Harold W. Wood Jr.

Great story and characters

Revisado: 03-03-25

I usually do not go in for stories that seem to take place with everyday people in everyday places rather than science fiction or some exotic location with big adventures. But this hit the spot. Great funny cozy and thought provoking story and characters. The narrator voice was mesmerizing!

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Wonderful!

Revisado: 03-06-22

The amazing narration itself made this very enjoyable. The story was great in terms of so many flashbacks to historical events and those of mythology. Highly recommended.

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Book excellent

Revisado: 01-28-22

This book is excellent. The narrator does have some strange way of pronouncing things particularly trying to Frenchify English words that happen to be derived from French, and the name of Joseph Wood Krutch who is properly pronounced with a long oooooh sound like the word “true” not the word “much”.

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Book content was good, narration was muffled

Revisado: 08-11-17

Perhaps a bit too much detail made this true life adventure story a bit ponderous, but for those who love elephants and history it is a fascinating look at life in another world from ours. The audio sound seemed a little muffled to me, it needed better sound quality. The narrator was good, though very straight forward, but the quality of the recording sounded like it was recorded on an old fashioned tape player instead of today's higher-quality devices.

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A good biography for historical perspective

Revisado: 05-15-14

Where does A Passion for Nature rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The narration of this book somewhat matches the kind of book this is - - it is not literature, nor a paean to greatness, nor an adventure story, as previous Muir biographies have been. Rather, this book goes into depth about Muir's life and puts it into historical perspective, in a fairly academic way. Unfortunately, the performance of this narrator was not nearly as good as most of the audiobook I have come to expect on audible.com.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Passion for Nature?

Muir's entire life was memorable, from his adventures in the mountains and on glaciers, and in his conservation battles.

What didn’t you like about Jim Frangione’s performance?

This is one of the worst - read narrations I have heard in an audio book. The performer spoke in a fairly academic monotone which I suppose in some ways matches the kind of book this is, but several times he mis-pronounced some fairly common scientific terms, like the word "lichen." Jim Franigione may be a professional narrator, but seems to be the kind that reads labels rather than literature.

Although Muir himself clearly had a "passion for nature" which is gloriously expressed in Muir's writings, and included in many of the quotes used here, you would never know it from this narration. For one thing, the narrator read the quotes in the same tone of voice he read the main text. It was thus often very hard to tell what was a quotation and what was Donald Worster's main text. The narrator didn't even seem to try to make the quotes stand out from the rest of the text. I have come to expect far better in most audiobooks.

The publisher should have selected a narrator who is used to reading fiction - many audible audio books have performers that have different "voices" for every different character, and many have a talent for different accents as well. This book cried out for someone who could read Muir with a Scottish accent, and put a little "passion" into Muir's passionate writing, while then returning to a normal narrative for the rest of the text. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. I can't say it ruined the book, because the book itself was good writing - for a historical biography, but it did diminish it.

Any additional comments?

The important thing to remember is that this is a historical perspective of John Muir's life, written by a noted academic. As such, it is not quite as "readable" as some of the earlier biographies of Muir's life, which read much more like an adventure story, as in the case of the Pulitzer prize winning biography by Linnie Marsh Wolfe, which extols Muir's greatness. But if you want to understand better how Muir's life fit in with other things that were happening during his life, in a highly objective manner, this is the best biography for that. The author is a historian, not a novelist or an environmentalist or a story-teller. So his objectivity seems to make this biography a bit more dry than other Muir biographies where the authors quickly get caught up in the excitement of Muir's life. But earlier biographies have their own problems, such as inaccuracies and failing to contain more recent information. This biography is in many ways more thorough and more accurate than prior Muir biographies.

In addition, as well as putting the life of John Muir in context, the author puts quite a bit of his own interpretations into the narrative. This is of interest to those who know something about Muir, whether you agree with him or not, because it can at least provoke discussion. If you don't know much about Muir, then perhaps a more straightforward biography is better for you.

As a history book, it is a good book, for audiences with a more scholarly bent. If you are looking for something more exciting to read about Muir's life, there are several earlier biographies that do that, but may not cover Muir's life as thoroughly.

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A remarkable spiritual travelogue

Revisado: 04-20-06

This is a remarkable spiritual travelogue. Very very funny in places, yet the author's broad-minded inquisitiveness of all the diverse religious and cultural traditions of India are very meaningful.
The book is not merely arm-chair travel, it gives a lot to think about including political and religious disputes in our world. High recommended!

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas