Chris Heard

Excellent content, marred by narration

Revisado: 05-13-23

In this book, Karen R. Keen does a remarkable service for Christians who care about the Bible, where it came from, and how it’s been mis/understood and mis/used over the centuries. Keen offers an accessible introduction to the Bible’s origins, transmission, canonization, interpretation, and application, expressed well for everyday readers, necessarily selective but not oversimplified. Non-Christian readers will want to know up front that Keen does address the book to Christian readers, and often prescribes Christian spiritual practices; the book even ends with a devotional guide. The book would be good for personal study, church groups, and even Christian high schools or Christian colleges where students are engaging with academic study of the Bible for the first time. (My day job is teaching just such classes at a Christian university, and I would be comfortable assigning this book, with a few supplements or caveats for non-Christian students.) Keen's conceptual construct of “divine humility” comes to play a central role mainly in the second half of the book.

I gladly recommend this book to anyone who wants to see a Christian biblical scholar taking critical methods and interpretive history seriously. However, I would steer readers toward the print version of the book (sorry, Audible). Tanya Eby’s reading voice is very pleasant and expressive, but she mispronounces many proper nouns and technical terms, or pronounces them inconsistently. To cite just two examples: (a) Eby pronounces “Antiochenes” at least four different ways, sometimes up to two different ways within the same paragraph; (b) Eby mispronounces the familiar Hebrew word “shalom” as if it rhymed with “uh, mom.” I could provide a dozen more examples of mispronounced or inconsistently pronounced names and terms. Audiobook narrators can’t necessarily be expected to know all the necessary pronunciations when they agree to a project, but surely the editor(s)/producer(s) should notice and correct any errors that do occur. It’s almost as if the publisher didn’t ask anyone knowledgeable in biblical studies to “proofhear” the book, or they didn’t want the expense or inconvenience of doing retakes for the problem paragraphs. I plan to spend more time with the print version of this book, but not the audio (unless the publisher brings the narrator back in to remedy the mispronunciations).

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Simply fantastic!

Revisado: 10-27-12

This was my first Peter Clines novel, but I doubt it will be my last! The pacing, the characters, the situations—everything works together extremely well. I don’t want to say too much about the content, because much of the fun of the book is discovering, along with the characters, just what is going on in their building. If it seems at first like a book about nothing, don’t give up … pretty soon you’ll be on the edge of your seat.

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I now understand why my son loves this series!

Revisado: 08-03-12

If you could sum up The Lightning Thief in three words, what would they be?

“Teenage demigod heroism.”

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Lightning Thief?

The whole book was exciting from beginning to end. The confrontation in the museum, early on in the book, is particularly memorable, perhaps in part because Percy’s identity is still unfolding to the reader at that point.

Which character – as performed by Jesse Bernstein – was your favorite?

I can’t choose just one. Bernstein did a fabulous job of bringing Percy’s first-person narration to life. The narration was entertaining and evocative.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes! It’s a real “page-turner,” so to speak (for an audiobook). I kept looking for reasons to do yard work or house chores so I could pop in my earbuds.

Any additional comments?

My son (fourteen years old at the time I write this) started reading the Percy Jackson series a few years ago, and he really loves the series. Now, after listening to the audiobook of “The Lightning Thief,” I understand why! The stories are a great ride for both young and adult readers.

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Fun, but a bit ridiculous

Revisado: 08-03-12

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Yes: the channeled ancient Egyptian spirit wouldn’t speak King James English.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

See above. Also, the whole business with the extended near-death experience was rather odd theologically. The story doesn’t seem to reflect a coherent cosmology.

Which character – as performed by Johnathan McClain – was your favorite?

None of them really stood out from any other.

Was The Third Gate worth the listening time?

Yes; I enjoyed the story and I don’t regret listening to the book. I won’t listen a second time, though.

Any additional comments?

Child cleverly one-ups Dan Brown by having his “enigmologist” hold down a day job as a history professor.

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A fun ride with a “merry man”

Revisado: 08-03-12

Would you listen to Scarlet again? Why?

Yes! The story and narration work very well together, and although there wouldn’t be much suspense the second time through, I’d listen again.

What did you like best about this story?

Lawhead continues the story from “King Raven” well, but with a twist, by changing the point of view to Will Scarlet’s first-person perspective. This was a great way to see Bran and his followers through another (yet sympathetic) character’s eyes.

What does Adam Verner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Verner reads with energy and expressiveness that really bring the characters to life, especially when he’s speaking in the first person as Will Scarlet to Odo.

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A bit of a letdown

Revisado: 08-03-12

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, not really. Very little of what Holiday “reveals” in this book is actually surprising. It all boils down to the claim that online media outlets are driven primarily by desire for page views and rankings, with relatively little concern for accuracy. Not much of a shock. The only thing that really surprised me was the relatively high frequency of profanity. Also, although Holiday occasionally speaks of feeling “guilty,” he shows no real signs of remorse and expresses no intention to change. At the end, he even swears off improving the situation with a curt “not my problem.” The book was, however, quite entertaining.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The book was very repetitive and could have been considerably shorter.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Ryan Holiday?

It depends on the topic, but probably not. Holiday’s narration skills fall considerably below his media manipulation skills.

Do you think Trust Me, I'm Lying needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Not for many years. If Holiday can claim, decades from now, to have helped make things better, then a memoir to that effect could be worthwhile.

Any additional comments?

I suppose it would be awfully snarky to wonder whether any of the strong reviews/ratings of this book came via sock puppets operated by Holiday himself, wouldn’t it? And yet, that’s the kind of reality that he seeks to expose in the book.

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