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Good Story, Better Characters

Revisado: 06-11-17

What made the experience of listening to Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine the most enjoyable?

Nicely recorded in a manner that used the characters' Scottish accents sparingly but effectively. Great story that builds well and ends well. There is humor in this story of a woman making her way into adulthood---late, and under a horrendous cloud---but bravely and often cluelessly.

Have you listened to any of Cathleen McCarron’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not but will look for her narration from now on.

If you could rename Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, what would you call it?

I would not presume to rename anyone else's book.

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Incredibly boring

Revisado: 04-16-17

What would have made Quicksand better?

The monotone delivery of a self absorbed teenager...how could it be made better?

Has Quicksand turned you off from other books in this genre?

First person novels absolutely depend upon the voice, not the story or other characters or any other element. This one fails utterly.

How could the performance have been better?

Perhaps delivered by a live narrator?

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

None

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Disappointment, then tedium

Revisado: 11-24-16

Would you try another book from James Lasdun and/or Charles Constant?

This book was surprisingly difficult to listen to. The stilted narration did nothing to help the plot---a thin quilt of a story pieced of popular culture squares of foodie interests, snob location appeal and socially responsible investment banking. All of it unlikely, and all the characters equally unlikable.

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I've Started This Over Five Times Now

Revisado: 11-04-16

And still cannot stay focused on this spectacularly unsuited for audio novel. The narrator's voice is that of a supercilious old man that grates like coarse sandpaper. Sorry, i am returning this one.

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Interminable

Revisado: 07-23-16

I thought it would never end. Could have been half the length. Needed an actual editor.

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I Don't Often Exchange an Audiobook, But....

Revisado: 08-09-15

What disappointed you about 11-22-63?

I am on Chapter 8 and this has been the MOST BORING book I have ever listened to. The lengthy scene between the protagonist and the restaurant owner is so unnecessarily long and drawn out, and the dialogue so pedestrian, that I am actually giving up on it and exchanging it for something else. Stephen King seems to have forgotten that you need to hook your readers with SOMETHING right away---be it an interesting character, descriptions or plot. I am almost two hours into this book and I no longer feel honor bound to continue when I am bored.

Gave it two stars in recognition of Stephen King's earlier works, which I have really enjoyed. This one is not even a blip on the radar.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Perhaps something with more immediate interest, like....the phone book.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Craig Wasson?

Possibly anyone.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Boredom

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Too Self Important, And The End is Tedious

Revisado: 01-18-14

Is there anything you would change about this book?

This book is too long. There must be ten million metaphors that don't really add to the setting, characters or plot. At some point they constitute authorial self indulgence. The story itself is good, and I wish it had been told by someone other than one seemingly determined to prove that she stayed awake during every English lesson in her life. Every tedious description is employed---no, deployed ---to bombard the reader. At one point I felt like laying down and crying uncle, as in okay, okay, I GET the soulless post housing boom desperation of Las Vegas, won't you please move along!
The ending homily was a dreary exposition of "life according to Theo," clumsy and repetitive. It nearly spoiled the book for me. I cannot understand the fascination with Donna Tartt's writing or her mediocre "insights" which seem to boil down to the vulgar bromide that things happen the way they're supposed to. Ugh.

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Could Anything Be More Boring Than This?

Revisado: 02-04-13

What would have made An American Spy better?

Better narration, plot, believable characters. Interesting characters.

Would you ever listen to anything by Olen Steinhauer again?

Never. Ever.

What didn’t you like about David Pittu’s performance?

It was grating, his voice is very nasal and the accents seemed affected. The voice bordered on monotone, the worst possible trait for reading aloud.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from An American Spy?

I don't have that much time, even in my imagination. Besides, what happens when you cut off a person's arms, legs, and head? The same would happen to this story--- get rid of the slow bits and there's nothing left.

Any additional comments?

This is the perfect marriage of a book that should not be read aloud and a voice that should not be reading aloud. I gave up after part 1.

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