Dr

Terrible recording of a great book

Reviewed: 05-18-24

The book is a great description of the corruption, and breakdown of moral standards amongst the nouveau riche during the Haussmann reconstruction of Paris. Regrettably the recording is terrible. Part of the problem is the editing and part the lifeless reading. Frequently the reader attempts to rephrase a sentence or clause, so you hear both attempts. Sometimes she simply fails to intone the sentence correctly at all, and occasionally you hear her sense of surprise that the sentence has ended already. The end of every single chapter felt like it was cut mid-sentence. All the characters sound the same as each other and the same at every occasion.

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Virtual voice drains the book of all atmosphere

Reviewed: 05-02-24

A Zola novel is, of course, well worth reading, and it is regrettable that a virtual voice recording seems to be the only English version available. For the first few minutes I was actually quite impressed with how well the virtual voice changed its intonation to fit naturally to each sentence. A few obvious mispronunciations (such as the towns Lyons and Nice pronounced like regular English words) were easily excusable, and in general the diction is really clear, so it is easy to follow what is the written word. However, after not too long, it becomes obvious that the virtual voice has no real sense of the context. As a result, arguments and passionate speech are read in the same manner as any other conversation, and there is no adjustment of tone or pace to match the atmosphere. The effect is to drain the novel of virtually all its drama. I did persevere through the entire recording, but it was hard to stay engaged at times.

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2 people found this helpful

Stephen Fry at his very best

Reviewed: 05-07-21

Fantastic story-telling combined with fascinating comments about etymology both of common and obscure English words, and about how the Greek myths have informed a wide variety of cultural references. All done without the text ever feeling academic. Most of the stories are bite-sized, some dramatized more than others, and always engaging. Even lists of disputed parenthood’s, such a prevalent characteristic of the myths, are presented in an engaging manner. This book is Stephen Fry at his very best.

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Best classified as autobiographical

Reviewed: 04-30-21

This book is partly - with an emphasis on "partly" - about how an acceptance of Darwinian evolution need not be incompatible with faith in the God of the Bible. The author strays well beyond questions of evolutionary science into arguments that are presented far more thoroughly and convincingly elsewhere. He does, at least, have the humility to quote extensively from other authors in these sections, but it means that large parts of this book have little to offer that cannot be found elsewhere. It becomes very obvious when the author starts to write in his area of expertise, and one wishes he had devoted much more time to these sections, and had not attempted to write about the questions he is not expert at. The effect is that the reader gets a good sense of why the author believes what he does - namely that he finds his faith in God on the one hand, and the evidence for Darwinian evolution on the other, entirely compatible - but that theme is presented primarily in the spirit of an autobiography. Had he been less comprehensive about addressing the range of questions around justifications for faith in a modern world, this book could potentially have been much better. If doing so would have enabled the material in the appendix (which is on ethical issues arising from modern advances in biotechnology) to be developed further, then that would have improved the book still further. As it is, readers looking for a book that might more readily deserve a place on the philosophical shelves of the library would do well to look elsewhere.

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Major events glossed over

Reviewed: 10-25-19

The course succeeds in narrating Russian history from a limited number of thematic perspectives - most notably the oscillation between eastern and western ideas. However, major vents in Russian history are glossed over drastically. There is only handful of sentences on the Napoleonic wars, for example, at the expense of a psychological analysis of Alexander I - was he or was he not serious about reform? There is also considerable scope for expanding on how Russian history over this period ties in with other important events in world history. In short, I found the course very informative, but it took a far too introverted perspective.

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Great material, but needs updating

Reviewed: 09-20-19

This course is a helpful guide for teachers, primarily, but not exclusively, at the university level. It draws from the experience of a range of top university lecturers as well as some of their students. The lecturer is careful to mention when his suggestions and ideas are his own beliefs and references and when they are backed up by research and or supported by others. Although the original format was evidently a video, little is lost through listening as an audio only.

The main weakness of the course is that the discussions about teaching technologies are well-dated now, and the content can be rather shallow in those sections. A few of the other lectures feel a little dragged out, with unnecessarily long example recordings, for example, in the section on one-on-one teaching. An updated version of the course could look to reduce some material to create space for longer discussion on new technologies. For example, there is very little if anything about on-line courses, and there is a lot of scope for expanding on advice for using presentation slides and the positive and negative roles of the internet. The section on teaching students to write was helpful, but could be helpfully expanded. For example, while there is quite a lot of advice on how to get students to write sentences that are grammatically correct, there was a lack of advice on how to get students to be more precise in their meaning through, for example, avoiding ambiguity and vagueness. Although a bit more attention to imparting writing skills would be useful, the course sadly says nothing about numeracy skills. and if a choice has to be made between more on literacy and something on numeracy, I would vote for the latter. Another topic that would be helpful to add is teaching to people whose first language is not your own.

The course is worthwhile as it is. I hope a new edition is released.

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8 people found this helpful

Not for audio and perhaps not for a science course

Reviewed: 09-19-19

As many other reviewers have pointed out, this book is meant as a video presentation. Without the numerous images to which that the professor talks, the quality of the course is affected significantly. I have listened to a large number of "The Great Courses" from Audible, and the vast majority of them work well without visuals, but it is surprising that somebody decided this course would be a good product for listening only. I was surprised when I saw the title, wondering how the material would be presented without heavy use of visuals, only to find that, apparently, the material was not intended to be heard alone. On "The Great Courses" site the course is only available in video format, so why does audible.com distribute it in this format?

Notwithstanding the limitations of the audio-only format, the lecturer certainly cannot be criticised for lack of enthusiasm. He is clearly passionate and knowledgable about his subject, and his excitement about sharing his interests pervades every single sentence. However, his enthusiasm goes just a little too far sometimes. For example, the over-abundance of emotive language in what is meant to be a science course gave me the sense that I was not always getting a balanced perspective. I was frequently asking myself whether some of the statistics of impacts he was quoting were deliberately chosen because they were the upper-level estimates. His choice of adjectives seemed intended to elicit a sense of awe rather than to promote understanding. Similarly, the presentation style leans a little too heavily towards popular entertainment rather than towards education, so that the occasional dips into more technical language and explanation seem a little incongruous.

The repeated disclaimers at the end of each lecture are sufficiently irritating to be mentioned by yet another reviewer.

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7 people found this helpful

Not the full book

Reviewed: 08-22-19

This is an incomplete recording of the printed version of the book - the introductory chapter and the chapter on love for the sub-human are missing. Presumably there is no recording of Lewis reading those. The chapters on the respective four loves are present, together with a largely unhelpful introduction and commentary by Charles Colson (one wonders why he was chosen for this role). The commentary detracts considerably from Lewis's own readings, and certainly did not make up for the missing content. Colson's comments are interjected before each chapter, and one wishes that Lewis had been left to read through the chapters on offer without interruption. Thankfully, Colson offers no closing thoughts, so Lewis is at least permitted the final word. Unfortunately, this recording seems to be the only one available. Because the book is a must-read (or listen), and if the printed version is not an acceptable option for any reason, then this recording will have to suffice.

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24 people found this helpful

Digressions peppered with some music history

Reviewed: 07-05-17

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It certainly was of interest to hear the historical context within which a selection of major pieces of the western musical tradition were written. However, Greenberg's digressions and irrelevant comments on contemporary issues - such as his conjectures on the personal wealth of Vladimir Putin - detract significantly from the work. Almost all Teaching Company courses are 30 minutes long, and Greenberg has presumably negotiated 45 minutes from his deserved reputation for his courses that are focused more directly on the music than is this course. Those extra 15 minutes were a major mistake in this course, allowing Greenberg to wander off topic and to make comments about contemporary issues that seem completely out of place. These digressions were annoying and inappropriate for such a course (even though I agreed with many of them), and left me wondering how we even got on to such issues.

Would you recommend Music as a Mirror of History to your friends? Why or why not?

No. Greenberg is a musician and demonstrates a lack of training as a historian in this course. In some of his courses on the great composers he makes similar mistakes - seeking too hard to entertain rather than inform, and presenting unbalanced perspectives. This course is almost entirely about history rather than the music per se, and so scope for these errors is larger than in his other courses. Get his courses on music, but leave this one alone.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Keep on topic. Or perhaps even recognise that he's a musician, not a historian, and give the material to a historian to present.

His often amusing analogies and similes (that sounded at least a little spontaneous in his early courses) sound too scripted and rehearsed here.

Do you think Music as a Mirror of History needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No. It should be re-recorded by a different presenter.

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3 people found this helpful

Masterful story; reasonable narration

Reviewed: 06-15-16

What did you love best about Anna Karenina?

Possibly the greatest character study ever written. The psychological insights to the main characters' actions and motivations are astoundingly perceptive. It is impossible to avoid identifying with one or more of the characters and one is unavoidably carried along by their joys and fears, regardless of whatever distance there might be in time and or space between the listener and the novel setting.

Would you listen to another book narrated by David Horovitch?

He read very clearly, and cleverly changes volume so you can tell when a character is switching to and from thinking and speaking. The pacing is ideal. But he did not distinguish the characters voices very clearly, and in quite a few cases it is difficult to tell who is supposed to be speaking.

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