mandylouise

excellent book...perhaps not best for audio

Revisado: 06-18-12

Where does The Red House rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

about the top 25%

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

This book is beautiful and well worth the read. However, its written in a very fluid style where each character's storyline is touched on fairly briefly and then without a clear deliniation the story moves to another character. In audio this is very hard to follow. I enjoyed the story so much, I stopped half way through and bought it on my kindle instead. I think very good narration could have helped with this but it is perhaps not the right book for audio

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Perfect children's book and wonderful narration

Revisado: 12-13-09

Brendan Fraser should narrate more children's books. He was fantastic at reading this book. The book is everything childrens' books should be. Full of peril, loyalty, heroes, justice, fairness, redemption, forgiveness and love.

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Life changing

Revisado: 08-15-09

In the greek myth of Pandora, she peeks inside a god-given box thereby releasing all the misery and suffering and pain of humanity. It is the compassion of one god who saves humanity by closing the lid of the box, thereby capturing hope - the only solace for human suffering. In this book, Ishmael Beah has written an account of his life that encompasses all that Pandora released and yet also shows us how hope will redeem. Losing everything when his village is attacked during the civil wars of Sierra Leone, Ishamael wanders in search of his family with a group of friends until he is taken in by the welcoming 'family' of a government led militia fighting the rebels. Brainwashed and drugged, the children are taught to become killing machines. This is a true, first account narrative about being a child who learns to kill and torture but it is, more importantly an account of how compassion can bring people back to humanity.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Quirky, original, compelling and readable

Revisado: 07-04-09

Something a little different, a little strange in places and a rollercoaster ride through China's recent history. I liked this book a lot for exposing me to another culture, in a bizarre and unique way, for being irreverent and bold and for melding that perfectly with a moving and emotional story. I like stories like The Joy Luck Club or Memoirs of a Geisha but sometimes find they take themselves a bit too seriously and I desire something spunkier but that still deals with cultural, historical and even tragic events. This book hit it just right. The book uses the story of two loyal and dedicated brothers (despite frequent rifts and betrayals) to personify the rapid cultural changes in China. If this kind of story interests you and as long as you aren't offended by strong language you'll enjoy this book.

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esto le resultó útil a 14 personas

The worst

Revisado: 06-17-09

This is one of the worst books I've listened to since joining Audible about 5 years ago. Its an easy listen, but so offensively sexist and racist it made it hard to finish. I hate it when authors or film makers take a shallow stab at an alternate look at such issues and then in doing so reinforce the same stereotypes and prejudices. Yuck.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Entertaining but unrealistic plot twists

Revisado: 09-10-05

This is a book that is hard to stop listening to, and I was totally absorbed. Its an easy enjoyable listen. However I didn't find the characters at all believable and I found their unrealistic mood changes and pretenses irritating, especially by the end of the book. Like sequences in soap operas where all is explained by the main character waking up from a season long dream, some of the plot twists required personality transplants on the part of the protagonists. Keep your expectations for good writing low, and you'll enjoy listening to this book.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona