h and l

as a Christian...

Revisado: 03-28-13

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

yes, because it makes you think on many levels about many things.

What did you like best about this story?

the story within the story

Which scene was your favorite?

the last chapter was very revealing

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

no, it took me awhile. much to think about.

Any additional comments?

Though I’m a Christian i like this book very much. Such historical truths cause me to see God as bigger not smaller, and always make me ask, what is God doing? One of the discrepancies in the Bible that seems to disturb people most is the death of Judas. It is a story of betrayal. It is a story of what happens to one who betrays God, and like most of the Bible it is shrouded in layers of complexity and metaphor. And like most of the Bible the story of Judas is meant to speak to us as individuals, much like a dream; its language is full of archetypes at work in the subconscious of every man. Yet a psychotherapist, because he has studied Jung, would be foolish to think he knows exactly what a dream means to an individual without knowing anything about the individual's background or history. It's the same with the Bible. And the only psychotherapist who can tell us anything helpful is the Spirit of God, without whom the Bible is just an interesting artefact. Whatever else we wish He might do, this is done one human heart at a time.

Imagine you really were the God who created life on planet earth through evolution. What kind of book would you write? It has to last for thousands of years, it has to speak to everyone, and it has to be full of wisdom, warning and compassion. Would you lock yourself into one narrative, find a few heads, empty them out completely of their own ability to narrate and judge, fill them with this narrative and have them write it down verbatim? Not the God I know.

The Bible promises that many will have eyes and see without seeing, have ears and hear without hearing. I only ask for eyes and ears to see and hear. The God so many say isn't there certainly has His own way of answering.

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great book, great author

Revisado: 05-30-12

Where does The Citadel rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

very near the top. i wish audibles would get more a.j. cronin. particularly The Green Years.

What did you like best about this story?

all of his stories are tight, well written stories. the characters are so real, so down to earth, with big dreams and very human hearts. i adored the main characters here. i also like the way cronin introduces new characters. very seamless writing. you never know you are listening.

What about Franklin Engelmann’s performance did you like?

it wasn't the best recording...but then i'm one who takes my old, impossible to find cassettes, and puts them on my computer. anything for a great story! i was so caught up in this story that the reader did not bother me at all. unless you are VERY bothered by the reader, don't let that put you off. i thought he did a great job reading it.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

yes, i did cry. it broke my heart because i loved the characters so much. if you know what it means to grow and pay a price for it, you will feel the same.

Any additional comments?

no, just that i would recommend this recording.

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esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

wonderful, essential

Revisado: 05-17-11

i love this recording of sandburg's early poems. his humanity is raw in many of the poems, it is sometimes hard to imagine he was ever young! i have purchased many books of poetry on audibles but this is the first time i felt compelled to find the poems online and print them. not all of them, but some i just needed to see in print again. i used to have a first edition of this book and gave it to a young poet when i wasn't so very old myself. i hope he has cherished it, and i write this review in the same hope.

don't be put off by what the description says. sandburg, in these poems and many others, becomes the voice of what he hears in the street. he is turning the sound of the street, the sound of suffering, into poetry through the mechanics of his own understanding heart. i cannot say it fiercely enough: no one needs to apologize for carl sandburg or his language.

the reader is wonderful as well. he is endlessly interesting. bravo!

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esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

strange tale by a great writer

Revisado: 05-02-11

i read this book years ago and wasn't sure i would still like it. i did. it is dark, intense, believable, and brief. the reading by judi dench is wonderful as always, but the recording is old, probably taken off old cassettes or something! for me, it didn't interrupt the pleasure. i wish audibles would get much more muriel spark, especially her great novels like the prime of miss jean brodie, girls of slender means, memento mori. not to mention the short stories. come on, audibles, dig up some more old recordings and make them available for this great price! at least one listener will be grateful.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

refreshing survival story

Revisado: 07-15-10

since reading another audible book called Deep Survival, i have been looking for survival stories to listen to. i really loved this one. whatever you may feel about missionaries to native societies, you cannot help but love this woman. she has all the qualities of the survivor talked about in the book Deep Survival. faith, humor, courage, a readiness to act, an ability to size up a situation and organize, and a true humility, and a constant concern for others. her faith is fantastic and written in such a great way.

a word about the reader. Lorna Raver truly outdoes herself on this recording. i had the feeling she had totally entered this true story of a woman livng in the most horrifying conditions that went on year after year as her faith and integrity and character grew.

a great experience!

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

fantastic

Revisado: 06-22-10

it is hard to imagine this as a first novel of any writer. i enjoyed it so much. the reader is very professional. he reads a bit fast, and it took me a few minutes to catch up with him. in the beginning of the book you see Almayer waiting for someone, and then the book goes back in time to give background information. it lags a bit there, but that does not last long and then the book moves forward. so much love, so much hatred in such a short novel. the main character is a man, but the book is really about three women and what they do for love.

the book is not as verbose as something like The Heart of Darkness, nor as filled with metaphor or what you might call "artistic touches". it is a pretty straight forward story set in a dark world. it is amazing how he can create those dark worlds. the entire book has a kind of darkness spread out over it, yet it was not in the least depressing. it was a great read and i will listen to it again, probably many times.

somewhere in the middle of the book is a description of a young slave woman. conrad s compassion and understanding of her emotions and her ignorance is astounding. i had to listen to it again before moving on.

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i hate to waste money

Revisado: 06-18-10

i have read a lot of classics in my life, this was not one of them. i kept waiting for something to elevate this book. the closest it came are the wonderful descriptions of the landscape. yes, that was great writing. but the endless droning on and on of one tragedy after another, one hopeless word after another got to be too much for me.

the most depressing book i ever read was L Assimoir by Zola. i cried my heart out at the end of it. for some reason i never made any kind of similar connection with these characters. they are not shallow. they simply have no redeeming qualities. from the beginning of the book to the last second i listened, i never smiled once. i never felt i was rooting for them, only watching their deterioration. i never felt any magic except for the color of the eyes of the horse.

i lived in a holler once for about a year and there was such poverty and tragedy there. that is true. but the people i met there were some incredibly funny, feisty, strong fighters. they would tell you their tragedy while preparing poke salad for you to eat and then end the whole thing with strawberries and a laugh.

maybe it is only the audio. but these people sounded like they should have been sitting in a psychologist s office, not hanging about in my ear. i really expected to like this book.

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esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

very enjoyable

Revisado: 06-17-10

i loved the characters, i could have wished the writer had gone deeper into each of their lives. i think perhaps she does not know how good a writer she is, there sometimes seemed to be a lack of trust in her own ability to go deeper. she enters the psychology of her characters but does not continue exploring.

there are several romances going on against the backdrop of the liverpool bombing raids, yet it is much more than a book of wartime romances, nothing is really easy and it is written in a realistic way. there is nothing silly about this book or the characters, though there are certainly some silly women inside the book. they are entertaining and make a nice contrast for the more serious, likeable characters.

i read on amazon that this is part of a series, but the book stood alone well enough. only one of the characters seemed unfinished to me. i will listen to it again some day and be happy to revisit some nice women whom i would like to have known in real life.

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great book

Revisado: 06-11-10

i think i grew into this book. i remember reading it in college and thinking, will it never end?

i love this reading of it. in fact, this reader has become one of my favorites. if you cannot excuse the occassional page turning, swallowing, and, yes, air in the breathing passage, don´t buy this book. because it does contain these little human imperfections. but, for me, i loved it. i felt like someone human was reading to me. but, it must be said, i am not one who likes the new modern slick productions you sometimes get when the reader is far more performing than reading.

when this book came to an end i just started again at the beginning and listened to it again. even after that it took me several days to find something else that could compare as an experience.

for this price, anyone can afford to give it a try, and i am really grateful to audibles for having some compaasion on my budget.

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esto le resultó útil a 14 personas

deeply moving rollercoaster ride

Revisado: 05-26-10

i could not stop listening to this book and devoured it in less than three days. at the end i felt a little angry at the professors who let me get out of more than one American Novel class without reading anything by Stegner. i was looking for a book about the west and found this great book. Though i have often seen Stegner s books at used bookstores, i never picked one up. at the ripe old age of 51 i am thrilled to have discovered him. i have to say, this writing, this wise writing, makes Hemingway look like an adolescent.

Some of the themes in the book, marriage, ambition, fidelity, integrity (and the lack thereof) are obvious and hit you over the head. Other themes are so subtle and so magically delivered, i had the feeling a spell had been cast. In general, you follow two people who are in love with each other, and who have ideas about life that could not be more different. As they travel from one dream to another the landscape changes. From city to country to city, small towns, big cities, it is America growing up. One of the most fascinating themes in the book is change, and as you follow these characters you slowly realize how important the ability to change will be to their destiny.

Four main characters, and i fell hard for each one of them. i cannot remember when i read a book that made me tell so many people they must read it.

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esto le resultó útil a 95 personas