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Intrigue in the City of Ar

Reviewed: 01-10-24

Tarl Cabot infiltrates a slave house in order to avenge his own assassination attempt. Along the way the City of Ar experiences government upheaval, and Tarl finds himself in the midst of barbarian battles, chess matches, and tarn races.

Full-disclosure, I read many of the Gor books back in the 1980's, and was quite pleased to see them arrive on Audible. I ceased reading the series with this very book, and looking back as I listened to the story this time, I can see why. John Norman has a penchant for in-depth description in such a way that he could make anything tedious in the belabored rendition. While I can appreciate that he has put a lot of thought into the when, where, how, and why the world operates as it does, please let me discover those things through periodic tidbits sprinkled through the story. Diving into a 30-minute tangent in the middle of an action scene really serves to kill the mood.

My wife and I both finished reading this book, and were unimpressed with this one. Normans ability to write plot is excellent, and the forethought he puts into his world building serves to create a well rounded, rich world with constantly shifting tides and sands. This book is no exception. Regardless of how predictable it was.

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Required reading upon maturity

Reviewed: 12-15-23

Having reached a point in my life that I wished to read "The Wealth of Nations", I purchased the book. Knowing full-well the book was published nearly 250 years ago, I opted to also purchase the authors prior book to familiarize myself with their writing style and concept organization. I was quite taken by surprise at the wealth of wisdom Adam Smith committed to page. This book gave me far more than I could have ever expected. How this is not required reading in college is beyond me. The application of understanding for human behavior affects such a vast amount of disciplines, and here is much of it laid out in easy-to-understand format. The fact that this was written nearly a quarter millennia ago is compelling.

Keeping in mind, due to the age of the reference, some small portion of the information is dated in it's understanding. With some religious underpinnings that need be adjusted for in the understanding of today's world. However, this book is a gold mine in and of itself; and should be required reading for anyone on the precipice of, or well into their journey of emotional maturity and sociological understanding.

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1 person found this helpful

An overview

Reviewed: 12-15-23

While this is an excellent overview of true crime historical references were accessed to create many different horror films, it feels a bit like it should be the capstone book for tomes of material. As if each entry should refer to another book in which you could read more on individual topics.

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An interesting perspective

Reviewed: 12-15-23

Especially for a YA novel, this is well done. Taken from the perspective of a teen working on a school project in the form of a true-crime documentary or blog. Fascinating to listen to it from the perspective of "journal entries" juxtaposed with some live action flavor. I really appreciated the resolution. I didn't see this one coming, which is unusual for me.

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Overall worth the read

Reviewed: 08-24-23

The story is a bit slow, which appears to be part of the author's design. A slow, smoldering that starts to show some smoke, then a tiny ember, and growing into a literal inferno. Well done. The pacing really helps the understanding of the MC's muted responses. It's very 'frog in a boiling pot' theory.

The story itself isn't very original, taken from common fairy tales of yore. Fairy mounds, effigies, a walk in the woods that finds you in another realm. There is a twist to the old stories found in this book, and not a surprise twist, mind you. There's no gotcha hiding among the pages that leaves an enormous plot hole. More of a slow unfolding of a flower to something unexpected.

I enjoyed this book. The author's ability to see things from another angle, and in a different light, was quite refreshing.

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A glimpse of the origin stories

Reviewed: 08-23-23

First, we should discuss the preface, which feels like it is the first third of the book. My goodness is it packed with information. Fascinating of you are interested in the origins and translations of the stories; but I can certainly understand that those that just came for the stories found it tedious and pedantic. For me, it was worth the wealth of information it provided.

Second third of the book is comprised of the original stories / translations. For me, this was worth the wait, and worth it's weight in gold. As the tales were originally an oral tradition, it understandable that many are repetitively similar. If you listen thoughtfully, you can identify the lessons many of the stories were designed to impart, as well as the repetition involved in training the memories of the listeners and storytellers.

The final third of the book saddened me. I of course understand the Grimms were a product of the time and culture in which they lived; and it is nigh impossible to resist caving to the constant pressure of the influence of the Christian/Catholic religion. Listening to these stories, you could feel some of the abdication of responsibility and forcing the characters to trust in an invisible force that is "greater and more righteous than themselves." It removed some of the morals of the stories and injected "faith in God will ensure that all ends well." Truly designed to create sheep for the shepherd. In my opinion, it diminished and lessened the stories.

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13 people found this helpful

Amazing writing

Reviewed: 08-03-23

A controversial topic to be sure. If you can stomach the content, the prose is exquisite. Nabokov is impressively descriptive, causing events to unfold before you in visual detail. The only place he appeared to struggle was his narration of travel around the country, used in a couple of sections of the novel. While it serves to show passing time and some fairly mundane character experiences, after several stops of similar detail, it began to feel rather tedious. Assuredly not his forte.

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There a lot going on here

Reviewed: 08-03-23

First, the narration. Handled by multiple narrators, some good, some fair, some well... the pain of the yelling to mimic the booming of Aslan's voice, and the screeching tone of Reepicheep's voice. No. Just no.

As for the story itself, it is incredibly dated. I initially read the Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe when I was young. Long before I was able to identify the religious overtones; and thank goodness, because I recall it fondly. The rest of the book, read more recently, is dripping with Christian overtones of domination over all beasts, women as lesser beings, and the dominion of adam and eve over all things. It was a bit sickening, having grown up watching how much damage has been wrought by instilling these teachings in generations of children. If the story had been written today, it would be easier to see it as satire, as in some portions of the book it is so steeped in the 'Lord's doctrine' that it seems to mock itself. There are points in the book where C.S. Lewis points out that attempting to live in both worlds causes the children to lose their grip on reality itself. Very apropos.

I am a bit disappointed that I bought this book, as it has colored my early recollections of the initial reading. If you are a devout follower of Christianity, this book may just be your cup of tea. If not, well, going in better informed may hold value.

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Admittedly good

Reviewed: 07-13-23

A little weary of the rich playboy trope that settles down after finding the 'true' submissive. However.

This story took that trope and stretchers it out a bit. The overarching undertones of immense wealth remove many of the struggles that a real person would experience, which takes some of the depth out of the story and gets back to relationship development and sex. I would have enjoyed it a bit more if they actually had to deal with issues. It's a bit shallow when the drama of the storyline is "and then this ominous problem arose, and plenty of money rushed in to fill the gaps. Smooth sailing and clear skies ahead. Oh look another bump in the road ahead. And money fills the gaps and saves the day!"

It does have some worthwhile BDSM scenes in the mix.

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It's a biography

Reviewed: 07-13-23

and I'm not usually one for biographies. This one felt prescient and important, as I am an investor who follows many similar principles. I must say it's excellent, and worth the read. Realistically, if you are looking at this book, you already know of Buffett, and probably know quite a bit about his philosophy. Get the book. It fills in some of the holes in that knowledge.

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