OYENTE

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  • 26
  • opiniones
  • 10
  • votos útiles
  • 126
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IT AIN'T EASY READING THE RUSSIANS...

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-25-25

Another famous work of Russian literature down (and not a moment too soon!). "Notes from Underground" was (probably) the only book I didn't get to when I took "The Stockdale Course: Foundation of Moral Obligation" almost two decades ago at the U.S. Naval War College. The pain from having to read some of the other Russian greats like Solzhenitsyn was, at the time, enough. All kidding aside, Dostoevsky is one of the greats to come out of that country. "Crime and Punishment" should be among the greatest works contained in any worthy personal library of serious fans of literature. I would place "Notes from Underground" among the Existentialists as there is no shortage of....wait for it...existential angst in this short work of his. Written in 1864, it was ahead of the Russian Revolution of 1917, but it's pretty easy to see why the "average" Russian might have been ready for change. If he is a sound representative of his countrymen at the time, Russia must have been a pretty dark and miserable place (and let's not forget all that cold and snow, as that could have driven anyone to depression!). Before you read it, though, schedule something fun and enlivening when you're done. Either that or a full bottle of Absolut will be needed to get you out of the doldrums!

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ABSOLUTELY AMAZING BOOK!

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-24-25

Wow, this one is a WINNER! This was one of the most engrossing books I have read in a long time (on the non-fiction, science-side of the house). Well-written, uniquely informative, well-organized...I'm gushing (I know), but this one really made an impression. I've read some similar books from the Stanford University neuro-scientist Robert Sapolsky. What makes them so good as authors is their ability to take relatively complex ideas and issues related to the behavioral sciences and make those issues completely relatable to non-scientific readers (although I am a doctoral-level scientist in the medical and public health arena). This was so good, and I learned so much, that I will likely read it again--right after my wife reads it (I had been praising so much while I read that it wold be impossible to get out of her hands right now!). I would especially recommend this for anyone who either has a family member or has themselves experienced trauma, abuse, addiction, or a learning disability (and other issues) in their lives. You will find this book not only wholly engaging, but thoroughly enlightening. Well done, Dr. Mate & Son!!

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DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME READING THIS...

Total
1 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
2 out of 5 stars
Historia
1 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-07-25

This book should never have been published. I'm not sure how any editorial staff at any good publishing house could have let something like this get through without having had an expert review. I am a terminally-degreed expert in disaster medicine with an actual graduate degree in the Medical Management of CBRNE Weapons of Mass Destruction. I taught a course on the history of biological and chemical warfare at the National War College in Washington, DC. To put it bluntly, there are more mistakes in this book than can be recounted here. Most notably, the author constantly refers to something she calls "chem-bio agents." There is no such thing as a "chem-bio agent." There are chemical agents and there are biological agents; the properties of the two couldn't possibly be more disparate, as are their effects, delivery systems, and their methods for treatment. In my community of interest (CoI), when someone uses the term "chem-bio agents," it's an immediate red-light marker that the individual knows not what they think they are talking about. Add to the fact that the first 1/4 of the book is devoted to the so-called "use" of chemical and biological agents not in actual history--but (mostly) Greek Mythology. In other words, historical lore (at best) is used considerably to discuss chemical and biological warfare in the ancient world. This one rates a letter to the editor.

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The horror of war.

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 08-14-24

I was there as part of NATO from 1993-95. Horrifyingly accurate in its account of what happened there.

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THERE'S A REASON WHY YOU WIN THE PULITZER PRIZE..

