Lapo
Absurd.
I will certainly never read another book by Pat Conroy, but certainly will listen to one read by Frank Muller.
The book left me disappointed. It was a gratuitous exercise in eccentricity. Instead of delving into the psychology of his main character, Conroy transforms the whole story in a circus act. The climax of the book is so ludicrous and conceited, it made me roll my eyes. The ratio by which he went seems to have been “The weirder, the better.” He also seemed to think that more was more in terms of plot, which frankly he does not have a good grip on. There are still some wonderful scenes and great dialogues here in there in the book, but they can't make up for the lack of cohesion.
In the end, I found the whole book absurd and truly unrealistic. The Addams Family seems far more true than the Wingos.
A total let down.
This is supposed to be her masterpiece and I did not like it, so I don't think I will check out any other books by her. It was fairly trite. It is pretty much a sci-fi story, but then there are inexplicable sideturns into religion. It felt like the kind of cheat a Creationist Tea Partier would try. Overall, though, the story was just flat and trite and the tone changes suddenly toward the end, just in order to bring the story to a conclusion. The reader did a fine job in mimicking different voice and was always very pleasant, despite a really poor recording quality at the beginning. I love children books and was really looking forward to reading this, since it is supposed very intelligent and challenging. It was neither.
Fifty seven hours of audiobook and totally amazing. A first rate first-hand account from a journalist who was present at all the major events of the war. First rate historical research as Shirer was able to get his hands on mint German secret files and the diary of one of the most important generals of the time who kept an unimaginably detailed account of all his interactions with Hitler and of all the decisions of the war. Now, I truly understand much, much more about War World II. Highly Recommended.
Not very impressed. I read it because Ioved “The Three Musketeers,” but I didn't like it as much. After a great beginning, it gets dull and too chatty. Nothing much happens in the whole book and the characters speak so much and are so pompous that they turned me off. The biggest flaw for me though was how impersonal the novel is. After the great beginning when we are in Edmond Dantes's head and as soon as he becomes the Count of Montecristo, we stop hearing his thoughts and feelings and he is treated objectively. So much so that by the end of the book we know everything the victims feel and nothing about how he feels. Also, he is given too supernatural powers–nothing comes in his way; his plans roll in undisturbed. In the end also he is so pompous and facetious about his doubts that totally turned me off. The book is overlong like the Three Muskeeter, due to the fact that Dumas wrote in weekly installments at that time and made more money writing longer works. There are still nice things, but not worth 56 hours of listening. Read the “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” instead, if you want something monumental, but worth it.
Audiobook. Reader performance 5 stars. Story 2 stars. The book started well in typical Dicken's fashion and got my hopes up. It is written in a beautiful first person prose that quite captures you. The technical quality of the writing remains consistent throughout, but that's pretty much all I liked about it. I thought I would never find a Dicken's story boring or useless, but David Copperfield actually brought into my mind the word inane. I can't fathom why the author wrote the story-I just finished it and I feel I was better off before reading. It was a waste of time. The title character is nothing more than a spectator of his own life and his central love story is annoying to say the least. He is insipid, goody-good and maybe one of the most ineffectual man ever written. In short, I did not like it at all. The story though is populated by wonderful characters and Dickens has undoubtedly a great, great hand at characterization. That's probably what captures people. It doesn't work for me on such a long book. I admire the characters, but having no plot, no stakes, and a main character who is only a point of view quite annoyed me.
I listened to the BBC3 audio production of this book and it was AMAZING. Only 4 stars, because of the inane catholic moralizing of Arthur at the very end. Everything else was just amazing.
Better than the first one and a nice introduction to Mr. Bush's character. The writing is still neat and on the point.
I read it, because I remember being very intrigued by the movie when I was young. This short story or novelette is very different from the movie, but still quite interesting. The pace is insane and I think I would have actually liked the novel format of it much better. Nevertheless, I read it (audiobook) without effort.
This isn't a novel, but the unfinished work of Forester before he died. One of those despicable business operations so often carried out by publishers nowadays. Up until it breaks off, it is as good as the previous books in the series.
The story of a self righteous, dysfunctional, overconfident, somewhat autistic guy who like the stupidest idiot walks into the wilderness of Alaska without a compass, tools and a plan B and guess what... dies. I have no patience for people like him. They should have sent him to therapy.
Audiobook version. Christie definitely got my attention. The writing is high quality and though I am not a fan of short stories, these are undoubtedly very good. I look forward to reading more by her.
I saw the first episode of the TV series and I was thoroughly unimpressed, but I thought, “they made it into a movie, the book is probably excellent.” I picked up the book and I was appalled. People must really love soap operas, because that is what this book is. Whoever compared this to Tolkien's work must be out of their mind. This is fantasy soap opera. Terrible trash.
I started listening to the aubiobook, because I worshipped “Seabiscuit, an American Legend.” Unfortunately this book is not on par with her previous work. As with many other epic stories that extend over a long part of a character's life, this book falls into the same trap of becoming more of a laundry lists of facts than a cohesive narrative. I will probably stop reading soon. Maybe, I will reread Seabiscuit.
Update: I still finished reading, out of respect for Hillebrand, but my opinion is unchanged. Unfortunately unimpressing, although some of the events recounted would have made magnificent stories.
The writing is terse and very well researched. A quite pleasant read, even if too episodic. There is no overarching narrative in the book and each chapter stands as a separate story. It feels more like a collection of short stories about a character than a novel. That said, it was good enough to make feel inclined to read the next one in the series.
This is a case where the movie was better than the novel. The writing is very nice, but it goes on forever on tangents and skirts the most thrilling and/or violent scenes. In the end, it reads more like an essay about the mafia, or a political figure than a novel. There are still great parts and Don Corleone is much more magnificent than his counterpart in the movie, but it still fell flat for me.
I really wonder whether Dumas actually wrote this novel or whether it was one of his aids, who wrote it. I never thought D'Artagnan would end up being a despicable man and Athos a ridiculous parody, but that's how they appear here. In the book only D'Artagnan makes plan and solves problem, which is completely ridiculous, given the resources of both Athos and Aramis. Also there isn't a really good villain as in the first book, which makes it terribly weak on all accounts. Two stars is the maximum a could give to this terrible downer.
Wonderful and mind expanding book. It makes a great case for the space program and human exploration of space, but does not stop there. Entertaining and filled with great science.
I love Sagan as a nonfiction writer, where he shines bright, but I find him lacking in his fiction writing. Go read his nonfiction, because it's amazing, for example “The Demon Haunted World” and “Pale Blue Dot” among others. He was a brilliant writer and science ambassador. I deeply admire and respect his nonfiction work.
Read it in high school. The atmosphere it creates is profound and very affecting. A true dystopian masterpiece.