Kathleen

Great narration on top of a fabulous story

Revisado: 01-05-25

Another great Tana French story, the second featuring Cal Hooper. If I ever move to Ireland, I'd hope to meet someone like Cal Hooper, an American expat who gets himself involved in, and gets out of, the local town's dramas and mysteries, with its inhabitants.

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A Lifelong Goal

Revisado: 09-24-24

Reading War and Peace was something I had planned to do years and years ago. As happens with many lofty goals, life got in the way. But I am glad I kept it in back my mind.
Simply put it is a story of Russia in the time of the Napoleon wars. There are two stories, epic stories, both. The "Peace" narrative puts the reader/listener in the lives of everyday Russians at the time, in a number of masterfully delineated characters from prominent families. The "War" narrative describes, much better than most history, books, the battles and skirmishes and preparations for those same characters as members of each family go to war.
At times, I had to pause in amazement, as I thought about Tolstoy weaving all of these families of his imagination into the very real events of well documented periods of Russia's entry into, and constant participation in, its war against Napoleon's army.
The final section, entitled Epilogue, could well serve as a complete book unto itself, detailing the role of the historians in recording events of the times in which they lived. Tolstoy waves philosophy and sociology and history together as he ponders the reasons why countries enter into war.
I spent most of a summer listening to War and Peace. If you wonder about the 65 hours of narration, remember it is only a few hours at a time for a few weeks of your life, and in my opinion, well worth the effort. And remember, you will only do it once.
Narration could not have been better, accents were realistically, rendered differences in characters and points of view were readily apparent.

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The real story

Revisado: 04-13-24

Perfect story about both the Ghetto and the Warsaw Uprisings. Facts woven seamlessly with the fictional background story characters.
Narrator had a bit of trouble with Polish names accenting the wrong syllable, but that was a minor deterrent.

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Amazing Unity of History and Story-telling

Revisado: 10-21-23

Read this story.
I believe I would have loved it even without having first loved words - and subsequently, stories, poetry, and books in all genres. But, even with all that background, I remain amazed that this excellent plot evolved alongside the history of the Oxford English Dictionary, 19th Century England, women's rights, World War I, and finding romance in a difficult world. And it works so well.
Full marks to the narrator for such a talented display with the voices of young girls, young and older women and men, upper and lower classes, and dialects of English stretching beyond England, and beyond the 19th and early 20th centuries, to modern Australian.

And yet, beyond the history and the world events, The Dictionary of Lost Worlds is the story of its characters, both real and fictional, finding their way in the world, bravely embracing love and hardship, all while
embracing the project that was the Oxford English Dictionary.

Last words: I own a (micro-condensed, with magnifying glass) copy of the OED, along with the 1987 Supplement edition. After years of just seeing it on a shelf, I opened it again today, pleased to find that a specific word missing in the original was indeed present in the supplement. It made me smile for the character of Esme, who made that happen. Listen to this book and you will know the word.

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Simply wonderful!

Revisado: 01-08-23

Short but masterful telling of a classic tale of trickster being tricked. Great narration adds to the delight.

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Perfect Louise Penny! Again.

Revisado: 01-08-23

I never tire of listening to the adventures and wisdom and humor of Louise penny's character chief Inspector Gamache. This newest one is no exception. Jump in with both feet.

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Amazing account of an unknown trailblazer!

Revisado: 01-08-23

This is the excellent story of Belle Dacosta Greene, the personal librarian of J Pierpont, Morgan. Ms Greene assisted and directed with acquisitions which made the Morgan library the pre-eminent collection of old manuscripts and illuminated writings in America. That we have never heard of her before is nothing short of amazing a very good and informative listen. Great story, good narrator, wonderful experience.

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Ian McEwan paints brilliantly with his prose

Revisado: 12-05-22

Ian McEwan is a Master. This saga spans the life of Roland Baines, the central character who, through adventures and misadventures, tells the story of the western world in the late 20th century and into the present. But it could be the story of the life of anyone who remembers the world in that time. I remember many events and locations just as Roland remembers them, though I am neither English nor an aging man. The 1989 breaking down of the Berlin Wall is no less vivid in my own memory than in McEwan's, and what a story he weaves from those poignant events. Backward and forward from that pivotal date, McEwan invents or adapts his characters' lives so that they would have been in certain places at certain times when history made a mark upon them. I am still in awe. Even dinner table conversations are perfect, as though recorded from similar conversations and political arguments I have had myself.
Like other McEwan works, it is the exact length it must be to tell the story, it is neither too long nor too short. Another McEwan winner. Enjoy the ride.

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Worth waiting for!

Revisado: 11-11-21

I ordered this story before Covid, and it sat in my queue patiently waiting for me to get around to listening to it. But finally there it was. Perfect story, not a slow start, not a ho-hum middle, not a predictable end, just perfect. And the narrators were spot on, too. An audio win for sure.

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Audra! Packs a punch

Revisado: 01-27-21

Audra McDonald, without changing a single word of this Tennessee Williams classic, brings a new character image to Blanche duBois. She is still Blanche, but a seemingly stronger Blanche who fiercely believes her own story, until that final scene when she leaves the stage with the play’s most famous line, “Whoever you are, I have always relied on the kindness of strangers.” Excellent rendition by entire cast.

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