Ting-Yee

Very nice voice, yes. But like another reviewer I caught my mind wandering and had to pull myself back, or rewind frequently. I do plan to look up this narrator's audiobooks - there might be other material he's better suited for. With him, Dickens' sober tone gets turned a notch sarcastic, and I find myself listening hard to discern the real 'emotion' of many sentences. As for the content - you can't help but savor Dickensonian phrasing. I'm actually going to read the book at home, to soak it right up (and, well, to compensate for the odd word my ears can't pick up through the narrator's accent).

We're a 'nerd' couple whose media consumption is dominated by PBS programs, science magazines and books. This gem here is riveting and puts a, well, human face to the discoveries and inventions we've all come to take for granted. As a plus, it has made me laugh out loud in public, startling passers-by. The narrator's light and slightly bemused tone is appropriate for the human curiosity behind this book's motivation, and, "duh", of mankind. My ONLY wish is for a broader scope that would cover the non-Western world. On that front, Charles Murray does a great job in "Human Accomplishment".

This is "Masterpiece Theater" minus the TV. Crisp, delicious dialogue. No plain ol' narration here - the multiple voices do the play justice. You'll be hooked.

I have yet to figure out why the title. Tolstoy spent nearly as much time covering Levin as Anna. Speaking of Anna, I found her to be quite a disgrace, though not in the same antiquated notion as described in the book. Her jealousy drove not just Vronsky but also me INSANE. Her death provoked little sympathy from me - I was relieved to be free of her incessant inner/outer hateful/shameful chatter. But Tolstoy, boy, I'll be reading Tolstoy for a long time.

I know, that's not a real worthwhile comment in and of itself. I'm referring to the fact that I didn't fall for "Tuesday with Morrie," too. Not a popular-fiction type, I had mistakenly assumed this would be intellectual and philosophical. Yikes. This was irritating for the many points other reviewers have raised, and I won't bore you with repetition. I know I'll never want to hear "Today is Eddy's birthday" ever again.