Murphus

A Magnificent Performance; truly the Best of the Best

Revisado: 02-17-24

Simply superb! — Having listened to dozens of audiobooks in recent years, I can safely say that not one has been more delightful to listen to than Sir Patrick’s memoir. It is not always an advantage to have the author narrate his own works; not every outstanding writer is also a fine narrator, but in this case, WHAT A DELIGHT it was to listen to this engaging memoir in that magnificent, incredibly expressive voice!

As is the case for so many others, I am certainly a big Star Trek fan, but the wonderful references and behind-the-scenes stories relating to the show were just a bonus. Every bit of this memoir is thoroughly engaging and entertaining and I couldn’t easily put it down. I only wish that I might have had an opportunity to witness Sir Patrick performing Shakespeare live on the stage! By all means, give this book — the audiobook — a try, even if you are acquainted with neither Star Trek nor Shakespeare; you won’t be disappointed!

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The Final Richard Hannay Adventure

Revisado: 02-17-24

I’ve loved reading John Buchan’s stories since I was a kid and this last adventure in the Richard Hannay series did not disappoint. But there were several challenges to listening to the audiobook, as opposed to reading. I found that I had to slow the narration down, and that it was often necessary to check what was being said in the printed version of the book in order to make it intelligible (I purchased the Kindle version of the book to do this). Much of the vocabulary and many turns of phrase are becoming more archaic and obscure with the passage of time, and Buchan seems to take delight in going into some depth on subjects with which most of us in this day and age will find unfamiliar, such as the terminology associated with falconry! No complaints, but once again a printed (or Kindle) version of the book is a necessary companion (the Kindle version makes it easy to look up any unfamiliar words).

Also, the audiobook is divided into arbitrary “chapters” that differ significantly from the chapters in the printed book (which have titles that are ignored in the audiobook). Add to this that the Kindle version and the audiobook will not “sync” with each other, so you must search through the Kindle version if you want to keep up with the audible edition. Despite these inconveniences, it is a great story and well worth any extra effort that may be required to enjoy!

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Spectacular!

Revisado: 03-06-23

I join my voice to the hearty praise delivered by so many others — Fitzgerald’s translation is magnificent, and Dan Stevens’ reading is top-notch. I enjoyed this completely!

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Another Barsoom tale comes to Audible!

Revisado: 02-14-23

Although there are multiple performances of each of the first five books of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars series, there were virtually none available for the remaining five or six books in the series — until now. So apart from everything else, it was great to see The Master Mind of Mars become available earlier this year (2023), and hopefully the remaining volumes are not far behind.

Like many others, I am a Burroughs fan who greatly enjoyed all of his books when I was growing up, and the availability of the books on Kindle and Audible has allowed for a delightful revisiting, not just of the books themselves, but of my own childhood. As an adult however, it is sometimes difficult to suspend one’s critical faculties when it comes to plot, dialogue, etc. and when it comes to The Master Mind of Mars, it’s a bit more of a stretch than even the earlier volumes. As with the previous two volumes in the series, John Carter makes only a minor appearance in this book. Instead we have Ulysses Paxton, a fellow American military man and friend of John Carter (on Earth), cut from the same cloth. Traveling to Barsoom (in the same preposterous manner as Carter), Paxton finds himself in the laboratory of Ras Thavas, the “Master Mind” of the book’s title. The gruesome and lurid events of the next few chapters, while straining credulity to the breaking point, serve as a jumping off point for a more conventional Burroughs-esque tale of adventure and romance, of which some of us never tire! So by all means, put up with the casual brain surgery and other unbelievable parts, kick back, be a kid again, and enjoy the story!

The narrator is competent and reads well, but with a “thick” and unusual British accent (reminiscent to me of Marlon Brando’s bizarre interpretation of Fletcher Christian) that I found a little difficult to follow, and somewhat incongruous with a story that is presented in the “first person” by an American military officer. That said, I am delighted to see a new Barsoom release, regardless of the narrator.

There were a couple of unusual aspects to this Audible edition. First, the book is in English, but the introductory and closing “comments” from Audible are in German. Secondly, the audiobook is divided into more than a hundred “chapters” that are only a minute or two in duration and that do not correspond to the actual chapter division of the book itself. Neither of these issues detracted from the listening experience in any way, however.

Any fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs or Barsoom will want to embrace and enjoy this audiobook!

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An excellent, shorter King novel

Revisado: 02-06-23

Not every Stephen King book has to be a monster (so to speak). This one is shorter than many of his more famous tomes, but no less enjoyable. A special mention for Seth Numrich’s superb narration: one reason I chose to listen to this book in the first place was to enjoy Mr. Numrich’s warm and engaging style (having encountered it in Stephen King’s recent novel “Fairy Tale”). Stephen King… Seth Numrich… an anbeatable combination.

The story delivers a completely original twist on the “I see dead people” theme, with diverse, believable, compelling characters and plot twists that, at least for me, made it a genuine page-turner. If you don’t lose sleep from the horror content, you’ll lose it by staying up late to find out what happens next.

Audible has revived a long-dormant interest in Stephen King’s writings for me, and this was another very, very satisfying read.

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An introduction as enjoyable as The Iliad itself!

Revisado: 01-23-23

Among the things I learned in college, none was more important than the value of discovering the finest lecturers and then signing up for whatever course they were offering, and on whatever subject. This is my second course/audiobook with Elizabeth Vandiver, and it did not disappoint in any way. And now that I am long out of college, I am able to enjoy re-visiting The Iliad (and other Classics) at my leisure, for which Dr. Vandiver offers a superb, thoughtful, and engaging introduction.

If you go on to listen to The Iliad as an audiobook, Audible offers a number of translations. I personally recommend the translation by Robert Fitzgerald, which is exquisitely narrated by Dan Stevens.

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A magnificent history and an enjoyable read

Revisado: 11-19-22

I’ve owned the hardback version of this book for at least twenty years, but it went unread, if only due to the hefty size of the volume (and perhaps due to limited interest, on my part, in the American Civil War). So, this was one of those books (of which there are several) that I undertook to listen to on Audible, if only to assuage my own guilt and embarrassment at having so many books on my bookshelf that I had not read. But finally getting to this book, by whatever means, was an incredible treat.

Somehow I managed to get through an above-average secondary school education and obtain an Ivy League degree in the Humanities without learning much at all about the Civil War — which is almost a crime. This book introduced me, not only to the broad outlines of the war, but the factors that led up to it and the the various protagonists who charted the course of the nation during the period. “Popular Sovereignty,” “Nativists,” “Free-soil,” “Know-nothings,” “Lecompton Constitution,” “Copperheads,” “Butternuts —“ these were all terms and political groupings that I was entirely unacquainted with prior to reading this book.

I found the portion of the book that dealt with the lead-up to the Civil War to be of greatest personal interest. I noted that some reviewers were disappointed in the coverage of specific battles of the war itself, but I found it more than adequate — and there are of course many, many other works that focus on the nuts and bolts of war. The book makes me want to go on to read a great deal more about the period of Reconstruction, about which I also am shamefully ill-informed.

I was shocked to read the quoted excerpts from some politicians (and not all of them in the Confederacy) in defense of slavery. I had grown up with the assumption that perhaps the South defended this practice with some kind of embarrassment, as a necessary evil, or some such thing. But these were times in which men (yes, it seems, mostly men) proclaimed the superiority of slave-owning societies and even declared abolitionists to be “immoral” or “un-biblical.” The inclusion of ample quotations to this effect was a stunning revelation to me, and completely wiped away any notion that I may have had concerning the Civil War’s cause being “states’ rights” or any such thing.

In a way, there was an advantage to having waited to read this book. In the years since it was first published, we’ve had debates in our nation concerning things that most of us thought were settled. Renewed debate concerning Confederate statues and monuments, and the state of race relations in this country make so much more sense after reading this book. I never realized (or perhaps, wanted to realize), for example, that many of our military bases were named after notorious, treasonous generals and politicians who were defeated, and rightly so. One definitely comes to understand the assertion by some that the Civil War is yet to be concluded.

I’m glad that I own the hardback of this book; it was very helpful to step away from the audiobook and review the maps, photos, etc. But I feel very fortunate to have both media in my possession, as this was an enjoyable listen and the narrator does a superb job.

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An important read, but not to be undertaken lightly

Revisado: 11-19-22

Part of me would like to give this book a 5-star review, if only because it is so well-written, and because it tells an important story about one facet of the weighty burdens of our recent history, namely the willful and deliberate pursuit of demonstrably false information in the deceitful service of nefarious objectives. These varied and baffling objectives appear to reflect, “in a mirror darkly,” the unhealthy psychological needs of people who thrive on misleading others; but also (and perhaps with greater reason for concern), the needs of a vast number of ready and willing consumers of disinformation. The needs are different, but appear to fit each other hand and glove, and channels such as those provided by social media appear to be the primary enablers.

The author and this book do their job well. I became interested in reading (or rather, listening) to the book after hearing a couple of interviews on the radio with Elizabeth Williamson. How she managed to immerse herself in this subject so deeply and for so long is beyond my imagining. There is almost too much story here. Reading about Alex Jones is like reading about a serial killer; having read about one or two victims and the details of their violent deaths, is it really necessary to read about the details of all of his victims’ deaths, or are just a couple of them enough to get the idea? Perhaps it is, but after the first few anecdotes, I was still shocked but no longer particularly surprised, and the experience of listening to the rest was burdensome.

The last chapter (before the Epilogue) was worth getting to, however. The author tries to analyze, or at least expose the apparent psychology behind the needs of conspiracy theorists and their followers/victims, and she does an excelling job of tying them in to other events (besides mass shootings) and the politicians and others who exploit them. Still, unsurprisingly, all of this conveyed to me a sense of “dark mystery” to me, as do all conspiracy theories (such as Q-Anon) and denialism (Holocaust, 9-11, January 6th, etc.). Something links all of these phenomena together, and they threaten us particularly in the current age, but why? I think that this book gets us closer to answering that question, but a final answer still eludes us.

As an audiobook, this book presents a problem. The narrator’s performance is outstanding, however there are many quotations throughout, and it is often difficult to tell the difference between narration and quotation. I sometimes had trouble discerning when the author is speaking about herself, or is quoting one of the protagonists. A different voice, perhaps, would be helpful to distinguish the two. However, this was not a major detraction to the book.

Reading the reviews of this book (which I did prior to listening to the book itself) was in some ways as instructive as the book itself. One can see easily perceive the pre-disposed frame of mind with which others came to “Sandy Hook.” Some appeared to want or expect more details about the massacre itself, but I am personally quite pleased that it did not go there. There are other books, I think, for that sort of thing.

I’m glad I read this book, but it’s the kind of book I could never imagine re-reading. Kind of like “The Gulag Archipelago;” one time through was enough. On the other hand. I would gladly look into any other books by this author — hopefully on a less grim subject.

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My favorite books of all time…

Revisado: 09-12-22

It was such a treat to find the entire collection of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles on Audible, all for a single credit! I already owned the audiobook CDs of these books but it is a pleasure to have them readily accessible.

Each narrator has their own unique style, but they are all excellent, particularly Kenneth Branagh and Patrick Stewart.

Whether you’re “reading” to your kids in the car or playing yourself a bedtime story, you’re in for a treat!

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I’ll never take Salt for granted again!

Revisado: 08-17-22

This is one of those many books that I’ve had a physical copy of on the bookshelf for some time, but had never gotten around to reading. I might never have gotten to it, were it not for audible — however I am glad that I had the physical volume to refer to, for illustrations, spelling of unfamiliar words, and so forth.

I found it to be relatively interesting, but certainly didn’t make my heart beat faster… it is well-written and meticulously researched, but not a subject that holds endless fascination for me.

Mr. Brick’s narration is excellent and extremely clear and easy to follow. The only drawback to his performance is the pronunciation of Chinese words and names. There are a couple of chapters in this book with extensive references to Chinese names, places and foodstuffs, and a passing familiarity with PinYin (which is not all that difficult to obtain) would have made a big difference. It was handy to have the physical copy of the book to refer to for these sections of the text. But this was manageable and the clarity of the other parts of the book contributed greatly to the enjoyment thereof.

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