OYENTE

Natalie & Jake

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  • 20
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Decent conclusion

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 09-17-24

Brilliance of the moon is overall a decent conclusion to the Otori trilogy. The book feels like far less of a trudge than Grass for His Pillow. The emotions and motivations of the characters felt more engaging again end it does a fair job of summing up the story arc.
*SPOILERS*
However, much of the story is reliant upon Deus ex Machina to resolve the overall conflicts. It is my opinion that Hearn was trying to convey that fate was really in charge the whole time, but it still feels contrived and even somewhat lazy. Overall, while better than the second book it still falls short the first. But I do applaud that she made sure neither protagonist escaped unscathed.
Again, narration is excellent.

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Underwhelming sequel

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 09-17-24

While not a terrible sequel, Grass for His Pillow felt very underwhelming after Across the Nightingale Floor. The book itself seems far less eventful than the other two in the trilogy and much of it becomes a trudge through the existential threat of adverse weather and famine. The lack of political intrigue or grand conflicts of the other two books makes it feel like filler in comparison. However, the "tribe" training and conflicts regarding Takeo do add some interest to the book. As with the last volume, the narrators are excellent and give added life and personality to the characters.

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An excellent start

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 08-03-24

Having not read (or heard) the rest of the series, this is very promising beginning and I look forward the next installment. Frankly, when a major component of the story is essentially Magical Ninjas, it would be very easy to degrade into a corny tale at the level of Star Trek fanfic. But due to elements of realism and compelling characters, Hearn pulls it off. Shigeru's stoic determination, Kaede's quiet desperation, and Takeo's plight at being caught between three very different cultures really sells the premise and helps the reader get invested. I am interested to see where the tale goes from here.
Lastly, this is one of the best narrations I have heard. Both narrators have wonderful delivery and their array of voices really bring the characters and story to life.

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Meh

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 08-02-24

Not a terrible series overall, but not a very good one either. I can appreciate that Prescott was trying to find a novel take on the old "first contact" trope, but the work still ended up somewhat lackluster in the actual storytelling. While he incorporated some interesting ideas from various scientific journals, there is little gravitas to the actual story and the characters so bland and derivative that they bordered on parody.
(I couldn't even imagine Ollie Cooper without picturing Crocodile Dundee's Paul Hogan).

I even nodded off more than once in my efforts to finish this one. The twists were either predictable or ridiculous. The tension was lacking. And finally, the lack of emotional investment in the characters made me indifferent to their struggle.

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Extremely disappointing

Total
2 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-05-24

I have been meaning to read this book for a while, because of how few materials there are that even address the economic policies of the baby boomer generation, and how they were extremely detrimental to subsequent generations. However, my assumption of the title was that it was a colorful euphemism.  I did not expect the author to try and make it an actual diagnosis of an entire generation.
First the good: The book does an excellent job of detailing in the political and economic policies of the baby boomer generation, and how they wielded unprecedented political power due to the population bulge of their generation. He does an excellent job of demonstrating how their policies changed, depending on the stage of life, to best serve them in the short term at the expense of future generations. I can absolutely accept an argument that boomers as a whole have been selfish and shortsighted.
Sadly, his excellent points are lost due to the glaring flaw of the book. As one reviewer noted – you cannot make a medical diagnosis of an entire generation. Additionally, for someone who places such great stock in expertise, Gibney is neither educated nor qualified to diagnose an individual as a sociopath, much less an entire group. I sincerely doubt anyone who actually has the requisite education, credentialing, and expertise would even attempt to do so.

He also seems to try and portray himself as a centralist, but many of his arguments betray his elitism; including praising blind trust in “experts” and advocating the abandonment of “anti-elitist culture.” (I find this rich as his primary accomplishment was hitting the college roommate lottery in Ken Howery.)
Finally, to the reviewer who mislabeled him as “libertarian” - Just because somebody can quote Mises does not make them libertarian. Here is a hint: when they praise FDR, praise Obamacare, advocate for student loan bail outs, and their primary solution is to increase taxes, they are not libertarian.

