Ronald

Understanding hindered by the reader

Revisado: 04-15-25

The audiobook recounts an interesting and multi streamed story that would be a challenge to follow in a book, when one can page back and forth. Fort Yuma vs Fort Mojave. Which pass: Cajon, Tejon, Walker, San Gorgonio? Which military engineer? Which ship assigned to the coast survey? For me, the reader seemed to be sneering, ironic, or implying duplicity as he read, and he adopted a monotonous cadence that suggested to me he had not imbibed the account he was reading.

I ended up having to back up in 10 min increments over and over. When I finally finished listening, I felt the need to go right back to the introduction and start listening anew to really understand it this time. Also, listening to the audiobook while stopping to consult Google maps helped me grasp things on the second go round..

All in all, I found it to be a worthwhile addition to my understanding of Western history and the development of southern California. Listening to this volume made me want to read a good bio of Genl Edward Ord. I also learned a bit about the dangers of coastal storms in the 19th century, surveying, and geodesic mapping, worthy subjects. I guess I'd suggest to a friend that they take up the book, that this presentation was for me hard fully to assimilate in audio format.

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Missing graphs, equations galore

Revisado: 12-02-23

A fan of the first edition of 4 Pillars of Investing, I find the audio edition disappointing. Not deigning to provide a PDF for the purchase price, the audio version glibly tells the listener repeatedly to see the graphs in the book or ebook. Am I expected to buy that, too? Sheeesh.
Too, the audio editors have the reader drone on relating the contents of tables and numeric-heavy "Math box" sidebars. I was not able to follow the contents and suspect that few listeners could. If the publisher won't warn the listener away from this title owing to numeric overload, maybe the editors should have dropped the table reading and math boxes from the performance/
When I got to the qualitative parts of the audiobook that I WAS able to follow--about halfway through part II of IV--I found Bernstein's sarcasm unwelcome and jarring.
Bernstein bad-mouths Vanguard's service, but other than long hold times on the phone give zero examples. Also, sometimes I found him making points that were of less use to the general reader, but possibly were included to show how knowledgeable he is.
On the positive side, there is much useful wisdom in here, and I greatly appreciated his approach to risk, differentiating familiar market variability from deep risk. He suggests buying US treasuries in place of a total bond index fund, but does not describe how to manage that bond ladder.
Overalll, I'd suggest re-doing this audiobook with thought to what a listener can absorb; and suggesting to Dr. Bernstein to project more humility in his embellishments.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Frustrating undertaking

Revisado: 09-24-23

I just finished listening for the 2nd time, the first was 6 years ago. It's an interesting topic, but tedious to listen to. The reader has a strong British accent and I am an American. Worse than his accent and pronunciations was the monotonous rhythm with which he read, often robbing the words of their meaning. Additionally, author Clark uses complex, lengthy and convoluted sentences.

It might be worth trying to read a print version, so one can recognize the words on the page, go back over something one did not understand, stop and check a map or look up something on Wikipedia. But for me this was a problematic audiobook.

I admire author Clark for his knowledge and erudition. Yet, I found that Clark packed in extravagant detail, but did not seem to share with the reader the organization of a section, nor any overarching point he was trying to make.

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Overly personalized

Revisado: 06-09-23

I found this audiobook disappointing. Foremost, a professional reader would have been better than the author. His English pronunciation was often not clear, and his voice rose to a shrill yell when he read conversational exclamations. Additionally, as an audiobook, the extensive German or Alsatian quotation confused me, though they were translated. What could be the purpose for a book in English to include so much German/Alsatian? As I said, too personalized.

For my taste, this book spent too much time describing author Bilger's pleasure and other emotions upon meeting a source or learning a new fact.

I chose this book based on an enthusiastic review in the New York Times, but as history, it disappointed. I have no problem with the idea that a Nazi was not a terrible human being, but as I accepted that, the book seemed anticlimactic.

The best parts were details of what life was like in rural parts of SW Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Interesting topic, this book is above my head

Revisado: 03-18-23

I read a lot of history and was looking for a book about the 1848 uprisings in Europe. A librarian recommended this book, and I was interested because it was copyrighted in 1961; plus the author was billed as a Marxist. I was expecting and got an unusual reading experience.

I had to slow the audio speed down to 0.8 or 0.9. Otherwise, the British accent and haste of the reader left me uncomprehending. In his dialect, the reader was competent.

Hobsbawm to me presents an extended essay, a commentary, a series of judgments about the events of the period he covers. I'd have preferred basic narrative. From what I've read about Hobsbawm, he was erudite, but to me he inserted as supporting arguments details of what happened in places around Europe and the world, assuming the reader already was quite familiar with the events referred to. Repeatedly, I felt he assumed the reader shared his broad and deep understanding of the events, so Hobsbawm's job was merely to connect them in his hypothesis. Over and over I felt puzzled, like I was missing the point.

I was confused repeatedly by terms the author doesn't define, terms that encompass a lot of complexity: Jacobin, liberal, bourgeois, illuminist, masonic.

The book would have benefited from biographical sketches of characters upon their appearance less cursory than what Hobsbawm provides.

Too often, the tone of the book approaches pedantic assertion, as though Hobsbawm's interpretations and hypotheses are self evident, such that he need not lower himself to my level to get me to understand the events, nor need he carefully explain his sweeping conclusions.

Perhaps the standards for writing of history has changed in 6 decades. Maybe I'm thick headed or out of my depth. But authors must meet the reader at the latter's level.

Nonetheless, the book is dynamic and compelling enough that I am interested in reading the other 3 in this series; and in remediating my deficient knowledge of the historical events.

To me, this book might be best for a reader already expert in the history of 1789-1848, which does not include me, even after listening and concurrently reading this book. And he says nothing about the uprisings of 1848, so I am still looking for a book about that year.

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Not a deep dive, and less relevant 2 years in

Revisado: 12-25-22

Evan Osnos professionally reads a collection of his writing about Biden that he notes appeared to a great extent previously in the New Yorker. Once a regular reader of the magazine, I currently find most of its contents overly detailed, a bit pointless, and enervating to read. Osnos' work is one exception, he remains a clear thinker and valued analyst for me.
Yet, this "book" reads (listens) as an election puff piece; and I support Democrats in most elections. I would have appreciated more history, more examination of the context of the issues over Biden's long political career. I'd have appreciated more examination of his biography and that of his associates and some family members. Hunter's situation was newsworthy when this book was written in 2020, it's about to get more newsworthy in Jan, 2023. But Osnos avoids the topic as much as possible.
In 2020, it was important to me that Trump not be re-elected, and Biden defeated him. Yet, in my opinion, this is one of the least journalistic pieces I can recall Osnos producing. That's because it tends to look at one side of the story, and shies away from examining many criticisms o concerns about Biden's record.
One of the most interesting parts of the audiobook were the clips (at the end) of Biden being astoundingly fluent in his interview with Osnos in summer, 2020. Much better spoken than I recall Biden performing during the primary debates, or in unscripted moments as President.
Overall, I am sorry to say--because I so admire the author--that as history this is thin soup. As journalism, it reads to me as a work so intent on not sabotaging its subject's election chances that it pulls punches and skips accounts of dark recesses. I would not recommend this to a friend. It's 4.5 hours overall, and that last 30 min is mostly a promotional interview of Osnos by magazine editor David Remnick. May i say I do not feel I got my money's worth?

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abc

Revisado: 01-01-22

This is a superb biography and history joined with a most professional performance.

In the introduction, author May introduces many complicated themes that the book will explore. In the body of the biography, each question that I had was answered. This book explores in detail controversies of early American government that resonate today, including a strong central government vs states rights and citizens laboring to scratch out sustenance resisting urban elites. May keeps the events and their historical implications in a graceful balance.

Alexander Hamilton created for the early United States a financial system and also a primordial central bank. Jefferson thought it was essential to rid the young democracy of both. Gallatin was one of the few anti-Federalists who understood finance and mathematics well enough to take over as Secretary of the Treasury when Jefferson became President. He believed in political alliances, but also deeply appreciated the value of a national bank. In later years, Gallatin, born in 1761 in Geneva, was one of the negotiators to settle with Britain the War of 1812, followed by service as U.S. Minister to France. In retirement, he lived in early Manhattan and was a key founder of New York University.

This is a superb and enjoyable book. As soon as I finished, I listened again to the superb introduction, and I'd transit the entire work again but there are so many interesting books waiting for me.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Deeply disappointing

Revisado: 06-10-21

I am interested in history, archeology, anthropology. Mislead by positive reviews in the New York Times and elsewhere, I found this book mostly to be a series of essays expressing over and over the authors biases about urban life. The author seemed unwilling to tell us about the nature of the evidence revealing what is known about these sites, substituting instead her conjectures. All of it was at a tedious, flighty level that did not inspire thought. I like to finish audiobooks that I start, but had to force my way through 3/4 of this one, after I realized that it wasn't going to get any better.

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esto le resultó útil a 9 personas

Profoundly tedious book, somnolent reader

Revisado: 11-14-20

Boy, was I fooled by the Audible.com reviews on this item. I heard this book recommended by Zach Carter on the Ezra Klein podcast. Carter wrote the wonderful recent Keynes bio, Price of Peace. On his recommendation, I bought Globalists. I am not an economist or intellectual historian. Author Slobodian writes in complexly structured sentences that would be hard to follow even on the written page. Reader Barrett blazes through the text while communicating no meaning. I tried to listen at 3/4 speed, but then it didn't flow.
The subject matter is highly arcane, and seems to be arguing with intensity small points. When I look at the Publisher's summary, I have to admit the book does support its hypothesis, assuming the facts are correct. But the hypothesis seems to be of minimal consequence to me. If the book also told interesting stories or related worthwhile fact, I could forgive it. But this audiobook simply turns into a painful slog, like the most boring lecture you can imagine. I only finished the book so that this website would permit me to write a review and warn away other readers. For me, the book was a very unpleasant waste of hours of my life.

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

A few fact and a lot of lecturing

Revisado: 11-14-20

I was fooled by the NYTimes review of this book. I wanted to know more about the US farm and food system, logistics, etc. Instead, Philpott includes some of that information, but the book came across to me as an overly detailed diatribe. Though it was less than 9 hours long, I had to struggle to complete the book. He simply kept hammering over and over again on how wrong the farmers and big agriculture are. OK, if that's true, why do those who've invested heavily in this sector keep doing the same thing? And the suggestions for alternatives that Philpott gives: can those be scaled up?

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