WGNYC

Story is great.

Revisado: 01-06-25

The story is great and well told: John Quinn and Alfred Barr and how modern European modern took hold in America. The narrator is great in part I but terrible in part II. The accents he affects for all the characters are beyond tedious- especially Alfred Barr’s! Why does non fiction need to be performed with accents? Van Huff? Really? So pretentious. I listened to part I twice. Could barely finish II. You have a great voice and cadence. Just read it please.

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Good bio, Bizarre narration

Revisado: 07-03-22

This is a good bio of Turner but the narration- the "performance"- is just bizarre and makes it a challenge to listen to. The guy's voice is fine, but he goes into a series of weird accents when reading quotations. They almost sound like cartoon ethnic accents (for Brits!) and convey emotions that seem out sync with what's being said. A lot of them sound anxious. Really bad.

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Good but not quite enough

Revisado: 11-06-21

Good overall survey. A few more details along the way would be nice. Just not quite enough.

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Story ok. Lame "performance"

Revisado: 02-05-20

I bailed 1/3 of the way through on this one. The story is not totally uninteresting, although it's more about the author's personal discovery than what I'd like to learn about Titian. It actually becomes quite boring in that way. As for the "performance" I just don't understand how a bogus accent when quoting fifteen century letters/texts is appealing. My opinion: it really sucks! It's a stupid distraction and the story was not engaging enough to offset the "performance." Why are these ridiculous accents necessary? Can't a book just be read??? If you're looking for art historical non-fiction, this isn't it.

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Epic

Revisado: 02-14-19

I loved this book, having listened to it twice. Epic, rollicking, and witty telling of a great decade in the cultural capitol of the world. And, such a great narration. Tristan Layton's tone and rhythm is perfect for a work of non-fiction; he can pronounce the French for names etc. without lapsing into annoying, distracting, and ridiculous French-accented English for quotes. (Thinking of you Russell Martin and your ridiculous Spanish accents in an otherwise great "Picasso's War: The Destruction of Guernica and the Masterpiece that Changed the World")

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Another "performance" to slowly drive you crazy

Revisado: 09-13-18

This is a good story. The history of the painting Guernica is fascinating and amazing when one considers the stake a people can hold in a single work of art. To this day, even.

I have two basic problems with this audiobook. The first is minor and with the text- the author does a good job with the historical text, but I find references to his friend and mentor, Angel, distracting and, for my taste, an over personalization of the story. But, the overall story overcomes this minor annoyance. The second problem, with the "performance,' is a bigger, more pervasive problem that I have with audio books in general, but is particularly irksome here- almost rendering it unlistenable by the end: the narrator assumes accents according to the nationality of the speakers, i.e., Spanish people with spanish accents, French with French, etc. Therefore, he speaks in English, but in an accent even when you know that it's a translation from the French or Spanish. In one case, he's speaking in the (ridiculous) Spanish accent he's assigned to Picasso, as quoted in a letter probably written in English by a French lawyer. This is patently absurd. The narrator's voice has the kind of perfect, dull thud of a tone for a non-fiction text such as this. I say go with that! What is the necessity of dramatizing it? It's so distracting. Ridiculous!!! I would recommend reading this, but don't listen unless you like that sort of thing.

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great book; terrible "performance"

Revisado: 11-28-17

Would you try another book from Ned Sublette and/or Sean Crisden?

Would never listen to Sean Crisden again.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Sean Crisden?

The narrator's strained pronunciations and cadences are extremely distracting, almost to the point of being unlistenable; not to mention the inconsistencies in his pronunciations. It's a non-fiction history book, and a straightforward read would be much better.

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