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Couldn't take the narrator

Revisado: 09-10-18

The action was implausible. Right out of the gate the protagonist defeats a werewolf bare-handed. I mean, is the monster a fearsome supernatural beast or not? Can't have it both ways. And then there's the narrator. He sounds like a drama major who does puppet shows at kid parties while he's waiting for his chauffeur's license. Maybe that's okay but not for this kind of book. I will return it after I'm done here.

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We Try to Glean Something, Even From Hogwash.

Revisado: 03-26-18

What did you like best about Under Fire? What did you like least?

The only insight beyond a few incidental facts is the clear view of how Marines like to see themselves. The characters were idealized. The relationships had all the subtlety and wit of a made-for-tv docudrama. Worst of all is the failure to provide usable historical information.

Would you be willing to try another book from W. E. B. Griffin? Why or why not?

Never! WEBG has a rep as a military authority but it doesn't show here. The description "based on real events," leaves a lot of room to just make stuff up. If you like predictable characters you might get off on the plot. Writing was bland. In its favor it introduces a little-known event connected with the Inchon landing.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Typical second-rate job. Nice voice but that's only worth 2 stars. He does women badly, making them sound like screechy old grannies. He should study his art or stick to doing straight history.

Could you see Under Fire being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Yes, and that's why it falls short as a book. Cast a bunch of unknown pretty faces.

Any additional comments?

Writers of military fiction do their best work at the extremes: Either be historically scrupulous or go complete comic book with lots of bang-bang and kissing on the battlefield.

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American Narration at it's Most Disapointing

Revisado: 03-26-18

Would you listen to The Great Sea again? Why?

Yes, because it's dense with new information. If it was a text I would fill the margins with notes. It covers 6,000 years and details the rise and fall of empires we never hear of.

Would you recommend The Great Sea to your friends? Why or why not?

To my friends--certainly but my friends tend to have appetites for information. This is a book of research on a set of topics unified by location, not entertainment value. You read this book so you have background if, say, you read about Anthony & Cleopatra or the siege of Malta or the Catalonian separatist movement in the future.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Jason Culp?

Culp has a nice voice. That only gets you two stars. One wonders if he could find the Mediterranean on a map. A narrator should at the very least, know how to pronounce everything. Vizier is not pronounced viz-ee-yay, not even in French. (Google Translate) Give me John Lee or Wanda Mccaddon. American narrators seem to be failed actors while at least some of the Brits give the impression that they love narration and are willing to work hard at it.

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

Not that kind of book.

Any additional comments?

A book for those who want to know.

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A performance worthy the text he is reading.

Revisado: 03-18-18

What made the experience of listening to Smiley's People the most enjoyable?

Plot as complex as a double agent's address book involving wonderful characters like the multi-dimensioned Toby, the tragi-comic Connie and the under-estimable George Smiley. It is a trip through the dirty places of the cold war.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I like the secondary players with whom I can identify. John Le Carre has them in plenty and in depth. A scoundrel named Otto adopts "Leipzig" as his second name because the prison in that city was the best he'd ever stayed in.

Have you listened to any of Michael Jayston’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Jayson's George Smiley makes you think you might be listening to Alex Guinness. When he does women he doesn't go into a screechy falsetto but renders femininity within his own register. He uses at least ten different voices consistently. In particular his Peter Guillam sounds familiar and if you root around you discover that he played Guillam in the BBC production of the book.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Moscow rules; I have two proofs.

Any additional comments?

I have no patience with fiction. This though, is a book I can listen through multiple times.

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The narrator says it all.

Revisado: 01-01-18

What did you love best about Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy?

For the Anglophile or the cold war patriot this is one of the great stories of the good guys winning.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters make the book and here we have them in multiple dimensions, warts and all.

Have you listened to any of Michael Jayston’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

When you hear the book you might wonder where you heard narrator Michael Jayson before. If you google around you'll discover he played Peter Guillam in the 1979 BBC production of Tinker. He can sound just like Alec Guinness when he wants to and his Connie Sachs is amazing. He understands that you needn't go into a falsetto to do a female voice.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

This is the cold war in all its squalid glory.