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Excellent

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 10-25-23

Dr. Smith writes an excellent triste on the rise and social acceptance of misandry. Not only as a man, but as a father of two boys this subject concerns me greatly. I would recommend this work to every man who is dear to you and every woman you think will listen.
It is especially interesting with the changes in the ten years since it was published. I would love to read a follow up work by Dr. Smith on the rise of dating apps, hook-up culture, passport bros, MGTOW, the further plummeting marriage rates, and the population decline.

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It’s okay

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 10-16-23

I was a little disappointed with this book overall, but perhaps it was my a problem with my expectations. The overarching message is the Christ should be a constant part of your parenting and marriage and not just something you do on Sunday, to which I wholeheartedly agree. But, I was expecting more on practical advise implementation of this, which was sparse. Also, a lot of it was formulaic with: (insert personal anecdote) followed by (relate to following Jesus) and we end up with analogy after analogy.

Now, I could tell that the author was very sincere and passionate. I also applaud his humility in telling some truly embarrassing stories. The mediocre review comes down to that I just did not find it very helpful. But, perhaps this is just me.

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As important today as it was when written.

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 09-19-23

An excellent work by one of the United States’ last real statesman. Dr. Paul lays out the case against fiat currency and Keynesian economics in its ability, not only to undermine the prosperity of the people, but also the propensity towards immoral politics and war. He demonstrates how the American people are being covertly robbed by the debasement of their money in a way that the most lay person can understand.

This issue is critical if we are to ever restore freedom to United States. As Henry Ford once said: if the American people understood their banking in monetary system, that would be a revolution before the next morning.

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1984 Audiolibro Por George Orwell arte de portada

Doublethink at it finest

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 09-04-23

I have not read Orwell’s major works since high school and wanted to reread both 1984 and Animal Farm from the perspective of an adult rather than a disaffected student. I must admit that I find it fascinating that one of socialism’s biggest proponents of the 20th century was simultaneously one of it’s biggest critics. From INGSOC’s machinations to “some animals are more equal than others” he seems cognizant of the propensity of socialism (being a form of totalitarianism no matter how one dresses it up) to result in eventual despotism. Yet he demonstrates the cognitive dissonance to advocate for the same political philosophy he criticizes and thus falls into the same trap as any other modern socialist of “this time will be different.” Subsequently he becomes the prime example of what he himself coined as “doublethink.”

Despite the author’s political leanings, both 1984 and Animal Farm can serve as a cautionary tale but between the two, 1984 is by far the better work. His foretelling of everything from mass surveillance to policing language to central control of media to weaponizing of subjectivism are downright chilling and perhaps even more relevant today.

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Some works are less equal than others

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 09-04-23

I have not read Orwell’s major works since high school and wanted to reread both 1984 and Animal Farm from the perspective of an adult rather than a disaffected student. I must admit that I find it fascinating that one of socialism’s biggest proponents of the 20th century was simultaneously one of it’s biggest critics. From INGSOC’s machinations to “some animals are more equal than others” he seems cognizant of the propensity of socialism (being a form of totalitarianism no matter how one dresses it up) to result in eventual despotism. Yet he demonstrates the cognitive dissonance to advocate for the same political philosophy he criticizes and thus falls into the same trap as any other modern socialist of “this time will be different.” Subsequently he becomes the prime example of what he himself coined as “doublethink.”

Some reviewers have pointed out the old argument that things would have worked out better if Snowball (Trotsky) instead of Napoleon (Stalin) had assumed power. However, history has shown the same pattern time and time again with Mao, Pol-pot, Castro, Kim-il Sung, and Maduro. The result is invariably despotism because the goals of socialism can only be achieved through totalitarian means as Mises and Hayek have thoroughly investigated. The only difference between socialism and any other oligarchy is that the resources being controlled by a select few are spuriously declared to be “public property.”
To quote F A Hayek: “Fascism is the stage reached after communism an illusion.”

Despite the author’s political leanings, both 1984 and Animal Farm can serve as a cautionary tale but between the two, 1984 is by far the better work. Although highly praised, the allegory that is Animal Farm is cumbersome at best and the story far less interesting than 1984.

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