Ekaterina

Grand Ideas, Little Substance

Revisado: 11-22-24

The book attempts to explore complex themes of self and consciousness, but it ultimately misses the mark for me. I started with hope for fresh ideas about the self, but I ended up feeling frustrated by the repetition and lack of clarity, and most of all—unfounded claims, some of which coincide with conclusions from neurobiology, while others are pure fantasies. The author often gets lost in his own many words, speaking grandly about the normal functioning of the human brain and using an array of "thought-provoking" questions that serve more as devices to deliver his answers, sometimes immediately and at other times hinting at conclusions that he himself might consider unsubstantiated.

Overall, while Hofstadter's insights seem to come from a place of genuine curiosity, I cannot recommend this book to readers new to the topics of self and consciousness, as it can be misleading. The ideas that do connect to reality (not necessarily obvious or mundane, and sometimes very counterintuitive) can be found in works on neurobiology, where they have a more solid basis for hypothesis testing in the real world. Those ideas in the book that are truly new and unique are so new and unique mainly because they are not really connected with reality and are just castles made of words.

However, for those already familiar with philosophical discussions, there may be an interesting perspective to consider—again, critically.

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New ideas! Repeatedly :))

Revisado: 11-24-22

The book has many graphs, but it still would be ok for audio if it were not for the clumsy narration. The narrator has a comma-phobia or something, as he stops dead every time there is a comma in the text and never varies that intonation pattern regardless of what the text requires.
The book with many graphs and data is suitable for audio because Joseph Henrich tends to be VERY clear about the point he is making. He makes sure the reader does not miss it, and so some ideas are repeated over and over again.
However, the ideas are well grounded and very interesting, so it is totally worth reading.

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A surprisingly engaging book.

Revisado: 06-06-22

May not be a surprise for anyone who had read Dickens before, but I hadn't. I opened his other famous novels many times, and closed them. And looking at the hours count of this once I was not at all sure if I could finish it. But the story and the language made it a very pleasant journey. For those who are wary of Dickens and his "wordiness" - this book does not feel "wordy", as all those many words serve the purpose of great story elegantly told.
Special thanks to the narrator David Timson, who delivered the text marvelously.

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What a feast for the ears!

Revisado: 09-21-21

Darwin's flowery language and clear reasoning with Dawkins' charming voice. Richard Dawkins is not merely reading the text, but almost plays the role of Darwin in this book, and at times I forgot that it was not Darwin himself that was speaking. You can hear his genuine admiration for the wonders of nature and genuine passion for finding the truth in the maze of the nature's facts.
It was all the more moving when in the end Dawkins changes to his XX century self again to read the famous "Light will be thrown..." with what I would call _reverence_ to the vast ocean of knowledge that these words entailed.
This is an important, interesting and very beautifully written book, in which almost nothing is outdated, and a lot of things have become known better and in more detail.

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a desent self-help

Revisado: 06-21-21

The approach is quite reasonable. Your behaviour is the work of your nervous system, and your nervous system is widely wired by early childhood experience. Understanding your and your date's style is useful. Quite so.

The idea about relationship styles is quite reasonable and clear, but talking about it is not so clear. The author starts by stating that these are *relationship* styles, not personalities, but then goes on to describe personality traits. Some parts are just descriptions of introverts and extroverts. The whole system of life values, lifestyle is said to describe those relationship styles. There may be a correlation, but, say, an introvert can be clingy and a complete "wave" when it comes to relationships. I think, this part, which has some very useful ideas, would be more clear and therefore more useful if it stressed the relationship styles and tendencies more and would not try to describe how people smile and talk and where they work.

Additional note: almost every new idea is accompanied by "I am not telling this... Instead, I am telling this..." Oh, come on, just tell what you are telling already and do not tell what you are not telling.

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This version did not help me with Ulysses

Revisado: 06-15-21

Ulysses is not an easy book for a reader, and this is the only comment I will make on the book. It is probably not an easy book for a narrator too. Here the narrator failed to help the reader to get through this book. If I only had this version, I would not be able to finish Ulysses. I had to switch to another audio for this book after a few chapters.

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An informative book by an enthusiastic author.

Revisado: 09-07-20

The book does sound like a children's book sometimes. (Which is odd when the explanatory examples involve going to a bar for drinks.) But it is not, really, and I am very grateful to the author that he described all those things that I hear about a lot and kinda supposed to know, but did not really understand clearly.
The book covers a number of topics from the basics of "what is it" to the deep questions of "why is it like this". Totally worth listening if you are not a professional and interested in the topic.
I would say, it did not answer my question "how on earth all these pressure ripples create music?!". But it was an interesting listen anyway.
I cannot say anything against the narration here, the voice of the narrator is pleasant and the style is very professional. But I must say I would love to hear the book narrated by the author himself. John Powell recorded some comments for the main chapters, and they sound very engaging and more alive. I enjoyed the comments a lot. The demonstration of a drinking straw oboe is pure gold! )))

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Perhaps it's not what you think.

Revisado: 07-02-20

"David Byrne's book" sounds like an autobiography. "How music works" sounds like some kind of research - technical, neurological - or an art textbook. This book is both and neither.
Needless to say, fans will find something interesting in it.
I think most of the book will also be interesting to those who do not care much about David Byrne's music. Even if some parts have a more or less detailed account of his career, in most cases the facts are used as a starting point or illustration of his ideas. But Byrne's own experience is only one part of the material for the book. For example, at one point Byrne breaks down budgets for two projects, provides actual amounts spent on and gained from both. These are facts of his career, used for illustrating the question of different distribution models, and the models are also discussed with other examples and some summary information. There are just as many scientists' and inventors' names in the book, as there are Byrne's collaborator's names.
I am not sure if the book will be accepted by those who do not like David Byrne's music though. (Most probably, they will never care to read any reviews either.) Byrne seems to be a very sincere and passionate person, his attitude towards life and art shows in his music and so what you don't like about the music may also turn you away from the book. The author is by no means unbiased. He has a peculiar kind of bias though - he is biased against anything biased. He is not just presenting the facts and research results, there is his understanding of "good and bad" behind it. One phrase that caught my ear illustrates his view: "Record companies wanted to take it all away from us..."
But don't worry, this book is not about how greedy capitalists exploit poor musicians.
I would say, the book is neither a definitive guide nor a memoir. It's a talk with one experienced, thoughtful, passionate, inquisitive musician, sharing his insightful views that can give a listener a new perspective, whether from agreeing to these views, or - maybe exactly what the author wants - doubting them and starting to build your own ideas.
And... I was completely taken by surprise when the audiobook said "The end". I thought there is still so much to talk about!

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Great story and great performance.

Revisado: 05-06-20

I have to thank Samuel West for opening the world of Hardy for me. As a foreigner, I knew nothing about this writer and did not expect much. I was enthralled by the story, by the very honest and vivid style. And by West's reading. Thomas Hardy is one of my favourite British writers now.
(I also must warn other not native speakers that you might want to have a dictionary on hand when listening. Hardy's writing is well beyond textbooks and TV shows. But first, let yourself be immersed in the story and charming style.)

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a Satisfactory Course

Revisado: 05-06-20

There are some interesting ideas, but overall the course was not of as high quality as I expected it to be. Maybe it's because the structure and the underlying idea were not so clear. Maybe because of the presenter's lack of respect for other people he was talking about, for the audience, pretty much for everyone and everything.
Still, there are lots of new information and clearing up layman's understanding of linguistic.
But it's not really a Great Course. It's a Satisfactory or maybe a Good Course.

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