KJ in Chicago

Condescending and simplistic—how can this be?

Reviewed: 08-10-24

This was an over-nine-hours audiobook that could have been done in two-and-a-half hours. At first, I thought the breaking of the narrative frame to address the audience directly would be like the old Ellery Queen technique of telling the reader that all the clues needed to solve the mystery had been given. Instead, the continual insertion of condescending comments like “This is foreshadowing,” or “This is a clue” made me feel like someone was reading a picture book to toddlers. Perhaps assuming that someone interested in the mystery genre wouldn’t need to be taught how to read one would have cleaned up the writing a bit. I enjoyed the narrator’s vocal qualities, but character delineation was poorly executed. The male (I think) police commissioner sounded like the female tour guide, and the vocal range was too limited to allow for distinguishable voice characterization. Very disappointing since the premise seemed fun.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

I wanted to like this.

Reviewed: 06-18-24

The narration was very poorly executed. There was no clear delineation of characters, and that became confusing. The breathing was distracting as well. The onset of each new line seemed to have a labored expulsion of breath that had no relevance to the content. I’m very sorry because I think I could have enjoyed the story.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

A valuable resource for Gurdjieff studies

Reviewed: 08-15-22

Having this great chronicle in audio form is a valuable contribution to the corpus of Fourth Way literature available on Audible. The narrator’s vocal timbre and pacing is excellent. I am concerned that neither the reader nor the director of the audiobook caught the significant errors in the pronunciation of many of the words. It seemed like a cold first-time read-through. These mispronunciations, not only of words from the Fourth Way lexicon, but also of ordinary words from everyday life, provide a major distraction to the flow of the text. Particularly hard to take was the persistent mispronunciation of “Beelzebub”, which is central to Gurdjieff’s magnum opus. Because it is a book on the Fourth Way, I used these mispronunciations as an opportunity to remember myself, and I kept going with the audiobook. I believe the mispronunciations were honest mistakes, and should have been caught by the director at least, but since it is a Gurdjieff book, one can’t be completely sure they were simply mistakes. Perhaps they are a way to separate the sheep from the goats! Definitely worth purchasing and listening to many, many times.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A beautiful interpretation by Mr Blake of an Ouspensky classic.

Reviewed: 07-17-22

This audiobook is so well read, it could only have been done by a person who has devoted his life to The Fourth Way. Such a person is Anthony Blake, a living teacher of the Work, and disciple of J. G. Bennett. Listening to it is like being in class with him. The narrator’s oral interpretation of these complex and vital ideas brings them alive. Anyone can read a book aloud, but it is rare to find a reader who presents the intellectual, emotional, and aesthetic totality of a writer’s ideas. Mr Blake does this with his presentation of Ouspensky’s lectures, and it a gift to anyone who listens to it.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Buy the printed book.

Reviewed: 11-07-21

This book by Leslie Stein is a remarkable work and a valuable contribution to the post-Jungian corpus of writings. Listening to this recording with any enjoyment or even moderate comprehension is simply impossible. Sometimes the voice sounds computer-generated, and throughout the book, the mispronunciations make it impossible to follow. Many of the technical terms from Analytical Psychology are mispronounced, which may be excusable except in a commercially-produced audiobook. However, even ordinary words are mispronounced. The one that made me return the audiobook was "sinehkwanahn," with the accent on the second syllable, for "sine qua non"). Unfortunate, and perhaps Audible will re-record the book, either giving the present narrator a chance for coaching when reading literature such as this or else with another narrator.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

What’s better than a new Ms Fortune mystery by Jana de Leon?

Reviewed: 06-14-21

A new Ms. Fortune mystery narrated by Cassandra Campbell, of course. Superb writing interpreted flawlessly. Start with the first book, and you’ll make it to this nineteenth novel in no time. More fun than a bayou full of Godzillas! Plots, characters, settings all are wonderful.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Another great Kinsey mystery, but why, oh, why the multiple narrators?

Reviewed: 03-28-21

As with all of T E Kinsey’s books, this one is well worth listening to, in spite of the strange decision to have multiple narrators: one male and one female. Each narrator is wonderful, no doubt about it, but having them interchange in an oddly erratic fashion just didn’t work. Such a decision might work if each chapter were in a different voice, but having the female narrator for Flo and Emily, but not for Ellie or any of the other female characters, was strange. And having either Flo or Emily speak, followed by a male voice saying, “said Flo” or “queried Emily” stops the flow of the narrative, which is, after all, the point of an audio book. Do add this book to your collection, because it is a wonderful story as are all of the T E Kinsey stories, but I hope in future they stick to one narrator.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Amazing book and an even more amazing reader.

Reviewed: 03-24-21

Whitley Strieber’s books are fascinating, but the opportunity to hear Mr. Strieber read his own work is sublime. Purchase and download any of his books that he reads; they will be well worth the expense and effort, and you will listen to them more than once.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Excellent listening experience.

Reviewed: 09-23-20

This is a fun read. Julia Motyka may be moving into the Katherine Kellgren territory! Seriously, this is a nice book with a great reader. By great I mean she doesn’t work against the flow of the story. I look forward to more of her narration, as well as eagerly waiting to read my next title by Gigi Pandian. I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I have and I’m glad to have found both this author and this narrator. Don’t hesitate to download. I can’t understand the negative reviews!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

What happened with the audio volume levels?

Reviewed: 04-21-19

This is a nice cosy mystery, but the mechanics of the recording render it annoying to listen to. The volume shifts from VERY LOUD to very soft in a cyclic pattern. At first I thought that the reader was doing it for dramatic effect, but realized after about 10 minutes that it was unrelated to the meaning of the text. This definitely needs tending to by a sound engineer to smooth out the overall balance. The narrator is excellent, and it’s too bad that his work suffers from technical problems unrelated to his talent.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!