Nicole Sullivan

For Lovers of Language or Meaningless Challenges

Revisado: 06-09-23

The Audiobook version of this title is a decent substitute, especially if you agreed to read it under duress. The performance is well enunciated and appropriately expressive. If you LOVE the depths of the English language and have been frustrated that no one other than that "word of the day" subscription (which doesn't really count does it?) has actually used a word that you do not recognize in SO LONG...IT HURTS, you will really enjoy this book. If you enjoy completing a challenge that not many have completed, give this a shot.
My interest was piqued by friends who claimed the author was brilliant and misunderstood but very hard to read. I adore some authors who many people claim are "hard to read" for the same reasons shared in that discussion, so this was an experiment for me - Will I like this fictional work because IT is declared hard to read based upon complexity of language and presumption the reader already knows much of the underlying context?
Reading this book, I can confirm the author is/was misunderstood. I found the writing to be incredibly intelligent, grammatically masterful, and creatively, darkly twisted. Unfortunately, too many of the characters were underdeveloped and the story meandered. The ending just drifted away and left me not caring, in fact just grateful it was over. He MAY be regarded as brilliant, but one would need to know the author's purpose in writing this book to determine that. If only there were the means to measure the population of people who praise this book without having been able to read it, to finish it, or to understand it - and then to interview them for some measurable psychological significance! If he had a thesis in that direction - maybe brilliant - just incomplete. If the author's goal was to confound and confuse, while also holding the world record for the title with highest number claiming to finish it who never opened it - there is a high probability he was brilliant. IF someone were to uncover a thesis that shared his personal desire to embarrass and confound the very special class of characters who enjoy Mensa gatherings by getting them all to succumb to peer pressure to torture themselves reading something that would make them flip back and forth to understand the language and the references within it, then yes - ABSOLUTELY Brilliant! Every super-IQ individual in my network who is...a bit rough on common sense, empathy, and broad world view sounds like a imbecile sharing their love of this story and trying to outwit others like them when discussing this book. The fact that it has become a "right of passage" to all of them would make Mr. Wallace's success in this endeavor quite spectacular, perhaps stroking the edge of ironic. Failing that, I am left with the sense that he may just have been a gifted-lexophile with a narcissistic need to demonstrate just how many long words he knows. It's too bad really, because two of the story lines that petered out undeveloped could really have turned into something interesting. Perhaps there is fan-fiction that did what he could not. My hypothesis failed here - it is not just the gift of language or obscure references that makes me prefer those "hard to read" authors. Unlike Mr. Wallace, they are also brilliantly gifted story tellers. (Reference - Ayn Rand, Umberto Eco, Jack Whyte, Robert A. Heinlein, James Joyce, Herman Melville, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William Shakespeare)

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Worst Shortening of a Most Amazing Set of Works

Revisado: 08-05-16

If you listen to this version of Anne Rice's richest works, you are getting 20% of the actual tales she crafted.

I cannot find the right words to express my disappointment and near anger at how ridiculous this abridged version is.

The closest I can come is that it ought to be considered criminal to ruin a story in such a manner.

The readers are good. It is not their fault, that which was done to the story itself in the summarizing.

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A delightful performance

Revisado: 08-04-16

Elijah Wood does a fantastic job the dialects in reading this classic tale.

The dialects were wonderful.

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Needs New Recording

Revisado: 08-05-14

The book is classic that speaks volumes today - a melodramatic foretelling. Unfortunately, the audio is HORRIBLE, and there is a distorted echo of the readers voice on a 3-4 second delay. The story is worth it though.

This should be re-recorded by Michael Kraemer (Wheel of Time) or even better, Colin Classen (commercials in Cleveland and Columbus, OH) or maybe it should be read by a woman...for whatever reason, I have always heard it from a male POV.

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Light and sweet story

Revisado: 08-09-12

This story does not have the depth of Anne Rice's epic tales. It is a sweet and lightly mysterious love story. While it feels like a departure from her other tales, she still uses deeply romatic descriptions, and of course, the supernatural.

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Excellent information - but need the pages

Revisado: 08-09-12

This is a must read for understanding the science of what ages our bodies. The title is a bit misleading, in that it does not explain the depth of the information provided. This book will make you rethink every food you eat and every product you absorb, but not in a frightening way - more focused on extending and enjoying life to the fullest.

The only con for the audio book is the detailed information that is provided, so often I wished I had the pages in front of me for reference and to show others.

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