Tim Crone

Fantastic!

Revisado: 12-28-15

What did you love best about The Godfather?

This recording is exceptionally well-done, from the reader's intonation to his subtly different voices for the multitude of characters. I had no trouble identifying speakers, and I did not observe any jarring transitions or editing. The book, of course, has great reread value.

What other book might you compare The Godfather to and why?

The Godfather is the classic in organized crime literature. Like many other works of fiction it takes a series of marginally-related tales and intertwines them, but not many authors have done so with the seamlessness of The Godfather.

What does Joe Mantegna bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Mantegna's voicing and intonation is fantastic, and makes it simple to keep sections of repeating dialogue in order.

If you could take any character from The Godfather out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I would love to chat with Carmela Corleone (wife of the don) - I would imagine she has some great stories to tell about interacting with the mean and mighty!

Any additional comments?

This is one of the best Audible purchases I have made, I am certain that I'll get a lot of repeat use from it.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Fun book, appreciate the geeks

Revisado: 12-07-15

What did you love best about Reamde?

As a nerd, I appreciated that the nerds of the story weren't completely useless in practical matters - they were all able to walk, talk, and breathe without assistance. I liked the framing of the story as well; it was interesting without being too formal.

What did you like best about this story?

I have never read anything by Stephenson before, so I didn't have many expectations. This was a fun story with reasonable plot and character development, and while no great novel it was a good diversion.

What does Malcolm Hillgartner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The ability to drive, jog, wash dishes, etc. while receiving the content of the book. The narration wasn't bad, but I don't really have problems reading pulp novels normally!

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

The book is fairly long, and while it doesn't drag there are periods of more or less action. Unlike some books I didn't feel any need to digest; the story just was, then was not, and then was again, with no necessary transition.

Any additional comments?

Not sure I'll use guided reviews again, this set of questions is rather poor! The book was pretty good, and seemed to me just a normal pulp thriller. It was fun to listen, and I will probably return to it when I'm in the market for something silly. I don't often spend credits on pulp fiction, but I don't feel like this one was wasted.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Great Thesis, Poor Delivery

Revisado: 12-07-15

(I am mostly repeating my review of the Audible version of the book from amazon.com. I'm not sure why Amazon didn't just stick it over here, but so it goes...)

I listened to this book - even the notes and introductions. With respect to the Audible version of the book, the narrator is fine and does a good job. However, the Audible organization of appendices and text notes is beyond bizarre. I would greatly recommend getting the text version over the Audible version, especially if you suspect you will be familiar with some of the arguments.

Content-wise, unfortunately Dean Baker mostly parrots what the Libertarians have been crying about for decades, while both major parties turn a deaf ear. I was really hoping for something new, or at least creatively packaged.

On the plus side, Baker has a good point that Conservatives (nit - I'd say "corporatist Republicans" but whatever) have won the language debate, and love to hide corporate welfare under pleasant-sounding names. Politicians of all stripes love to give government incentives and protectionism to their buddies, and at least half of those (R) were mentioned. Baker also has a good point that immigration is a horrid mess. If you don't have much economic knowledge, then maybe these will be interesting for you. Even if the points are a review, maybe they'll revive some latent fire in your belly and you'll want to go beat down a Tea Partier. For me, they were disappointingly more of the same.

If you've read Libertarian propaganda from the past 20 years you've probably read every point in the book, and then some. Love them or hate them, the die-hard Libertarians are at least honest about welfare regardless of who is getting it. Still, different audience, I get why it could be interesting to some folks.

The most frustrating part of the book, and the reason I rate it so low, is that on many points Baker vacillates wildly. Protectionism is bad for doctors and lawyers, but not for dishwashers. Unions are good, but the AMA and Bar are not. Immigration is good, but only for "skilled" individuals. There are a few dozen examples of these inconsistencies throughout the book, running about the same frequency I might encounter with a thoughtless partisan friend. I was expecting more from an actual, published, edited book; I would love to have been able to recommend it to politically disagreeing friends, but frankly any corporatist Republican is going to be able to tear it to shreds without much trouble.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Ho hum story, ho hum performance

Revisado: 12-07-15

What did you like best about Locke & Key? What did you like least?

This audio play felt sort of like watching an old horror movie and continually wondering who is going to get done in next. I did not think the characters were compelling, and the audio play aspect was thoroughly confusing - too many characters with similar voices, and minimal or even contradictory character development in the text.

If you’ve listened to books by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez before, how does this one compare?

Not applicable

What three words best describe the narrators’s voice?

Far too similar. There were many voice actors; I could usually tell the female voices from the male voices, but I couldn't keep the audio straight in my head. The dialogue and accents were all very similar (*oddly, since the characters were supposed to be wildly different ages and from different parts of the country*) so it turned into chaos.

Could you see Locke & Key being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

This would be the movie at the bottom of the bin at the Dollar Tree during Halloween. The stars would be those nice people you've seen (before and after) in commercials for cat food.

Any additional comments?

I did listen to the whole thing, so it can't have been all bad. In retrospect, though, I'm not sure why I kept going; the book wasn't fun or silly, it wasn't curiously mysterious or suspenseful, it was incredibly and unnecessarily vulgar (so I couldn't listen with the kids), it didn't teach anything or explore any interesting philosophical questions. The audible chaos of the 'play' aspect just compounded these factors; by the second half I kept checking the TOC to see how many hours were left.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 4 personas