Michal

had to get past the affected narration

Revisado: 10-06-20

Pluses: she seems upbeat and benevolent. The author narrates the book, which is almost always better than a hired gun reading it. The formula of past interest plus current skills equals a clue is very interesting. But that's only briefly touched on. Most of the book feels like the author living out her own dream of being a coach. Also, she seems to poo-poo wealth goals by saying "most people aren't willing to do the work it takes", which seems odd in a book about possibilities, where financial goals may comprise at least some piece of one's overall vision And the affect in the narration: the pronunciation of t's (where the tongue noticeably only ever so gently touches the roof of the mouth) and s's (she alternatingly pronounces her s's with a "zh" or "sh") are making it difficult to finish. There are constant reminders to visit her website (spelled out in detail - every backslash), which should have been left out or edited out of the audio version. I get that she's not a therapist and appropriately makes that clear, but when talking about when to refer to a therapist she seems incapable of even uttering the word "trauma" or anything like it, and instead uses cloying phrases like "unfinished past business" and the like. This is reflective of a general absence of depth. It feels like a to-do list done with a benevolent stranger, rather than a journey taken alongside an empathic guide.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Engrossing; awful narration

Revisado: 04-24-20

An engrossing binge-listen. The characters have no inner world, just inner thoughts, so it's not really nourishing, but is still an elegant visit to a specific universe. The narration is utterly painful with the narrator pronouncing the word "a" as "A", and "the" as "thee" before consonants in every third or forth sentence, including in dialog where the characters would not believably do so. So distracting.

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Juicy and interesting

Revisado: 03-16-20

Modern, urbane and fascinating. I love the protagonist Toby. The narrator does a great job when narrating about the main character, his college friend, and his kids. Sometimes the minute detail about nothing gets a bit much, but the soul of the character still shines through.

Unfortunately the narrator kills all pleasure when she narrates as herself or about Toby's wife - in those times her voice become sinexplicably and disproportionately sarcastic with wide variations in pitch, including bizarre falsettos. It doesn't fit the content and is the opposite of an aesthetic experience. I skipped a couple of chapters where it became unbearable.

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binge listening

Revisado: 06-02-17

Any additional comments?

A perfect listen. A great american and a great storyteller. An ethical politician who cares about the life experience of his constituents. I've laughed out loud a few times.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

engaging tale, had issues though

Revisado: 08-17-16

What did you love best about The House by the Lake?

switching back and forth in time, lost love, history

How did the narrator detract from the book?

the narrator seemed to have no understanding of the emotional tone of the individual characters or the book as a whole.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

manipulative but engaging historical tale

Any additional comments?

I came away with no idea who the main character is. She has no inner life.

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