D. MacLeod
- 12
- reviews
- 219
- helpful votes
- 55
- ratings
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A Bend in the River
- By: V. S. Naipaul
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 580
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 382
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Story4 out of 5 stars 390
In this incandescent novel, V.S. Naipaul takes us deeply into the life of one man, an Indian who, uprooted by the bloody tides of Third World history, has come to live in an isolated town at the bend of a great river in a newly independent African nation. Naipaul gives us the most convincing and disturbing vision yet of what happens in a place caught between the dangerously alluring modern world and its own tenacious past and traditions.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful, insightful, troubling
- By Lawrence on 01-15-05
- A Bend in the River
- By: V. S. Naipaul
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
Good writing, but mixed reaction
Reviewed: 06-29-21
I've listened to this twice, several years apart. The first time almost nothing grabbed me. The second time I deliberately listened to hear the sights and sounds of a country during the transition from a colony to an independent nation. Naipaul is of course a suburb writer, so I got what I wanted. But the story is slow moving and depressing and the characters are not likable.
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The White Guard
- In an American Voice
- By: Mikhail Bulgakov
- Narrated by: Deaver Brown
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall1.5 out of 5 stars 9
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Performance1 out of 5 stars 8
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Story3 out of 5 stars 8
Kiev suffers from abandonment by the Germans and takeover by the Soviet Bolsheviks. Streamlined for narration and the American ear.
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1 out of 5 stars
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The Good, The Bad, and Overall...
- By Animated Puppets on 04-05-21
- The White Guard
- In an American Voice
- By: Mikhail Bulgakov
- Narrated by: Deaver Brown
Good story ruined by recording
Reviewed: 06-19-21
I was excited about getting The White Guard as an audiobook, but the background music repeated over and over made it impossible to listen to. The introduction makes a big deal about narrating with an American accent, which is irrelevant if the narration is bad.
Hopefully someday there will be a good Audible version of this book. The White Guard describes the complexity of military forces in post-WWI Kiev: the Reds, the Whites, the Ukrainian Nationalists, and the Germans. (The Germans!? What were the Germans doing in Kiev in 1919?). Plus a lot of background that helps explain Russia-Ukraine today. The four-part Russian TV miniseries captures everything well (available on Prime Video, at least it was for a while), but this audiobook doesn't.
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4 people found this helpful
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The Bridge of Sighs
- By: Olen Steinhauer
- Narrated by: Ned Schmidtke
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 444
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 356
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Story4 out of 5 stars 353
In the volatile and shifting political atmosphere of Eastern Europe after World War II, an inexperienced homicide detective fresh out of the academy is assigned a crime that no one wants to solve. Set in a bombed-out city in an unnamed country formerly occupied by the Germans and now by the Russians, the story follows Emil Brod as he unravels the threads of the cover-up of a brutal murder, while supporting his grandparents, his only family, in the equally brutal city.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Bridge of Sighs and Sounds
- By Hugh on 05-05-13
- The Bridge of Sighs
- By: Olen Steinhauer
- Narrated by: Ned Schmidtke
Surprisingly good
Reviewed: 06-19-21
I don't normally read detective novels, but this provided a slice of life in post-WWII Eastern Europe. I still wasn't taken with the story of how the murder was solved, but the descriptions of life and people were excellent.
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Evolution Gone Wrong
- The Curious Reasons Why Our Bodies Work (Or Don't)
- By: Alex Bezzerides
- Narrated by: Joe Knezevich
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 234
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 199
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 199
From blurry vision to crooked teeth, ACLs that tear at alarming rates and spines that seem to spend a lifetime falling apart, it's a curious thing that human beings have beaten the odds as a species. After all, we're the only survivors on our branch of the tree of life. Why is it that human mothers have such a life-endangering experience giving birth? And why are there entire medical specialties for teeth and feet? In this funny, wide-ranging and often surprising book, biologist Alex Bezzerides tells us just where we inherited our achy, brilliant bodies in the process of evolution.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Answers questions you haven't thought of yet!
- By Mike on 05-25-21
- Evolution Gone Wrong
- The Curious Reasons Why Our Bodies Work (Or Don't)
- By: Alex Bezzerides
- Narrated by: Joe Knezevich
Very interesting
Reviewed: 06-19-21
Excellent perspective on shortcomings of the human body. Shows how traits that were adaptive in previous species became maladaptive for us.
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2 people found this helpful
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The Germans in Normandy
- By: Richard Hargreaves
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 183
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 160
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 159
While the Germans knew an invasion was inevitable, no one knew where or when it would fall. Those manning Hitler's mighty Atlantic Wall may have felt secure in their bunkers, but they had no conception of the fury and fire that was about to break. After the initial assaults of June established an Allied bridgehead, a state of stalemate prevailed. The Germans fought with great courage - hindered by lack of supplies and overwhelming Allied control of the air. This book describes the catastrophe that followed, in a unique look at the war from the losing side.
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5 out of 5 stars
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a different view of Normandy 1944
- By Oscar Shinn on 06-13-20
- The Germans in Normandy
- By: Richard Hargreaves
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
Good if you're not familiar
Reviewed: 12-05-19
This is a good book if you are not familiar with the events. But if you've seen or read the Longest Day, Patton, Is Paris Burning, and similar movies or books, you will know most of the content. WWII buffs especially will likely find better German perspectives from the many autobiographical books.
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6 people found this helpful
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Stuff Matters
- Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World
- By: Mark Miodownik
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,675
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,056
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,041
Why is glass see-through? What makes elastic stretchy? Why does a paper clip bend? These are the sorts of questions that Mark Miodownik is constantly asking himself. A globally renowned materials scientist, Miodownik has spent his life exploring objects as ordinary as an envelope and as unexpected as concrete cloth, uncovering the fascinating secrets that hold together our physical world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Surprisingly good
- By D. MacLeod on 01-29-15
- Stuff Matters
- Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World
- By: Mark Miodownik
- Narrated by: Michael Page
Surprisingly good
Reviewed: 01-29-15
Any additional comments?
I didn't expect a book on Materials Science to be so interesting. Especially, I was surprised by the psychology of materials -- how things sound or feel, as opposed to purely functional features.
I'm often nervous about buying audio books on technical topics that may require illustrations on the printed page to understand. But this book comes across well in narration.
I learned a lot and was entertained.I listened to several chapters twice, in order to reflect and let it sink in.
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205 people found this helpful
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Moby Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: William Hootkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,794
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 4,265
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,247
"Call me Ishmael." Thus starts the greatest American novel. Melville said himself that he wanted to write "a mighty book about a mighty theme" and so he did. It is a story of one man's obsessive revenge-journey against the white whale, Moby-Dick, who injured him in an earlier meeting. Woven into the story of the last journey of The Pequod is a mesh of philosophy, rumination, religion, history, and a mass of information about whaling through the ages.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent, EXCELLENT reading!
- By Jessica on 02-18-09
- Moby Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: William Hootkins
Excellent narration
Reviewed: 10-21-11
The narrator makes the book come alive. The poetry shines through, Melville's humor appears, and the more tedious sections become interesting.
I first read Moby Dick in college and ended up skipping through a number of chapters. Now I see what I missed. I ended up reading my old copy while simultaneously listening in order to focus on the words and meanings as much as possible.
Previously I've listened to abridged versions, which ultimately raised my interest in the unabridged narration. If the whole book still appears daunting to you, try an abridged version first. I liked the Naxos recording best, which I bought on CD before Audible was around.
Moby Dick is one of the most profound books of our culture. This narration makes it much more accessible.
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1 person found this helpful
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Accent Your Character - Scottish
- Dialect Training
- By: Paul Meier
- Narrated by: Paul Meier
- Length: 25 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 96
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 77
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 72
Add some kick to your characters with some quick and simple Scottish dialect training. Paul Meier has been training actors for over 25 years and now offers his experience to the casual pretender in this entertaining presentation. You will find accent tips, colloquialisms, and charismatic character concepts that will add to your storytelling, roleplaying, or cosplay.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Nothing but an informercial
- By Alan on 10-30-11
- Accent Your Character - Scottish
- Dialect Training
- By: Paul Meier
- Narrated by: Paul Meier
Not worth it
Reviewed: 01-09-10
This is the worst item I've purchased from Audible. You can learn more about speaking Scottish from listening to Tai Pan.
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5 people found this helpful
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Prehistory
- Making of the Human Mind
- By: Colin Renfrew
- Narrated by: Robert Ian MacKenzie
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 216
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 150
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Story4 out of 5 stars 149
A giant of archaeology, Colin Renfrew has immeasurably improved our understanding of human history. In this passionately argued work, he offers a concise summary of prehistory - human existence that predates the development of written records - while challenging the very definition of prehistory itself.
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5 out of 5 stars
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not for the intellectually challenged
- By Anthony on 07-14-10
- Prehistory
- Making of the Human Mind
- By: Colin Renfrew
- Narrated by: Robert Ian MacKenzie
Too detailed
Reviewed: 04-26-09
Colin Renfrew is highly respected and this book pulls together a wide variety of recent research in a comprehensive whole. However, it is too detailed for most listeners. "Before the Dawn" is much better.
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6 people found this helpful
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Before the Dawn
- Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors
- By: Nicholas Wade
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 942
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 531
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 532
Just in the last three years a flood of new scientific findings, driven by revelations discovered in the human genome, has provided compelling new answers to many long-standing mysteries about our most ancient ancestors, the people who first evolved in Africa and then went on to colonize the whole world. Nicholas Wade weaves this host of news-making findings together for the first time into an intriguing new history of the human story before the dawn of civilization.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing information
- By Albert on 06-15-07
- Before the Dawn
- Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors
- By: Nicholas Wade
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
Excellent overview of recent research
Reviewed: 04-26-09
Good, new information put together in a comprehensible and listenable way.
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6 people found this helpful