gorillagorillagorilla

A thoroughly Britwashed Irish novel

Revisado: 04-16-24

This is a novel written by an author who graduated from Trinity College Dublin and has lived in Dublin for years. The significant characters are all Irish. They come from different regions of Ireland, different social classes, different religious backgrounds. The main character is a middle-class Irishman who affects a British accent he learned at school. The book notes the different accents of several characters, and the significance of those accents to the other characters and to the plot. AND YET the narrator is a British classical actor who makes no attempt to capture any of the various Irish accents that are so central to the novel. This 'britwashing' of the novel's accents and rhythms impoverishes the audiobook by eliminating a central plot element of the book and of Irish life. This deficit in the narration is initially surprising, gradually becomes frustrating, then enraging, then ultimately saddening. This is too good a book to give such a tone-deaf and careless treatment.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Tragically bad accents

Revisado: 03-05-22

Can't listen any more. German accent rendered as Jamaican. Irish accents devolve into Scottish. Acceptable story made intolerable by narration.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Tedious, dithering female caricatureby Male author

Revisado: 11-09-20

The female "straw man" protagonist feels naive, preachy, ineffectual. She is sometimes maundering, sometimes hysterical, and always hard to like. The author has created an unflattering caricature unqualified to be where she is. Feels to me like an implicit criticism of professional women in the guise of an ostensibly self- reflective "female" protagonist.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Brilliant melodrama and social critique

Revisado: 10-18-20

This book is a fascinating critique of marriage laws and domestic customs as they existed in 1860. It's also a compelling melodrama and portrait of domestic inequities at the time in England. It is narrated in the voices of a series of characters in the story, which provides for fascinating insights and amusing bits of characterisation. It still feels topical and exciting.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Coarse humor often misses the mark

Revisado: 09-27-20

Broad, juvenile humor and sloppy writing make this otherwise engaging story hard to tolerate. Does a disservice to Corvid authors.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

1965 hubristic spy story with awkward BDSM vibe

Revisado: 09-13-20

Full of 1960s pop psychoanalysis, theories of memory and cringe-inducing gender models. Protagonist is arrogant and analytical to a fault, yet repeatedly contrives to get caught and roughed up by muscley Nazis. A deadly serious Austin Powers.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Raadchai fan fiction

Revisado: 09-04-20

Tries to evoke Ann Leckie's work, but lacks the wit or grasp of the language.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Fun, engaging, but painfully dated.

Revisado: 03-13-20

Published in 1990, but reads like the jokes were written in 1980. Contemporary issues such as the Bermuda Triangle, spontaneous human combustion, Japanese accents, answering machines, the music of Freddie Mercury, and the annoyances of telemarketers, are discussed in a humorous, curmudgeonly fashion. Younger listeners can learn what their grandparents were joking about in the late 1970s.

Despite this awkwardness the book is well worth listening to. It's warm and engaging with some compelling moments. Just be prepared.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

The Rabbit Hole Goes Waaay Down

Revisado: 02-20-20

Rides the line between lyric brilliance and bat-sh** crazy gibberish. Its universe is carefully realized but sometimes obsessive in its minor details. Frequently compelling however.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Interesting plot ruined by wooden characters

Revisado: 02-20-20

Ham- fisted characterization, tin-eared dialogue. Adults made to found like bickering Disney channel YA characters. Tedious histrionics to no narrative purpose. Insufferable. Kept wishing the monster would dismember them all.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona