Martin Bakner

Interesting subject, annoying performance

Revisado: 11-26-24

I won't go into the content here, since I just couldn't get through it all.
The hosts sound like giggly middle school students who just discovered cheap wine. They venture into Valley Girl speech patterns - with a large dose of Kardashian-style vocal fry - and repeat each other's catch phrases.
The 'lessons' appear to be read from a script with cat doodles in the margins that distract them from the topic.

I'm surprised that I made it a third of the way through. I guess I expected the goofiness to subside eventually, but those hopes were dashed.

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Douglas Adams would applaud

Revisado: 11-24-24

Heavy HGTTG vibes with a touch of Monty Python for good measure. Outstanding production and performance.

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Authors need to stop this!

Revisado: 10-07-23

Stories that are written in present tense sound like a failed teleplay script...it's annoying and adds nothing to the tale.

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Not exactly a short story...more of a

Revisado: 03-25-22

series of overlapping vignettes. While you get different POVs, the story doesn't advance. Rather, it just hits a dead end. Perhaps this is intentional, to force you to follow the story in serial form. But I found it lacking.

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A five-scale is insufficient

Revisado: 12-27-21

Obviously, the story is outstanding. Thus, my review here is for the performance.
Tim Curry is masterful! In the narrator's role, I picture Charles Dickens himself as he would have been outfitted for a public reading of the tale.
He captures Scrooge's voice, at times harsh and rheumy, then drenched with fear and sorrow,and finally as gleeful as could be.
Marley's voice is deeply pained, both with regret and physical punishment.
The various male characters are given distinct personalities, and Mr. Curry is wise to treat the females properly, unlike the condescension assigned by lesser readers.
For decades, my favorite performance of Scrooge was that of the legendary Lionel Barrymore in Orson Welles 1938 radio production. But no more.
Tim Curry owns the part.

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Pronunciation is the key.

Revisado: 12-17-21

Keeping in mind that I'm a 61-year-old man listening to a children's story...
...clearly, Mr. Baum was of the opinion that his young readers would have an advanced vocabulary...
...but it is a pleasant fairy tale.
My issue here is with Mr. Hale's retroflexion in pronouncing the 'str' combination as 'shtr'. Words like 'strong' are spoken as 'shtrong', 'destroy' becomes 'deshtroy', and so forth.

It's painful to hear and should not be tolerated.

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T Bone hits all the marks!

Revisado: 11-09-21

A beautifully poetic look at a difficult subject. T Bone is a musical genius, but he's also a solid interpreter of culture and history.

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Thorough and far from boring

Revisado: 11-02-21

Prof. Albala does an excellent job making a lecture series more like a conversation. He's informative without being dry or monotonous.

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Hilarious! But also... uplifting.

Revisado: 10-24-21

Alice is one of the greatest storytellers in rock 'n roll. Hell, he's one of the greatest storytellers period.
Who else can make you laugh out loud about a near-fatal auto accident?
Bonus: the new song recordings are great! Alice's voice is better than ever.

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Great material, but the narrator needs practice.

Revisado: 10-23-21

Professor Scott brings together centuries of folklore, literature, and the edges of the human psyche in a lecture series that... unfortunately... lacks the one thing necessary for a successful Audible presentation: a listenable narrator.

Scott's text probably reads well to the eye, but it's dry to the ear. As she reads, her delivery is stilted with breathing pauses in places where a comma doesn't exist.

Perhaps she is more comfortable in a classroom, reacting to an in-person audience.

All that said, if you find the subject intriguing, by all means listen and learn. But keep the coffee cup filled.

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