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Irresistible

Revisado: 05-12-23

I’ve read and listened to this novel six times. This is a world to which I surrender completely. I dream of Susanna Clarke’s return to John Uskglass’s England - and to Simon Prebble’s reading of it. I never want to leave.

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Almost Unlistenable

Revisado: 04-28-13

Would you try another book from Henry James and/or Stephen Hoye?

Stephen Hoye is not cut out to read James' sentences. His delivery of each sentence is identical, in spite of distinct meanings. It feels as if Hoye experiences James' prose as a chore. I'm very disappointed, and will avoid this narrator.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Classic Jamesian intrigue and deft manipulation.

How could the performance have been better?

If Simon Prebble had read it, or someone who could contend with James' extraordinary syntax.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

The reading sparked utter annoyance - pure exasperation. How is it that, hearing the first few chapters, the producers did not hire a different reader?

Any additional comments?

Take care when assigning a reader to James. His writing is rich but demanding.

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Transporting "Listen"

Revisado: 05-05-12

Where does The Wee Free Men: Discworld Childrens, Book 2 rank among all the audiobooks you???ve listened to so far?

I've listened to so many great books through Audible, read by Simon Prebble, Simon Vance, Lindsay Duncan, Juliet Stevenson and others. It would be impossible to rank Wee Free Men other than among my top 30. However, I began this book with my children, as we made a long trek north. I finished on my own, because the story and the narrator were so delightful that I didn't want to wait for the next big drive. Stephen Briggs is magnificent with his various characters, his perfect modulations - whether in the guise of a tiny blue Scot or the clever, thoughtful Tiffany. His commitment to each character is heroic - and provides pure pleasure.
And, of course, Terry Pratchett's worlds never fail to delight. I've taken the next two novels out of the library, but I'll have to channel Briggs' voice to do them justice.

What did you like best about this story?

Tiffany's discovery that she is a witch, but that a true witch only uses her craft when her native cleverness is insufficient was the central notion that won me over. The characters, from Miss Tick to Granny Aching, were thoroughly and perfectly confected. I loved them all. I loved Tiffany's discoveries about her inner strengths, about the nature of mourning someone so loved that she never really left.
This book will charm any listener, of any age, and all genders!!

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"Quirky" went out with the 90s

Revisado: 05-05-12

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Had the story had any qualities other than affectation, I might have felt engaged. The Florida setting was attractive, but the characters were so utterly and appallingly postured that I could hardly listen.

What was most disappointing about Karen Russell???s story?

The story had no depth, despite the incident of rape. Presumably this was a traumatic occurrence, though one could never have guessed for whom. The reader, I suppose. Not one member of the family engaged my interest. The ghostly figure of Lewis, and his Depression era experiences were the triumph of the book. Perhaps if this had been offered as a neo-gothic short story, all might have been saved. (At least my time might have been saved.)
Why was Russell lauded for pointlessly mixing Greek myth and Old Testament in her novel? I searched for a post-modern implication, but then the book ended...

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Arielle Sitrick and David Ackroyd ?

Claire Danes and Jason Schwartzman.

What character would you cut from Swamplandia!?

Every single character except Lewis could be cut; every single incident except Lewis's efforts to tame the everglades could be cut. Get rid of those embarrassing "Seths." What was the point?

Any additional comments?

I don't know how this novel arrived on the New York Times' top ten of 2011. It caused me to speculate about the ways in which the editors might have been "gratified."

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Simon Prebble is a gift from God

Revisado: 05-12-11

I have listened to stories all my life, and thought my mother was perhaps the most gifted reader born, (to hear her Piglet and Pooh was to understand the elasticity of love). But Simon Prebble is better. I will listen to everything he has recorded; it's my new purpose. No one else could have done Sleary justice; he becomes more than my own mind had made him when I read Hard Times so long ago: from Prebble's tongue he is a monument of dignity with a slippery 's'. And Prebble's reading of Susanna Clarke's work is perhaps even more astonishing - footnotes and all. I'm blissed out!

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