JM Blackie

All I never knew…

Revisado: 08-10-24

His life and the music, both explained clearly and in an interesting manner. A great listen.

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The narrator.

Revisado: 03-26-24

The narration was the only reason I kept reading. This could have been a very good short story but the long long exposition made my interest dwindle. Leaning on past literature seemed a bit lazy to me. I understand that my opinion is not the majority, and I enjoyed past novels by Ann Patchett, but this fell flat for me.

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Worst performance I ever experienced

Revisado: 09-05-21

I don't write many reviews but this has to be said. The story is at times exciting, but the unenthusiastic reading of the reader drowns any passion that exists on the page. The pace is metronome-like, never pausing for effect, never speeding up as events become hurried. Even when the reader is prompted on the page by the author with descriptions of the speaker's mood or intention (such as the rector being grave, or kind), all are read with the same inflection. Almost a monotone. Barely better than text to speech functions on one's computer. This all becomes maddening. I endured this version for an interminable 13 chapters, at which time I borrowed a much better audio from my library. If you are interested in this novel, please choose another. This may drown any interest you have in George Eliot.

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His best yet

Revisado: 05-17-21

This beats his previous, Artemis, and even The Martian. This is the Audible equivalent of a page turner. I learned some science, guessed the solution to a couple of the many puzzles but never saw many of the issues coming. He knows how to tell a tale!

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Not For Me

Revisado: 04-23-19

I heard great things about this title, but after listening to the first chapter I can only argue that this is not my cup of tea. Perhaps targeted to a young adult audience? I found the premise a weird conception that I think perhaps readers of the Twilight book series might like. The narrator seemed over the top in trying to insinuate a feeling of menace or the sinister to scenes I fould to be foolish. Your mileage may vary.

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Infomation on Overdrive and Turbocharged

Revisado: 06-19-14

What did you like best about How Jesus Became God? What did you like least?

Best? The concept is fascinating, the writing is interesting; it conveys concepts in a clear and organized manner. What I liked least is what many have complained of - the speed of the narration. It is read as if this were a work of fiction rather than a book that needs a person to spend time absorbing many, many facts, while the narrator is under the impression that he will receive a cash bonus if he can finish reading it aloud at a rate of maybe 6 or 7 words per second. BIG mistake. Even trying to set the app at 0.75 speed does not help, but adds a reverb quality that threatens to test my sanity.

End result? I needed to buy a Kindle copy of the book to read at a more leisurely pace. I wasted a credit buying this.

Would you be willing to try another one of Walter Dixon’s performances?

Maybe if it were a very long and tedious book which I longed to get out of the way.

Do you think How Jesus Became God needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No.

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Sci-Phi: science fiction meets philosophy

Revisado: 04-23-14

What made the experience of listening to Calculating God the most enjoyable?

The blend of (as I said) science fiction, human interest and philosophical dialogue made it nearly perfect. Not that it didn't drag from time to time, but it ultimately captured my attention and sparked many new lines of thought in areas I have been studying for some years now.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hollis was wise, naive, trusting and trustworthy. Even Hollis's body movements as described, which reflected state of mind, just plain tickled me.

What does Jonathan Davis and Robert J. Sawyer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The pacing was perfect, the characters all had different "voices."

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

I was amused by some of the irony and jokes, oddly moved at several points. Can't explain without adding spoilers.

Any additional comments?

Almost perfect.

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Read it yourself

Revisado: 03-11-14

What disappointed you about Winesburg, Ohio?

The actors in this book are not good. The accents sounded off, with one in particular who sounded more like a New England fisherman than an Ohio resident. The pace is ponderous and read with clarity but no inflection or emotion. It sounded like an experiment for fledgling voice actors to enunciate each word, each syllable as perfectly as possible. The calliope sounding music between stories made this entire thing cringe-worthy. Maybe if the audience had been expected to be a young grammar school class, this would be acceptable.

What did you like best about this story?

The story was fine, often considered a classic, but somewhat dated, a quality with which real classics aren't plagued.

How could the performance have been better?

It would be hard to have it get any worse.

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

None that occur to me.

Any additional comments?

Save your money.

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