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Compelling

Revisado: 08-06-18

Great tale of an intriguing modern-day struggle between pirates and the crushing industrial ships that pillage the sea legally.

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Incredible work of art - inspired & informed

Revisado: 12-10-16

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book is a 'must read' for any American who considers themselves educated, or believes they have an understanding of how the United States.

Howard Zinn must have had an incredible team to help him do the research to put this together. It's rare for me to read something that fundamentally changes my worldview, but this book opened my mind and filled in gaps in my education and understanding of the formation of the United States - and Western Civilization in general - that was absolutely staggering for me personally.

What's amazing, is that I was aware of much of the content of this book from my own reading and studying -- but having it the entire history put together in such a brilliant manner somehow made everything 'click' for me so that for the first time in my life I grasped the the totality of our history, and clearly saw the naked truth -- the lie that's been perpetuated in the service of those few wealthy families who have been brutalizing nearly every human-being on earth for power and profit since recorded history began. The same families we elect to our presidency and our congress, appoint to judge us, and to manage our treasure, our health, our childrens' education and our infrastructure.

Mr. Zinn is intentionally slanted in his presentation of our history -- he gives little time to the caricatures our education system has trained us to believe in as martyrs and heroes, courageous leaders and selfless public servants. What time he does spend on them is simply to expose the reality and motivations behind these characters, and the connections they all inevitably have to the masters who have controlled this country and the world for untold generations.

On that note, one of the finest points he makes is that "heroes" such as FDR, Abraham Lincoln and so many others who myths tell us stood in lonely courage to make historic changes on behalf of the downtrodden and ordinary person. The reality is much different - he demonstrates in every case, it was the threat of revolution or similar expressions of the will of the people that forced those leaders to make changes -- in essence, they had no other choice. To paraphrase Zinn, there has never been a bold politician on the national stage who made changes on behalf of the working man or woman -- rather, there were men who circumstances forced to make changes. Politicans are not leaders -- they are followers; policiticans do not make changes, people do, and politicians simply follow what the people demand.

As an example, FDR's sweeping changes to provide the necessities for our elderly and sick, such as social security, was prompted because the country was on the verge of a communist revolution. The "modern" changes he made to provide such basic aid for the disposessed in society was common in cultures that existed before the birth of Christ. The wealthy families - the masters by whom we all are exploited by -- were enraged, but FDR famously said that they should praise him, for his actions had saved capitalism - the New Deal was only a temporary set-back. And living under a goverment that has been completely taken over by the wealthy class -- the families that have truly run the government since it's inception -- we can witness first hand that captilism is alive and well and the New Deal is being dismantled piece by piece.

But, Howard Zinn doesn't spend a lot of time on those well known characters -- just enough to clarify the historical record. He works witha purpose -- to enlighten the reader with the truth -- and as such, he has a monumental task, and has created a monumental book. He wastes little time on the characters that have been ingrained in our psyches from the moment a person is able to comprehend anything. He doesn't waste time arguing -- but simply makes you aware that the big lie is ingrained using every tool available, from movies to songs to advertising, and our school system is simply a purveyor of these same illusions, designed to control us and make us useful for our masters. It is not a conspiracy -- it is clearly done and with purpose -- they make no attempt to hide their lies -- instead, the sheer audacity and momentous reality make it difficult to accept the reality, and those who do are simply marginalized, heros like Noam Chomsky, Ralph Nader and a host of others who most people have never heard of ... although the Internet may change all of that.

So, it's a tough task that Mr. Zinn took on to create this book -- and for all of it's beauty and brilliance -- it's a tough task to make it through. Howard Zinn writes without sentimentality -- he simply shares his research -- the well-documented, incredibly well-written story of the settlement of the United States -- but as the title implies, the story is told from a perspective is rare and difficult to find -- the PEOPLE's history of the United States.

