farmhouselady

Interesting, but

Revisado: 01-11-22

Makes it seem like most of the folks trapped in low-paid jobs are highly artistic, over intelligent people who frequently figure out how to minimize the actual soul-deadening effects of requiring a livelihood so that their stronger, dominant creative and intellectual needs can still be fulfilled and be the dominant part of their life.

I just don’t see this situation in the normal cow-towns or small manufacturing towns of America. Maybe this is the predominant low-wage worker in NYC or other metropolitan areas. But in the areas I know best, most low wage workers have no other options and their jobs and usually family burdens (no matter how cherished those family responsibilities always are) soak up ALL of the available life-fuel from late youth to at least halfway through adulthood so there is nothing left to do any more.

The few that manage to acquire education and skills to break out of hand to mouth living only do so by the hardest of sacrifice and extra work or study hours, for years. Plus this advancement goal has to be paid for in money too. These people don’t have wealthy families or other means of financing anything more than family needs from week to week.

So, I found the author’s study of the subject to be rather restricted in the material studied and was hoping for a more realistic base other than what I would call élite cases. I really don’t think most average Americans suffer from creative stiflement and dream of writing plays or being pop personalities. They dream mostly of raising healthy upstanding children and equally, of having enough personal time to enjoy them. The hardest aspects of the low-wage worker stem from not having one or the other in their life. Or for many, both.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Meh…

Revisado: 08-06-21

I tried to stick with it, but I just returned it. I was expecting maybe more drama or more excitement. Something! But I disagree with those who said it turned out to be all about Jeff. Naturally, it couldnt be about Amazon without being about Jeff since he created it from the ground up. And there IS lots of nuts & bolts about the company as it was formed and changed and grew, in time. There were personalities, but basically no juicy tidbits which I have come to expect in best sellers. I should be thankful, and I guess I really am. I dont necessarily thrive on juicy tidbits, but I DO need some kind of hook to grab me into the story. It doesnt have to be human stuff, it can be philosophical, historical, technical (to a degree), just some really fascinating ASPECT of a story that is probably not generally seen on the outside. A feeling that I am truly getting glimpses as a fly on the wall. Not just some Prime member reading news bits here and there, which is actually what I still feel like after listening for several hours into it. I didnt recognize any intimate glimpses, and by that I dont mean sexually intimate or anything like that. Just close-up views that are not generally available to read about in the news or common fare. Like someone has a very weird hobby that maybe saves the butterflies… something that is 180 degrees away from what the story is about that youve heard absolutely nothing about because it is not really a part of the story, but just brings you a magnifying glass into it on some level. Or maybe in the case of this book, some deep dive into some totally genius new invention of a machine that was created in the warehouse, the story about that woven in (if there were such a thing). A hook that makes you keep looking for more as you go along the nuts & bolts stuff. Which, truly, you do want to hear about or you would not have bought the book. But, you get the idea.

Anyway, I was really disappointed and this probably has more to do with my quirky, picky reading tastes in my old age, than it does with the quality of the work. And I do feel somewhat guilty in not giving it all 5’s… But life goes on.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Narrator not bad! Enjoying it so far.

Revisado: 11-01-20

After reading so many negative reviews about the narration of this book, I was braced not to like it, seeing as how picky I am. But I really wanted it because of the subject matter. So I took the plunge.

Only been listening for 2 hrs so far but I am not having any bad reactions to the narrator. He does do phrasing that’s very distinct and maybe that irritates some listeners’ ears. I can see where it might do that. But not to my ears. To me, the narrator just comes across as very deliberate, very careful. Not excessively so, to me, but some might prefer a more fluid, smoothed-out delivery. Or maybe even a more emotive tone. Hard to figure what is really bugging so many listeners.

One thing about me, though, I always have preferred a very basic approach from the narrator. I am just an everyday listener who is interested in the subject matter and is here to learn more about it. Hopefully in an engaging enough way that my interest is not harmed.

But I absolutely hate it when the narrator tries to act out any drama opportunities, speak all the parts in different voices, and so on. Stuff that detracts from the material at hand and tries to glorify the narration rather than just give voice to the subject matter. That will make me return a book fast. Just feels like someone trying to hog the limelight. I hate it. I want to HEAR THE BOOK. That means the author’s words and paragraphs.

So to me, so far this audiobook just sounds like I had asked a friend to read aloud for me. Someone who doesn’t necessarily know anything about the book and is just verbalizing the words off the page. Throwing in some phrasing along the way as seems appropriate, but not dramatizing anything. I can sort of hear the commas and new paragraphs but it’s subtle (to me). It actually helps me with the general flow, not that any help is really needed.

This book has already made reference to some deeply disturbing aspects, necessarily, such as the connection between the bank and Holocaust particulars, and possibly a different narrator might’ve tried to apply some emotions in places, but I think it’s better to let that lie. No dressing up or down needed.

So just thought I would offer my impressions to others considering this book. Even only this far into it, I’m finding the factual historical information about the bank quite fascinating and I’m looking forward to an enjoyable rest of the book.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Excellent, but I wanted more

Revisado: 09-11-20

This was a very engaging read, thankfully. Listen, I mean. After partaking of 90% of the current political tell-alls, I was somewhat apprehensive that it was going to be redundant material. My main fear was boredom!

But I needn’t have worried because I stayed engaged clear through and even repeated some areas several times where I got distracted and wanted to make absolutely sure I didn’t miss anything.

I enjoyed the author’s general tone, which sounded sincere to me. He really stressed the extext to which his attachment to Trump, and by extension the unreasonable attachment of a lot of Trumpers, was of a cultish nature. People become emotionally enslaved to certain magnetic, manipulative personalities and basically give up any independent reasoning even when the relationship becomes very self destructive. It is not a conscious choice but a type of hypnosis (not a word he uses but the state he describes).

There were some laughs to be had, as well.

In sum, I was glad to hear from this player in the sordid, ongoing Trump saga. My one slight regret is that there wasn’t more outright dirt behind some of Trump’s doings - like how he managed to get away with so much. Law breaking, abuse of the office and our government resources etc to enrich himself, and such. But I completely understand why there wasn’t more of that, considering Cohen’s current status relative to Trump’s. Ultimately everything will no doubt come out.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Boring!

Revisado: 09-08-20

Sorry to say, in spite of my sticking with it almost to the end, it was just boring. If so much hadn’t already become public knowledge about the president’s background/personality/dealings, etc., it probably would’ve seemed much more interesting but still, no big bombshells in it even at this late date, which I was hoping for.

A lot of trivia about stuff I couldn’t care less about, various menus, vehicles, stuff like that. We already know how spoiled Donny was and how favored with endless bailouts from his father he was right up until Dad died. So not even a bit of nausea over that.

However I still wish the author big success with the book because of the way she was treated in the family. A lot of audible members would probably find the whole thing interesting, trivia and all. Just not me. I go for more heavy duty political stuff.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Olsen is just the best

Revisado: 02-19-20

Referring to some reviews, I’d like to say that I did not find the narration annoying at all. Which is a bit strange, because as a general rule I simply cannot stand narrators who try to act out the parts, instead of just read the book. This one is a huge exception, probably because it is understated in the narration. It seems generally natural to me and in keeping with the context. Just my impression and, I think, a huge compliment to the narrator because I am a hardnose pain in the butt about narration and I let everyone hear about how disgusting it is when the acting is done, because it comes out sounding so fake and distracting and awful.

Also, responding to those who didn’t care for all the courtroom stuff and the scientific stuff about SIDS, my own preference is, I go for that stuff. Maybe has something to do with my having had a lot of courtroom experience myself years ago (as a victim), I became very interested in how the law views things oftentimes very differently than it would seem the reality of the case might indicate. Also, I had two babies in the late 60’s-70’s when SIDS awareness was in the public discourse more, so it was and is a topic of interest to me and it was interesting to read about what was believed about it way back before it was scientifically studied a lot. Horrifying now, to imagine how many “crib deaths” of earlier times were actually killings...

And while another thing I hate in my reading is when the action barely starts or gets hinted at, and then we have to go back to someone’s childhood and be led all the way through their birthdays, their parents’ histories and grandparents’ backgrounds, on and on, and this is usually a minor character in the book, to boot, not the main character. Like the person’s lawyer, not the person! Then of course we get the same treatment regarding the main person. To me this is just filler material whose pages I would rip out of the book if it was paper...

But the genius of writers like Olsen is that he can state parts of the historical background/setting in such an engaging way that it is connected and lends enlightenment to the present story. You never get bored and exasperated at having to endure that stuff for fear that if you skip it, you might miss something important you will need to know later on. He just knows how to stay in the heart of the story and not wander off for fake reasons, like to add length or to add color that the author might imagine will make it more interesting. Like, one true crime book I recently listened to (or maybe I returned it) actually detailed, and I do mean detailed, every stinkin thing everyone at a trial wore, all the lawyers, court personnel, families of the parties involved, etc., on and and on! The weather conditions were always laboriously described as well and not in any way connected to the action going on, or the mood. Just words. The worst of that type of filler I have ever encountered in my true crime reading career was that book. There was absolutely no reason at all why that material needed to be in the book and I could not imagine the publisher or editor putting up with it. No fears of that type ever comes from Olsen and his equals. My only cringes from the best books, if indeed I do experience any, probably come mainly from descriptions of animal cruelty, which I am compelled to skip over. The human cruelty parts I can tolerate.

