NC

Enlightening times ten

Reviewed: 02-25-23

This was published as the Murdaugh murder trial was about to begin. I listened during the trial, just after Alex Murdaugh finished testifying in his own defense. Don't know the outcome of the murder trial yet, but this podcast provides insight on the pretrial motion practice and other pretrial activities of the defense counsel, and also on the activites of side players on issues that may seem unrelated to the murder trial... but they probably aren't. Fascinating content.

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Thank you Audible!

Reviewed: 01-19-21

What a wonderful and moving literary short story. I used to read this genre often, but don't anymore. This one punches above its weight class, as do the very best of them. It's the first time I've listened to a literary short story rather than read it for myself. It took me a little longer to get oriented to the characters and setting, but otherwise it was a surprisingly similar experience, except I couldn't see the white space on the page following the author's last sentence, and had to wait a beat for the impact of silence. Flawlessly interpreted and read by the narrator. A classic.

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5 people found this helpful

I Liked It

Reviewed: 01-16-21

Beautifully produced and narrated, overall. While not the most unique story, I thoroughly enjoyed the detailed descriptions of Edinburgh's city center streets, buildings, and surrounding locations... places the narrators visited during their investigation. I probably continued to listen until the end for that reason alone; it was like having a bit of armchair travel. I also learned some things about the criminal justice system in Scotland, including one I consider to be a glaring weakness. If seven of 15 jurors cannot find that a criminal defendant is guilty 'beyond a reasonable doubt' after hearing the evidence, which is the same legal standard we have in the U. S., that result alone (7/15) proves in my mind that reasonable doubt does indeed exist. An interesting system.

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Narration by Author ... Ten Stars!

Reviewed: 10-19-19

A compelling and important book on many levels.
The author's brilliantly rendered narration makes this one better to hear to than to read.

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Who really wrote this book?

Reviewed: 07-15-18

Not the same author who wrote the first two books. IMHO. C'mon! The author of this third book of the trilogy does not even understand his main character. Nor does he understand how to use the clever literary device used to introduce her in the opening chapters of "The Sparrow." She is supposed to be a "synesthete" having the unique ability to read the character and intentions of others by seeing the colors, shape and intensity of their 'aura'. In the first two books her unique ability is described and used to good effect. In this third novel, random colors, inconsistent with the first two novels, are thrown around the heads of various characters now and then, but seemingly as an afterthought, with no explanation of their meaning to the protagonist and no apparent connection to her thoughts, feelings and actions.
The narrator does a very good job, though. I like his pronunciation of the frequent Russian and Chinese interjections. Can't rate for true authenticity, but it is is evident that the narrator works to make his foreign language pronunciations sound authentic.
This third book overall is a scrambled mess, compared to the first two. The ending is gratuitously violent. It strains suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. I am sure the eventual screen adaptation will someday lead viewers toward a more credible, more authentic, and less barbaric conclusion.

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