T. Creeley

Gorgeous Writing

Revisado: 05-09-24

Reader, listen first to the novel and form your own opinion. Then read this.
....
In all seriousness, this is a book that starts and ends with interest, but doesn't tell a particularly compelling story in its middle. Bronte is a wonderful writer and there is great pleasure simply in letting her sentences pass through one's mind. The narrator does an excellent job giving life to those sentences though the recording is a bit soft and I had to crank my car stereo higher than I do for the average Audible book.

Back to the story. I think Bronte was far more interested in the main character's love interest or his friend Hunsden, both peculiar in their own respective ways, than in the main character himself. Indeed, the book is most interesting for the window it opens into the past, particularly in regard to the schooling of boys and girls in the mid-19th century. I loved the moment when the teacher writes on a plagiarized assignment "Stupid and deceitful" and then tears it in two in front of the class. Such bluntness and directness would not pass in a classroom today.

If you're a completist of Bronte fiction, go ahead and enjoy this. If you haven't yet read Jane Eyre or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, read those first, and then, eventually, return here.

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Picaresque Romp through the NYC Art Scene

Revisado: 04-25-24

4.5 Stars

This audiobook was a fun trip through the galleries, studios, art fairs, and museums of NYC and Miami. The author reads her own work perfectly, with wit and self-deprecatory humor. I found myself repeating many of the best jokes to my wife when I got home from my evening commute.

The book itself is best when presenting the characters of the NYC art world, whether the gallerist Jack or the artist Julie Curtiss. It is at its worst when the author stretches beyond humor and satire to try to reach profundity in regards to how we experience art and why it is important. It's not that I disagree with any of her ideas; I just didn't find them particularly original. These parts are a tad below the rest of the high caliber of the book.

But, fellow reader, I'm really quibbling over minor points. If you're someone who wishes they lived in SoHo and could do gallery crawls seven nights a week accompanied by an acerbic yet mousy journalist, this book is for you.

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Long but Compelling Introduction to Caesar's Life

Revisado: 03-20-24

I came to this text after having finished Caesar's Commentaries. This book provided excellent background information, giving me a fuller picture of the culture, politics, and major public figures of the era. The book is long but moves lightly over history; I rarely ever found myself bored. Not being an expert on the era, I felt this book provided a sympathetic but balanced view of Caesar, a man of his brutal era but far better, from a modern perspective, than many of his contemporaries.

The performance of Derek Perkins, the narrator, was topnotch.

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"Something Ever More About to Be" (mild spoilers)

Revisado: 12-06-23

I am a fan of Poe's short stories and so was curious to listen to his novel. As a surface adventure account, it started somewhat drily, but once the action got going in earnest, I was hooked. While listening I thought of Moby-Dick, Huck Finn, and Blood Meridian (there are some truly ghastly events), but the closest heirs perhaps would be the heroes of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard. Dirk Peters could stand shoulder-to-shoulder (well, not literally) with Conan.

I figured more was going on beneath the surface of the narrative, but not being clever enough to have spotted many of the clues myself, I happily resorted to some of the critical literature afterward to lessen my ignorance.

The reader does a fine job.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Mixed (mild spoilers)

Revisado: 11-08-23

I have VERY mixed feelings about this book.

First, the author is VERY talented. She is a wizard of language. However....

Second, the book often felt overwritten, as though she were a student trying to impress her creative writing instructor. I hope in future novels she will be able to better balance the writing with the story.

Third, once you're a little ways in, the mystery (well, one of them) is fairly easy to spot and unravel. My wife literally listened to five minutes and then predicted, completely accurately, all the major points to follow.

Fourth, as other commenters have noted, the central friendship between the two partners is a pleasure of the book. But when their dynamic changes--and the narrator makes some REALLY stupid mistakes--it doesn't feel organic and my level of frustration--a sign that the book had gotten under my skin--made much of the rest of the novel a bitter pill to swallow (apologies for trite metaphors). However,

Fifth, the final parts of the novel--about the last 2.5 hours--flew by and were compelling. At the risk of being late to work (and in the spirit of Rob!), I stayed in my car this morning to listen to the final few minutes. So, well done to the author there.

Final thoughts: A talented writer, but not yet a Le Carre.

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Engrossing Narrative

Revisado: 05-26-23

I selected this audiobook with some trepidation. My father had always recommended the Gallic Wars based on my love of Xenophon, Thucydides, and Plutarch, and like those authors, Caesar (or his scribes) provides a thrilling narrative of military strategy, siege warfare, political intrigue, and courageous leadership. I can understand why some say this work is viewed more properly as propaganda or literature rather than history. So be it. As a story, it is very well told. It is also often heartbreaking--contained here are genocides, torture, etc., conveyed in a matter-of-fact way, whose restraint, in my opinion, only emphasizes the horrors.

Since I'm not a historian--at best, a dilettante--I did not mind the insertion of modern place names and currencies. It all works better than you expect. The performer of the book is suitably imperious. I initially found his reading a little stagey but this impression faded very quickly.

In conclusion, if you want an enjoyable military narrative from the ancient world, well executed by a skilled actor, this choice is first rate.

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