Robert

We Are What We Pretend To Be shows the evolution of Kurt Vonnegut’s writing at the beginning and end of his career. It contains two of the author’s works. His first novella, Basic Training stands in stark contrast to his unfinished novel If God Were Alive Today. The former is a rather straight forward satire on the military, authoritarian parenting and authoritarianism in general. The latter is a completely wild and nutty, satirical look at our ignorance and denial of an apocalyptic future. Recently, I listened to a radio ad for The Last Warcrime. While I agreed with the message, the way the ad was delivered left something to be desired. I felt a little of that in IGWAT.

While the nexus of the two works is unmistakably satire, the whole feel, vocabulary and styles of writing in the two books could easily have been written by different authors. I think we hear the voice of Vonnegut in Basic Training but it is definitely a younger although not immature one. In the latter, the author comes across definitely older and more irascible, more universal and less personal.

While this might be his first and last work, I think most of KV's finest work is in many places in between. For someone new to KV, I would not recommend starting here. Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle or my personal favorite The Sirens of Titan would be a better introduction to the author. For hardcore KV fans, WAWWPTB is probably essential reading.

This is a quick read/listen. The narration in my Audible selection is quite good. Plus, in this edition, the author’s daughter Nanette shares reminiscences about her father and a commentary on these two works.

I don't know what's up with Audible losing reviews but this is an old one of many that seems to have disappeared.

Narrated by Katherine Kellgren, this is one of my all-time favorite audiobooks. It is an audio book at its best. This is a performance and not just a reading. This book and its reader have won many awards and rightfully so. The book is entertaining to the point of addiction. I read the first two books in the series in two days and would be working on the third if my iPod were not fully discharged.

There is not a dull moment in any of the first two books in this series: Bloody Jack #1 and The Curse of the Blue Tattoo #2. I have heard it said and read of listeners that they had fallen in love with the narrator's voice... well add me to her fanboys and girls. Katherine Kellgren is one of the best talents in this art form. In fact, certainly gender-wise, she is perhaps without peer.

This is one of many lost reviews by Audible. It's not much but luckily, it was stored elsewhere:

Narrated by Katherine Kellgren, this is one of my all-time favorite audiobooks. It is an audio book at its best. This is a performance and not just a reading. This book and its reader have won many awards and rightfully so. The book is entertaining to the point of addiction. I read the first two books in the series in two days and would be working on the third if my iPod were not fully discharged.

There is not a dull moment in any of the first two books in this series: Bloody Jack #1 and The Curse of the Blue Tattoo #2. I have heard it said and read of listeners that they had fallen in love with the narrator's voice... well add me to her fanboys and girls. Katherine Kellgren is one of the best talents in this art form. In fact, certainly gender-wise, she is perhaps without peer.

Brandon Sanderson’s Warbreaker is a delightful book that is totally analyzed by the author himself at this fork in his website. In fact, you can find the entire book here free in pdf form under a Creative Commons License. He talks about why he would do such a seemingly crazy thing and it all makes perfect sense. So THERE RIAA. I bought the book anyway and not only to continue support of Sanderson’s work but I also wanted the audiobook format. And I’m not sorry. BTW, for you authors or students of the writing process out there, the site also contains all of the original drafts/iterations of the work complete with annotations so that you can see the complete thought process this master wordsmith uses in the crafting of his art.

Reading Warbreaker reminded me of the author’s Elantris and Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Yes, they’re all about gods. I think that many of us share a common view about what a god would be like. I doubt if any of us has or had a notion anything like that of these two authors. One of the characters in Warbreaker is a very reluctant god and he was probably my favorite. Maybe because if such exists, it’s how I picture her. We also have here the character Siri. Yes, I finally get to learn more about that character who keeps talking to me on my iPhone.

There’s a lot to like here in the way of magic and imagination. The magic is not like anything we’ve seen before or since from Sanderson. For those of you who insist on a bunch of knock down drag out fighting and car (chariot) races it’s not really here. This one’s more about the character, the magic, politics, relationships and just plain fun. A lot of intrigue, deep thought and mysticism? Probably not. There’s really not even much religion in the book given it’s about gods. But it’s a fun and easy read. If you like Brandon Sanderson, and I love him, you won’t be disappointed.

About the narrator, James Yaegashi, I can only say: take the good with the less than perfect reading. Audible has some of the most outstanding performers of classic literature anywhere on the planet. I am often left in awe at how the written word can be be so mightily enhanced by the right narrator of those words and the performance of its characters. Warbreaker is not a work of great, classic literature. It’s just a fun book adequately narrated by a reader who I am convinced will improve over time.

Winds of War is the first in a two book historical fiction series about WWII. The time span of this first installment begins six months before the German invasion of Poland and ends with the attack on Pearl Harbor and the official entry of the US into the war. I found the story’s prelude to the war to be one of the most fascinating aspects of the book and it all mostly revolves around the life and naval career of one Victor “Pug” Henry, his immediate and extended family.

