Yvette Z Vandermolen

Couldn't stop listening!

Revisado: 10-20-23

Propulsive text and engaging narration. JD as Omar added to the sense of characters doing a podcast. Lots to think about in this one.

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Dead-on Depiction of the Time

Revisado: 08-29-23

For the reviewers who found this unrealistic: you didn't live in the 1970s, or you didn't live in the right (wrong?) places in the 70s. I was six, growing up in Las Vegas the year this story is set, and my teenage babysitter was the version of Mary Jane who absolutely would accept the offered toke of her namesake. My older stepsisters would've been the teenagers all too eager to bounce around in macrame bikinis, while my younger stepsister was being shamed for wearing shorts or saying the word "dang." And I'm sure I wasn't the only kid swinging drastically from one lifestyle to another between divorced households, much like Mary Jane does between her home and the Cones'. Donnie & Marie and Sonny & Cher were on the TV, as were war and protests and preachers and scantily clad actresses dancing to music our parents didn't listen to. It's remarkable how well this novel captures the push/pull of the changing culture from back then. I became a 1980s version of Mary Jane, proud of my baking skills and singing along to show tunes. Spending time with her as she navigated all that cultural tumult has been bittersweet nostalgia. The fully produced song at the end was the Maraschino cherry on top ; )

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Pronunciation Matters

Revisado: 03-21-23

Cons:
While I can understand that an American trained to be an expat in Paris might find Tokyo more challenging than someone like myself (who had never been to Europe before living in Japan), the author's negative impression of the city was not helped by the narrator's mangled pronunciation. I suppose that choice was made because (presumably) the author didn't know how to correctly pronounce place names and other Japanese words, but the effect is nails-on-chalkboard irritating to those who are familiar with the language. It's not only disrespectful to the Japanese people, but also to those foreigners who bother to listen and learn how to speak properly. I wonder if the choice to mangle French would've been made if the author had been less familiar with France. (As a narrator myself, I'm laying the blame on the director/producer here.)

Pros:
I really enjoyed walking around my current city while listening to this book. The meandering style suited my exploratory ramblings. It was lovely to hear I'm not the only person who makes a place hers by walking it!

I also enjoyed all the literary references and now have a mini library of books and authors to listen to while I walk in other cities.

Trying not to let her very negative take on Tokyo/Japanese culture ruin my enjoyment, as I understand her personal situation likely colored her perception of the place while she was there. Her stories are a good reminder that what we bring to a place is not the place itself.

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Excellent!

Revisado: 02-25-22

Well researched, beautifully written, clearly narrated. As a theatre professional who trained up at the end of the 20th century, I recognized a lot in here, from texts to teaching methods to teacher dispositions (and less than ideal scene partners). Even though the history of the Method starts in the 19th century, it feels like my own history. I'm sure many theatre folk will feel the same. I enjoyed how the author balanced respect for the System and the Method with honesty about their shortcomings, and a recognition that actors (and all theatre artists) have always and will always have more than just one tool in their toolboxes. I'd love a follow-up from Butler that examines more 21st century techniques, including Anna Bogart's Viewpoints, Suzuki, and even Boal's contributions to the form. Definitely a must-read for students and their teachers.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

One of the best matches of narrator to book!

Revisado: 02-08-22

Felt a bit long-winded until about halfway in but then really came together. Great for a holiday listen!

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Not what I expected, but...

Revisado: 11-23-21

...it works in the end. My book club of taxonomists expected something different, but all agree RadioLab alum Lulu Miller manages to port podcast structure over to book-length narrative, even if the effect is a bit jarring at first. None of us would've finished the book unassigned, so it's worth mentioning that readers should push through past the point where the podcast act structure starts to reveal itself. Then the going gets easier. She's going somewhere worthwhile with this, it's just gonna take longer than the hour-long podcast we're used to.

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Engaging Story, Difficult Narration

Revisado: 05-10-21

Ellis has written the kind of SCIFI I like but rarely encounter, a story more about humanity than about "cool" worldbuilding details that never amount to anything meaningful. I like the characters and where the story went and eagerly anticipate the next book in the series.

That said, the narration suffers from a narration style that seems to come from stage acting. Stephanie Willis is great with character voices, really skilled at keeping each character clearly delineated and separate from the others and making them really come alive. But she puts the same level of emoting into descriptive text that she puts into dialogue, and that is not sustainable over a whole book. This isn't poetry. It helps to set the speed at about x1.2 or so to remove some of the dramatic quality in her delivery. Listening to her style is like listening to an amateur acting company do a Shakespeare play that takes 5 hours because the actors mistakenly believe Every. Word. Matters. They don't. And a good director might have solved this problem.

I hesitate to give this a low rating because I really like the story and I want to support Lindsay Ellis's work, but the narration really doesn't do the book any favors (although Thorn is fine in her sections, probably owing to hours of practice with natural-sounding text on YouTube). I'm sure it's a great read, but I need good audio productions or I can't fit books like this into my reading time. I do audio work myself so I know how tricky it can be, and I hope if Willis is part of the production of the second book, she's given a bit of coaching on how to move through the narrative stuff. I love her character voices and it would be a shame to lose them.

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Perfect Crafting Companion!

Revisado: 12-07-20

Before The Hygge Holiday, I didn't know I needed Crafting Companion to be an Audible category. This book is the perfect listen while crafting or decorating solo, with Clara being the inobtrusive friend who lets you make all the creative decisions while also being brilliant herself at decorating. Made a fun activity even more enjoyable!

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Perfect narrator/book match!

Revisado: 01-21-20

The narrator had the energy to match this fast-paced story and I could not stop listening. Satisfying blend of humor, gossipy suspense, and some walloping helpings of comeuppance -- with a heartbreaking ending that has nothing to do with romance. Looking forward to whatever this new author does next.

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Robotic Reading

Revisado: 03-11-19

Worth it to get the fascinating backstory to the podcast, but the narrators both have such a robotic delivery when not voicing characters that I almost returned the book after the first few minutes. Candace Thaxton has disappointed me every time I listen to a book she has narrated, which is too bad because she actually handles a range of character voices -- from children to men -- very well. Jacques Roy seems to be her male equivalent. Together they made the book something of a slog by the end, which did stall a bit as if the authors weren't sure how to wrap it up. I only finished because I wanted to listen to the podcast again. I wouldn't recommend skipping this book if you're a fan of the podcast, but you may need to confine it to drive time or some other listening space that doesn't command your full attention.

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