Harmon

Hang on till the second half

Revisado: 12-22-23

The first part of this is rather platitudinous, so an older person like myself probably will know it all. But the second half is quite informative.

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As good as it gets

Revisado: 03-17-21

Another terrific audiobook from Mick Herron. And well performed.

But here's a spoiler - (I hope) it's only the first half of a two part novel. The cliffhanger at the end could be the end of the first part, or the end of the series. As one reviewer wrote: "Brilliant."

My main problem with this book is that I'm probably going to have to wait another year for the next one. I'm an old man - it's enough that I have to hope that Robert Caro doesn't die before his final Lyndon Johnson book comes out. Now I have to hope that I don't die before Mick Herron finishes his series.

Hoping for a long life...

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esto le resultó útil a 12 personas

Really just one part of a full book

Revisado: 02-08-21

There’s another booklet out there which leverages off this one. The Marylebone Drop. And then, rounded off in The Catch, I believe. So overall you wind up paying a bit each time for what amounts to just one audiobook, which really should be available as a single book you could get for one credit. Best to listen to them in order, though oddly, they still work if you read them in reverse order.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Realistic and good listening

Revisado: 12-22-20

If like me, you are someone with some general interest in, but only small knowledge of, India, I think you will find this an interesting and informative listen. In particular, the narration is well done.

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Very enjoyable, even if you know the stories

Revisado: 09-04-20

If you enjoy Fry's wit & delivery, that's all you need to know about this book. It's full of vintage Fry.

As a retelling of the Greek myths, this book is a fine job and a great listen. Not suitable for kids due to sexual content, but otherwise accessible to all ages. So your teenager might enjoy it.

It's the sort of book that you are glad to find has a sequel.

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If you like Woody, that's all you need

Revisado: 06-03-20

This is a book that could use some editing. It is also a book that is very entertaining, because, after all, it's read by Woody Allen in his persona as Woody Allen. So all things considered, it's a good listen.

Since I had already dug deep enough to know that the allegations of his being a child molester were nonsense, I didn't need to hear all about it at the redundant length that is taken. His childhood life came as a total surprise to me. His progress as an entertainer and writer was interesting. I was gratified to learn of our mutual loathing of milk without chocolate in it.

But the bottom line is that it's Woody Allen, & if. you like Woody Allen, you will like the book. No one else could have made it all that interesting, though.

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Remember the point of view

Revisado: 07-29-19

My own knowledge of North American Native history is spotty. I've read some popular histories of the Cherokee and the Comanche. (But I am fairly well educated in US history from the Anglo-American perspective).

Professor Cobb tells us from the get-go that he's going to educate us about the history of North American Native peoples beginning with their contact with English (rather than Spanish - there was more Spanish contact in North American than is generally realized) people, from the Native American point of view.

Keep that in mind, because that perspective sometimes gets some things a little wrong.

For example, he paints Andrew Jackson as a primary force in the removal of the Cherokee, whereas in point of fact, Jackson was swept along by the political tide which, had he resisted, would have probably precipitated the Civil War 25 years sooner. Jackson read the political tea leaves and knew that the Cherokee were doomed - as did Major Ross, an important Cherokee leader Professor Cobb mentions. So they both acted in light of the political realities, rather than legal or ethical ideals. But this is from the US perspective - from the Native American perspective, & indeed, our modern perspective, the Cherokees were simply robbed of their lands and their rights.

Turning to the Native American perspective, though, Major Ross is described by Professor Cobb as having been "executed" by other Cherokees. That is one perspective. Another is that Major Ross was ambushed and murdered in a political assassination. Yes, his killers claimed to have killed him for violating Cherokee law. All the Cherokees didn't see it that way. Professor Cobb's characterization is what you will find on Wikipedia, but it is not, in my view, a proper characterization of the event, even from what I understand of the Cherokee perspective.)

But given the objectives of the course, these objections are not terribly important.

What comes through clearly and, I think, convincingly from these lectures is that the Native Americans were not prepared, socially, politically or physically for the invasion of their lands by English colonists and their successors. They did not see the whites as invading colonists*, but rather, as a migrant tribe which could be integrated into the Native American political and social structure. Their own political structures were incapable of organizing to effectively resist the colonists once they had reached a critical mass of people who weren't really interested in getting along with the Native Americans, although some efforts were made to resist. Their social organization relied on kinship ties, which meant nothing to the colonists, even as whites and Native American intermarried. And the influx of disease, in particular smallpox, reduced their populations in places to as much as 1/5 of their previous size over less than a century - and wiped some tribes out. Modern cities like Montreal are build on the site of Native American villages totally emptied by disease.

My college major was American history, and I would characterize this as a good and useful survey course, accepting it on Professor Cobb's initial terms.

I found Professor Cobb an acceptable but not exceptional lecturer.

* I find it helpful to remember that there are two categories of migrants: colonists and immigrants. "Colonists" are those who move into a country intending to establish their own political, economic and social structures in their new home, and to replace, if necessary, the structures of the people already living there. "Immigrants" are people who plan to assimilate into the existing political, economic and social structures of the place they have migrated to, essentially becoming members of the already existing society. The whites considered themselves, and acted as, colonists. (Professor Cobb from time to time uses the word "colonist" without defining it.) What this course makes clear, without using the term"immigrants", is that the Native Americans perceived the whites as, and treated them as, immigrants, until it was too late.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

The narration could be better

Revisado: 06-19-19

The narration is done in a bit of a monotone. Stick with - it doesn’t get better but it does the job well enough.

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One bright spot, one clever poem.

Revisado: 05-09-19

Greg Bear’s short story Warm Sea is excellent, or better, though not really SF or F, & Neil Gaiman’s poem The [Backspace] Merchants is clever & apropos. But the other stories are predictable & the reading is commonplace & dull. If I were 12 years old again I might have a different opinion. I tried every one, and save for Bear & Gaiman, am greatly disappointed. I’d return this book but for the Bear & Gaiman, & the fact that I’ve returned the last couple of audiobooks I’ve bought & don’t wan to get on some kind of list.... YMMV.

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Well delivered platitudes.

Revisado: 04-24-18

Not much more to say. I’m 70, & can’t say that learned anything I didn’t already know, aside from a few definitions of Latin phrases. I was tempted to quit now & then, but the author seems such a pleasant person I just stayed with him.

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