Laurie Ellington

One of the best of the genre

Reviewed: 02-11-23

I have listened to a great many novels about World War II, and this ranks up there as one of my very favorites. The storytelling was tight, kept you guessing, never spoonfed very much. It really great week. The performance also was excellent. Her characterization and accent were consistent and clear. I’d recommend anyone.

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So close to the reality we really might have had..

Reviewed: 12-04-22

I listened to this at the same time as I was listening to Rachel Maddow's "Ultra" podcast, which provided so much rich historical underpinning, I wondered if Mr. Roth and Ms. Maddow had ever consulted with each other about this fascinating time in American history (they didn't, of course). But the parallel nature of the stories was breathtaking...this really. could. have. happened in this country. And that makes it so much more chilling. Real people appear in this book, but recast and reimagined. Speculative fiction at its best!

I loved the choice to frame the story from the perspective of a 9 year old boy - it made a very political story human and intimate.

Highly recommend!!

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Essential reading for all

Reviewed: 10-22-22

Pay no attention to the voices claiming this book is not factual; they have an agenda that is not in line with actual learning. This book is very well researched and written. As a white person, I find this book to be essential reading to augment my (woefully lacking) education on the Black experience in the US. Great book that took me a while to get through - it's often very heavy stuff. My only complaint is that several readers were so annoying to listen to, I had to fast forward over their chapters. Otherwise, this book contains excellent, informative, thought provoking information and viewpoints that will change the way you look at American history.

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Great narrator, so so story

Reviewed: 02-28-21

This narrator reminded me of Scott Brick, one of my favorite readers. Excellent job.
I picked this up to learn more about the Spanish Civil War, and I did. And also about the horrors of the Pinochet regime. The historical parts were great. Allende spent a lot of time telling rather than showing, so I didn’t love the characters or story, but I do understand a lot more about Chilean history. And it makes me want to read Pablo Neruda, which is something of a feat, as I am not much of a fan of poetry.

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MEH. Not Bryson's Best (and I am a huge fan)

Reviewed: 08-15-20

First, the good news: I am so happy Bryson read this book. Unlike most authors, he is an excellent reader of his own works. As others have pointed out, the wry humor comes across well in his inimitable, hard-to-determine...what? Accent? Dialect? His voice and his speech patterns are unique and I love it.

Now, the not so good: I am a huge fan of Mr. Bryson's. I loved "A Short History" and "In a Sunburned Country" and the one about the Appalachian trail. LOVED those. But he couldn't keep this one as entertaining and interesting. I dunno, maybe it was because I studied so much biology, but I didn't find all that much that was new in this book. I enjoyed the anecdotes of the scientists behind the evolving understanding of the human body - who doesn't love the story of scientists' foibles and eccentricities? - but did not find this book particularly engaging.

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6 people found this helpful

It’s worse than I imagined

Reviewed: 02-11-18

The shocking dysfunction of the White House is revealed in jaw-dropping detail. Even if 50% of it is true, it’s a pretty grim picture of the chaos and lack of any steady hand in the oval office.

What I found most shocking was the poor quality of the narration. The reader mispronounced words and names repeatedly, in every single chapter. My favorite was “anthipity” when he meant to say “antipathy.“ Where was the producer? Who was sitting in the control booth when this guy was recording this? Was he reading them corrected copy, was he doing this in a rush? The worst near ration I have ever heard on Audible.

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Never read a book that kept me so on edge

Reviewed: 01-07-18

Full disclosure: I am only on chapter 16 of 36 with 11 hours still remaining, but felt compelled to write about this book already. I have read quite a few WWII books, in the past year, both fiction and non-fiction ("The Nightengale" being my favorite), but this one has had the most impact on me as a listener. The story of Pino has several times caused me to exclaim aloud ("Oh, my God!" or "NO!"), hold my breath while listening to a tense section or shake my head thinking, "If this were made up, I'd discard it as too fantastic." You can't make this stuff up, ladies and gentlemen.

I will update as I finish the book, for now, I'm eager to get back to this listen. It's incredible.

PS: narrator is only OK, but who cares when the story is this good?

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Probably My Favorite Listen of the Year

Reviewed: 01-01-18

Would you consider the audio edition of Good Omens to be better than the print version?

This is the perfect marriage of novel and narrator. The book is such a wonderful blend of nerdy-humor, absurd humor and sharp social commentary, and Martin Jarvis' narration makes it perfect. His voices are so clearly defined, it makes the listen extremely enjoyable. I needed some escape from the constant state of outrage of 2017, and this was the perfect escapist antidote.

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Interesting, flawed people; creative storytelling

Reviewed: 12-02-17

I was looking for a book set in Spain when I chose this. I immediately fell in love with his prose; it was like rich, warm chocolate for the mind and ear. The storytelling is very interesting and innovative, kind of a mystery-within-a-mystery. The narrator's Spanish pronunciation, as far as I can tell, was perfect. The only drawback was some of the interstitial music which I found at times maudlin and always distracting. I understood later that this was Mr. Ruiz Zafón's composition, so I suppose he of all people would be able to underscore the emotional content of a scene - but I found it annoying.

A very good read. I'd recommend it if you want to be immersed in Barcelona and learn about the dark side of the Spanish Civil War.

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1 person found this helpful

Slow to start...but deeply affecting

Reviewed: 12-02-17

I have read a lot of WWII historical novels, my favorite being "The Nightengale," This one may match or surpass "Nightengale" because it is based on real people. I always find that intriguing (like in the TV series, "Deadwood") because it makes me delve a little deeper into the history. This was slow to start and kept me wondering how the characters would ultimately interact, but once I figured out that several of the important protagonists were historical figures, it really grabbed me. It is an exemplar of the best kind of historical fiction: I learned something (I'd never heard of the "Ravensbruck Rabbits") combined with stories and characters you can come to care deeply about.

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