Cameron

Not Up to Par

Revisado: 07-31-24

I really liked the rest of the Kingsbridge series, but this one just didn’t seem to hold up. The battle scenes especially were too procedural and boring. John Lee was great as always.

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Probably Only for Basketball Fans

Revisado: 03-06-23

As a basketball fan, I enjoyed this audiobook for the most part. The first half of the book spent a lot of time developing the “characters” and focusing on how their paths brought them to L.A., and it was interesting. However, the second half focused far too much on Kobe Bryant’s sexual assault scandal. At one point, I got the feeling that the premise of writing a book about the Lakers mini-dynasty was just a ruse for Pearlman to really write about the assault.
As for Hutchison, the narrator, I felt he did a decent job, and his voice and narration were solid. However, there were at least a half dozen names that were grossly mispronounced that even a casual basketball fan would know. If he wasn’t knowledgeable enough about the NBA to know these names, they should have made sure the director or producer were.
Examples:
Benoit Benjamin
Hedo Turkoglu
Manu Ginobili
Peja Stojakovic (got it right most of the time)
PPG instead of points per games
San Francisco instead of Sacramento

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Worst Grisham I’ve Listened To

Revisado: 12-28-22

I have listened to 34 of John Grisham’s audiobooks, and this is, by far, the one that I have enjoyed the least. My problems begin with the writing itself. Overall, this book just didn’t have the feel or voice of being written by John Grisham. It’s almost as if it were written by a ghost writer. Obviously, the main character is the same as in “The Whistler”, but the storytelling and dialogue were completely different, and the main character herself seemed to have a completely different personality. She was not nearly as likable as she was in the original. Additionally, there were so many “Why in the world would they do that?” situations that I lost count. It is unfathomable to think that the educated and experienced characters in this book would do and say the things they did. Also, nearly all of the dialogue between Lacy and Jeri was horribly written and unnatural.
As far as the performance goes, while I don’t dislike Mary-Louise Parker as an actress, I’ll admit that she’s not my favorite. That being said, it’s hard for me to listen to any Grisham book and not hear Michael Beck’s voice, but that’s not Parker’s fault. He just always does such a great job. I felt that Cassandra Campbell did a much better job on “The Whistler”. Parker just didn’t seem to have a grasp of the character of Lacy Stoltz. Her performance cause Lacy to come across as whiny and ill-tempered…although as I said earlier, that might have a lot to do with the writing.
So overall, I can’t really recommend this audiobook. I certainly won’t listen to it again.

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Doesn't hold up.

Revisado: 10-09-14

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Someone who already loves the book.

What could Harper Lee have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

A plot would have been nice. It was just a couple of years in the life of the Finch children. Boo Radley helped it to come back to somewhat of a full circle, but not enough.

What didn’t you like about Sissy Spacek’s performance?

She did a decent job for the voice of Scout, but all the other voices sounded the same.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It wasn't horrible, but no redeeming qualities for me.

Any additional comments?

I just don't think it should be considered a modern classic.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Boring

Revisado: 09-19-14

What disappointed you about Winter's Bone?

Not enough story. It was basically just a week in the life of a hillbilly. There was a small amount of a mission that the main character was on, but not enough to make a book out of. I can't fathom how they made a feature-length film out of this book. I would figure it would make a half-hour show at most.

Has Winter's Bone turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. Just Daniel Woodrell books. I listened to "The Maid's Version" and didn't care much for it, either.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Emma Galvin?

Maybe Carolyn McCormick. It's hard to say because I'm not a particular fan of most women narrators. I don't mean to come of as sexist...men just usually do a better job of voicing female characters than women do voicing male characters. It doesn't really matter, though. The book was too boring to be interesting regardless of who narrated it.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

That's the problem. This book didn't incite any reaction from me. I just didn't care. I didn't care about the main character. I didn't care about the small amount of conflict that took place. I just didn't care.

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My least favorite of the series by far.

Revisado: 05-02-14

What disappointed you about Hell's Corner?

It was extremely over-contrived. Baldacci kept trying to throw in twist after twist. Oliver Stone continually made deductions and arrived at conclusions that would be a HUGE stretch. In addition, the dialogue was often cheesy.

Would you ever listen to anything by David Baldacci again?

The more I listen to him, the more I doubt it.

What didn’t you like about Ron McLarty and Orlagh Cassidy ’s performance?

McLarty was fine, but not as strong as in some of the series' other books. Cassidy was horrible at the accents she was trying to pull off. The British accent was okay, but her U.S. southern accent was very distracting. Even when trying to voice a charactier with no accent at all, it seem like she struggled.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not so much. I was ready for it to be over while it still had hours left...and that's rare for me.

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Good for a fan

Revisado: 03-26-14

What about Clive Mantle’s performance did you like?

I enjoyed how the narrator used the different voices of John, Paul, George, and Ringo when reading their quotes. You could definitely tell whose quote it was just by his voices. It really gave life to what could have been a tedious non-fiction work.

Any additional comments?

I think this book is great for a die-hard fan. However, for the casual fan or average reader, there is probably way too much minutiae to keep it entertaining...hence the 44 hours.

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Mixed Bag

Revisado: 01-30-14

Any additional comments?

The memoirs part of this book was great. Billy has lived a fascinating life. The musings part of this book, read before a live audience, was mostly an unfunny stand-up act. I expected more from Mr. Crystal.

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Bad audio

Revisado: 12-09-13

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Gus, obviously.

Would you be willing to try another one of Lee Horsley’s performances?

Yes

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I'm looking forward to watching the mini-series.

Any additional comments?

The audio on this audiobook was horrible. Gus is supposed to be a loud talker, as is referenced many times in the book. However, the difference in volume between the normal narration and Gus's dialogue was so vast that my speakers would rattle when Gus talked. If I turned the volume down, I wouldn't be able to hear the rest of the narration. Also there were many instances of poor quality when it came to the recording: frequent and audible sound breaks, papers rustling, and even an instance or two of the narrator clearing his throat. I enjoyed the story thoroughly, and even the voice of the narrator, but this book needs to be re-recorded.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Disjointed

Revisado: 09-13-13

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This is my first review to write after listening to over 100 audiobooks, but I felt it needed to be written. I enjoyed the author's imagery and poetry-like descriptions, but the story was too "all over the place". The vignettes, while independently interesting, were not in any sort of reasonable order (at least none that I could discern from listening to the audiobook) which made following the story difficult. They jumped randomly from World War I to the 1960s and everywhere in between. While I don't always mind this in certain books or films, it just didn't work in this book.
Also, from the descriptions I read, both Audible and in other publications, I believed that this book was written as a mystery. It read more like a bunch of disjointed barely-connected stories, none of which piqued my interest as to who (if anybody) might have committed the deed in question. I'm extremely glad it was only four hours long, as I would not have been happy to have wasted any more of my time than that listening to this book.

Would you ever listen to anything by Daniel Woodrell again?

I will probably listen to Winter's Bone in the future, just because it has been so well received.

Have you listened to any of Brian Troxell’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas