CynK

Tiresome narration style

Revisado: 08-02-19

I have loved this book for decades, and Michael York's voice would normally delight me. I could enjoy hearing the man read a grocery list. But either through the producer's fault or York's poor judgement, this performance misses the mark, annoyingly so. It IS a children's book, but he reads as if it were meant for a toddler, using (over-using!) a sing-song kind of cadence and intonation more appropriate for Peter Rabbit or Good Night Moon. I am so glad he isn't narrating the whole series.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

'Well written' does not a good book make

Revisado: 07-05-16

(minor spoiler herein) Rowling/Galbraith can certainly write well, but I have not enjoyed any of her post-Hogwarts works. I find the characters mostly shallow and formulaic, not to mention seedy. But the unforgivable sin is presenting a mystery with clues and making it impossible for the reader to solve it based on those clues. Toward the end, all kinds of information comes out but is hidden behind a veil (he whispers "something" in Robin's ear) so that the conclusion is impossible to predict. I knew early on it was about the dead girl's will, but none of the really crucial clues are given. I'm fine with red herrings, but complete plot upheavals make me feel like the author just didn't have the talent for the conceal/reveal balance of the classic mystery writers. I don't enjoy wallowing in the lives of shallow, drug-addicted, morally bankrupt, fictional people, unless there is an intellectual challenge *for which one is rewarded*. So what is the point of reading such a book? None for me.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

You gotta love Meb! - but...

Revisado: 01-29-13

What did you love best about Run to Overcome?

This is such a great story. I found it very inspiring on many levels. I do not share Keflezighi's religious faith, but even that aspect was presented so naturally that it did not detract from his story. What did detract, for me, was hearing it come out of a voice so obviously white-middle-America.

How could the performance have been better?

Maybe Meb didn't care to narrate his own book, but could they not find anyone who might sound more like him?

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Disappointing and Annoying

Revisado: 11-29-04

This book has something to annoy everyone. There are long and frequent passages of Christian dogma, including the ever-present message that ALL of the characters' sufferings are a direct form of punishment from God. The theme of punishment is so prevalent that it becomes ridiculous; like a toddler who thinks the universe revolves around him, the characters see all events as the result of their own actions and thoughts.

There are long sections of text where not much happens, but we have to slog through boring minutiae describing everything that a character sees and thinks during, say, a three day journey through the woods. The plot never "twists" or "thickens," it just ambles along from one misery to the next, with plenty of reminders that "these are dark times." Neither Lina Patel's lovely narration nor the few bland sex scenes can liven up the story.

Greatly annoying too is the author's guess at how a female character would act. He has the heroine chopping down a rapist with an ax and abandoning her insane mother one minute, and the next minute feeling "so frightened" by something that she cannot move or speak.

The ending of the book is also utterly unsatisfying, with the inevitable and long-awaited lovers' reunion cut short and left to the readers' imagination. I wish I had imagined the whole book; it would have been cheaper and less time-consuming.

Most Annoying Of All: Instead of using the American Revolution as an informative and thoughtful backdrop to his story, Morgan focuses on the activities of a few characters: the super-evil, and the super-good (but they still must be punished!). This Evil Man vs. Just God theme, besides flirting with complete irrationality, ignores the true significance of the war: that people should govern their own lives in a free land and not answer to a King. Picky me, wanting to see glimpses of this noble theme instead of Morgan's version of Pilgrim's Progress.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 12 personas