It's a sad and ruthless story -- at times I would forget I was reading historical accounts -- the tale dredges up instances of cruelty and ruthlessness and absolute evil that would give me nightmares. I found myself depressed and to read any contemporary work on individuals like Lincoln, our "founding fathers," or that disgusting racist pig, Harry Truman, who dropped two nuclear bombs in the center of cities populated by civilians with full knowledge that the Japanese had already agreed to meet the terms of surrender. All of those sins, lost in history -- those men, held up as heroes.

And too, there are moments of sadness, where you see that if the right person had been in place, so many needless deaths and acts of sheer cruelty could have been prevented. The true civil servants - the men and women who selflessly cared for the average person -- were betrayed and humiliated time after time. Like Henry S, Wallace -- someone even most educated people have never heard of -- was the true architect of FDR's "New Deal." He was a tireless fighter for the poor and was on the verge of implementing changes that would have altered the course of the nation and prevented the wealthy few from every taking control of our resources again.

But, politics being what they are -- FDR was running for an unprecedented fourth term and faced strong opposition from the Democratic party bosses, and in a literally smoky back room, he sold out his faithful vice-president of three terms -- Henry S. Wallace -- for an uneducated racist from Missouri named Harry Truman. The same man who needlessly killed half-million Japanese civilians and gave the United States the distinction of being the only nation to use a nuclear weapon. George W. Bush positively gushed with admiration for Harry Truman, saying he was his favorite president, and a man he modeled his own administration after.

And such is the People's History of the United States -- an incredible work of scholarship, and regardless of your politics, it's an heroic contribution and indispensable for anyone seeking to understand truth.

Who was your favorite character and why?

N/A

What about Jeff Zinn’s performance did you like?

It was very cool that Howard's son was able to do the narration, and in addition his speaking skills were excellent.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Nothing Valuable or Insightful ... or even Useful

Revisado: 12-10-16

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

The author.

Would you ever listen to anything by Oliver Staark again?

Unfortunately, I purchased three books together and found all three had similar traits of being vapid and without any value for the practioner. I am an avid reader and audio book listener -- one of those people who HAS to have a book on a plane or while waiting, but I would honestly rather sit in silence or stare at a wall than sit through this work that seems to be packaged and produced entirely for commercial purposes -- which is fine -- but in this case there just is nothing there of value. There just was not a speck of knowledge I could wring out of any of the three book I purchased. I feel bad leaving such a harsh review -- but I also feel justified, because I really do not believe the author put much heart or effort into this work. I've read dozens of jiu jitsu and other martial arts books, and without exception they all burst with enthusiasm and the obvious passion the authors' have for their practice.

This seemed like Mr. Staark had a lighbulb go off above his head as he thought of using the familiarity of the title that he derived from that masterpiece, 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and using it to put together these books. The titles ARE good, as are the topics - unfortunately he fails abysmally to actually deliver anything of value to a jiu jitsu student.

How could the performance have been better?

So many things - I mean - he basically tells you to make sure to warm up really good. This was the first book I listened to, and it was such a major disappointment. As a martial artist who has been involved into my 50s, there are SO many good pieces of advice to offer an older student, especially a first-timer. Starting with the fact that some gyms just aren't going to be for you if you don't have any experience. Jiu jitsu is called the "gentle art" - but in America we tend to practice an intense, MMA-derived form of jitz, and if it's a fighting gym, there just may not be students there who are willing or interested in working with an older student. The younger student can struggle as well - but the big difference is that as older students, we injure much more easily and tend to take much longer to recover.

Again, he adds some personal anecdotes, but they are not very useful - this is a topic that I think personal experience could really add a lot --

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Zen Jiu Jitsu: Over 40?

Too many to list - Mr. Staark is a fine writer - very well constructed technically - it's just that he really let me down on the content portion. I would have added A LOT of material to this book, and the common-sense stuff is okay to include - but that was the bulk of his material, kind of the basic need to place extra focus on your warm-up, but he could have done so much - chapters worth - of explaining the myriad of ways to warm-up. There is such a vast number of techniques, but it's good to offer the student a lot of choices because in my experience no one likes to warm up much period, and they tend to be picky. Most athletes I know have a set of "favorites" - techniques that they favor for warming up. To me, that's would have been golden to have found in this book - at least some alternative ideas. I have my own set of "faves" - but additional ideas are excellent, and if a student finds warm-ups they like they'll tend to do them - if they find it boring, then in my experience 9/10 people just warm up as they roll.

