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Good story . . . absolutely brutal narration

Revisado: 08-19-22

I'm a basketball junkie -- not a Knicks fan, but loved the '90's NBA (I was in my twenties then). Great details about Pat Riley and one of my favorite commentators now, Jeff Van Gundy.

The problem with this book is the narration - I actually came close to quitting this book several times. Pauses every few words resulting in strange, disjointed reading. It is so halting and disruptive that it is difficult to listen to - image a nervous grade school student being called to the front of the class for the first time to read out loud. I actually can't believe that whoever produced this book allowed it to go forward with this narration.

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Why, why change narrator??

Revisado: 09-28-21

I like this series a great deal, and I like the characters . . . but I have a huge complaint that may stop me from listening to any further books from this series. Why change the narrator after the first book? Honestly, a listener gets used to how dialogue flows, how accents are portrayed, the demeanor of the characters - Jonathan Keeble did all of these things in the first book expertly -- so why change? Instead of being calm and collected, Lonsdale is now excitable and loud, and Hulda's English has taken a downturn. So disappointing.

Nearly ruined the book for me.

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Boring book - excellent television

Revisado: 11-13-20

I often go back and read the books upon which movies and television programs that I enjoy are based, and in almost every case I enjoy the book as much (or more) than the movie/program. This makes perfect sense, of course, but The Handmaid's Tale is the exception. The best words I can use to describe the book are tedious and boring. The story line is so buried beneath mundane descriptions that the reader can easily forget that a storyline actually exists. The characters lack any depth at all -- even Offred. She is not clever, or incisive, or determined or any other adjective you would use to describe her character in the television series. In the book, she is just a bland woman moving from place to place without emotion, foggily remembering the past. Many times I considered stopping listening to the book, especially during those many stretches of the book in which really nothing happens. But I did finish, only to be terribly disappointed that the ending was just as bad (or worse) than the rest of the book.



I now appreciate the work of screenwriters. The basic premise set out by Atwood is interesting, but the book is terrible and the story told by her is boring. It is amazing that someone read this book and had enough imagination and creativity to salvage the basic story and turn it into a compelling television series. If you are contemplating reading Atwood's book because you enjoyed the television show, think twice.

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Hindsight

Revisado: 09-24-18

Fair warning -- this review is being written in 2018, well after the book was published with its revelations, and well after Lance Armstrong came clean (to a limited extent) on Oprah. I might also add that this is being written after settlement of the US Government's whistle-blower suit against Armstrong, which is mentioned in Hamilton's book.

How to sum up this book -- I'd say it is about 1/3rd about Tyler Hamilton, 1/3rd doping and cycling, and 1/3rd bashing and pointing the finger at Lance Armstrong. I'll address each of these topics below:

Hamilton attempts to come off as a sympathetic figure about his doping, but he never quite takes full responsibility for his actions. In those instances when he does own up to his mistakes, he is equally quick to point the finger at others (most often Armstrong). Keep in mind Hamilton had a reputation, in a sport replete with cheaters, of being a particularly egregious doper. Like others, he continued to lie about his doping until the bitter end, and he accepted money from others to mount an aggressive legal defense without coming clean. In fact, he really only "came clean" because he had no other choice . . . he was facing a Federal subpoena. One wonders if his would have unburdened his conscience if he wasn't in fear of federal prosecution (I don't think he would have). Take his contrite nature with a (huge) grain of salt.

The 1/3rd of the book detailing how integrated cycling and doping were is the most fascinating part of this book, by far. It was a shady business involving a lot of unsavory characters. The look into how and why cycling was such a mess was enlightening.

Finally, I'm no Lance Armstong apologist by any means, but if you were to take Tyler Hamilton at face value, you'd think that Armstrong was the sole catalyst for doping in the sport. Doping in cycling existed long before Armstrong, and unfortunately, it has been an issue long after his retirement. Hamilton portrays a US Postal Team as dominated by Armstrong's will, which it uncertainly was, but he fails to own up to the fact that his own failed tests occurred when he wasn't on the US Postal team (the Olympics and Team CSC). It's hard to pin these (egregious) episodes of doping on Armstrong. He also failed to mention the fact that his first wife, Haven, dated Armstrong for a short time after their divorce, and thus undoubtedly influenced his opinion. People wanted to know the truth about Armstrong, for certain, but the portrayal in the book as a battle between good (Hamilton) and evil (Armstrong) is tiring - in reality both were unsavory characters.

Hamilton (and Landis) like to portray themselves as bastions for cleaning up the sport, but they both lied for as long as they could, and then spilled the dirt on Armstrong in an attempt to save their own skin from federal prosecution (and make money). Slinging mud at Armstrong undoubtedly sold Hamilton's book, but all of these guys (Armstrong, Hamilton and Floyd Landis) were cut from the same cloth -- they were dopers, cheats and liars until they couldn't get away with it any longer.

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