Erik

Very meh

Revisado: 01-04-24

The narrative structure around the subject was rough, the narrator was fine and the ideas were occasionally muddled with post modernism. It’s not the worst GC I’ve come across but pretty low on my list. They have other lectures that cover this material much better.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Historical fiction that captures the spirit of the time and place.

Revisado: 12-25-23

Despite having relatively good experiences with historical fiction, I had trepidation starting this book. Luckily, it was completely unfounded as the novel felt truly “Greek.” my main concern was that the author would try to twist a well documented culture into something that was something more modern. That was not the case.

The plot was excellent and masterfully woven into historical events. Also, the narration felt very fitting for the first person narrative and complemented the story well.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Excellent Story and Performance!

Revisado: 05-31-23

It was a light hearted romp similar but subtly more complex than the Disney classic. The dramatization was very tasteful and the story was a mix of light hearted gags with splashes of deep symbolism. I’d highly recommend for anyone remotely interested.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

A masterpiece… for some.

Revisado: 05-23-23

On all the books I’ve read on subject of existentialism, this work is second only to Victor Frankel’s Man Search for Meaning though they are very different books. I’d say Frankel’s book exceeded this on two fronts, the first being accessibility and the second being, Frankel focus on hope moving forward. In Tolstoy’s usual fashion, he is harsh, which maybe a turn off to some. Additionally he is a profound thinker and not to be insulting, this work will probably only resonate with sensitive, deep thinkers that can tolerate a level of harshness. That’s a small audience. Regarding the latter comparison, though A Confession shows a way forward for the spiritually deprived secular thinker, it doesn’t have the same looking to the horizon type of optimism as Frankel’s book. Either way, if your looking for meaning in a world striped of spirituality, check out both titles. They’re both exceptional and potentially life-changing books.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Excellent production!

Revisado: 05-19-23

I’d highly recommend this series to anyone who’s interested. I recently finished a course on YT about “The Philosophy of Greek Tragedy” by Professor Michael Davis, which was 10/10 and this series made for a perfect pairing to go with it.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Excellent starting place…

Revisado: 04-21-23

As usual, Harl does a great job. This course is an excellent place to start if you’re planning on doing a number of history courses. It lays out a solid foundation for understanding a number of early civilizations in broad strokes.

Some of the data points are a little dated as new material has emerged in the last decade but it’s nothing too egregious and its mostly isolated to the first few lectures.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Requires patience, but very interesting

Revisado: 04-16-23

Tolstoy makes some very profound observations, but comes in this “OK Boomer” kinda way. He succinctly identifies and defines things that are very difficult to define but then standing on those categorizations, he comes to conclusions I don’t think are really defensible. He bashes Wagner for combining verse and music, which to a modern listener doesn’t age particularly well. With that said, he makes a lot of interesting points and at the end of the book, admits that this is only a partial articulation on the subject. I think this book is predominantly for the philosophically inclined and though it’s not for everyone, there’s a lot of great stuff in there.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Not a terrible place to start

Revisado: 04-16-23

Overall, the course was not bad. It was informative, though the instructors basis frequently got in the way. Everyone has bias, and that’s OK. It’s actually a prerequisite for creating a compelling narrative. My problem with the narrator is that he was very dismissive of counter views and did a little to explain why they weren’t valid. I find the best lecturers regularly and clearly explain the other side. In this course, it’s repeatedly said that certain things are not controversial, even though out in the world they were. Simply dismissing whole groups of people isn’t very compelling. When the subject material isn’t bogged down with that sort of thing, his coverage is good and his presentation is decent.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Not terrible, not great.

Revisado: 04-09-23

The Good: The lecturer is a decent performer and his voice works well sped up.

The Bad: 75% of the material could have been in any Western Civ I course, while the remaining 25% felt like “the real material.” If it was twice as long and it became 50/50, or trusted the listeners want something beyond an introductory course, it would have been a lot better.

The Ugly: It gets bogged down with “I’m just reporting this,” “patriarchy” this, “ misogyny” that in a way that it didn’t need to be. The lectures superficially present as being “objective” but then there’s weird moral remarks. If this is a higher education course, I think we should trust the listener to understand it was a different time with different values, or go the other direction and actually flush out the ideas behind what’s being said. He repeated said “but we don’t have time,” which as the listener I’m like “make the course 24hrs like other professors do.”

Overall it was ok but I’d recommend any of the courses by Elizabeth Vandiver or Ken Harl before this one

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Very Enthusiastic but Overly Romantic

Revisado: 02-18-23

Lately I’ve been taking in a lot of Ancient Greek content and found this courses interpretations to miss the mark. Normally I wouldn’t take the time to finish the course if I didn’t respect the lecturer but he was so enthusiastic, I found myself powering through and listening when I was half busy doing other things. He’s take on everything seemed highly romanticize, which is fine but then he seemed totally tone deaf to other other legitimate interpretations where he’d be completely wrong with his take. The blending of his romanticism and his definitive tone didn’t sit well with me. The best part was testing my own knowledge and understanding of the material.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña