Dan B

Too simply written

Reviewed: 09-17-24

I found this book to be disappointingly simply written. The plot had major deus ex machina moments, including the heavily foreshadowed ending. I found there were multiple moments where it felt like the author had perhaps left out a short sequence of action as something major happened extremely abruptly. For example after a lengthy description of a character being off by themselves in a very remote part of the world attempting an action, a sequence like "The main character looked carefully at a puzzle, not sure how to proceed. A man walked up to them and suddenly did X." I mean, the book establishes how alone and isolated a character is for nearly a chapter, then introduces a major new character with absolutely no preamble? No "And then out of nowhere..." or "All of the sudden..." There were a few of these and they made me backup and re-read the sequence to see if I missed something. Another example of simple writing was the names for things. "The Bone Woman" or "The Mud People" or "The Bird Man." The author is no Oscar Wilde. It all gave a feeling of an inexperienced author writing their first book.

I was also put off by the narrator, who read in an overly ostentatious dramatic tone. It's possible this overly haughty reading of such simplistic prose really contributed to the cognitive dissonance associated with both the text and the narration. Maybe on the written page it would not have come off seeming so simple. The narrator's voicing of women was particularly poor. I think he was channelling Mae West as he was reading a female dragon's dialogue, for example.

One final comment another review reminded me of: this book has lengthy sadomasochistic sequences in which it goes to great detail about extensive torture and the sexual excitement the characters get from giving it and receiving it. And I mean long: there's one sequence that must go on for 2 chapters straight. I understand the place this sequence (and others) had for the plot line, but the lingering descriptions and repeated sequences went a little over the top for my taste.

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A Great Description of a Great Era

Reviewed: 08-26-24

...the era of early business computing, which IBM dominated. I am sure through the lens of anyone much less than 50 years old, this all seems like ancient history and not very applicable to today's modern miracles of technology. Just like a modern viewer might watch "Citizen Kane" and yawn seeing what they think of as standard movie-making techniques, not realizing they're seeing a ground breaking film where those "standard" techniques were invented. IBM invented many of those standard things about computers we all take for granted today.

I admit to being biased, having been employed by IBM for nearly 40 years, and my father before me for another 30 more. I knew of many of the things this book described, and lived though some of them as well. The Watsons (father and son) were a force of nature in the industry. IBM's success never came from technical knowhow, and even today IBM is not a technology company, but a sales and service company. Its influence and revenue is a far cry from what it was in its heyday, mainly because it lost sight of the need to sell something valuable and substantive rather than the lowest value for the highest price. That's a short term (the only thing IBM concentrates on these days) winning strategy for a long term drive into irrelevance.

This book was a good overview of the Watsons and IBM, and gave some great insights into how certain things in the company came to be. If you're interested in the history of computing more than just the capabilities of today, this book is a must read.

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The Movie is Better

Reviewed: 08-26-24

I made the mistake of watching the Ron Howard movie version of this book before reading the book, and unfortunately the book comes off a little flat in comparison. Howard went for the emotional core of the story, which came through in film, while Vance is more relating the facts of his life. I am certain the latter is more accurate and comprehensive, but the former is more gripping and more entertaining. The story of his upbringing resonated with me, not so much because I had any similar upbringing, but because my grandparents lived in Middletown, OH, and I have visited it many times. My granddad worked at Armco, although in circumstances different from J.D. Vance's.

His life story seems very real, and I have no doubt of the accuracy of the challenges he and his family faced. It shines a light on circumstances that are rarely highlighted on the stage of "economic suffering" that you hear about in the news. I can't attest the the statistic relevance of what it describes, but there is little doubt as to the authenticity.

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Good "Soldiers Up Against It" Story

Reviewed: 08-26-24

This follows a pretty standard formula of a military squad coming together to fight an alien invasion on Earth. OK, is that really such a standard story? I've read a few of them, so I guess it is. However, the characters are well fleshed out and likable, and the combat situations are believable and well described. It has something of a story arc, but is very clearly a set up for a whole series, so some will consider it ending on a cliffhanger. The narration is first rate, with the gravelly voiced R.C. Bray growling out the dialog like a true marine. The little addendum to the book even makes fun of this! Overall, very enjoyable, although I wished it did not have quite so much "first-book-itus."

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An Enjoyable Ramble Through A History of Knowledge

Reviewed: 08-26-24

This is not so much a careful comprehensive analysis of knowledge transmission over time as it is an interesting series of anecdotes and observations of the author about various aspects of that very large topic. He tells these in an engaging way that will hold your attention as he makes insightful comments on things that you might not otherwise think about. In terms of entertainment, this makes for a very pleasant read. In terms of being an overarching dissection of an interesting topic, it's less fulfilling.

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1 person found this helpful

A Classic Better in Another Medium

Reviewed: 08-26-24

If you've seen the many nature specials featuring David Attenborough's narration, you'll know what this audiobook is like. It's a wonderful overview of life on Earth throughout the ages, narrated by Mr. Attenborough's incomparable voice. It's really a first rate treatment. The only reason I subtract one star is the entire time I listened to the detailed descriptions of appearance and behavior, I could not help thinking how much more enjoyment would have come from an accompanying visual presentation. While the text certainly conveys many details, the things being described in most cases are not purely imaginary, but real. Seeing what is being described is an invaluable addendum, as anyone who has seen those nature shows can attest.

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A fitting end to an awesome trilogy

Reviewed: 07-08-24

This is a great trilogy, and this final book brings it to a fitting conclusion. I was so glad to see this was a trilogy rather than one of those endless series, because the scope of the material definitely could have gone on and on. But, the author brings the story to a definite conclusion. I would say this final book shares a couple criticisms I mentioned on the previous books, like spending a large amount of time describing essentially indescribable sequences (the metaphors become very stretched), and it tends to revisit the same characters over and over in every role. But these are minor quibbles.

Again I have to give a special recognition to the narrator, she did an awesome job! I hope she got a chance to rest her vocal cords after voicing the Ahab character!

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The worst book of an awesome series

Reviewed: 07-08-24

I really enjoyed this three book series. The characters are well fleshed out, realistic, and you actually care about them. My issue with this middle book which makes me bring it down a star is it very much has a case of middle-book-itis. Things happen, and they marginally progress the plot, but compared to the world building of the first book and the revelations of the third book, this book feels like treading water or stretching out the narrative. It's a long 20 hour listen for that.

Secondly, and I would say the third book suffers from this as well, the series suffers from what I would call "The Simpsons" syndrome. The first book introduces so many new concepts, builds up a brand new universe, and introduces you to a whole cast of new characters, one after the other, much like the first awesome seasons of "The Simpsons." However, the later two books keep going back to the same characters over and over like the most recent seasons of "The Simpsons." It's describing multiple civilizations consisting of trillions of individuals, yet we keep coming back to the same 20 or so characters playing every role. This didn't feel as bad in the third book, because you want to see how your beloved favorites end up, but it added to the "placeholder" quality of the second book.

Finally, the narrator on this is first rate. She hits it out of the park with her voicings of even alien characters, she really commits to them! Great job!

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Two books, the first being better

Reviewed: 07-08-24

This book seems like two books squashed together. The first is a somewhat standard "space marines in a tough spot on some alien planet" combat situation, and is pretty good. It comes to a definitive end. The second book starts, possibly including a few characters from the first book, but this time the characters are intergalactic space pirates, princesses (there were a couple), and otherwise high ranking royalty types or totally renowned infamous characters. The tone changes, with everything being over the top. Gone is the gritty realism (ok, realism for space marines), and now it's high space fantasy. Think of shifting gears from the combat situations in "Starship Troopers" to Luke Skywalker saving Princess Leia in "Star Wars." Unfortunately, I did not find the second book to be as good as Star Wars, but filled with continual over-the-top tropes you've seen many times in these kinds of stories. I would have preferred more of the first book.

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Good insights and suggestions

Reviewed: 06-05-24

I've read quite a few "brain books" and a few self improvement books, and this one is a good one. It probably comes with the author having been trained as a medical doctor and being a neuroscientist. Her assertions all have a ring of authenticity and being based in science, and map to some practices I have read in the past that have had positive results for me. Her narration is great as well, articulate and natural sounding. My only complaint is not with the book or the narration, but the audio format itself, a complaint I have had with other books as well that detail out procedures to follow. I listen to books while exercising or driving which makes it very difficult to take notes or follow the specific instructions given. That is my problem, of course, not specific to the book, but it was a little problematic for me to follow those instructions. A print format version might be better for me.

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