Carson S.

Reads like an official report

Revisado: 12-30-20

Four stars for narration since occasionally sentences will be repeated and waver in volume, but otherwise the narrator is the perfect fit for the portrait of Captain Bligh and delivers the book wonderfully.

This book reads as an official report, and not a story for casual consumption. The only downside of this, for my mind, is the constant listing of latitude and longitude coordinates that do nothing to further the listener's comprehension of the events. The consequent benefit of the format, is that care is taken to describe many things that may otherwise be glossed over as the Captain wanted to ensure full understanding by the reader. This means that a large amount of the book is spent learning about the natives of the islands and how the British interacted and traded with them making the book far more valuable than just a story of a ship's crew.

It was also disappointing that the vast majority of dates listed do not mention the months, making it impossible to keep an accurate timeline without external research (one of the few if not only times that the author appears to have presumed knowledge by the reader).

Minor complaints aside it is a wonderful primary source to learn about the mutiny on the ship, as well as the general atmosphere of adventure and trade in this era, and is delivered excellently by Mr. Mayes.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Bad Narration and Wrong Dates

Revisado: 05-07-18

I will be returning this book. Not only does the narrator make no attempt to convey when they are reading a quote or when a break in the text appears, in just the first few minutes there is mention of the “1947 battle of Iwo Jima” and that the USS Oklahoma dated “from World War 2” when it built in 1910.

While it would definitely be a better read than a listen with this narrator, I’m not willing to listen long enough to find out what other facts are wrong.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Brief but Engrossing

Revisado: 01-17-18

Any additional comments?

While a short book, it achieves what I assume to be its main goals of telling an important story, and engaging the reader/listener. The author spends about 15 minutes on Frank Luke Jr.'s childhood, as well as some time on his entrance into flying and some relevant aspects of the war itself so that the main story does not sit alone in a vacuum.

It's very clear that as much research as possible was done, and the author mentions when facts are not known for certain or there are differing versions of the same event. Because of this, there's not much detail in the 'battle scenes' of the book - aerial victories are most "he shot down the enemy," missing the blow-by-blow accounts that a memoir would have - though I prefer this approach over the author having invented his own version of events.

Occasionally the wording of the book sounds like it's trying a bit hard to be dramatic, and the author frequently changes between referring to Frank Luke Jr. as "Frank" or "Luke" without any consistency that I could tell.

The narrator does a good job, with the audio being clear and constant volume. Occasionally a foreign word was mis-pronounced, but most were not, and comma pauses are longer than I'm comfortable with - but the sample provided is accurate to the rest of the book for buyers to decide for themselves.

Despite minor gripes, this was definitely a book that I didn't want to pause or put down. Chapters vary from 6-23 minutes and line up with the book chapters, making it easy to know when your next break is coming.

I was provided this audiobook at no cost in exchange for an honest review.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

High Water Mark for Submarine Memoirs

Revisado: 01-16-18

Any additional comments?

An excellent memoir only marred by slight technical imperfections.

Story wise the author tells the war from his point of view and nearly exclusively from his memories (historical facts learned later in life are only occasionally included as footnotes). What this means is the memorable parts of his war are what's told, resulting in lots of action and interesting moments, without being slowed down by any tedious minutia of detail or re-capping of well known war operations.

The author also gives some explanation on the operations of the submarines, certainly enough for someone without prior knowledge to understand and envision the goings on. Along with his time at sea, he also tells some of the rest periods between patrols giving a candid look at the emotions that war brings to the fighters - but again, not bogging the story down with unnecessary details.

Narration wise the reader does a fine job, often employing just a little bit of relevant emotion into the reading. Save for the last chapter, he also avoids using any accents or caricatures when reading quotes. This is where one of my only gripes occurs: the recording is from the 1990s and has some technical flaws - the audio is not clear and crisp, instead often sounding a bit fuzzy and with background noise (sometimes sounding like the reader clicking on a computer). It also has sudden, erratic, volume changes. At random the volume of the narration will suddenly increase or decrease, sometimes with a single sentence in a paragraph being noticeably louder.

The audiobook is divided into 14 chapters, all but the last being 43-45 minutes long. However, these chapters have no relation to those of the book or breaks in narration. Book chapters end anywhere from the middle to a minute from the end of audiobook chapters, meaning you're never sure when your next opportunity to put it down for later will come.

These are minor annoyances, especially when compared to the excellence of the writing. Anyone with interest on the subject would do well to own this audiobook.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Definitive History of the Evacuation

Revisado: 04-20-17

Any additional comments?

Walter Lord does an impressive job of turning the facts and events of the Dunkirk evacuation into a cohesive, sequential story that finely balances relaying the individual experiences with the impersonal reciting of military maneuvers and strategies.Thoroughly researched there can be little doubt to the completeness of this narrative.

Also well done is the balance of telling the stories of the other armies involved; French, Belgian, and German activities are given due space so a complete picture is drawn and the book avoids being too tightly focused on just the British actions.

The only flaw in this audiobook is that the narration will sometimes jarringly change in volume - clearly separate recording sittings being combined mid-paragraph. Otherwise the performance is high quality an well suited to the material.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Must-Buy With Minor Flaws

Revisado: 04-12-17

Any additional comments?

Tells an important, and incredible story with just two weak points:

1) The author/narrator exhibits no emotion in telling the story, despite the words being written with the obvious intent. Phrases like "it was the last time I ever saw [x]" are said as dead-pan as a book report and impactful moments receive no emphasis at all. Jarring for the first few chapters until you get used to it.

2) The book ends before the story does. The reader is left wondering what the author did next, and what happened in the few days after the text ends. Even an extra 100 words would have sufficed.

But those are the only flaws I could find in this book. An absolutely worthwhile purchase if you have any interest at all. The reder learns not only about this one story, but glimpses into others who were in the war, and about the culture and customs of the country.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña