Nyghtewynd

Right Topic, Wrong Author

Revisado: 02-27-25

Author Cal Newport says that for a book to be successful, two things have to be true: you have to have the right subject to write about, and you have to be the right person to write it. The subject of Spotify and their practices both influencing and deceiving its users is the correct subject. Sadly, the author is the wrong person to write it.

The sections that stick to Spotify are actually okay. There are a couple of really valuable chapters about Spotify--chapters 4-6 cover the practice of ghost musicians who crank out thousands of generic tracks that Spotify employs to save them money is the whole of the revelation, assisted by the advent of the change of listener from involved to "lean-back", The author discusses whether Spotify should be transparent to its subscribers when it recommends or plays a track that isn't "organic" or is there because the artist paid for it to be advertised in this way, and has the ability to make a convincing argument that it should much like YouTube does.

However, the book isn't really about Spotify. The book is about everything that disappoints the author in the world. The author is disappointed that people don't actively listen to music as they "should". She's disappointed that certain bands have a lot of listeners make money and they bands that she thinks are "important" don't. She's disappointed that artists don't make a full-time wage from the government to make art (after opening the book by speaking quite favorably about Pirate Bay, the origin of stealing all music for free). She's disappointed that people don't listen to more "challenging" or "important" music (defined by her) more often or at least pay more for it. But, ultimately, she's disappointed that someone makes money that she had not approved. The book is mostly an anti-capitalist statement that uses Spotify as an origin for the argument. And there's so much of it and so badly reasoned that it buries the good stuff under piles of disappointment.

Finally--if you want a good audiobook experience, don't buy this. The author records the narration, and unless you want a full education in tonal terms like "sing-song", "uprise", and "vocal fry", it's virtually unlistenable without a lot of fortitude.

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Great idea drowned to death in biases

Revisado: 04-25-23

Good premise drowned to death in the author's biases. Ward doesn't mind The Loop... He (or people he likes) just wants to run it. Gives away the game when he mentons his desire for AI to act as a mirror. Mirrors don't show you the truth... They only show you what you put in front of them, and Ward knows which people should be allowed to put things in front of the mirror. If you can wade through it, is a decent book. But don't use this as your introduction to the field... There are much better options.

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Great refresher/introduction!

Revisado: 01-21-22

This book serves best as either a quick introduction to White's theories of cleaning and organizing your home. If you're starting from zero, I'd recommend that you read her other two books first (or if you got this one first and didn't follow some of the reasoning)... First on cleaning, then on organizing. But if you've read them both, this one is a great refresher and summary of both books along with some specific tips for areas of your house.

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5/5

Revisado: 01-07-22

A really entertaining account with accuracy that seems to be confirmed by the few videos smuggled out of the country by tourists (go search YT for them). Simmons' book serves as a great supplement for the more dry or historic books about NK.

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Rough but entertaining

Revisado: 09-23-20

I generally don't write long Audible reviews, but I think you need to understand what you're buying. The story itself was interesting... I enjoyed reliving the games that Long played at Iowa in my childhood. However, the text itself is virtually unedited, and the audio performance is completely unedited. Seriously... There are times when the author reads a line and immediately repeats the entire line, seemingly because he thought he would remove it in editing and leave the better version. There was no editing. So... If you think of this as a very rough podcast for a niche market, you'll be pleased. If you think you're getting a polished product, you're not.

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Good fan service, but fan service nonetheless

Revisado: 06-25-19

The performance was very good, so don't let that put you off. But the story itself is... Fan service. As a MTG player, the story was predictable and fairly amateurly written. The parts of the story not so tied to the cards (Teyo, Rat, some of the members of the guilds) were actually interesting, so the issues may not be the author's fault but more the constraints of the plot before the book. If you're a player, you'll enjoy the references. If you're not, I don't think you'll see this as a masterpiece.

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Fantastic book

Revisado: 10-08-18

A well reasoned, well researched masterpiece of a book. Both sides should heed its warnings. Most likely, neither will.

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Don't just read the title!

Revisado: 05-03-15

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The title isn't accurate. This isn't really a "history of rock". It's more of an impressionistic word painting of rock. The writer is trying really hard to be unique and interesting in both the selections and the way they're described. If that's what you're expecting, cool. For me, I couldn't finish it. Read the description, decide whether that's what you're into, and then go from there.

Would you be willing to try another book from Greil Marcus? Why or why not?

Probably not...I'm interested in the subject, but not THIS interested.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Rollins is good for the subject matter and this writing, but not overall. He. Speaks. Too. Slowly.

Was The History of Rock 'n' Roll in Ten Songs worth the listening time?

Not for me. For someone who was really into the subject and a conaisseur of the genre, sure. I simply found it obscure and pretentious.

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esto le resultó útil a 31 personas

Comprehensive and informative

Revisado: 07-23-14

Would you consider the audio edition of Bonhoeffer to be better than the print version?

I don't know if I'd say that there's much of a difference...I switched between the two and didn't notice a big difference in experience. Hillgartner is a capable reader and kept everything moving without being overly dramatic.

What did you like best about this story?

Bonhoeffer's life and experience is useful to everyone, especially in the midst of trial and oppression. Excellent life/case study.

Have you listened to any of Malcolm Hillgartner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not.

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