OaklandBookworm

Highly original; a du Maurier delight

Revisado: 11-19-24

Daphne Du Maurier is the grand dame of intriguing, engaging suspense stories - Ron Keith’s narration is so tuned the story’s nuances & characters that it’s all totally enthralling. A difficult story to narrate as it’s got so many things going, but Keith really nails it - I have listened over & over with great enjoyment. The story is a romance, but not in a typical way - it’s got a yearning romance, a charming bromance, wry humor, meta-psychological/psychotropic induced historical mystery & modern day suspense. Through it all the author’s love of Cornwall shines with vividness. Only Du Maurier could have created & written this story; Keith brings it to life for audiobook enthusiasts - he does not disappoint.

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Interesting historical; narration a bit problematic

Revisado: 01-13-24

It will come across amazing that women in the British aristocracy could be so maligned and shunned once upon a time just by doing what their male counterparts took for granted they could do with impunity. Interesting snapshot of society behaviors, mores and artifices that thankfully are a thing of the past. Kind of a Downton Abbey noir. Narrators can really add to a good yarn (as The Grit in the Pearl is), but I hate to say the narrator’s read did not make the most of the material. With nuanced intonation and cadence, this audiobook would have been 4-5 stars. However, the narrator was practically monotone although having the proper upper class “cut glass” enunciation, and almost every sentence ended in something of a upward lilt - California Valley Girl meets Sloan Ranger - with the result sounding like a series of questions being asked by someone with lockjaw. The speech was slow and I upped the speed to 1.3 - that gave the narration a little umph and seemed to help gloss over the terribly self conscious diction. All in all an interesting life story - I had long heard about the infamous photo - to our modern eyes, it’s much ado about mind your own business. But this book gives it context and provides an astounding account of a woman ahead of her time whose only crime was to own her sexuality.

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Borrow rather than Buy

Revisado: 11-10-23

Most of this new audio recording is a rehashing of what Miriam Margolyes related in her excellent autobiography, This Much Is True. There are some tidbits in Oh Miriam that are amusing and fun, narrated with the style and panache that only MM can achieve. But overall let's call this new offering what it is, an attempt by the publisher to make more money from a wonderfully successful first hit. Miriam Margolyes herself calls this book "the sinker". If someone is going to throw money at you for snippets of life stories, it would be foolish to say no, especially since Ms Margolyes has already told us a good deal about herself. I can hear the publishers saying something to the effect: Miriam we need something NEW - give us something new so that we can offer this up as a legitimate followup to This Much Is True and sell it as such. The narrative of the Vogue shoot is amusing, and Ms Margolyes also does something of a Q&A drawn from the many inquiries generated by This Much Is True, which corroborates that she has been an inspiration to her readers and young aspiring actors. Having been in an industry known for not being kind to women, and being cruel to women who are not classically beautiful, Ms. Margolyes is an ebullient survivor and truly should be celebrated for her joy and achievements. But in effort to inject the "new" into this new book, Ms. Margolyes relates less inspirational, and totally unnecessary narratives of her nasal exploration, and a bowel/bathroom experience. (This is the 2nd recent autobiography by a Brit with a bowel/bathroom story - if British plumbing is that bad, Brexit is not the U.K.'s only problem.) What I would like to say to Ms Margolyes is you are an intelligent decent, compassionate person, and a brilliant actor - this comes through in your work. You are enough. No need to embellish with the sensational, or try to appeal with the lowest common denominator. Because Ms. Margolyes has been honest with her audience, as a reader I will be honest in this review - it's not worth audible points, or paying for this edition. But there are edifying moments in "Oh Miriam", and for that reason, if you are a Miriam Margolyes fan, as I am, borrow the book/audiobook from the library. Oh Miriam is not a book to buy, but This Much Is True is.

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You Go Girl

Revisado: 05-29-23

What the world needs now is to hear from people that have REAL experience like Anne. It seems like every Tom, Dick & Harry is writing their memoirs at age 20, 30, 40… to make a buck, increase their followers, do reputation management. While the motive behind Lady and this current book may indeed be financial, at least the author has lived a life and has something to SAY. Life is a great equalizer - having a pedigree, servants etc does not stave off the vicissitudes that require great personal strength as Anne Glenconner proves in her narratives. I am glad she shares her life observances, from a perspective and a level of society ‘regular people’ rarely get to see. Funny, dignified, interesting and thoughtful, Glenconner’s books leave other authors’ whinny, self pitying, follow-me-on-FB books in the dust.

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Entertaining until …the “book within a book”

Revisado: 03-21-23

This a review of the audiobook. The insertion of the narration of WHOLE Atticus Pundt book in this story as part of the protagonist’s investigation to solve the Moonflower mystery is rotten. Really, something of a filler. Fast forwarded to The Book chapter to save hours of tedium. The Book (chapter) resumes the story of Susan Ryeland, the former Pundt editor-turned-hotel owner in Cypress, and her investigation of the murder of Cecily Terherne 8 years ago. Allan Conway, author of the Pundt series, the person you will love to hate, was doing research at the Terherne’s hotel when the murder occurred and likely knew who the murderer was - and puts clues in his book Atticus Pundt Takes the Case. If you read/listened to the Magpie Murders you will know that Susan was Allan’s editor for the very successful Pundt mysteries. So WHY is Susan reading the book - taking us along the ride - for half of this story? As editor wouldn’t she have known the plot? A refresher for her would have sufficed after editing the series with a nod to forgetfulness - reasonable enough. But drag us through the whole Pundt book? Filler. Is going through Attiticus Pundt Takes the Case as Susan does, makes us (dear readers) stakeholders in the investigation and is supposed to engage us (not). After listening to the “book within the book”, are you able to solve the mystery the Terherne murder? Did you get the clues? This book-within-book is a horrible intermission; a silly mechanism by the author. Horowitz is a good writer = overall 3 stars; Performance = 4 stars, even with the silliness, it’s hard to tarnish Leslie Manville; Story = 2 stars (please don’t insult readers with a silly intermission and detour).

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Predictable; better done by others

Revisado: 05-30-22

I ordered this audio book because Sophie Rundle is a wonderful actress and I knew she would give a good reading. The preview reading I heard on Audible made the story sound intriguing so I ordered the book. Sad to say I did - but glad it was free. I guess that explains the high ratings. Audible is following it’s parent company Amazon in inflating reviews using a cadre of reviewers that hyperbolize product merits (or make them up). The plot of this story is poor orphan girl goes to sumptuous aristo centuries-old estate to work as the help, is entranced by devastatingly handsome and charming son of the lord of the manor. It turns out the the orphan’s mother worked at said sumptuous estate and died under mysterious circumstances. Oh, BTW the son and orphan are about the same age. Get it? It’s Gosford Park meets Jane Eyre and throw in a little Marquis de Sade. There is a mean housekeeper a la Mrs Danvers (there had to be) that is (guess what) mean to the heroine. You can see where the plot is heading from a long way off. There is nothing particularly original or clever about this mystery story. There are echos of plots from other stories from mystery authors who did it better and more entertainingly. I am sorry to say that had the heroine been a little more likable and less in her head, it might have ameliorated this too obvious who -done-it. Sophie Rundle gives a good reading and with intonation and great phrasing saved this book from being dead on arrival. This would have been one star, but am giving it a two stars because of Ms Rundle’s skillful reading. She did for this material full of cliche characters & plot what the material could not have managed by itself - I listened to the end. Had I been reading this book, I would have put it down pretty early in the day.

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Interesting story buoyed by excellent narrators

Revisado: 04-18-21

This is a review for the audiobook. Fascinating look into the court of James Stuart, although fictionalized. What we lose in factual history is the passion, intrigue and machinations for power - all of which is brought to life in Freemantle’s story & skillful reading by Cass & West. Audiobooks can either succeed or fail depending on whether the narrators are atuned to the story. The book is read with the cadence and nuance required. Although some turns in the plot are predictable because of historical facts, the author does use creative license bringing vivacity to James’ 17th century court. And the narrators do not disappoint in literally breathing life into it. Sex and power have always been linked- in the Stuart monarchy it means your life, wealth, position and death is determined by one person, the King, who favors men as his bed partner. The heroine, if you can call her that, is the unsentimental and practical player in this narrative, using her husband - the King’s lover - to ensure her family’s political prominence & wealth. The problem is her husband is cooling on his relationship with the King; he has discovered heterosexual sex with her and has become obsessed. With so little to say in determining her own fate and limited by the mores of the time, Frances Howard does what she has to in order to keep her social standing and luxurious lifestyle. She has no say on who she loses her virginity to, when to have a child, who to befriend - her cunning mind is always assessing strengths & weaknesses, figuring out odds and stakes, all in the name of survival. A clever, entertaining, psychological suspenseful fiction that probably portrays what court life was like more accurately than we will ever know.

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