Justin

A lesser Borges, marred somewhat by an obsession over sex

Revisado: 05-25-24

This book is highly imaginative, haunting, and a profound completion when read with the other half of the diptych, The Successor. However, it is also marred somewhat by the uniform obsession, by seemingly every character, male and female alike, with female genitalia. Descriptions of a woman admiring her vagina in the mirror and feeling aroused by it share the same set phrases used by a male character dreaming of his lover’s vagina while making his way through a hostile crowd. This is perhaps more than faintly ridiculous, but on the other hand, a flaw in the writing does make it seem more approachable and maybe more endearing than if it were flawless. I recommend it all the same.

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A stirring, clear-eyed look at a chaotic world

Revisado: 05-21-24

[POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD.]

It is perhaps surprising to hear someone praise Jon Ronson—a writer who once described himself to the British embassy as “essentially a humorous journalist”—as a sober and serious voice and in an increasingly hysterical world, but that is exactly what I have to say in this review. Ronson pursues, in this series of podcast episodes, a racist extremist through a complex tale of intrigues and supposed reforms, never once seeking to simplify her story for the sake of making political points or crafting a simplified narrative. He achieves, as a result, a masterful warning against the tendency to embrace conspiratorial thinking, with all of its enticing, simplistic explanations for the ills that befall our world.

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A meditation on life and meaning

Revisado: 12-27-23

The villain of this work is the most memorable aspect, and he forms the perfect foil for the protagonist. One drawback would be the pacing toward the end of the novel. It feels like the denouement drags on a bit too long, but this was my first reading of it, so maybe I just didn’t fully understand the shape of the story that the author wanted.

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A great biography, but the narration has some issues

Revisado: 08-17-19

Grover Gardener buzzes along in his reading of this book without any meaningful pauses to emphasize headings, to emphasize descriptive passages, or provide color to the work. He seems to have come from an older school of narrator and, like Frederick Davidson, he makes the audiobook a sleeping aid rather than a meaningful medium for conveyance of a story.

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A delightful short listen for Twain fans with measured expectations

Revisado: 12-03-18

If you have very limited expectations for this piece, as I did based on its being offered for free, you will be delightfully surprised by the level of insight you will gain into Twain and his time. Don’t be off out by the anachronistic first course substitution for prairie chickens—stick with it.

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A college course in a single book

Revisado: 10-29-18

I liked Professor Sowell’s use of concrete examples to explain abstract economic ideas. This is a long, thorough introduction to basic economic ideas, but it is informative and highly illuminating. I highly recommend it. Tom Weiner’s narration is appropriate.

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A glimpse into the Gilded Age

Revisado: 10-27-18

This carefully researched book offers not only an in depth exploration of the Chicago’s World Fair and H.H. Holmes opportunistic murder spree, but also myriad insights into the time period; what stood out particularly to me were the cheapness of life, and the lack of safety standards to protect workers. A captivating little history, the book kept me listening in all free moments of the day for about a week. Scott Brick’s narration here is controlled, and does not lapse into histrionics.

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Every character sounds the same

Revisado: 10-23-18

There are only two voices in this novel for every character: that of the naive, green recruit/student/cadet, and that of the stern, sarcastic veteran sergeant/teacher/officer. The result is that the book feels like a long discourse on the merits of fascism performed by a man sitting alone in an armchair getting steadily drunker on rye whiskey and wartime memories.

The narration isn’t bad, but the dialogue and the story are.

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Thick as a Brick

Revisado: 08-13-18

Scott Brick’s put-on hayseed accent is as annoying here as it was in Blade Runner, where he employs it to give voice to a mentally retarded man. Having Capote’s narration frequently taken over by Brick’s generic “dumb okey” voice grated on this listener after a while. As for the story, the unabridged version is a bit bloated by the excess of biographical material provided for Perry Smith. Capote seems to have been overly fascinated with Smith; his fascination, if not shared by an audience, becomes tiresome, and makes a thick book feel thicker for its slowness.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

An enjoyable story with uneven audio quality

Revisado: 07-21-17

The story itself is entertaining, even engrossing, but audio fluctuates in a distracting way. Furthermore, Greg Sestero's impressions of Tommy Wiseau, while novel, are ultimately limited to a very compressed range that feels more like a caricature than a portrait.

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