T. Fisher

Good book marred by bad politics

Revisado: 01-04-23

Enjoyed this tale of Iran even though it started out with a puzzling defense of Iran's 2009 election, insisting that Ahmedinejad won legitimately. This is regarded as nonsense by most Iran observers, who believe the election was outright and brazenly stolen by the regime.

The puzzlement then deepened when the author described financing his trip by participating in medical experiments. I thought, my god, what have I got myself into?

The politics get raised frequently with criticisms of past U.S. and UK actions in Iran. These criticisms are generally fair enough and largely accurate. But the author's opinions on what this checkered past means for the present seem pretty simplistic.

So, don't get the book expecting reliable political analysis. But it is an entertaining and informative record of a trip through Iran that I certainly won't embark on myself. If you are looking for that, it's not a bad choice.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Great - just wish it was longer!

Revisado: 11-28-22

I love Paul Simon's music and listening to him telling the stories behind it is wonderful. I just wish it had gone on longer - there is a lot more music I would love to hear about.

I say that not as a criticism, but as a listener ready for Volume 2.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Excellent overview from the revolution to 2012

Revisado: 11-23-22

Great overview of Iranian history from the immediate pre-revolution through 2012. This is a traditional top-down history recording mainly the big events and actions of political leaders, but also goes into some of the societal backdrop. If you are looking for an introduction to modern Iranian history, this is a great place to start. It is fairly even-handed, presenting both the Iranian perspective and western reasons for distrust of Iran. It was just what I was hoping for.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Awful! Watch out for the scam reviews

Revisado: 09-08-21

I wanted to learn something from this book, but the quality is just awful. By "quality", I mean:
- The content is about the level you'd get from an internet search
- The English is pretty bad and I am confident the true authors were not native English speakers (lot of tortured phrasing and inappropriate overuse of the "-ing" forms of verbs)
- I believe the narrator must either be a robot or an incredibly insensitive person. The narration goes into descriptions of some very dark psychology, but the narrator's voice is artificially bright and cheery, like she's reading a story about bunny rabbits to a group of three year olds.

I am also confident that the reviews on this book are fake! I came to this conclusion by looking at the reviewers. My first thought was that the reviewers would all have one review on their accounts. But surprise - they all had 16 to 20. And they had all reviewed almost exactly the same books! Isn't that a coincidence?

This whole book is a scam, unfortunately. This is the very first time in about three or four years that I have returned a book to Audible. Don't be fooled as I was.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Don't get the audiobook

Revisado: 04-20-19

I have the hardcover, which is beautiful and wonderful. I decided to try the audiobook after reading the great reviews. What a mistake. It's OK and all, but the hardcover gives you the full libretto to the show, which is missing here. Not to mention the fantastic pictures and illustrations.

Lin-Manuel Miranda reads his annotations on the songs from the book, but they are all out of context since they don't link up to the text. Imagine reading footnotes to Shakespeare without the text of the play and you'll have an idea.

This is a visual book. Get the visual. It doesn't work in this format.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Advanced level

Revisado: 04-13-19

The biggest problem with this audio book is that it does NOT include the forward by Pema Chrodron as advertised. I really want to hear what and has to say about this book. So that is a major disappointment I think Audible should rectify.

Talking about the content, I admit I was over my head with this book. Chogyam Trungpa starts out by saying we need to first look at what Buddhism is. So it sounds like we're going to start out gently. But soon it gets into topics that may make more sense for advanced practicioners, but I wouldn't know.

Still, I have listened twice and likely will again in a few months. This all sounds highly unorthodox and really remarkable to me.

Chatham Trungpa himself was a paradox, so that's another layer on this. An alcoholic who renounced his monastic vows and got married? But still was regarded as a master, for lack of a better term?

The book is as remarkable as the man and has taught me a lot. Highly recommended. A bit mind bending.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 10 personas

Didn't care for narration

Revisado: 04-05-19

Nice collection of the original Robert E. Howard Conan stories. I enjoyed listening to it. Somehow the narrator's voice didn't appeal to me very much. He did a good job but his voice doesn't have a compelling timbre. It also sounded like the voice he used for Conan was a little to heavily influenced by Schwarzenegger. His voice for women sounded cartoonish.

Sorry, narrator. This was a big job and a lot of work, I realize. Good, but not great.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Good pathos, good insights

Revisado: 12-05-18

This is a set of six conversations with couples in relationships (apart from one another-daughter conversation). There are good insights and highly emotional content. I'm not sure I got any answers to my own relationship troubles, but I will listen again.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Does not live up to the original

Revisado: 05-12-18

My Dinner With Andre is one of my favorite films ever, so I was curious and intrigued by this audio version in French. But it is not really enjoyable.

The two main actors is good, but the audio engineering is bad on all fronts. It sounds very much like when CNN speaks to someone via Skype - like when they record someone by putting a microphone in front of a computer speaker. The sound effects are amateurish and the extra - a waitress who appears occasionally - gives new meaning to the word "wooden."

A good idea with good performances that is brought down by poor production. All these problems present distractions that prevent you from getting immersed in the experience. And that immersion is the real genius behind the original.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona