aplomb. And the "drunken cousin" in the Dedlock household (with his slurring speech) and poor Joe (from Tom All Alones) were really colourful, thanks to Barrett.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A Victorian motley crew

Any additional comments?

The relationship between Esther Summerson and Ada Clare is rather sickly sweet. I would be interested in reading some critical works on Dickens and his portrayal of women.

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Good dramatic rendering of a Greene masterpiece

Revisado: 10-25-15

Joseph Porter gives a good rendering of this excellent novel. It would have been more satisfying if he had added more energy to the task. However there is a lovely range of nuances that he uses for the various colourful characters. Greene's brilliant prose underscores the entire experience. I look forward to reading the novel soon.

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