Ellen W F

a mixed blessing

Revisado: 06-25-21

I found this book to be well written, well crafted, and objectively a great book. However, I can't exactly say that I found it "enjoyable". I lived through the time period, and it was enlightening to view it from another perspective. It was also challenging to see it from The Sympathizer's perspective. It was good for my soul but not a comfortable read.

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a mixed blessing

Revisado: 06-25-21

I found this book to be well written, well crafted, and objectively a great book. However, I can't exactly say that I found it "enjoyable". I lived through the time period, and it was enlightening to view it from another perspective. It was also challenging to see it from The Sympathizer's perspective. It was good for my soul but not a comfortable read.

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Not his best, as many have said

Revisado: 09-06-19

I've been reading the Alex Delaware series since the beginning, but it does happen that things get stale. It is the usual character interaction that is familiar, comfortable, but predictable. The story line is a bit stale also. What made this book hard to finish was the casual lack of concern regarding the science of gemstones. As a mineralogist, that made things go steeply downhill. Not important to the story, or probably to most readers, but does an author have to promote inaccuracy? Just my opinion and reaction.

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unexpected pleasure

Revisado: 11-18-18

I knew nothing about this series, or the author, and picked it at random. It has turned out to be a great choice, and I will go on with the series. Laos was not a place I expected to go in a detective fiction either, especially having just finished an Ann Cleeves book which took place in the north of Scotland. The coroner turns out to be quite a character, and the author has created someone I'd like to get to know better. And some of the other recurring (at least I hope as this is only Book 1...). Lovely turns of phrase. Very informative concerning the geopolitical situation, especially as a person growing up during the time of the SE Asia "situations". Again, I really wasn't expecting the story that I got and I am glad I took the chance. My only slightly less than enthusiastic comment is that the narrator is a bit less good than the book. A picky comment. I have listened to many better and also some who were worse. Keeps the interest up but sometimes hard to distinguish characters. The narration will not keep me away.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

very enjoyable

Revisado: 12-24-17

In school, we learned about Egyptian gods, Greek and Roman mythology, but somehow northern European history and mythology were never addressed. A big loss, in my opinion! Having just listened to the History of the Vikings, this book, Norse Mythology, seemed like a good follow-up book. And it was! The characters were familiar names and I knew a little about some of them, but had not realized all that I had missed.

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very round about trip to this review

Revisado: 11-14-17

I really like the Laurie King series of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, and was listening to The Game in that series. I find myself sitting in the garage, or doing extra time on the treadmill, or ironing clothes that don't really need it all that much, just so I can keep listening. So, enough about that series! However, listening to The Game, I realized that I had not ever read a single thing written by Rudyard Kipling, but had apparently missed a lot due to that oversight. In researching the references to RK's book, Kim, I discovered it was in the top !00 must reads, and it was by way of a spy-adventure book. Okay, I will admit to shying away from "must reads" due to school experiences with "classics" that had to be schlogged through and endured. But... no loss, no foul, I have to use up a credit so what the heck? I got the book and have thoroughly enjoyed it. It was not what I expected but pleasant surprises are just that. The hardest part was having to choose between narrators. 2 of the choices had narrators that I have enjoyed very much in the past, but feeling that their voices belonged to other characters, and not having my glasses on so I misread McCallion for McCallum (big fan since UNCLE), I picked this version. What a pleasure! Thank you, even if by accident, for Audible leading me from one pleasurable listen to yet another!! What I love about this format. Really.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Opened a whole new view

Revisado: 08-05-17

Any additional comments?

I really had no idea, or at least it was a very limited and not terribly accurate idea, of this part of history. Once I started listening to this course, I was pleasantly surprised by all the things I sort of knew about but how little I knew about the history. Wow. I studied history in school, but somehow, vast parts of it, as well as vast parts of the world seem to have been left out. Every one of the Great Courses histories as been educational and impressive.

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This series is like dessert for me, delicious

Revisado: 10-19-16

What did you love best about Bury Your Dead?

Several things appealed to me with this book. The history of Quebec was very interesting; the insight into the English community in the French province; the look into the minds of Gamache and Beauvoir; and the murder storyline(s). I have really enjoyed all the Penny/Gamache books so far and look forward to the rest. Penny has a great way with words that just delights me. There is the story and then there is how it is told, that is what makes her writing a sensory delight.

What does Ralph Cosham bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I listened to the first few books and thus became imprinted with his narration. Then I read an actual book and found that I missed him terribly. He adds an additional flavor to the story. Not dramatic reading but his tone is so very important to the mix.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the conversation with Louse Penny at the end. It gave me a better sense of who she is, and why she writes this great series.

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all the things I did not know or understand

Revisado: 10-02-16

What made the experience of listening to A History of Eastern Europe the most enjoyable?

While I knew there was a lot of history that I did not know, I hadn't realized quite how vast that lack of knowledge about Eastern Europe was! Although I knew about the changing boundaries, and variety of nationalities, it was bits and pieces without a "big picture" to fit the pieces into. This course pulled the history together in a great way for me, and lead me on to a much better understanding of all the changes and interactions of the 20th Century, and early 21st Century. I had no idea about some of the history, while other aspects were merely impressions from the news I grew up with, and thus largely from an American perspective. I really, really enjoyed this course, and have gone back to various parts several times. Each time, I get something more out of it.

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really enjoyed this pod cast.

Revisado: 06-10-16

great to meet Titus Well over and hear his perspective on the whole show and books.

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