T. Imaging

Excellent Historical Novel

Revisado: 09-27-23

This book kept my interest for thirty plus hours. The narration is good and the story line is compelling. The story of the Indian wars and the settlement of the East and Midwest is not covered in American schools very much - but it should be. The subject of the book definitely filled some gaps in my knowledge of American history. I think the author treated both the Indians and the settlers fairly evenly - savagery was usual on both sides. The brutality and the superstitions of the Indians is not whitewashed. I have a few quibbles with the author. The Frontiersman didn't have "12 Negro servants" - he had 12 slaves. Kentucky was a slave state and slavery was common. The Cherokee had slaves that they bought from the whites and they even took them on the Trail of Tears. The word small pox is never mentioned in the book. The role infectious disease played in the settlement of the Northwest is never considered.

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Compelling and Relevant Fiction

Revisado: 05-04-22

This is the first novel of Edna Ferber that I have read or listened to. The begging of the book struck me as a little trite but I'm glad I continued to listen because the book presents an interesting story in which the main characters grow and develop against a backdrop of 20th century economic and social change. The writing is vivid and helps to carry the story. The conflicts between the characters in the book are well presented and still relevant.

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Great Book

Revisado: 11-30-21

This is a great work of historical fiction based on true events and true characters. The story is engrossing and the writing is vivid. I recommend this book highly. I will definitely read more books by this author. My only quibble is that the title of the book does no do justice to the depth and range of this wonderful book.

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Disappointing

Revisado: 11-30-21

I got this book because of the great reviews and because David Grossman is a revered Israeli writer whose work I have never read. None of the characters are portrayed in a way that makes the listener empathize with them or become concerned about their fate. Their "reconciliation" seems contrived and doesn't merit hours of listening. The descriptive writing and dialogue are not in any way compelling and I don't think this is the fault of the translation. I generally don't like to post negative reviews, but to me this book is a case of "an emperor who has no clothes."

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Interesting Book About a Family of Birds

Revisado: 11-17-21

Full disclosure: I am not a bird person. I would never have a bird as a pet and bird watching seems like an odd activity to me. This book is well written and goes into great detail about the author's quest to learn about an interesting family of omnivorous birds and the places and people he meets along the way. It kept my interest, though in some parts I thought it was overwritten. For a bird person, this is a 5 star book.

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esto le resultó útil a 11 personas

Wonderful Listen

Revisado: 05-19-21

An interesting story, intriguing characters, well written, great voice narration. Highly recommended. Larry McMurtry was a treasure and created an amazing body of work.

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Excellent and Informative Work

Revisado: 05-10-20

Part historical work, part social documentary, part multiple biography this book brings to life the great migration of African Americans from the south to the north during the 20th century. It is an important part of 20th century American history. The author writes with grace and compassion. She depicts the real people she writes about with all their virtues and flaws. The narrator is very pleasant to listen to and as, far as I can tell, does a great job with the actual speech of the characters in the book.

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Worthwhile and Fascinating Course

Revisado: 03-23-20

This is the second course by John McWhorter that I listened to. With no previous knowledge of linguistics, I found the new information about language fascinating. The author is a witty and entertaining speaker. My main disappointment is with the present state of linguistics itself. Linguistics is in the state that botany was in 1500. There is no reference to anything that makes use of post renaissance science, other than some checking of hypotheses with human DNA studies at the end. The field is about empirical classifications based on similarity between words in various languages and ideas of how sounds change or are dropped. A lot of time is spent constructing “protolanguage.” This endeavor isn’t much different than the labors of medieval theologians to find out how many angels are on the head of a pin!

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An Interesting Book to Listen To

Revisado: 12-05-19

As a physician familiar with most of the material, I still found listening to this book a pleasant and informative experience. The author presented some information that was entirely new to me. For instance I did not know that menopause occurs in just a few species of mammals or that the human pelvis allows upright posture at the expense of the safety and ease of human birth.

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Wonderful Stories

Revisado: 10-24-19

These short stories are great. Ian Fleming is a masterful writer. The reader is drawn into each story by the end of the first paragraph! The characters are sharply etched. Simon Vance’s narration is marvelous. Do enjoy them - as the British would say!

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