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Horrible dialogue

Revisado: 09-19-24

An ex-CIA, Texas born, cowboy-boot-wearing, security chief to an American ambassador stationed in Paris who shares corny lines with his foul mouthed whisky drinking CIA buddy and journalist girlfriend... boring! Might as well be an RAF fighter pilot during g WWII. C'mon, man! Come up with something new!

The plot itself is ok. The reader was terrible and slipped in and out of his French accent with great regularity. He also sounded about 40 years older than the character he was supposed to be playing.

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Great Performance

Revisado: 12-22-23

I could listen to Ed Harris read the phone book.

This is a great short story. Very enjoyable, if not terribly deep. Entertaining in a way not unlike Ian Fleming's shorts, such as A View to a Kill or Octopussy.

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Period piece

Revisado: 12-25-22

I was blown away by Tess so decided to try this. This time, the reader was fantastic.

The is gripping, as it is in Hardy’s other stories. But it’s a period piece, so some of the emotions and situations described are dated and harder to relate to. If you can put that aside, the writing is unparalleled.

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Predictable but entertaining

Revisado: 06-17-21

If you've watched a few famous mystery movies, or even just the one (that I won't name, so as not to spoil it), you'll figure this plot out quickly enough. Yet, it was still fun, and well performed. And I enjoy this short format.

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Good narrator, good writing, dark story

Revisado: 09-21-20

Finished splendid and the vile right before this, and the narrator was so stilted and bad at female voices, I vowed to avoid anything else from him. But then, I heard this anyway, same guy, and it was like a different reader altogether. Lee is good, here.

Unfortunately, Ishiguro’s story itself is unsatisfying. It is extremely well phrased; his setting and timeline are elegant and civilized, and his characters are engrossing. And I love, once again, his use of the unreliable narrator, to add a bit of uncertainty into what would otherwise be a too-predictable mystery. Yet, it’s dark! I know not every story has to have a delightful ending, but I wanted this one to go differently. And, while still somewhat predictable, I felt let down that it went—not only bad—but SO bad... sorry if that’s a spoiler, but you might as well know it isn’t the romantic story you come to expect from the beginning.

This is now my second middling review of a book by ishiguro (the other was artist of the floating world). Ordinarily, that would be more than enough to justify my giving up on a writer. Yet, his style is so impeccable, his skill so obvious, I’m sure I will try another. He’s like that talented actor who keeps picking mediocre films.

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One of best narrators ever

Revisado: 06-02-19

Not a challenging work, just a lovely, charming, lighthearted stories that you can listen to in episodes over time. But what really made it great was the narrator. Simply, one of the best I’ve heard—made the already funny stories even funnier. I look forward to reading his narration of another G. Durrell book.

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Surprised to say I liked this book

Revisado: 03-02-19

This book is long. And that is it’s only flaw, and accounts for my mediocre rating, for it is ultimately an interesting story with good writing, appealing characters, and a wonderful narrator. Unfortunately, through most of the first 15 hours, it just drags on and on (well past the time necessary to develop the characters and plot). I nearly stopped caring and abandoned it several times. However, I had been assured that the ending was great and it was—in fact, though somewhat predictable, it redeemed the book from utter failure. So, I rate the book as “good” but lament that it could have been “great”—had there simply been less.

I have heard that a film version will soon be released starring Kenneth Branagh as the lead. So, it is is one of those rare occasions when the movie might be better than the book, and I look forward to seeing it.

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Invaluable required reading, yet surprisingly entertaining

Revisado: 12-18-18

One of several gaps in my education was having never been assigned to read Homer. I was grateful (because, having read many other ancient texts, I was scared of yet another educational chore). But, I never realized what I was missing. As bedtime stories go, this one has it all: heroes and villains, monsters, and supernatural protectors and gore. It is a story of romance, coming of age, revenge, mystery and adventure. I expected this reading to be a chore, full of obscure language and confusing names. But this translation, I understand, is more approachable than some. So I was actually very entertained, while simultaneously checking something off my bucket list and, more importantly, learning the value of a book so fundamental to western culture and literature. I knew about the connection to Tennyson and Joyce, of course. But I realize only now, in retrospect, how the odyssey influenced some of my other, all tine favorites, even those seemingly unrelated by time and plot (and species): Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, Hamlet, and Watership Down, for example. So, Ive come to appreciate past favorites even more, and I’ve done so with pleasure, not pain. I am grateful, and I recommend this book.

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Plot is good. Writing is...meh.

Revisado: 11-15-18

Cliches abound, but what can I say? I’m a Bond fan. It is also dated and misogynistic, of course... but, compared to the movies, I enjoy how the books provide glimpses into the lifestyle and inner workings of his thoughts. (Don’t you want to know that Bond uses an American chemex for his black, morning coffee and prefers his eggs boiled 3 1/3 mins?) And it is always fun to see what is different in the book or what scene was used in a different Bond movie, instead.

At first, the narrator’s lilting vocal style was distracting and almost ruined it for me. But I persevered, and I’m glad I did. It seemed to become less pronounced as the story advanced. Or, maybe I just dealt with the annoyance and learned enjoy the story.

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Brilliant but tiring

Revisado: 09-26-18

SJ was great and made this otherwise tedious story bearable. Loved her voice(s). So I can’t fault her in the least that i didn’t love the book.

I’ve been hearing about this classic book all my life and needed to read it in its entirety. But I was disappointed. The dialogue has some very clever and quotable moments—brilliant, even—but overall I found the fantastical story tough to get through and myself hoping it would end soon. So my mind drifted, frequently, while plotting my next read or listen. I may just be too old for this now.

Or maybe, crazy as this sounds (after such a mediocre review), I need to read it again?

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