Phil Queeg

Career Suggestion

Revisado: 01-09-23

Mr. Myers would be a great addition to the CNN lineup. Thinking Fast and Slow is a much, much better alternative.

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Great course, but could be even better

Revisado: 04-29-20

I enjoyed this course very much and even managed to learn something starting from a very low base. Professor Pollock is a great scholar and a wonderful teacher who wants his students to learn something. In my opinion Prof. Pollock could improve his teaching grade from an A to an A+ by studying elocution for a few hours. His speaking voice is very grating and full of non-works like ta (to), ya (you), gonna, wanna, and so on. It’s the sort of voice you might expect to hear scream “Hey, Ernie, one pastrami on rye with hot musta. Hold the pickles.” I’m not suggesting that he needs to sound like William F. Buckley, Margaret Thatcher, or, in the extreme case, the Duchess of Sussex. I do think, however, he should shoot for unornamented, clear pronunciation similar to Ronald Reagan or Milton Friedman. Just a quibble from a lonely sailor who last studied the subject back at the Academy.

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Proud to Be a Norwegian-American

Revisado: 03-27-19

This was a meaningful book for me as a proud Norwegian-American. The Queegs have been prowling through the fjords of northern Norway for more than a millennium and, not to boast, have been key players in the whole rebirth of the lutefisk industry in a way that attracts the modern palate. So this should have been a natural for me. I agree with others who have commented that the author unnecessarily thrusts himself into the narrative, but this is a minor point compared to Gillies’ preening, grating narration with its weird intonations. I was able to put this to good use, however, in a little shipboard drama here on the Caine. There had been yet another mysterious disappearance of strawberries from the wardroom, and I had a good idea who the culprits were. The problem was that I couldn’t get them to confess, even after trying the usual methods, you know: flogging, waterboarding, that sort of thing. Then through the use of geometric logic, I hit on it. First, I softened these thuggish boatswain mates up a bit by pumping in 48 hours’ worth of Barry Manilow’s Greatest Hits at full blast. They were tough nuts to crack, I have to give them that, but then I followed with Gillies’ masterwork. About the middle of the fourth run-through, they were pleading with me to put Manilow back on, but, oh no, we didn’t let them off that easily. About an hour later they cracked, and I am enjoying my strawberries as I write this little note. The fellows are now residing at the Portsmouth Naval Prison in the ward for the incurably insane. I mean to keep Gillies handy for future use when the boys get a little out of hand.

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Should be manditory reading for mediocre ex-QBs

Revisado: 09-06-18

Great story. Long neglected. A navy legend widely admired here on the Caine. Should be mandatory reading for mediocre ex-quarterbacks!

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Late to the party and heavily padded.

Revisado: 12-25-16

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No. This is a very interesting topic, and Sax chooses some interesting examples, but it would be much better as a relatively short article without the excessive padding. Some examples are really driven into the ground.

Would you be willing to try another book from David Sax? Why or why not?

Not only "no," "heck no."

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

Better to have another reader. Sax's reedy voice becomes grating after a short time.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No.

Any additional comments?

Great topic, but way late to the party. Francis Fukuyama's Op-Ed piece in the February 26, 2011 Wall Street Journal, "All Hail...Analog?" covers this topic more rigorously and fluently in twelve paragraphs. Read that, and don't bother with this windy book. Just the opinion of a lonely naval officer.

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Great scholarship read by unctuous buffoon

Revisado: 12-28-13

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A different reader

Who was your favorite character and why?

Chiang Kai-shek, a balanced treatment.

What didn’t you like about Frederick Davidson’s performance?

Davidson combined his self-satisfied, precious English with self-confident, odious Chinese pronunciation. When quoting from a document, he slipped into a sing-song chant one might use in reading off the contents of fortune cookies.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Search for Modern China?

None

Any additional comments?

I respect Professor Spence and his work, but the reading is more suitable for a skit on Saturday Night Live. Perhaps Davidson was chosen by some of Spence's academic rivals, or perhaps this is some sort of elaborate joke.

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