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RdRydngHd

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Please, try to get past the narration!

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
2 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-16-19

I’m halfway through this important book but want to make a comment about the narration. I have complete confidence in the book’s content based on Farrow’s previous work and what I know of The New Yorker fact-checking process. And the quality of Farrow’s narration is fine — until he gets to the accents. Suddenly, a shady Brit becomes a fake Cockney straight out of Mary Poppins, Russian cartoon characters—way too comical-sounding—pop up, and undoubtedly-strong women sound insipid. Whoever advised Farrow to attempt to do these accents for color or told him to read people’s statements in a dramatic way when the material is dramatic enough, was not doing him any favors. The “hotter” the subject, the cooler the narration should be, in my opinion. That’s basic.

Farrow is no actor, nor does he need to be. He is a courageous man who has written an important book.

But I will listen to this book until the end. Although these narration errors might seem to weaken his message, the important thing is to focus on what he is saying – and be grateful to him for completing this book in spite of so many obstacles, and even obvious danger.

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21 people found this helpful

One gigantic character, and ironic narration issue

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-07-16

This book was very enjoyable to listen to — even for someone not at all involved in "the industry," as it is called in Southern California. It was fun hearing the same stories from different points of view, and the narrator who did the interview voices was terrific. The other narrator — and I'm afraid it might have been the author! — was less successful. He didn't even bother to pronounce CAA correct about 85% of the time! Instead, "see-YAY." Sloppy. He added a few unnecessary syllables here and there to other words, however. The tone (rough but casual urgency) of his voice worked — but why did there need to be two narrators at all? Not necessary, in my opinion.

Michael Ovitz was such a lively character — if infuriating — that when he vanished from the story in an almost fairytale like spiral of greed ("The Fisherman and his Wife" is a fairytale that illustrates him pretty well, I think), the reader can't help but miss him, even if no one else in his immediate circle did. Things dull down considerably after that, though it is still well worth listening to.

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For me, 1 problem with the book, and 1 1/2 problems with the audio version

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-28-16

I love Rome, the Italian language, and accounts of personal journeys, and I am happy for Ms. Lahiri's great success. But while I found her very personal reasons for this undertaking--her initial great success in English, her primary language--interesting, I thought that expecting this book to be of wider interest was a lot to ask. (Also, I found her ongoing gripes about people's surprise at what language she was speaking and how well she was speaking it to be tedious and self-absorbed, but maybe that's just me… ) And having her Italian translated back into English by someone else was just weird.

Her section on Daphne and Apollo and metamorphosis was brilliant, though. Stunning really.

Regarding the audio version, while the narrator's Italian was excellent, I found her reading voice to be a bit difficult to listen to, a little monotonous and strained. But my biggest quibble is with the audio book's form, though there was probably no other solution: having the first half of the book be in English, and the second half of the book be in Italian. In the print copy, I believe, the Italian and English versions are on facing pages, separated paragraph by paragraph so the reader can compare them. That is not possible with the audio version.

Still, I am glad the audio version exists, and I wish the gifted writer continued great success. But I found this particular book to o be something of a disappointment.

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7 people found this helpful

Finally!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-07-16

This is a wonderful method of teaching that enables you to start speaking in sentences almost immediately. The teacher is very calm and repetitive in a not-annoying way, and the native speaker is clear and concise. I have made more progress in two weeks than I have in years of sporadic attempts at learning Italian.

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