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 11-16-23

At the start of this review I have to say that I regret waiting 26-years to read Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel." I actually remember picking this book up at an airport while still on active-duty with the Navy. It's start--"Yali's Question"--grabbed me immediately. But for some inexplicable reason, I put it on a bookshelf, and there is sat for almost three decades. Perhaps we end up getting to certain books when the timing is right for us--whether that's intellectual timing in terms of fully understanding the author's overall thesis, or personal timing (i.e., do things come to us when we're meant to grow from the knowledge they give us?). Who knows (and does anyone really care)? In any event, this is a terrific read from start to finish. I think the most important point to draw from this work is Diamond's recommendation/position statement that history is, in fact, as much of a science as what we think fall into the otherwise classic realms of science in the first place (namely, physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, etc.). This point may be mind-blowing to both the scientific community, and that of the traditional liberal arts community where history as a discipline of study has otherwise reposed, but in the end Diamond makes a pretty darn compelling argument for this very case. At a minimum, this argument (compelling as a true paradigm shift in perspective--no matter how people might despise the term "paradigm shift" in the first place!) is valid and substantive, and seems to "beg" a "meet-me-in-the-middle" argument for both the scientific and liberal arts community. Bottom-line: An important book for the intellectually curious and--more importantly--those members of the so-called "intelligentsia" who are willing to accept alternative views to historically otherwise static perspectives.

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ANOTHER GOOD FORSYTH READ...

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 10-27-23

Well, more proof that a good, old story is still a good story--period! This great book made for a really good 70's-something movie. I read this and "The Odessa Files" back-to-back. Well worth the time.

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GREAT BOOK...STEPHEN AMBROSE AT HIS BEST!

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 10-18-23

Well, I guess this turning out to be a great book was kind of a no-brainer given the popularity of this HBO series. Absolutely fantastic read; blew through this in like eight hours! Ambrose takes you right to the Line with the men from Easy Company. Their exploits from D-Day to the fall of the Third Reich are the stuff of legend. It's too bad that MAJ Dick Winters never made 4-star. He truly deserved it. Whether you're just a military history buff, or a young officer just coming up in our military looking for one of the best case studies in leadership that's ever been put together, this is a "must-have" for your personal library.

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TOUGH SUBJECT POORLY COVERED

Total
1 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
2 out of 5 stars
Historia
1 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 10-10-23

In a recent review, the "NY Times" called this book "A gripping and savagely beautiful debut novel." I had decided to read Hertz's book after reading a more recent review in the weekend edition of the paper same paper (the quote in this sentence comes from a separate review by Eric Lee published online on AUG 1). Deciding to read the book in the first place was a big deal for me; the trepidation came from having been sexual abuse victim as a child myself. In my case, the abuse lasted for two years at the hands two separate members of the Catholic clergy. With that in mind, I was neither impressed nor "gripped" by this so-called "beautiful" novel. The emotions and raw feelings Hertz enumerates in the book are real, and no doubt cathartic. As victims of rape, molestation, serial abuse, and severe sexual violence, each of us who manage to survive into adulthood carry around heaping tons of scar tissue we must learn to live with (or...not). I'm quite sure that the self-abuse that follows survivors (e.g., drug and alcohol abuse/dependence, sexual promiscuity, inability to maintain healthy relationships)(which Hertz details in massive doses throughout the book) will resonate with everyone who has either experienced sexual abuse themselves or has observed these behaviors themselves as the loved-one of an abuse victim. In that sense (alone), "The Lookback Window" is of significant value in its breathtakingly brutal honesty of what abuse of this kind does to the human species. What I found disturbing about the book is its graphicness; while told from the slant of a sexual abuse victim, it is nonetheless gay pornography. After reading it, I'm not sure I understand why the author had to provide so much detail about his adult sexual encounters, but offers comparatively little detail about the actual abuse he encountered as a child/teenager. While I applaud Mr. Hertz's willingness to take this very, very difficult subject on (especially through the lens of his own experiences), I was disappointed by the author's need to simultaneously put in so much raw sexual detail. At the. end of the day I'm not sure how it actually contributes to an otherwise important accounting of this pervasive behavior towards children in our society.

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A great read! A true classic.

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 06-24-23

I read this at the end of the COVID-19. Pandemic. Good timing. I needed something to lighten my mood after these trying three years. Although truth be known, it was nothing when compared with what Boccaccio must have endured during the Black Death!

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This was a sadly beautiful story...

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-24-23

I loved this book/novella. Beautifully and superbly written. There are more than a few moments in its reading that you emerge into the very time and place of the story. The prose is poetic and uniquely American--simple, descriptive, emotive. If you have ever had any urge to engage in the Zen of fly fishing, this book will almost undoubtedly lead you to your own river. One of the best writers I have encountered in years.

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