Josh

Great prose and some amazing narration

Revisado: 06-22-21

Enjoyed this highly entertaining epic of a book about the struggles of immigrant culture in London. Call it a working class Forsythe Saga. Zadie Smith is brilliant here. All narrators are good but Pippa Bennett-Warne really shines. Her sharp and excellent depictions of Jamaican, Indian, cockney and RP accents make you wonder why she didn’t narrate the whole book. When the last narrator delivers a more or less straight read for all the characters I found myself imagining Ms Bennett-Warner’s voice. Still the power of the prose carries it through.

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A profound and healing listen

Revisado: 04-26-21

This collection of legendary nature poetry is a perfect listen for these challenging times. I try to get into Nature at every opportunity to heal from the oppression of the workplace but even then my mind wanders. These well read poems take me straight to nature’s core. The accompanying music is so beautiful I sometimes just listen to that and have to go back. I’ve listened to this audio about a dozen times already. My favorites were the Bronte, Shelly, D.H. Lawrence and the Taoists.
Poems include:
1 Going for Water - Robert Frost 
2 Spring Scatters Far and Wide - Dora Goodale
‪3 May - Dora Goodale‬
4 Summer Moods – John Clare
5 A Forest Hymn (abridged) – William Cullen Bryant.  
6  from Women in Love – D.H. Lawrence
7 The Wild Common - D.H. Lawrence 
8 Thoughts on Nature 
9 The Question - Percy Bysshe Shelley  
10 The Wood - Charlotte Bronte  
11  Return to Nature  -William Henry Davies  
12 From Woodland Gleanings -  Charles Tilt 
13 The Mysterious Female – Taoist Text 8th century
14 I Am The Woods – Méi tiān'é 12th Century 

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A fantastic listen

Revisado: 04-15-21

David Rintoul’s rendering of the new translation of this complex, epic and philosophical novel is impeccable. One of the best narrations out there. He embodies the sentiment and meaning of each character with great skill and poise. I’ve read this book three times but listening to this audio felt like the first.

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More sensitivity to the text

Revisado: 10-06-15

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

Seemed so at first but it sounded like the narrator had one cup of coffee too many and was rushing over the finer nuances of the prose.

What did you like best about this story?

The writing is brilliant.

What didn’t you like about Becket Royce’s performance?

The book is a classic. Although the narrator has a nice voice she reads too fast and has a sing songy pattern of reading most of the passages the same way which grows irritating after a while. The audio would have benefitted by more sensitivity to the text.

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A forceful narration but a long haul

Revisado: 05-03-11

This is James Joyce fired out of a cannon. An impressive demonstration of narrative athleticism by the talented John Lee does not compensate for a lengthy difficult listen and lack of nuance. It may possibly have been compressed in post production on the other hand to squeeze it into a certain time frame in which case they should de-compress it and re-publish. The nuance might bloom once it has air. 60% speed should do it. Then you might have a great audio.

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Great but audio needs editing

Revisado: 03-04-11

The words and wisdom of J. Krishnamurti penetrate delusional thinking like a spear. The narrator delivers a pleasant neutral tone that is very easy to listen to. The production, however, suffers from poor editing as many first lines are repeated. Even if Krishnamurti had intended that, which is doubtful, the effect is still awkward and jarring. This recording deserves to be re-edited if possible and re-uploaded.

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Five Stars

Revisado: 02-09-10

I'm giving this 5 stars because I prefer authors reading their own work. No one can be as authentic or know the character's psychologies as well. Such is the case with this rendition. Stevenson's tough but ironically funny delivery delivers detective Strachey in pure form. The text is as compelling as a Hammett or Chandler. I only wish Hammett recorded his own material. This will be a classic.

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A sledgehammer of an audio

Revisado: 02-09-10

If you are a fan of the late Ron Silver you will love this audio. Its as if Roth wrote a one man show tailor made for Mr. Silver who brings the audience to their feet with this. The dialogue passages are about as good as audio books get the most notable being when Jerry Levov lights into his star younger brother. Its heavy on the drama, grim in some cases, but always riveting.

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Good but...

Revisado: 03-15-06

If you love Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis you will love this. But without the suggestion that the pseudonyms in the book are really D&J it would be hard to stay with it.

For one thing the sex scenes which border on soft porn are not in keeping with the narrative as if an editor thought they should be in there for selling points. It gave the narrator an unnecessary sluttish quality that was inconsistent with the femininity of the character as well as the tone of the woman who was reading the text. Do women really talk, let alone write with crude sexual candidacy like men in a sport bar after a few beers? My wife says no way. Also the scenes at Disney land are redundant.

On the other hand the sense of location, biographical details (if they are not fictionalized) and the characters of Dean and Jerry are all very real. That much is good writing and it is all excellently read.

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