Angela

Rough listening

Revisado: 03-18-19

The narrator never changes his tone of voice regardless of the characters' gender, age, or emotional state. He manages to make every interaction sound slightly sarcastic, and the lack of difference means I can't tell who's talking, or what their actual state of mind is. A man crying to go home sounds like a sarcastic teenager. A man trying to get his wife to come home sounds like the same sarcastic teenager. A young girl ranting about conspiracy theories sounds, you guessed it, like the same sarcastic teenager.

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Too Short

Revisado: 04-17-17

Loved this book but it ended before it really got going. I wanted more advice on learning to not care, more stories as examples. Instead I got a repeat of other books on stoicism and zen Buddhism and personal responsibility.

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A good read with problematic nonexpert assertions

Revisado: 01-08-16

Irvine tells us how we can use stoicism in order to better our lives and achieve personal serenity. He is clearly obsessed with stoicism to the point of defensiveness, saying things like "many will think that ____ to them I say ___". This is not in my opinion a sign of great writing.

However most problematic was the assertion in the book that a person who can provide no further benefit to mankind is justified in committing suicide. Having once been in a place in my life where I considered that I would benefit people most by no longer existing, I think it's extremely problematic to put this sort of statement in a book. I feel individuals cannot clearly say for themselves when they are depressed whether or not their future lives will have meaning.

Further, Irvine suggests that people use stoicism instead of drugs in order to fix their problems. While I agree that not everyone needs to be on antidepressants, for some it feels impossible to fight one's inner demons without chemical help.

All in all, while Irvine gives interesting philosophical advice, I think he could do with talking to some people who actually have depression or at least with psychologists in order to learn what he's talking about before advocating ignoring psychologist advice entirely.

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Great book, awkward narrator

Revisado: 04-30-15

I really enjoyed listening to this book, but I felt that the narrator did a shoddy job of living up to the feeling that Mark Rashid had put into his book. Dan Lawson's narration makes the book sound as though it is written by a young, inexperienced person, not an older midwestern gentleman and rancher. For some reason this caused some of the verbiage to sound really jarring and as though the words were badly chosen, when obviously it is just how Mark Rashid speaks and thinks. For instance, Rashid talks about his adult children, which Lawson sounds too young to have.

The narration aside, I felt it was a very good book for horse lovers to read, whether you are into training or not. It also can be seen as a book for leaders in general, as an allegory for how much it can benefit a leader of horses or people to be calm, predictable, and reliable. Rashid explains how the relationship between horses and people can be, and he clearly has a greater insight into horse body language than the average person. In the book he talks about how horses generally want to please - they are social creatures. He also mentions a very important point, which runs as a theme throughout the book - horses are designed to expend as little energy as necessary in order to survive when a predator comes. A horse that seems lazy really is just being smart, from his perspective.

All in all, a good book, which I definitely recommend if you love horses.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Great story, awkward narration

Revisado: 09-26-14

Everyone knows by now that Game of Thrones is a good series, especially if you like fantasy mixed with political intrigue. It is extremely complex, with many different stories happening simultaneously. Mr. Martin does not pull his punches at all. Game of Thrones is best compared to Lord of the Rings, but to me feels more complex and complicated. Unlike Lord of the Rings, there is no ultimate quest for one hero tying the whole together. Rather, it is more about the struggles of individuals in a time of political turmoil.

Concerning the narration however, I have fewer good things to say. Mr. Dotrice unfortunately reads in a manner that jars the listener from becoming fully immersed in the story. He reads as though the book were a history book, stating action scenes in matter-of-fact tones which detract from the feel of the book itself. In particular, he had a tendency to say "please" in the exact same way regardless of context or who was speaking.

I enjoyed this audiobook in spite of the narration, but certainly not because of it.

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Lots of lecturing, not much teaching

Revisado: 11-27-13

I listened to this as a part of the Crash Courses Mythology thing. At first I thought it would be a nice summarization of the things I learned from the other courses. However, it derails so completely from Classic Myth and World Myths that I am uncertain where Professor Fears gets his information from.

At first Professor Fears speaks at length about the Iliad and its status as a Great Book and the higher knowledge we receive from reading it. For instance, he claims that one of its major lessons is how terrible hubris is - thinking you know better than you actually do, and acting accordingly. He also says that the Iliad contains a "historical kernal of truth" - this will be an ongoing pattern.

Later he goes in some detail about a few other myths like Gilgamesh, but about halfway through the series he stops talking about ancient myths and begins talking about actual historical figures like Alexander the Great and Napoleon. The link between mythological truths and historical facts weakens until the professor is simply lecturing about the history of the United States without mentioning any mythology or stories at all.

One thing in particular that bothered me was that he makes a point of putting his personal views into the lectures which have very little bearing on the overall lesson. For instance, he claims that American culture will never die (in the form of rock and roll and McDonalds), and refers to any mention of Christianity as "right" and any mention of previous religions as "what they believed". I felt this glorification of his personal beliefs got in the way of the actual lessons, and made it more difficult to see what he was actually trying to teach.

Overall, I do not recommend this series if you are looking for a good introduction into mythology.

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Good introduction to world mythology

Revisado: 10-29-13

This is an eclectically organized analysis of myths from around the world, focusing on patterns which come up in all myths, regardless of location. Voth speaks about creation myths, tricksters, heroes and heroines, destruction myths, and how we can look at all these patterns to see some basic truths about ourselves as humans.

I learned a great deal from this series of lectures, though it left me feeling a bit frustrated. Voth, by focusing on the analytical side and on the patterns of myth, did not have time to tell the myths in their entirety. As such, I am ready to devour books upon books telling the actual stories that he merely touched upon.

I definitely do recommend this course for anyone who knows little of world mythology and is curious to learn more, or wants some direction to go for their research.

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Definitely a nailbiter!

Revisado: 08-27-12

I adored this book. It is definitely what I would consider a thriller or suspense, keeping you on the edge of your seat and unable to stop listening all the way through. At one point, I chose to listen before bed, but I couldn't sleep because I was so nervous for the characters. The suspense really builds up as they go through exploring the apartment building, and things just get stranger and stranger as they good.

This was an amazing read, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery!

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