Dazed & Confused

Never Develops Into Anything

Revisado: 05-26-19

Daniel Suarez' first three books were oustanding. Sine then they've been mediocre at best. This one falls into that category. I had to force myself to finish it, and the only way I could hang with it was to speed up Jeff Gurner's narration, which was as mediocre as the book. I wish Suarez would get his mojo back.

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BORING x 100

Revisado: 05-06-19

John Lee is perhaps one of the best narrators on audible. Unfortunately not even his expert performance could save this work. I found it to be a documentary that has some merit in that it provides insight into spy tactics between Russia and the West. But a page Turner, it ain't.

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Boring and Trite

Revisado: 05-30-18

Boring and trite. At least now I know I am not a fan of Rudyard Kipling.

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It's Corny Old "Horror" Tales...Boring

Revisado: 05-15-18

Just boring old, worn out themes, not even remotely suspenseful or scary, and the narrators sound like a Windows voice-generated monotone.

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Inane Palaver Followed By More of the Same

Revisado: 03-23-18

What disappointed you about H.M.S. Surprise?

There is no plot, at least none worth mentioning. Seriously.

Has H.M.S. Surprise turned you off from other books in this genre?

I enjoy historical fiction books written about the Age of the Fighting Sail. I have listened to nearly all that are available saving the Aubrey/Maturin series for last. I read somewhere that the first two books of the series were so-so and to just get through them and it gets a lot better. I got through the first two books - now this third book is worse than the first two.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I had to resort to listening to the book at 20% faster than normal else I could not stand the long drawn out pauses and enunciation.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from H.M.S. Surprise?

The book gives the reader (or listener) an overall feel of some aspects of sea life in the 1800's, but for all of its verbiage serves little point as a whole. There is some 'plot' when it comes to the romantic interests of the main characters, but it's weak.

Any additional comments?

The books in the Aubrey/Maturin series have incredibly high average ratings - it makes me wonder what I'm missing and how I'm missing it. For example I really enjoyed the Alan Lewrie series by Dewey Lambdin. Also set in the Age of the Fighting Sail, but there is humor, drama, and most critical of all, an actual PLOT LINE.

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Data, Data, Data...

Revisado: 12-07-17

What made the experience of listening to Hear No Evil the most enjoyable?

The end. Seriously. The last two chapters made it all worthwhile.

What other book might you compare Hear No Evil to and why?

No other book that I've ever read or listened to end-to-end can compare. The level of analysis and detail presented by Thomas is incredible.

Which character – as performed by David Rapkin – was your favorite?

Which character was my favorite? Stupid question. This book doesn't lend itself to Mr. Rapkin performing in 'character'.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

Not a tidbit and I'm not giving it away here. The last two chapters.

Any additional comments?

This is a hard book to listen to. It's difficult because when I listen I can't stop and look at the PDF that accompanies the book, so it's hard to grasp what is being communicated at times. The analysis and math is there, though, and it spells out the truth, which is presented in the final two chapters. Ultimately for me it was definitely worth the ~27 hour listen.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Dazed and Confused

Revisado: 03-06-17

Has A Man Called Ove turned you off from other books in this genre?

yes

Would you listen to another book narrated by George Newbern?

yes, maybe

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Ugh.

Any additional comments?

This book leaves me wondering why it got so many high reviews - must be me, but I found it tedious and somewhat reminiscent of "About Schmidt" and "Gran Torino" in its sentiments, but less humorous.

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Great Twists and a Satisfying Ending

Revisado: 02-27-17

Would you consider the audio edition of The Woodcutter to be better than the print version?

Narration was excellent and brought the characters to life.

What does Jonathan Keeble bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Perfect narration - really adds depth to the characters.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Any additional comments?

Enjoyable listen.

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Dazed & Confused

Revisado: 08-04-15

Any additional comments?

I can't understand all of the praise for O'Brian's Aubrey series. I've read a great number of Royal Navy period books and the Aubrey series just doesn't "click" for me, at least the first two books anyway. Its meandering, pointless, plotless interactions between shallowly developed characters leaves me disengaged. The nearly inane dialog is nauseating, boring. Even the battles are poorly detailed. I am in the minority, though, as most of the readers (listeners) love it. I guess I'll move on to something else.

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Tedious and Unsatisfying

Revisado: 07-11-15

Tedious and unsatisfying, the book fails to address issues, problems, and unresolved circumstances from the previous three books.

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