One other little note about this book, its length. Some people do not like long books and say things like, “that part could have been totally left out and the story still be told adequately”. Yeah, but in indulging in these audiobooks, isn’t it a sort of leisure activity, or as for me, an energy source to power me through daily work that gets oppressive and boring at times and I find the books soothing and much more interesting than usually what I am doing. So I go for long books, the longer the better! And I listen at just a notch lower than normal speed.... otherwise I fear my book will run out in the middle of my workday but seeing as how it counts as an energy source for the workday, if it runs out then I will have to take a break to search for another book to finish out the day with and that will set my work behind. This is a hardcore audiobook addict talking.

To me, the point isn’t getting to the end, and learning all the story, in a fast and maybe efficient way, but to be engaged by the story and its artful telling at a comfortable pace to match what I am doing as it plays. Naturally, for others living other lifestyles and careers, their needs would be different. With audiobooks, there seems to be something for everyone, and a never ending supply, too.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Not much truly new to me, but fascinating

Revisado: 01-29-20

I am just an extremely busy adult who does my best to keep up with the political goings-on, seeing as how current events seem to point to a genuine crisis for our democracy and fears that I will not be around to see it or do anything about it... (76 years old and still kicking). So I devour all I can in news and blog sources, etc., both the ones that lean left but some that lean right as well, to try to get more than a very superficial sense of the real facts/events, not just what is presented by one side or the other.

That said, as pertains to this book, I was a mite disappointed that as I went along, there did not seem to be a single, what I would call major, event description that I was not already familiar with. Naturally I have consumed every book relating to our current political world in the last several years and all the publications I can find time for as well, but I still expected there to be a heck of a lot of new stuff that never made it into what I’d been consuming all along.

Anyway, there IS a ton of color related to most of the “big news items” that I had not encountered any place else, that was well worth hearing about and folding into my admittedly limited (comparatively speaking) knowledge of these events. Because it is a frustration-making fact that the big news generally only includes stuff that grabs eyeballs and that leaves some of us scratching our heads about the underneath setting. Which can make ALL the difference.

The biggest thing you can learn probably, is just who our current president IS. That’s pretty obvious without a lot of background color, but the book really fills out the portrait like you can’t get anyplace else that I have found. That is helpful and of extreme importance, in terms of understanding world events. It really helps, but also profoundly disappoints, to learn just how much of the lives of world citizens is determined by the greed of one human being. And it also shocks the conscience, although not in a new way because any thinking person has to have noticed this as we went along, the extent to which the republicans have not only excused inexcusable acts of this president, but gone on to profit personally by joining in on the graft and grabbing themselves. As witness right now, with the entire Senate taking orders from McConnell so as not to let go of this golden goose. Don’t even get me started on the republicans stopping ALL actions from the House to ensure what happened in 16 isn’t repeated. It IS being repeated even as I write this. It really hurts to know this. Of all the scandal that hits the news about this administration, this other fact has stayed under the general public radar. I can’t help but think if the extent of this scheme alone were given the air time of other bad news, there would be rioting in the streets. And corrections would happen. Because people do care. But they first have to KNOW.

Ok no more preaching. I vote independent and always try my best to choose the party with the most personal integrity. That is the No. 1 requirement because everything flows from that quality. Everything. Not an easy task but it has to be done.

Please do get this book if you relish the what I call color, surrounding all the news you’ve heard about for the last few years, if you hunger for a deeper understanding and getting some questions answered. It seems to be very factual and generally unbiased in presenting some very polarizing information, done as well and honestly as any reporter could do, in my opinion. I do not hold the NYT blameless in general nor any of my news sources but I will stand up for these two reporters and the incredibly deep and thorough job they have done here. It is a very very important work and comes at a critical moment in the saga, considering all citizens must first learn the truth before they can take a stand.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Started out not so great, but very glad I stayed w

Revisado: 01-14-20

The first part, hour or more, I was rather irritated at the narrator who seemed to be affecting this “grizzled old miner’s” manner of speaking, and I hate that fakery in narrations and I avoid books where it’s not just reading the book, it is “performing” it. Also, it did seem like a lot of the introductory info wasn’t going anywhere, and I hate that, too. But hey, it’s Gregg Olsen, I’ve got to keep on... Never encountered a GO book that wasn’t totally worth it.

I do want to comment, however, all throughout the book there are numerous flaws in the narration that definitely should have been cleaned up. It ticks me off that Audible doesn’t seem to take this care anymore, just push it out for sale and on to the next. Things like the narrator pausing briefly saying “two seconds” then continuing. This happened many times. Also quite a few mispronunciations that he corrected and continued on. Obviously those items should have been cut out but that would not be his job. For all this type thing, of which there were many in total, I do not blame the narrator at all.

So, all that said, this is an incredible work. Some might complain about the depth Gregg goes into about each of the personalities involved, the life of underground miners, their families, etc. But he tells it like no one else can. You are THERE and it is all completely absorbing and real. No dramatics, no cute fluff added or needed. This was a story of all real life.

The sum total of the story angered me, of course, but notably lacking from the telling was any attempt at manipulation of my emotions. Or at least, it may have been so skillfully done that I was unaware of it. The bare facts, looked at from various perspectives of those involved, and still around to talk about it, were enough to make me both angry but also to confirm my understanding of how the world we live in works. And doesn’t work. No surprises there, really. But Gregg has a clarity in understanding and relating this stuff like no one else.

I was a young single mother at the time of this tragedy and not the news hound that I am now, but I do remember hearing about remnants of it on TV. No internet then! So it was quite satisfying to me to get all the breadth and depth about it that Gregg was able to put into it, and for that I am grateful to him.

If you have even a mild interest in this event and wonder what “really” went on, you will not be disappointed in this work.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

BOR-ING!!

Revisado: 11-11-19

I am 3.5 hours into it, still waiting for something, anything to happen. Besides the droll “born, grew up, went to college, got married etc! COME ON!! There must be a murder in this sleepy dream somewhere, or at least some suspicious ingredients to keep me awake. But, no. Nothing. I can’t take any more of this “all concerned living boring middle class lives”.

Honestly, I am sort of a true crime addict so I need some bread crumbs to follow from the outset. Most commonly, mucho investigation has been done by time a book cones out, so there is a kind of thread to hang on to even if the main excitement doesn’t come until much later on.

So I have diligently listened for a hook and perhaps a couple items inserted by the author are intended to serve the purpose but the way they were mentioned was so flat and normal seeming (killed cats, had guns) (but this was in Texas) that I would have passed over them as just more dull things like, he got a promotion.

So I had the argument with myself and I finally won, I am exchanging this dud for something interesting IF I can find something. It’s getting very hard because it ends up I already have the good-sounding ones when I search.

So, very disappointing experience for me and now I have to start over again to sift out something that is the quality I need. I guess I’ve been spoiled by the NY Times best selling authors and such. Been addicted too long.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 11 personas

Good, but oh! The mispronunciations!

Revisado: 06-19-19

In spite of the mispronunciations, this is very interesting and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in current events. There is a lot in there that is familiar due to the news, but even more that has not been in the news much or at all, that is pretty fascinating and one wonders how it is that our media news is so hypnotized by certain splashy events that other equally splashy, and potentially even more earth shaking events, get no coverage at all. OK, not NONE, but only a mention here and there, while the other stuff gets on a loop that is never ending...

But is there really any excuse for a paid narrator to mispronounce “nuclear” as “nook-you-lir”? Or Melania Trump’s name as “Muh-lane-eeya”? I think not. Those are just a couple examples that are so obvious that they hurt. But there are tons of others. As others have commented, is there no such a thing as proof-readers (or listeners)? Does the first run-through just fly with no checking on quality?

I don’t know the mechanics of a book getting put into audible format and then put out for sale, so I can’t know exactly who to blame for this, but when you are on automatic bank account deduction monthly to Audible, it seems like one oughta be able to expect a product that has had some scrutiny. So I would put Audible right up at the top or close to it. Because way too many books can be criticized for the same thing lately. It’s as if no one checks.

And that “no one checks” thing applies almost equally to all the other facets of retail sales these days, unfortunately. Greed for the quickest, fastest buck and then on to the next..... It’s the world we live in now. Quality is some quaint idea from previous generations.

Ok enough philosophy. I was forewarned about the annoying mispronunciations in this book, so I braced myself and just tried to get the meat out of it and practice my blood pressure lowering skills when it came to those ridiculous incidences that should not have been there, and I am not too much worse for the wear, I guess. I would have given it all 5’s, though, if not for all those careless errors.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña