Danimike

Magnificent!

Revisado: 02-27-21

This is a funny, nuanced exploration of the life of Brahms, a composer about whom very little is known and yet there is so much to love. Greenberg doesn’t shy away from the darker side of Brahms’s life and yet manages to capture the humility of the man along with his feistiness and blunt attitude. His perfectionism, combined with his determination to destroy anything less than his best, in many ways work against him, and though we might regret the pieces that were consigned to the fire, we have to be grateful for what survived. The emphasis here is very much on the man and not the musical theory. Still, the overall effect is an engaging one, well worth your time.

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The Best!

Revisado: 10-07-20

Robert Greenberg is the incontrovertible expert on all facets of music. Not only that, he’s really funny. Get this book and study it closely. You won’t regret it.

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A superficial analysis of the music and the man

Revisado: 10-11-16

This is the second book I've listened to from this series, and while the music is lovely, the author never really gets into any significant analysis of the composer's character or his compositional methods. I guess I've been spoiled by Robert Greenberg, who does both. This is a lightly researched look at Dvorak, a composer who deserves so much more. It's probably meant to serve as an introduction only, but if you are a classical music enthusiast, I'm afraid it won't tell you much that you don't already know.

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A dazzling, fundamentally flawed excursion into the grotesque

Revisado: 05-09-15

Any additional comments?

This fascinating, well written novel is fundamentally an argument against white colonialism, and the racism and exploitation that go with it. It is also an experiment in unreliable, unsympathetic narration, an attempt to render a character exclusively in dark hues, and this makes the book both intriguing and, alas, predictable. In life, the evil are never pure. Even the worst of them have a few good traits—that’s what makes them so dangerous. Not so, with Norton Perina. He is a composite of repulsive behaviors, a sociopath without a sociopath's charm, a selfish, conniving, narcissistic, misogynistic, unrepentant pedophile devoid of even a shred of humor or a wisp of compassion, much less any other recognizable human traits. Readers are invited not to understand him, but to loathe him. The consistency of Perina's nastiness makes him utterly predictable. While the plot delivers quite a few surprises, the character never does. You can be sure that in every situation, Perina will behave despicably. The book is a meticulous assemblage of slime and smarm: lengthy renderings of "smears" and feces and blotchy complexions; masturbation and menstruation and grotesque corpulence and putrid odors; people gorging on worms, trusting turtles and adorable miniature monkeys; rites-of-passage involving the ritual gang-rape of young boys (and those are the good guys!), all laced together via the protagonist's snarky remarks. Added to the mix is the victimization of humans, creatures, the environment--an entire world!--and, of course, the annihilation of innocence itself. The book can be enjoyed for its irony, complex plot, and haunting descriptions, and perhaps as a purist’s approach to the unsympathetic character. But prepare yourself for a long immersion in a truly hateful worldview, one that in the end I attribute not to Yanagahara’s hand puppet, Perina, but to the deliberate engineering of the author herself.

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Utterly fascinating!

Revisado: 05-06-15

What made the experience of listening to Great Masters: Shostakovich - His Life and Music the most enjoyable?

Shostakovich was a musical genius working during very difficult times. Because his life was always at risk during the Stalin and post-Stalin eras, he had to walk a very fine line to survive. What makes his music particularly fascinating is the way he wove irony and dissonance into the melodic lines. Stalin and his henchmen perceived the music as heroic, a tribute to the triumph of their reign, but anyone with ears and a clear head would perceive in the same sounds a scathing indictment of the Soviet leaders' crimes against humanity. Robert Greenberg is as entertaining as he is brilliant. I particularly enjoyed his send-up of the American academic elite, who discounted Shostakovich's condemnation of the Soviet Union because it didn't conform to their preferred narrative about the virtues of Communism.Greenberg points out that in the years from the revolution to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, 61 million civilians were slaughtered--nearly three times Hitler's bodycount--a number that is recently being discredited for being too low (!) Shostakovich would be the first to say he wasn't a hero--but he was a survivor and a witness. His music is the ultimate refutation of totalitarianism and testament to the importance of artistic and personal freedom. Don't miss it!

What other book might you compare Great Masters: Shostakovich - His Life and Music to and why?

Greenberg's course on Beethoven is completely amazing. I'll be listening to more of his courses soon.

What does Professor Robert Greenberg bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Insight, expertise, personality, and a wonderfully entertaining delivery. Greenberg doesn't read: he performs!

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Important insights; condescending tone

Revisado: 05-02-15

What did you like best about Get Up!? What did you like least?

The author has important things to say about excessive sitting. Unfortunately, he pitches his ideas at about a sixth grade reading level, a bit low even for a standard self-help book. "Get Up!" contains perhaps 30 pages of useful information spread out to six or seven times that length. Roughly two-thirds of the book is devoted to the author's accomplishments. His achievements are considerable—I just wish he had focused more on the methods of alleviating the problem and less on self-congratulatory prose. This tonal miscalculation quickly begins to grate on the listener. Levine also invents snarky names for anyone he believes disrespected him or underestimated his ideas. This unfortunate tendency is amplified by the arch tone of the reader, causing the narrative to register as somewhat mean-spirited and condescending. The ideas in this book are worth the time it takes to sift through the padding and fluff. I just wish the author had shared more of the science and had cut the formulaic self-help cliches, the flab surrounding the muscle of this book.

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A new way of looking at stuff

Revisado: 04-17-15

What appeals to me most about this book is the way the author recommends we honor our belongings, and the rationale she offers for letting go of items that either bind us to the past or connect us, through fear of lack, to the future. By emphasizing that we only keep items that bring joy, she offers the possibility of living more happily in the present moment in an uncluttered, fully functional environment.

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Amazing Translation, Extraordinary Performance

Revisado: 02-06-15

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This is a superlative performance, thanks to George Guidall's unforgettable interpretation. I can't remember when I've had more fun. Don't be dismayed by the opening chapters, which are a challenging. Once Don Quixote and Sancho Panza hit the road, every scene is a delight. The characters are sharply drawn, the wit is sly and sophisticated, and the social commentary is relevant even today. Though I don't speak Spanish, I can't imagine a better translation. This is a book with a giant heart. You'll smile all the way through. I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

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A good overview, but more summary than analysis

Revisado: 01-14-15

The instructor is enthusiastic and knowledgeable. My reservations are in two areas: first, he devotes a great deal of time to summarizing Lewis's books and not nearly enough time analyzing them; and second, he allows his devotion to CS Lewis to overshadow any critical analysis of Lewis's ideas, relative to the broader context of theological, historical, and philosophical thought.

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