John Leonard

Masterful telling of epic classic

Revisado: 03-22-25

The narration was near perfect. The story came to life, a testament to the granular details in the text and the nuanced and fructifying reading of so many interesting characters. I didn't remember the text being so rich and the story so epic. I cried more than once and was on the edge of my seat many times. Richard Adams distilled many hero and trickster stories in a uniquely creative way through the eyes of the rabbit civilization, apparently invented whole cloth from his imagination. The vividness of the world of the rabbits and Hazel's courage propels the book, which belongs along side any other epic hero tales of old.

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The ethics of war, class, and love

Revisado: 07-13-24

As a big fan of the previous Hunger Games books I was interested in this story, however I actually saw the movie first before I read the book. That worked out fine because the movie turned out to be really good, and reading the audiobook afterwards only reinforced that I liked it. I liked how ethical grey areas were woven in and out of almost every incident. You could see Snow questioning everything--the ethics of the games, the ethics of continual war, of such deep class divisions seemingly built on nothing. The characters all symbolically represent a sharp contrast that weave in and out of Snow's ethical questioning. For example Lucy represents a people who can be trusted to govern themselves (but can she herself be trusted?), Gaul is about dictatorial control and using power to subjugate, Sejanus is a foil to Gaul but his youthful preclusion to only seeing in black and white becomes his downfall. Collins really knows her stuff in how each character subtly moves in and out of ethical points of view. Slowly I could see that Snow probably was damaged from the beginning; in another life he might have turned away from perpetuating an endless war of terror and cruelty, but because the trauma he saw as a child, and his desperation holding on to generations of wealth and status (as a founding family of the Capitol itself...really old money) drive every decision he makes, there was probably no hope.

The performance was very good - a little slow off the start but I got used to it. The way the narrator was directed (or chose?) to read the other characters voices initially was jarring, like pretty much every other character's voice but Snow's was done in a slightly mocking or non-serious tone. I see it as a choice, and ultimately it worked but when you first hear it there is a bit of adjustment. It took me half the book to look up the narrator and I realized he plays Hans in Frozen--how cool. Perfect choice. My #1 complaint is the punch-ins were absolutely terrible. You'd be listening along and all of a sudden it sounded like the next sentence was spliced in from the narrator reading into Garageband on his 2005 iMac at home. The performance was close but not always matching, and the tone was totally off. Thankfully these punch-ins are rare but they were so conspicuous that they still managed to be the focus of the narration sometimes--something you don't want. I don't understand why they can't just pay to go back to the same studio for retakes.

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Mixed Bag of Vapid and Deep Reflection

Revisado: 01-02-23

The author is direct and transparent, which is refreshing but also reveals the full extent “Instagram experiences” were at times her key motivation. There are times where the book is compellingly rich with nuanced human experience, and other moments where the author reveals shallowness or ignorance, or less interesting sides of her like little complaints of being hot, tired, or not in acceptably comfortable accommodations. Those traits do not detract too much because she is clearly forthcoming about herself and her motivations, which is laudable. What I appreciate most and what this book is mainly about, is her courage to travel (often alone) to the corners of the earth as a Black woman. From first teaching English in Japan where she stood out in a village who had never seen anyone like her, to crossing into largely untraveled lands like South Sudan or North Korea, her Black identity is often baked into the experience, for better or worse. She writes about being gawked at but having the wherewithal to recognize curiosity in strangers when there is no racist intent. But she also writes about confronting racism multiple times at border crossings, markets, and town squares all over the world. Another thing I really appreciate is her speaking about how human kindness and similarities pervade almost universally throughout all lands and cultures, despite what media images have portrayed about certain countries or their people. Travel has power to connect, and through her ‘flight deal’ strategy, it is easier than you think to take advantage.

Sometimes the author would have prior knowledge of a country or people’s complex history of slavery, war, colonization, or oppression, and thoughtfully explained what navigating that history meant as a traveler. Other times, the author implies she learned these important facts after she visited the country, and then ruminates on them from afar, or sometimes admits she knew very little about the place before entering, and elaborates very little. Those last type of entries are shortest, and perhaps the least interesting. I was also struck at her occasional ignorance of a place’s culture or customs, which challenged my model of travel, as I usually have a frame of reference when I choose a country to vacation in. There were more than few times it felt like she entered a country with a blank slate, and focused on observing the simplest of things, like the color of the leaves, or the daily rhythm of a random town off the tourist beat. This style is a tenant of her travel philosophy. On the darker flip side of this mindset may have been the time she admitted accidentally taking part in a meal where she and her travel partner were offered pangolin before they knew about its threatened nature. She passed, but her partner ate some, and photos of them eating the trafficked, endangered animal blew up online. I appreciated her admitting ignorance and learning about the issue. She demonstrated openness and courage and I empathize with her admitting not knowing everything—how could anyone know everything about every country in the world?

There were moments in the book describing trying to get an Instagram-perfect photo, or speaking about the busy, not-so-glamorous life of an influencer that fell flat for me. The journey of how loving travel turned into a blog, a travel company, and a record-breaking feat *is* interesting. However, when the author speaks about sweet influencer perks, or sponsored luxury resorts assigning her a special liaison, there is only so much I can tolerate of her repeated wispy asseverations of feeling ‘grateful to the universe’ for allowing her to party by a luxury resort’s beachside swimming pool. I also can’t see the photos she references so that element had to be constructed by my imagination in the audio version.

A minor secondary critique is hearing a handful of mispronounced English words, or a few narration stumbles that should have been caught and edited by the producer. In one memorable example the author describes being on a chic Caribbean beach and walking past U2’s Bono, but mispronounces his name. I thought that quite odd since she was name-dropping to begin with.

Despite occasional wavers, I found her travel stories, descriptions of cities, food, history, and speaking often about the magic of the natural world compelling enough to keep going with the book.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Classic book, classic narrator

Revisado: 07-31-22

Rich, detailed, dramatic, stranger-than-fiction, historical tale of guilded age Chicago transitioning to the 20th century. All is at stake: Chicago's global reputation as a city of art and commerce, plays out through the tragedies and triumphs of mounting a World's Fair within a comically short time under seemingly insurmountable odds. On top of that, a story of one of the country's most callous psychopathic murderers dovetails with the rise of the fair. Both the fair and H.H. Holmes stories are impeccably researched and told with rich story arcs which bring a cinematic quality to the pages. Scott Brick is a classic narrator perfect for this book.

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Full fledged method to facilitate understanding

Revisado: 10-29-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I recommend this book to introduce yourself to a format for setting up opportunities for satisfying communication leading to deeper understanding. Those who are familiar with some of the elements of good communication may recognize pieces but might not have them molded as a whole method, as the authors spell out. At times the simplicity of the method seems beautiful and inspiring.

The most useful parts for me were the ‘at work’ and ‘at home’ chapters because the prompts illustrate best the meat of the method and what it might look like to go through it. I look forward to the addition of video example(s) on the authors’ website which will be helpful visualizing the method. I especially noted the 'at home' prompt “what are you willing to sacrifice in order to reach your financial goals?” I think that is the most loaded question of one’s life. In fact, I think they buried the lede—chapter 8, ‘at home’ contains the most powerful application of this method I can think of: pre-marital counseling. As I grow wiser I start to recognize the questions I *didn’t* ask my wife before we got married. They’re all here: how will we approach money? What happens if we can’t get pregnant (or do get pregnant but we don’t want kids)? What does a satisfying sex life look like? If you know a couple who is thinking about getting engaged, I recommend giving this book and telling them to turn to chapter 8.

My very mild turn offs with the book centered on the early chapters, which I found occasionally inconsistent in the scope. I felt it difficult to follow the focus every moment and sometimes asked myself “wait, did they say what the all-in method is yet?” This might have been from the audio book format, which in retrospect I wonder about the efficacy over the printed version. I think this book would have been easier for me to study and understand due to what (I assume) are section breaks that organize the information well. In audio format the section breaks felt not clearly emphasized, which led to my confusion. I was hoping for some kind of PDF guide accompanying the book, and although there was none, the resources on their website did the trick. The early chapters have much good foundation to be aware of going in to a conversation, though. For example, empathy and listening have been challenging for me in the past. It seems too simple and silly, but successful listening is not easy! Growing team empathy through icebreakers and laughing together is always a good thing. The very early example in the book about empathy in which Brooklyn brownstone dwellers swoon at the smell of a cigarette being smoked 20 feet away was a little confusing although, and ironically had an anti-empathy effect on me towards the authors momentarily. And it seemed practically every example of applying the method included vacation planning. I was like, ‘jeez, these guys *like* their vacation.’

I appreciated the emphasis on how important it was not to skip the last step, the dreams. It seems fanciful, but I could see how dreams and hopes drive alignment. I recall being in meetings in the past where the process was sped up due to time constraints, and it felt rushed and unsettling at the conclusion. The dreaming step would ensure that never happens.

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for fans, in depth research and good storytelling

Revisado: 12-11-14

Would you listen to Catch a Wave again? Why?

Yes, as a Beach Boys fan I'm getting more background information and insight into their talent and motivation than from just reading wikipedia articles.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Catch a Wave?

I'm actually not even finished with it but I liked it so much to write a review already. The depth of research the author went to clearly shows. I'm enjoying the colorful character studies of all the players. I hope to find out more about Dennis and Carl Wilson, Brian's two deceased brothers who can't speak for themselves anymore. I hope the author will cover those guys well, as well as the main focus--Brian Wilson. I'm already getting a sense most of the members of the Beach Boys are given fair airtime.

Which character – as performed by Bronson Pinchot – was your favorite?

Bronson Pinchot is doing a good job; his inflection and tone are spot-on, especially conveying the melancholy over-arching feeling the author seems to gravitate towards (or at least that's how I'm hearing it). There is a big thing I wanted to point out however, which is the edits in the recording are GLARING. The first one took me by surprise, it was so noticeable. Usually I'm not that anal about how you can tell what lines are punched-in (re-reads), but these are pretty bad. I don't know if Bronson himself was manning the recording gear in his own booth, or if it was a change in producers or recording booths, or whatever, but I just have to point that out. My guess would be Bronson recorded it partly at a home studio and partly in a professional studio (or some combination thereof) and those two sources are not as similar as you would want. It gets better after awhile, and honestly thank god the book is so compelling, because the words he's saying supersede the quality issue.

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

Well, other than the punch-ins, no extreme reactions yet. I am closely listening to the stories detailing the mental state Brian was in, like how he would call his old crush from high school 15 years later at 3 am. Who does that? She wrote it off as harmless, but clearly the man was operating on some other understanding of the world than most people.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas