Joseph Capell

British dry humor

Reviewed: 03-30-25

Retelling of SOE efforts in France from a different point of view. I hope we see captain Basel again in another adventure.

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So much more in this book than when I first read it as a college student.

Reviewed: 10-27-24

The whole scientific community dealing with mental retardation now calls it "Intellectual disability " . in the 1950's we were pretty simplistic. This novel changed all of that. It takes the diary perspective of a young man who undergoes an experimental procedure which makes him progressively smarter to the level of genius. He then looses it all even to a lower level than he was before. The insights and experiences are the stuff of this novel. The experience of discovering adult sexuality is both touching and disturbing. The continuing damages from how he was taught about sex as a series of prohibitions is sobering. Charlie's perspective as an individual is eye opening. My own career as a physician working with handicapped persons was enriched back then and even more richly expanded as I read this from the perspective of a senior practitioner in this field.

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Intraspecies story

Reviewed: 02-28-24

I liked this novel very much. It was only a little way into this story when I felt there was something familiar in the theme. Instead of porcine/arachnoid characters, there are cephalopod/sapiens drama. In other words, this has the feeling of Charlot's Web. That was one of my favorite childhood stores for me my children and grandchildren. It definitely is dealing with more grown up issues, but retains the innocence and universality of relationships, aging, death and understanding another being's world.

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Christian romance not my favorite, but this was a good one

Reviewed: 10-23-21

I‘m not particularly well read in this class of novels. This book however has so much to recommend it, interesting story, complex and intriguing plot as well as background about the relocation of children during the WWII London blitz. The character development is an additional treat i.e. how childhood trauma shapes the character of later adulthood. There is romance of a sort, but timid and respectful almost to the point of unbelievable . I would recommend this book which I experienced in the audible format for listeners who what to dip their toe in this genre of modern literature.

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Good summary of the last 70 years of genetics even for a doctor .

Reviewed: 09-24-21

I am a partially retired pediatrician specialist in handicapped children. Med school in the late sixties taught us what was known about genetics. Not a whole lot more than DNA structure and whole chromosome syndromes were known. So much has been discovered since. We know in many cases what gene is abnormal, where it is located, the structure of the protein it codes,how to detect it in an individual with a test, and HOW TO CURE IT with gene editing. Isaacson’s in depth biography of Dr. Doudna covers all of these discoveries and their significance. It put 70 years of science into perspective and filled in many lacunae in my understanding. He even makes CRISPR/CAS9 gene editing tool make sense which took me a long time with reading journals, textbooks and listening to lectures to become useful for my practice. I was recently at a reunion of my Med school class and told a number of my fellow doctors to to read it. It is eminently readable even for the layperson. I highly recommend this book for colleagues and parents of children with genetic disorders as well as the curious and well informed layman.

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Captured the character of the man

Reviewed: 08-14-21

I have known several Ukrainian men and women who came to the US with their parents as children. All were professionals, dentists, doctors, engineers. Of course, the author knows that way of life in as much as it is universal. What is rare in any book, however, is that he is able to portray it to the reader in such clarity that I was startlingly reminded of these friends of mine in Vindman's words, ways of thinking, ways of explaining and ways of reacting to life events both extraordinary and commonplace.
Of course this book is about momentous events in our recent history (the first Trump impeachment and it precipitating events) and there are many insights about the army, immigrant life, the Trump Whitehouse and Trump himself. Through all this, however, the aspirations, motivations and anguish of this man shows through.
The book is a double treat for the reader: sobering historical insight and an authentic character portrait that explains much about these events.

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well researched, well told retelling of a classic

Reviewed: 08-29-20

This book is a well researched, well told retelling of a classic story by Marlow and Goethe which almost has the status of an archetypal myth.
Potzsch spins this narrative to make the reader or listener feel like he/she is in pre or early Reformation Germany (Martin Luther's 95 theses on the door in Wittenberg was 1517 as the official start) You can hear the dissatisfaction that eventually lead to fundamental changes in the complaints of the burgers and travlers in his story.
The story is told well. It weaves a number of interesting variations from the mainline story and makes a rich tapestry of backstories of the main figures. We feel Faust's conflicts starting with his early interactions with the devil and the major changes in his life.
The travel to many different towns and cities gives a vivid picture of late Mediaeval middle Europe, down to the names of the various gates, the market places and even the changing nature of the knightly class at that time.
The translation was well done. Reinhardt doesn't try to teach you German in her rendition.
The narrator, Hillgartner did a yeoman's job of many distinct character voices.
This is a good read/listen for readers who are interested in a good story, fascinated by this era and this location and the collector of classical myths with a universal theme (man's encounter and fascination with the devil).

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12 people found this helpful

Dialog is the most amazing part of this book.

Reviewed: 07-16-20

The author, OSC has evolved through his many literary efforts. He has always been good at story. Ender’s Game was a dandy, complex interesting and satisfying storyline, but if it had a weakness, it was dialogue. We have observed marvelous elaboration of his storytelling skills over the years, but also feasted on the emergence of dialogue skills slowly but surely. Lost and Found is, in my estimation, the crown jewel of OSC’s dialog skills. Each of the main characters has his/her unique and charming style. The chemistry when they come together is amazing. The conversations add so much to the reader’s understanding and appreciation of personalities. I’m sure you will enjoy this recent supplement to a rich tradition of his writings.

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Great to hear a story read by the author.

Reviewed: 06-08-15

I just got back from a week at Dayton for an amateur radio convention. At the end of the week we went to the Air Force Museum . We learned of McCullough's book from a docent . I settled in to listening to the entire book over the next week. I never realized how exacting and methodical the Wright brothers were and how long it took to get to that first flight in 1904. This book makes history seem real. It is well organized and presents their lives in the context of what was happening in social and technological events of the time including a story near to my heart, the achievements of G. Marconi a few years before. I would highly recommend this book for a general reader with interest in aviation, science or Americana of the turn of the last century, our own "Victorian" age.

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Second in a series. Not as good as the first

Reviewed: 01-03-15

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is the second book in the Scott Meyer Magic 2.0 series. I loved the first in the series, Off to be the Wizard. Just the title was great and the premise of the book, that the world is run by a computer program and if one controlled this program, all sorts of outrageous things could be accomplished was fascinating. This book went on to establish some principles of time travel and was a little less interesting, but still studded with "laugh out loud" references to pop culture, nerd culture and flawed nerd understandings of relationships between the sexes. It's oversimplification and self satisfaction with those explanations was refreshing and outright entertaining. I would recommend this book for anyone who got hooked by the first book. I would not recommend it for a first reading since the underlying assumptions are not well established in this one. I can't wait for the third and hopefully not the final that is promised for March, 2015.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Spell or High Water?

Martin and Phillip's dialogue about their doings with their respective girlfriends.

What does Luke Daniels bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Pitch perfect rendition of a number of character voices.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, if I had the time.

Any additional comments?

Looking forward to the third installment of the Magic 2.0 series.

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