Joseph McGuire

Interesting relationships, bland voice-acting

Revisado: 07-21-17

The story of this is just about an average Japanese male going through the tedium of life, like many Murakami novels. Like many Murakami novels, this man falls in love with a woman, to the point of obsession, however, he's married and has two children. The rest of the book revolves around this and how this obsession affects and changes his life, maybe for the better?

I really enjoyed the book, I think that it is very dry, for a Murakami book, but the length makes up for it. The relationships and how these relationships reflect upon the protagonist are maybe the most interesting part of the book. If you've ever read Murakami before, you know many of his protagonists are typically the silent, stoic, yet self-absorbed type. This is still the case in South of the Border, but Murakami reflects on this character-type and analyses how these kind of people actually work in the world, as well as how they affect the people around them, maybe for the worse?

The narration is alright, it's very bland, but kind of plays into the monotony of the protagonist's life. It doesn't make it that easy to listen to, unfortunately.

Overall, good Murakami in its shortest form.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Detective story into nihilism

Revisado: 12-20-16

Murakami is easily my favorite author, and in A Wild Sheep Chase, you get a relatively light-hearted detective story, that is still deeply tragic.

The story follows the route of an unnamed narrator, who after his advertising company is contacted by a secretive government puppet master, is forced into the task of tracking down a sheep. The style of Murakami is on point in this book; the narrator adds a lot to this style as well, and is one of the best narrators I've heard, in terms of matching the subject material. He imagines the voices of the characters in such a way that makes me feel like their old friends of mine. Overall, the story is mundane in its course, but is made by the style and prose of Murakami. Also, this is a great introduction to Murakami; after reading this book it got me to go through his works and start a book club on them.

Only blaring criticism is just that the female characters get short shrift in this book. They're either the irritating ex-wife template or the fetishized girlfriend that transitions to the reliable side-kick. There just is never a scene where they are a full fledged character, with hopes and desires and motives.

Otherwise, this is my favorite Murakami book I've read so far.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Truly Gripping Terror

Revisado: 11-01-16

I wasn't sure what to expect from Salem's Lot; I've never read a Stephen King novel before, and all I knew about the book was that it was about vampires. Over the course of the dozen or so hour's of this book, I was enthralled, horrified and ultimately... enraptured by King's writing style, the chilling plot, and the amazing performance from the voice actor. If you weren't sure where to start when it comes to Stephen King, this is as good a spot as any.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Much More Character Based

Revisado: 09-01-16

It does a good job of interweaving different stories and overall developing the characters. Some of the first few stories can be a little slow, but the character's are engaging and the dialogue is good.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Don't Love Voice Actor and Writing is Rather Dry

Revisado: 07-13-16

Jonathan Davis is a fine voice actor, it's just that this book is rather long and dry and he doesn't really help it.

While this book does provide an interesting outlook on the Mongols, the writing itself is rather dry, even for a history book. Don't expect a balanced account of the Mongol's history either, the author very much is very much on one side about the Mongol's and expresses it through this book. As well as attempting to explain or justify the massacres and brutality of the Mongol's.

It's a dry book, with a a rather dry narrator, but an interesting book nonetheless. Overall it's not the most interesting history I've ever read/listened to, but good for an alternative view.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Good Overview

Revisado: 05-29-16

First off this book is rather dry, but for a history nerd it's great. It's a pretty good overview of world history from the conversion of Constantine to the year of 1100 c.e. I wish that it did go more in depth into some areas, but that's not what an overview is, I suppose. Overall pretty good performance, I'm a fan of John Lee due to this series, and he's perfect for the subject-material.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Good overview

Revisado: 05-25-16

It's a good overview, good for those with an interest in history. John Lee is Great, but dry.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Dracula

Revisado: 03-30-16

The performance by the cast is great, Alan Cummings plays an excellent Dr. Seward, the voice actor's for Jonathan Harker & Abraham Van Helsing are incredible. The only thing close to a bad performance is the voice actor for Lucy is nearly unbearable at times, it's a mix of an extremely odd cadence and an almost soap-opera-esque feel to it.

The story is a Victorian gothic novel, so expect a lot of antiquated terms, sometimes difficult to follow statements, and an overall sexist and racist overtone to most of the speech around the women and the foreigners of the novel. That said its a book of its time, with all the beautiful and meandering speech, occasionally one-dimensional characters, and overall a tone of a time gone by. That all might sound negative but I like this book, and this is a really good version of this book read aloud.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña