Son of Thor's whimper

Too PC for a serious history

Revisado: 04-15-21

The third biography of general Grant I listened to over the years and by far the most detailed and also the easiest to read by a very good writer, but still I do not want to recommend it. The key issue at the time of the civil war was the motivation for the states to fight a bloody civil war. Mr Chernow, in my view, in this context overplays the liberation of the slaves in the slave states and underplays the issue of maintaining the union. This also escalates over the narrative and in the end it, once again in my view, borders to fictional storytelling rather than serious historical narration. Maybe too long, too pc for having spent 50 hours of my life on listening to. But General Grant is a both a grand and a complex figure in history; someone with higher historical ambitions will write a better biography, I hope.

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A new take on vikings

Revisado: 11-27-20

Well written, competently blazing through old Scandinavian marxist notions of how Viking society should be. A breath of air and an extremly good read. The narration was also of the highest quality.

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Misstiteled but good

Revisado: 02-13-20

The lectures mainly cover the axial age in the Eastern Parts of Eurasia. This is good in the sense that it gives ample time to walk through the main Eastern religions in terms of their development in the axial age. Which Prof Meusse does with skill, taking someone like me, with a not to high level of understanding of these religions, quite a bit further in my understanding of their history as well as theology. The flipside is that after going through Zoroaster, Prof Meusse left the Abrahamitic religions more or less without consideration, stating that others have already treated these better within the framework of the Great Courses. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any of these courses, so I am not helped in the sense that the development from Zoroaster to Judaism over Christian beliefs to Islamic beliefs are left untreated. Which is a great idea for a new set of Axial lectures; now focusing on the Abrahamitic religions and their shared history.

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Nice to hear President Bartlett but he was too PC

Revisado: 10-09-19

Martin Sheen should have made me swoon over this audio book, but not even he could take away this feeling of that somebody had written or edited the story in order to be politically correct in its worst sense, being historically distorted. Very much time was used up to make any subgroup of the American ethnic taperstry part of this story, so that the general story was either lost or downplayed to the degree that I thought this is a waste of time.
The narration, how could it be else, was excellent.

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Not good enough

Revisado: 10-09-19

Several issues with this audiobook. Foremost, the content is basically a history of Sumer which was what I wanted so that is Ok, but it is not helping me. Firstly, it is rather shallow, and secondly, where it had information which I was interested in there was no possibility to a follow up on my side as there neither in the narrative nor in a pdf was any references. The two times I would have had an interest to follow up I was left in the dark as to who made this claim, what year it was made and where it was published. The Great Courses publish a pdf with among other things a list of relevant litterature. I missed this here. Not even the author was made known, baring me from figuring out for myself via that persons publications. So interesting to a degree, but way too shallow.
Second, the narrative made the impression of a computer voice, in spite of the narrator having a name. During the only three and half hours, I many times got the impression that the voice was trying to text letter by letter and thereby lost the resemblance of a human voice. As well as a correct pronunciation. The narration made an airy impression.

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Fading interest för Albia

Revisado: 09-17-19

Listening to Lindsey Davis or for that matter Donna Leone is to me a question of combining a good who done it read with getting the flavor and the living experience of ancient Rome (or today's Venice). By creating her other hero Albia, Lindsay is now somehow reusing the story of Falco and getting a female informer where she can comment on the world of men from a female perspective. In this book, though, she somehow has performed below par, measured against her considerable talents. The who done it story was too thin and becoming apparent much to early (something usually not happening to me). When the description of Rome somehow becomes more like a readout of historical maps without a sense of place and presence half the value of the read gets lost. Furthermore, when the cultural description of ancient Rome deviates from historical facts and increasingly becomes a commentary of modern mores, especially between genders, I get irritated. I am sure Flavia Albia would be astonished by a Roman world where she more or less could work in her line of trade, in the manner she is doing. So it becomes a boring, uninspiring and unrealistic read. I will now take a pause from Flavia Albia, maybe Rome is now fading away.

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Dark, so dark, so well concocted

Revisado: 09-16-19

Read it any review spoils it The best since Fatherland Kicks one's mind and crushes ones hart, making Pandora's box completely empty

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Funny!

Revisado: 03-29-19

A good listening, interesting set up, the usual Florida characters and a well spun storyline. It made for good entertainment during some long walks, with me ending up listening to the final third of the story in my reclining chair, not able to save it for the next day. The only small downside: the narration is, at times in character, and when the dialog is done in this way it became difficult for me to distinguish some of the characters. But engagingly and well rendered by Mr Wilson.

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Last helping hand

Revisado: 03-29-19

Over the years Stephen Hawkings books have accompanies me on travels or as in this case on long walks. The subject matters were invariably difficult and at times daunting. In this book its the same, but more so. The bigest questions possible and still more than worthwhile. It is impressive to hear how well thought through and clearly stated Prof. Hawkings manages to argue and develop his answers to the questions. The relative brevity in answering the questions, in about half an hour a question, suggests a long preparation in making the case simply, and it makes the book digestible also for an average reader. A realy enjoyable and worthwhile listening and with a sad note, this being the last helping hand Stephen Hawking could give. It is a big help.

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The female eye - again

Revisado: 03-22-19

Good story with a interesting and believable storyline and movements in regard to both Falco's family as well as his romantic entanglement with Helena. So worth listening to. But: Writing this review gave me pause for thought and I at this point have a suspicion that Lindsey Davis, basically is offering a reverse Barbara Cartland, much less interesting than a reverse cowgirl. Barbara Cartland is using a historical context (often) to portray some young misunderstood girl falling in love with some socially unattainable gentleman and out this she spins here yarn. Switch the roles and this is the emotional motor of the story. Low born man, high born girl and how are they ever to come together? Then merge this with a blatant disregard for the mores of the time and the basic story becomes unplausible, bordering on insulting to men. Falco is not a Roman man, he is a henpicked modern man hardly even to be found in today's efeminitized world. Doing the dishes, cooking the food etc. As plausible as that Falco is served a polenta (a corn based dish from crops found in South America in the 16th century). The fight scenes are as artificial as jello and Ms Davis should read a couple or more of Lee Child's books to study the choreography of realistic fight scenes. So this is almost some sort of female smut, set in historic time but lived by figures from today. A little as a holodeck experience on Starship Enterprise, enjoyable but a cheap thrill.So guys, leave this to your girlfriends or even worse your wifes and their fantasies about how men are. Ms Davis's to-do would be to read SPQR by Mary Beard as well as the aforementioned books of Lee Child.

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