James C. Blasius

Marvelous evidence meets wonky narrator

Revisado: 07-03-22

The content of this book, though decades old, is a real tour de force. You can't listen to it without coming to the conclusion that our planet is close to unique in the universe and that life requires precarious foundations. Everything is well researched and presented.

What to say about the narrator? He's got a wonderfully intelligible voice, a smooth and consistent delivery, and I can understand every word he says. His narration seems to have no edits and no breaks in continuity. In that he's marvelous. On the flip side, it destroys the illusion when he clearly doesn't understand what he's reading. Today as I listened he kept talking about "eddies" in relationship to extra terrestrial civilizations. I kept wondering about these eddies until I figured out he meant "E.T.s". So I guess he's never heard of E.T.s. Two days ago as I was listening, he misread "causal" as "casual" at least six times in five sentences. I can cut him slack for not knowing how to pronounce Brahe (as in Tyco), but you'd think everybody has heard his name pronounced, too.

So, I guess my thinking is that the book is good enough you should really listen and the narration is tolerable if you're more tolerant than I am.

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Enjoyable listen, but vacuous.

Revisado: 05-30-19

David Suchet is a remarkable actor and I have great respect for him. This interview regards his attempt to investigate the commonality in diversity of peoples' religions. It is very sincere and fun interview.

However, his theological understanding is both trite and facile, making it a painful listen. He seems to believe that Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, because they come of the same root, are about the same and consist largely in being nice to or at least tolerating others. But while some of their teachings may be similar, the three are fundamentally different and incompatible for any holders of historic orthodoxy. Listening to this when you know something about religion is like watching people guess a password in a movie when you know how encryption works, or listening to people speak incorrect English when you know the definition of words.

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As good as the movie

Revisado: 08-06-18

I love the movie and was concerned about the follow-on comparison with the audiobook. There was no need for concern. The story is very Hammet, and the narrator is highly intelligible, with an effective yet understated style that compliments rather than interferes with the story. This is something I can listen to over and over.

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Excellent narration; thriller of a story

Revisado: 03-07-14

This story really moves. The characters are easy to like or hate, as the authors intended, and the mystery is interesting enough that you want to keep listening to it. At the same time it's not so intellectually demanding that it will disturb your driving. Excellent for what it intends to be.

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Most boring book ever

Revisado: 03-06-14

What would have made Worst Ideas Ever better?

Engaging/entertaining stories. There must be some bad worst ideas ever.

What could Daniel Kline and Jason Tomaszewski have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Perhaps more research than quoting a Wikipedia article. I swear the Taco Bell dog was lifted word-for-word.

What three words best describe Patrick Lawlor’s voice?

Snarky, uninspiring, uninflected

Any additional comments?

I'm glad I only paid 0.99 for this on special. I listened to it and within ten minutes concluded that either I was incredibly discerning or it was incredibly uninteresting. I'm not too discerning, so...

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esto le resultó útil a 15 personas