C. Allen

Masterpiece

Revisado: 11-30-24

I learned so much that I did not know or even suspect about trees. They are so much more alive than we know and this book will reveal that and more.

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Magnificent and Terrifying

Revisado: 12-30-22

American Dirt is a true masterpiece- a modern day Uncle Tom’s Cabin calling attention to one of the great sins of our time- the brutality meted out to the stateless. I knew the life of the migrants fleeing for their lives to El Norte was bad, but I was clueless to the real terror of their flight from death, rape, extortion and torture. Hannah Arendt predicted that the great crisis of our time will be those without a state living outside the protection of the law and community. As climate change accelerates and wars multiple the stateless will multiply and grow ever more destabilizing to states and their governments. Trump is am example of the racists demagoguery which is only beginning and which will result in World War III. I only hope it will or come too soon. As for the racists who insist that the author’s skin is not brown enough for her to write this book, I can only point out the Harriet Beecher Stowe whose book did more to end slavery than any other book apparently by such reasoning was as a white woman not allowed to write about black men. Pure fascist bunk. Read this book - not only will you learn much you will also be pulled into a perfectly crafted story with well delineated characters whom you will come to respect and love.

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Powerful and Moving

Revisado: 08-14-22

Interesting throughout, the book looks at many different aspects of occupied war time Europe and England when it stood alone against Hitler and the Nazis. The stories of the Polish squadron that helped save England in the Battle of Britain is particularly moving and insightful. The stories of the various resistance movements is nuanced and inspiring but honest as to the many mistakes and sheer incompetence by British Intelligence. Definitely worth reading if like me you have a life long tearing to know more about WWII.

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Masterful and Sweeping

Revisado: 07-21-22

The three volumes of this biography provide an insightful and informative narrative not only of Theodore Roosevelt, but of America at the turn of the century. Roosevelt like all men had his flaws and prejudices, but he is one of the first Presidents to actively champion conservation which has borne fruit as our National parks and Monuments. He also fought against corruption and plutocrats at a time when money (as now) swept all before grinding workers into 10-12 hour days of work with starvation wages. Given that Roosevelt’s father was one of New York’s elite this required some great ability to look beyond his own circumstances

I had no idea how well read Roosevelt was- devouring scientific treatises on evolution and taxonomy, along with Sophocles, Dante and Schiller.

I strongly recommend this biography as one well worth reading illuminating an entire epoch through the lens of a truly exceptional man. Would that America will one day be lead by someone as great as Theodore Roosevelt.

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Brilliant and moving

Revisado: 12-12-19

The final volume of the tripling pm the British Empire is well written and well considered. A melancholy winding down of one of man’s greatest undertakings that truly remade the world. Definitely worth a listen to this well read and noble elegy.

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Insightful and Strong

Revisado: 08-24-18

This is a story of a boy born into poverty - tossed and battered by a troubled family life which grew from his families Hillbilly roots in the Appalachians. With the help of his Mammaw, Pappaw and his older sister he stays barely afloat in a American world not known to many other Americans. The book is read by the author and he does a good job. Hearing the author's actual voice and intonation makes the story even more personal. Highly recommended. As a side note I called my grandparent Mammaw and Pappaw - they were not Hillbillies but German and Scottish I'm Missouri but it has always been a mystery to be why we called my grandparents by those names. I thought I was the only one now I know better.

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Masterful

Revisado: 04-20-18

A very interesting and well written account of Marco Polo's travels on the Silk Road to Xanadu and the court of Kublai Khan. Weaving the Travels with centuries of scholarship into a readable and insightful narrative. A perfect blend of history and romance, of poetry and travelogue through the 13th Century of the vast Mongolian Empire.

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Excellent Pacific War Military History

Revisado: 02-15-18

Balls on the cold anvil..masterful story telling. Explores the moral consequences. But draws the conclusion that loves lost to fire bombing cities or naval blockade which
brings about mass starvation and pestilence is no more moral than lives lost to nuclear explosions.

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Magnificent

Revisado: 09-27-17

One of the most insightful books on Churchill and the history of Europe during the inter-war period. Very hard to put down. Am very well written book about one of the greatest figures in western history.

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Truly a Brilliant Modern Translation

Revisado: 03-17-15

Where does The Iliad rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Quite high up among the books I have listened to so far. (and there have been many scores).

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Iliad?

When Achilles learns that Patroclus is dead, his grief, the funeral pyre for his fiend and lover. All this then followed by Achilles' killing rage against Hector and his desecration of Hector's body dragged around the walls of Troy.

Which scene was your favorite?

The desperate battle of the Greeks when they are driven back to their ships by the Trojans and nearly overrun.

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

No, far too long. This book should be listened to is parts like it was sung.

Any additional comments?

I have read many translations of Homer's The Iliad. I did not think Richard Lattimore's translation could be bettered but Stephen Mitchell achieved that with a truly inspired translation. The text is in clear English, not overblow, not overly poetic, but quite rich, imaginatively strong and noble as befits this epic; an epic which continues to be read all over the world and has been for thousands of years because it is the foundation of one of the greatest civilizations ever know to the world - the Greeks.

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