Julia

A well-written biography of a legend

Revisado: 09-28-24

You would think it impossible to forget a man as deeply enmeshed in the fabric of modern society as Humboldt. And yet, despite being the man who defined our understanding of nature as a whole, the man who inspired revolutions, poetry and the theory of evolution, very few people even know his name. I’m not a big reader of biographies but this one is so well-paced and surprising that even I enjoyed it.

EXCEPT…

Can someone please explain to me why the narrator insists on pronouncing “Himalaya” as “Him-ah-liah” instead of “Him-a-lay-ah”?! Did I miss something?!

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Misleading title and poor narrator

Revisado: 09-13-24

Despite the title of my review I enjoyed this and learned a lot. While the title of the book does nothing to show its true scope (only about half the book concerns Botticelli), my real quibble is with the narrator. He does comically stereotypical accents when quoting historical people (I doubt a XVth-century Florentine would sound like a first-generation Italian immigrant to the US; just read the quote normally!) and keeps randomly pausing mid-sentence, probably to catch his breath. Shame because his timbre of voice is lovely.

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What the hell was that ending?

Revisado: 12-03-20

Any ideas? Anyone? Because I am utterly stumped by it. It’s out-of-character for Lynley and ends before the end of the scene...

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Good story, bad narration

Revisado: 11-12-20

I admit I’m biased as far as vampire stories go - I grew out of them some 15 years ago and now find them to be cringe. However, this is an interesting take on the topic, includes wider social issues, so it’s okay. I didn’t care much for any of the characters. But the main problem here is the narrator. Her tone is so whiney it hurts. And her attempt at a British accent... I thought narrators do research beforehand?

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Punctuation problems

Revisado: 04-08-19

The narrator has an annoying habit of needlessly lilting sentences towards the end, it makes it sound as if every other sentence is a question. I compared it with the original text and in many places where there’s a full stop the narrator reads it as if there were a comma.

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Annoying narrator, patchy story.

Revisado: 11-17-17

Let's start by saying the narrator is awful. His mock-British accents made my teeth ache and the pinched pitch he used to narrate women is laughable. The story itself is weak enough to be further weakened by this performance - shame, as the subject matter is interesting and the ideas compelling, it just falls flat as far as execution goes.

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Blah blah blah. Disappointing.

Revisado: 11-17-16

What disappointed you about Prince Lestat?

The novel doesn't really start at any set point at all, instead going on and on and on for hundreds of pages, rehashing - through endless conversations between countless characters - most of the Chronicles up until that point, in a tone that more than hints at self-praising. We meet almost every vampire ever to be mentioned by Rice in the Chronicles and the New Tales, with a host of new characters, some created by fleshing out characters that could be, with extreme generosity, described as extras from an earlier VC novel, and some created from scratch. While this is taking place we are fed small clues as to the latest calamity that has befallen the undead world, the true nature and solution of which is no mystery to any VC fan and the way it is revealed, as if it's the most surprising plot twist EVER, suggests Rice thinks her oldest and most faithful readers are a bunch of twits.

The fact that nothing happens for about 430 pages and then any meaningful action is compressed into a few pages towards the end and is extremely anticlimactic should come as no surprise to those familiar with Rice's work, as should the fact that vampires spend most of their time glistening, glowing in the dark, weeping blood, stating that they love each other, embracing each other, gaping in awe at each other and hearing voices in their heads. With some flying and fire thrown in for good measure.

Has Prince Lestat turned you off from other books in this genre?

I doubt I'll be picking up the next insallments, which is a shame considered I've read them all so far.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I like Vance's timbre of voice, but his foreign accents are horrible. I understand it's difficult to give each character their own voice when you have some 20+ characters to create, but still...

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Nothing but sentimental value, really.

Any additional comments?

If you're not familiar with the Vampire Chronicles, do NOT start here. Start at the beginning, at "Interview with a Vampire".

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Simply the best!

Revisado: 09-11-16

Who was your favorite character and why?

I really liked Jane for being so sensible and grounded - many heroines in novels of the time were either nutcases or plain obtuse (look no further than the flagship novels of Charlotte's sisters, "Wuthering Heights" and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall"), whereas Jane is somewhere in between, managing to be true to her nature while still remaining logical. And, of course, Mister Rochester. Oh, Mister Rochester. *sighs*

Which scene was your favorite?

So difficult to choose just one... I love all the scenes where Jane and Mr Rochester spar, exchanging tit for tat.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes!

Any additional comments?

Very well narrated, and good audio quality.

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Goes on and on and on and on...

Revisado: 09-11-16

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Depends if they like sprawling epics that never end. I found it pretty frustrating, despite knowing from the beginning what I was up against - every time I thought the characters were in the clear something else befalls them, and them something more, and more... I get this is a metaphor for the process of building a church back in the day, but understanding this didn't do much to ease my frustration.

Has The Pillars of the Earth turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, but I doubt I'll be buying another audiobook that lasts 40 hours any time soon!

What about John Lee’s performance did you like?

John Lee is probably my favourite audible narrator, so can't be objective here.

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A bit of a soap opera.

Revisado: 09-11-16

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I was originally pulled into Pamuk's writing because of the mystical way he wrote about Turkey, especially in "Black Book". This seems to be missing in this novel, and although it is still an engaging read, it reads more like a soap opera than something deep and magical. It also seems the political subplots were added almost as an afterthought; they could have been removed and the main plot wouldn't have suffered or the big picture wouldn't have become much fainter.

Would you recommend A Strangeness in My Mind to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes, because Pamuk is a very good novelist. Although I'd only recommend this particular novel if you're already familiar with Pamuk's body of work.

Have you listened to any of John Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I loved his Lynley novels. He is a bit of a slow reader, but speed the audio up to 1,5x and it listens wonderfully.

Was A Strangeness in My Mind worth the listening time?

Yes.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas