Andrew C

extremely boring

Revisado: 04-06-23

this might have been more interesting with a less dry delivery, but as it is, it's pretty dull. for specialists with a fixation on the very minor variations in seed properties, this would probably be interesting, but as an outsider with a more general interest in the natural world, this proved rather boring. the speculative evolutionary discussion might be interesting to people who like to imagine what life might have been in the past, but the various speculations simply do not hold up to any rigorous scrutiny, placing this book squarely in the genre of exceedingly dull science fiction.

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good for background noise, not much else

Revisado: 03-02-23

By the pricing of my thumbs is interesting enough, but nowhere close to Christie's best. there are worse ways to spend your time. postern of fate is dreadful. rambling and repetitive, the plot lurches unbelievably from revelation to revelation with no conclusion to be drawn. As always, Christie at least writes interesting characters, so there's that in favor of each work. Hugh Fraser breathes a lot of life into the works, which masks a lot of deficiencies in plot. I would not pay for them, but if you got them for free, well there are worse ways to pass the time.

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Not my cup of tea

Revisado: 03-07-22

I heard good things about Rumpole, so I thought I'd take a listen to this audiobook. I quit after the second chapter because it ended up being a bit too snobby and critical for my taste. That said, this work is very erudite, and the wordsmithery is impressive. The narration is top-notch, both in terms of performance and mastering. However, the main character's cynicism and critical nature ended up being too grating for me, but I suspect that those who like sardonic, sarcastic humor will enjoy this.

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Good story

Revisado: 02-18-22

One of the better Cadfael stories, well-paced and intriguing. It's not the most challenging whodunit, as I could guess the murderer fairly early on, but the characters and writing are both pretty enchanting, so I stayed with it. The only complaint is a minor one: the recording quality is inconsistent. There appears to be a different narrator in one chapter, and some passages are repeated. It's nothing too egregious, but it's a little jarring when it happens. Still recommend it, though.

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a wonderfully balanced biography

Revisado: 10-20-21

This biography of Charles 1 is sympathetic to the king, in contrast to, what seems to me, the more prevalent critical view of the man. The author does a good job of explaining both his strengths and weaknesses, and why he was somewhat unprepared for ascending the throne. while the bio is pretty balanced, it's obvious the author believes that Charles was a better man than his enemies gave him credit, and that his enemies were more opportunistic than noble. This work makes use of newly uncovered documents, and provides a lot of clarification about a muddled portion of British history. It also, as a tangent, helps provide some context for The Three Musketeers. Highly recommended!

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Insightful and predictive

Revisado: 08-28-21

In brief, this book offers a scientific (i e. falsifiable) analysis of politics. it's conclusions and predictions have held up well in the 80 years since it's publication. If there is a quibble, it's over the audio production, which is clearly a transfer from tape. there are a few volume and stitching issues that are jarring when they infrequently happen, but other than that it's easy to listen to.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

A synthesis of modern Catholic feeling

Revisado: 08-24-21

This book is undoubtedly an attempt to encourage typical American Catholics to continue on in their faith, as it was conceived in the immediate aftermath of Vatican II. To that end, this book succeeds. However, careful listeners will note a troubling hypocrisy that pervades the book from beginning to end.

Specifically, Chaput notes the fly in the ointment of the American experiment: Puritanism. He also notes, as G. K. Chesterton once did, that the attempt of Puritanism to strangle human sexuality ultimately ends now in licentiousness. This observation is all well and good, but it's frankly staggering that Chaput eventually calls for Catholics to practice chastity in a way that is, frankly, Puritanical. Perhaps he thinks it will end differently if it's overseen by the Catholic clergy instead of heretics. Given how victims of pedophile clerics seem to do as poorly as victims of secular pedophiles, it would be reasonable to predict that Catholicized Puritanism will end as well as heretical Puritanism.

Astute listeners will also note that Chaput is ultimately calling for Catholics to live a life typical of 1950s America (or, perhaps, the caricature of that era) as a way of evangelizing the world. There is nothing wrong with this, and it would be weird if he called for violence in opposition to the current trends, but frankly it smacks of being either dishonest or stupid to think that a spiritual battle of this magnitude can be fought without spilling a single drop of blood. He should either call for Catholics to embrace victimhood or call for a new crusade, but to call for Catholics to live like middle class white people of his parents' generation, except with a touch more political activism is either obtuse or toothless.

Overall, this book is worth listening to, particularly for the discourse on beauty and the historical broadness of thought. However, this book is clearly written by a spineless theologian scared to make the necessary conclusions that would lead to practical results, and as such left this listener underwhelmed.

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don't buy

Revisado: 08-23-21

This "book" is just pablum repackaged for unimaginative try-hards. there are no new insights to be found, nothing clever to be heard, just the sound of a dead horse bring beat to a pulp. I suppose Ms. Perry couldn't afford to turn down the commission for composing this tripe, but she really should have. To be bluntly honest, if you're the sort of person who finds this book enlightening and useful, you are not going to succeed in life. If you're already successful, this book will be amusing for being alternately obvious and wrong. The fundamental thesis of the book is built on ignoring luck (or, more accurately, taking is role for granted in order to look at variables you can control), but since luck is integral to everyone's life, it's a bit thick to relegate it to the background, or to carry on as if the ten pillars can even possibly overcome it. In short, this book breeds discontent and serves as propaganda for big business who wants nothing more than a class of strivers who believe so strongly in determinism that they can't be dissuaded from trying hard, no matter the cost to themselves.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

don't waste your money

Revisado: 07-28-21

As a detailed history of the evolution of the modern development theory, this book fits the bill, though rather drily. As anything else, it's terrible. A large chunk of the first portion of the book is centered on a debate that should have happened but didn't, presuming that things would be different if it had. The biggest failing of the author is that he studiously avoids realizing that proponents of authoritarian imperial economic development were arguing in bad faith. They are simply justifying taking more power for themselves, with no concern for whether they're plans work as argued. The bulk of the book is thus irrelevant because it accepts in good faith a claim that is clearly made in bad faith.

The narration is also terrible, comparable to a text to speech program, albeit one of the better ones. the cadence is odd and the inflection random, making this impossible to listen to for more than a few minutes at a time. granted, some of the awkwardness is due to the structure of the book, which is more like a fleshed out outline rather than a narrative, but the narrator does nothing to blunt that effect.

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awesome

Revisado: 05-19-21

narration was great, story was gripping, highly recommend. by far the best Christie story I've had the privilege of reading

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