Ktina
- 10
- reviews
- 5
- helpful votes
- 80
- ratings
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The Dark Ages: 476-918
- By: Charles Oman
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 19 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 291
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 253
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 250
The Dark Ages is the story of the birth of Western civilization. It was a harrowing crucible of war, destruction, and faith. For over 100 years, Charles Oman's famous history has remained one of the finest sources for the study of this period. Covering a period of 500 years and an area stretching from Northern Germany to Egypt, this is the definitive history that will alter your conceptions of a period of history that gave birth to the civilization we live in today.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An Excellent Production
- By Ken on 08-11-17
- The Dark Ages: 476-918
- By: Charles Oman
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
This book is read too fast
Reviewed: 08-18-18
The reader speaks rapidly and pronounces both vowels and consonants indistinctly as a result. The listener has to attend very carefully to follow what he is saying. It's not just that I'm American and he's English! Try a sample before buying. You may find it quite okay.
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The Judgment of Paris
- The Revolutionary Decade that Gave the World Impressionism
- By: Ross King
- Narrated by: Tristan Layton
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 479
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 346
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 341
While the Civil War raged in America, another very different revolution was beginning to take shape across the Atlantic, in the studios of Paris. The artists who would make Impressionism the most popular art form in history were showing their first paintings amid scorn and derision from the French artistic establishment. Indeed, no artistic movement has ever been, at its inception, quite so controversial.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Try this!
- By Robert on 10-28-08
- The Judgment of Paris
- The Revolutionary Decade that Gave the World Impressionism
- By: Ross King
- Narrated by: Tristan Layton
Interesting material about French art and history
Reviewed: 04-14-18
Would you listen to The Judgment of Paris again? Why?
Probably not. The book contains a great deal of information about classicist military painter Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier, an artist who led an interesting life but whose work doesn't particularly interest me. I learned as much about him as I wanted to know. Manet is also treated rather extensively, but not as much as Meissonier. The historical background of the period, wars, rulers, etc.is well covered. I hoped for more information about more artists.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Manet
What does Tristan Layton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Tristan Layton is a good reader, clear and expressive.
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1 person found this helpful
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No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life
- By: Robert C. Solomon, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert C. Solomon
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,316
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,985
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,945
What is life? What is my place in it? What choices do these questions obligate me to make? More than a half-century after it burst upon the intellectual scene - with roots that extend to the mid-19th century - Existentialism's quest to answer these most fundamental questions of individual responsibility, morality, and personal freedom, life has continued to exert a profound attraction.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good for even a non-existentialist
- By Gary on 07-24-15
Interesting scholarly presentation
Reviewed: 03-31-18
What did you love best about No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life?
It was a good introduction to the trend of existentialist thought in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Would you recommend No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life to your friends? Why or why not?
Yes, but only if they had a particular interest in philosophy and in Camus and Sartre in particular.
Any additional comments?
I would have enjoyed the material more if it had been presented in chronological/historical order, and if ties of influence among the various authors and philosophers had been made clearer. Undue attention, including summaries of the plots of his novels, was given to Camus.
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The Discoverers
- A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself
- By: Daniel J. Boorstin
- Narrated by: Christopher Cazenove
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Abridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 127
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 98
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Story4 out of 5 stars 99
Daniel J. Boorstin, former librarian of the Library of Congress, gives a fascinating history of world civilization. From astronomical development, microscopes, telescopes, medicine, vaccines, genetics and map-making, the author delves into the discoveries of our world and the freedoms those discoveries bestowed.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Warning! Abridged version.
- By jennifer w. on 08-26-19
- The Discoverers
- A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself
- By: Daniel J. Boorstin
- Narrated by: Christopher Cazenove
An interesting miscellany
Reviewed: 02-21-18
What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
the parts about science and technology were most interesting to me. The section on timekeeping, calendars, clocks held my attention. The sections about various theorists and economists tended to drag.
Any additional comments?
Interesting but didn't seem to hold together thematically....I didn't listen to the whole book.
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Immanuel Kant
- The Giants of Philosophy
- By: A. J. Mandt
- Narrated by: Charlton Heston
- Length: 2 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 212
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 157
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
Immanuel Kant's "transcendental" philosophy transcends the question of "what" we know to ask "how" we know it. Before Kant, philosophers had debated for centuries whether knowledge is derived from experience or reason. Kant says that both views are partly right and partly wrong, that they share the same error; both believe that the mind and the world, reason and nature, are separated from one another.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Well worth the download!
- By Smelly Ian on 06-04-07
- Immanuel Kant
- The Giants of Philosophy
- By: A. J. Mandt
- Narrated by: Charlton Heston
Kant presented with fakey foreign accent,
Reviewed: 02-21-18
What three words best describe Charlton Heston’s voice?
Great reading voice. Wish he hadn't used accented English for Kant's quotations.
Any additional comments?
Heston gives "foreign accents" to Kant and other philosophers. This is VERY DISTRACTING. He presents Kant, and in at least one instance, Rousseau, as speaking in heavily accented English. Would hate to hear him doing the German Idealists.
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Culture and the Death of God
- By: Terry Eagleton
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
How to live in a supposedly faithless world threatened by religious fundamentalism? Terry Eagleton, formidable thinker and renowned cultural critic, investigates in this thought-provoking audiobook the contradictions, difficulties, and significance of the modern search for a replacement for God. Lucid, stylish, and entertaining in his usual manner, Eagleton presents a brilliant survey of modern thought that also serves as a timely, urgently needed intervention into our perilous political present.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Intelligently written and without Grace
- By Gary on 10-25-17
- Culture and the Death of God
- By: Terry Eagleton
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
Loosely connected scholarly addresses
Reviewed: 02-02-18
What did you love best about Culture and the Death of God?
I am interested in anything that has to do with the history of ideas.
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
This title is directed more toward an audience of specialists than to the general reader.
What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?
The delivery was too fast, considering that the content was very heavy on concepts, moving quickly from one idea to another, and the sentences were very noun-heavy. This type of material is more digestible in print, where one can stop and ponder . I found it difficult to process at the speedy rate of delivery.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No
Any additional comments?
Brush up on German philosophy before you start this one. :-)
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Wicked Plants
- The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities
- By: Amy Stewart
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 4 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,198
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,071
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,066
Beware! The sordid lives of plants behaving badly. A tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. Amy Stewart, best-selling author of Flower Confidential, takes on over two hundred of Mother Nature's most appalling creations in an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Grows on You Like Kudzu
- By Cynthia on 04-23-13
- Wicked Plants
- The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities
- By: Amy Stewart
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
Couldn't finish it
Reviewed: 01-26-18
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I would recommend a print copy to someone who was very interested in plants. It's basically a research book, a list of plants.
Would you recommend Wicked Plants to your friends? Why or why not?
No, because it is basically a list of noxious plants and their characteristics. I thought it would be a nonfiction boo, k arranged as essays or themed chapter. Lists do not make entertaining reading.
What three words best describe Coleen Marlo’s performance?
Clear, accurate, educated.
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The Crusades: A History from Beginning to End
- By: Henry Freeman
- Narrated by: Jimmy Kieffer
- Length: 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 10
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 10
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 10
Much has been written and much has been omitted when it comes to the Crusades, especially in modern parlance. Many talking heads in recent times have conjured up the specter of the Crusades, so many are wondering once again what the Crusades are all about. Inside you will hear about Byzantium, an all-out holy war, the Kingdom of Heaven, the King’s Crusade, the Self-Defeating Crusade, the Final Crusades, the Post-Crusade World, and more.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Great for a general overview,
- By Susan Frasier on 04-20-18
- The Crusades: A History from Beginning to End
- By: Henry Freeman
- Narrated by: Jimmy Kieffer
Not up to Audible's usual standards
Reviewed: 01-15-18
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
More of a professional historical approach, less overt anti-Muslim bias. The introductory rant about Isis was unnecessary.
What do you think your next listen will be?
Something in the history category.
What do you think the narrator could have done better?
The narrator is a good reader, but as Horace said in Ars Poetica: "The workmanship exceeds the material."
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Crusades: A History from Beginning to End?
I am wondering if anyone at Audible read this book !!
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1 person found this helpful
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Great Masters: Liszt - His Life and Music
- By: Robert Greenberg, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert Greenberg
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 205
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 183
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Story5 out of 5 stars 179
More than anyone before him - more than Beethoven, Byron, even the preternatural Paganini - it was Franz Liszt who created one of the most enduring archetypes of the Romantic era: that of the artist "who walks with God and brings down fire from heaven in order to kindle the hearts of humankind." For every lover of music, Liszt remains someone you must understand, and this eight-lecture series is an ideal place to begin your acquaintance with both the man and his music.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Greatest Liszt Presentation Ever
- By TM on 11-24-16
Delightful
Reviewed: 03-14-17
What made the experience of listening to Great Masters: Liszt - His Life and Music the most enjoyable?
I thoroughly enjoyed this lecture series on the life and works of Liszt. Didn't realize he was the musical idol of his day.
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The History of the Renaissance World
- From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Conquest of Constantinople
- By: Susan Wise Bauer
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 21 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,435
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,241
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,233
Beginning in the heady days just after the First Crusade, this volume - the third in the series that began with The History of the Ancient World and The History of the Medieval World - chronicles the contradictions of a world in transition. Impressively researched and brilliantly told, The History of the Renaissance World offers not just the names, dates, and facts but the memorable characters who illuminate the years between 1100 and 1453 - years that marked a sea change in mankind's perception of the world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The 2nd Half of the Medieval World
- By Troy on 05-20-15
- The History of the Renaissance World
- From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Conquest of Constantinople
- By: Susan Wise Bauer
- Narrated by: John Lee
Battles and dynasties
Reviewed: 01-26-17
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
I tried my best to stick with it. Dynasties and battles and not much in the way of cultural history or biographical information. Very scholarly and, in that regard, impressive and ambitious, When an author covers the events taking place all over the world during a certain period, regime changes and battles (names, dates, how many killed) take precedence over matters like art, music, architecture and the basics of how people lived and survived, The sections about China did not come to life for me at all. The warring leaders with unfamiliar names would have come to life for the reader if they had been given some distinguishing personal traits or biographical details.
The use of the word Renaissance in the title was misleading.
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
I didn't finish it, I got bogged down about 1/5 of the way through the book. It was a disappointment to me,
What about John Lee’s performance did you like?
His presentation was excellent, He has an expressive delivery, excellent pronunciation, and a comfortable rate of speech. I would give him an A+.
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