Any additional comments?

I'm sorry to be so harsh on Mr. Staark - again - his writing alone is well done. The narrator would be an easy fix and would really help alot - I found the narration grating and distracting. The books are a wonderful set of topics and titles - I just wish he'd come through with the content.

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

Another empty-headed book from Mr. Staark

Revisado: 12-10-16

What disappointed you about Zen Jiu Jitsu?

For one - the title is a complete rip off of a wonderful book, 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," and so one expects that the book will at least be a worthy read. Instead, the title is the best part of the book.

Like his other books, this one is just devoid of any useful content. I don't understand how you can put this many pages down and actually not transmit an iota of useful knowledge to the reader - especially on a pretty basic subject like moving from your white belt to your blue - but Mr. Staark manages to do so.

The transition from white belt to blue belt is in many practitioners opinion, one of the most critical ones in jiu jitsu. There is so much to share on the topic that it would be very easy to end up with a thick book detailing everything from critical techniques every white-belt should focus on to what to look for when selecting a gym and instructor.

While he touches on some of this in a very general way, I'd sum up the book as, "Go get 'em, tiger, and don't give up."

It's too bad -- he has quite a series buit up on jiu jitsu and i just find these the worst books I've ever read. There are other books I can gig because they get intense with too many techniques, or don't explain well, etc. -- but generally, if I was stuck on a desert island with one of them, I could progress my game considerably with the content. This is definitely NOT the case - you couldn't even move from white to blue. He offers no techniques, no tips, and to me what's REALLY lacking is what every white belt needs desperately, which is 'gym sense" that is - what do you need to have with you, how should you act when you come to gym, and what are the crticial 'no-no's" every student needs to know (such as not spazzing when you're rolling - learning to relax and tap and being quiet and observing the culture at your new gym - very important for the white belt - and that's just one example.

Instead, we are given a very shallow overview, some personal stories that seem to have no point, and a lack of content or training plan that would be very helpful for this major milestone in a jiu jitsu practioner's career.

What was most disappointing about Oliver Staark’s story?

Just a waste of time. No value for the time.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator on all of the books I good from Mr. Staark was absolutely horrendous. I'm almost certain he could not be a professional voice actor. He had an unpleasant tenor to his voice, and the cadence was distracting - it brought to mind a poorly done reading from the 1950s. It was unpleasant enough that it made listening to the books a chore, and the sharp nasal tone of the narrator created tension for me personally - I love listening to books to relax at night, but this was one i saved for car trips.

What character would you cut from Zen Jiu Jitsu?

Not really applicable - I would fill out this book with content - it's just an empty tome. No value added.

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Shallow and empty

Revisado: 12-10-16

What would have made Zen Jiu Jitsu better?

Some suggestions regarding techniques -- this is really the most obvious strategy I've ever seen.

Practice consistently, take notes, and review. Don't let other things get in the way of your practice.

There - i just saved you the effort of reading the book - that's what it all boils down to - no good suggestions on drills, or even a plan for that matter. I unfortunately picked up three of his books and they all were similar - the titles sound great, but the content is entirely lacking of anything helpful.

Would you ever listen to anything by Mr. Oliver Staark again?

No.

Would you be willing to try another one of Kirk Hanley’s performances?

No

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

No - if I could have returned it I would have - I read a lot of jiu jitsu books and these are the most worthless I've ever encountered. Again - the titles sound as if these would be a valuable addition, but the content is absolutely devoid of any value There is nothing that i gained from any of the titles i purchased -- it's really like he didn't even try. Everything in there is basic common sense - and a lot of talk about himself and his journey - which can be reallly interesting, but in this case it's not - no lesson-learned type stories, nothing exciting -- I hate to be so harsh, but having spend the money for three of the books I just have to ensure folks know what they're getting - which is really zilch.

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esto le resultó útil a 8 personas