Any additional comments?

If you were rooting for Brezhnev in the 70's you might not like Tinker all that much. Otherwise it's a great work of the written spoken word.

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A 20-hour comic book.

Revisado: 08-22-17

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Quality writing, 3-D characters, believable situations

What do you think your next listen will be?

Wolff Hall

Would you be willing to try another one of Grover Gardner’s performances?

Yes. Grover is great when he does Will Durant's stuff. He has no range of character though. His women sound like he's trying too hard.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Werewolf of Bamberg?

Many, but the endless irrelevant jabbering during the climactic chase scene stands out.

Any additional comments?

Rather than twists and turns the plot reads like an elaborate lie. The flat predictable characters talk too much, like the two brothers who argue all the time. The situations are frequently implausible, like servants who blab information about their masters to complete strangers. The translation is poor, using words like "snuck." The verbs are easy to read as in juvenile literature. The adjectives are cliche--jet black, razor sharp, bone-chilling cold. Bone-chilling prose is more like it.

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19th century, 2d rate

Revisado: 05-02-16

What did you love best about The Tontine?

The beginning looked rather good and David Case commands the twelve most interesting voices in narrative art.

If you’ve listened to books by Thomas B. Costain before, how does this one compare?

His best work is his non-fiction.

Which scene was your favorite?

The early chapters, while the author had energy and imagination firing on all cylinders and while the characters were believable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Hardly, at 41 hours.

Any additional comments?

It not only evokes 19th century literature; it copies it. It parades one super-human after another, all making speeches to each other that no one would actually recite. Everyone is just too wonderful for words in this world of loves at first sight and over-blown pledges of eternal loyalty. It would be quaint if it was actually written in the 1800's. As it is though, Costain has managed to re-create the worst traits of the period. Compare with Jane Austin, whose characters are conflicted, wonderful, awful, strong and weak at the same time. Compare with Patrick O'Brien for whom the most heroic characters have the most gaping flaws. On top of it all, there is hardly a chuckle per chapter unless it is provided by the narrator, David Case, whose name drew me to the book in the first place.

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Are these all the same story?

Revisado: 12-18-12

What did you love best about Everything That Rises Must Converge?

Everyone's right. Oconnor is a great writer. She peers into the details of her characters with such detail and plausiblity you can't stay uninvolved. And her use of language is great.

Which scene was your favorite?

It's an anthology and I don't remember the titles. There was a story that takes place in a doctor's office and it was an amazing contrast of characters.

Any additional comments?

She falls back on killing those characters with traditional values, be they flawed values or not. You know who's getting snuffed by the end of the first paragraph.

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What the Dickens?

Revisado: 11-12-12

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

Everyone should read this among all the other classics.

If you’ve listened to books by Charles Dickens before, how does this one compare?

I am not a Dickens follower, but I find this typical of his other books in that he identifies a personality or type and tells us we should try not to be like that.

Which character – as performed by Charlton Griffin – was your favorite?

Griffin is wonderful. You don't realize that one person is doing all this. I like the voice of naration best. Scrooge was also outstanding.

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

One has seen it so many times--

Any additional comments?

I think Dicken's message is that if we dislike someone he must be bad. I don't buy it. I don't think a real Scrooge could be as flat as C.D. makes him.

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It's all here.

Revisado: 11-12-12

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

I would recommend it to a studious intgeligent friend because it gets right to the kernal of how society is motivated or restrained.

What other book might you compare Ludwig Von Mises to and why?

This book is unique in my experience. I wanted to read about the man but instead I discovered the idea. The idea is more powerful than the man, even though the author does not hesitate to point out flaws.

What about Jeff Riggenbach’s performance did you like?

Riggenbach has a wonderful voice and comprehension of the subject.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listen to parts of this book over and over to build my undrstanding of those parts that contrast with popular opinion.

Any additional comments?

Mises was a slave of truth. He was incapable of adjusting to popular trends.

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