Prior to the war, this fictional character Pug, a naval attache to Berlin, draws the attention of FDR after writing an insightful prediction of the German-Russian nonaggression pact. Thus begins the relationship between Pug and FDR that will keep the former on land instead of at sea as the personal, though mostly unofficial, “intelligence” officer to the President. Pug’s goings and comings including his meetings with the likes of Hitler, Mussolini, Churchill and Stalin serve as the backbone of this novel.

I generally avoid books of this ilk aware that so many dwell on the Nazi atrocities that are more than this reader can handle. While mention is made of these, it is not what the book explores in detail and again, the novel is about the antecedent and beginning aspects of the war when not a great deal was known about what was going on in camps behind barbed wire.

I sometimes had issues with the book’s editing. The book is 46 hours (~900 pages) in length. I do not hesitate to take on a tome of this length as long as I don’t encounter too much fluff. And, while I felt there was not an inordinate amount of triviality, there were episodes of detail about the personal lives of friends and relatives of Pug that I could have done without. That said, this was still a “driveway” book; a book I would sit in my driveway upon returning home after my drive from work and continue listening to because it was just that captivating. Not to be misunderstood, I believe that the relating of the lives of Pug’s family and friends were essential to the book. It made the historical events personal, not just cold hard facts. I did feel, however, that the emotions of his immediate family were sometimes rather cavalier with respect to war in general. But they were what they were.

IMHO, the book is a masterpiece. The three E’s are all there contained within its covers. The book is educational, enlightening and entertaining. The text is peppered with excerpts from a fictional dissertation by a German General Armin von Roon. I found his [Nazi] German perspective on Hitler and the war to be particularly fascinating.

Finally, the book is made even better by the superlative narration and performance of Kevin Pariseau. I do not believe a book has ever been better performed. I would recommend this book to everyone.

I tend not to write much about books I did not care for or totally understand. This book qualifies for both. Rather than any kind of rational or critical analysis I can only offer here feelings and opinion. Actually, this is the second of three books of Mieville that I pretty much felt that way about. But this was a book I really wanted to like and appreciate. It is a book about language and few things in the world fascinate me more than the subject of language.

I was part of a Goodreads group that read this piece together. I thought that would help. What I believe I did glean was that I was not the only one who struggled with this book. The fact is I generally enjoy tough books. Something I can really sink my teeth into. But the result of all this reader's intellectual mastication was mostly pretty bland. For the life of me I kept getting the feeling that one of Mieville's intentions was to make for a difficult read and not because the story called for it but just to be a pain in the ass.

I had to step back before writing anything about this book. I read five or six other books since finishing Embassytown. I thought maybe it would give me a more favorable perspective... 'didn't work.

I'm actually a bit angry still so I'm going to leave it at that before I get in too deeply. BTW, I'm not angry with CM. I get angry with me when I force myself to finish a book that I'm totally bored with most of the way through. My time is precious and this book just took too much of it.

While Ursula K. Le Guin wrote several novels about the fantasy world of Earthsea, A Wizard of Earthsea appears to be the first of the main cycle by that name. I found it difficult to pin down whether the series is written for children and/or adults. I concluded that while there are a number of philosophical themes that adults could appreciate, the target audience was probably that of a younger age. Let’s say YAs.

Further, on the subject of age, this is basically the coming of age story of a young mage named Ged who is drawn to wizardry and develops into just that as the story unfolds. There’s much in the way of magic, spells and personal discovery along the way. However, as Ged learns, all of the power and might of of a wizard comes with a price. Wizardry is not for the faint-hearted nor is its magic lightly wielded by the ignorant or arrogant. Much of this is taught Ged by Ogion his primary mentor along with his own life’s little (and not so little) foibles in and around Earthsea. Does all this sound a bit familiar?

The monster of the story we learn is… uh, not so fast. That would be a major spoiler. And I believe the book is worth reading to discover that as well as the other things Ged learns along his way through apprenticeship and personal discovery. The book is very straight forward. That appears to be Le Guin’s style. After recently reading a bunch of China Mielville prior to Earthsea, the latter was a refreshingly, relaxing read. However, we probably should not be fooled by her simplicity. Contained within the pages are a depth and breath that can be easily missed if we’re not paying attention. What can I say; it’s obviously a classic and who could not recommend that.

This review is the same for all three books of the “House Trilogy.”

The author of the Dune [Chronicles] Saga, Frank Herbert, died in 1986 before completing the final installment, Dune 7. According to his son, Brian Herbert, a couple of years after the passing of his father, a safety deposit box was found with copious notes about the saga’s past and outlines for its future completion. His son collaborated with Kevin J. Anderson on the final book but also several prequels including a Prelude to Dune trilogy about the three prominently featured houses or families of the saga: Atreides, Harkonnen and Corrino.

I thoroughly enjoyed the audio version of the original Dune years ago. And, after just finishing the entire “House” trilogy, I reread the original to more freshly compare them. I must say, I think that I enjoyed the prequels more. However, I don’t know that I would have had I not read the original first. Before going on about the “House” series, because one cannot edit a review on Audible once it’s posted, a comment here about Book 1 might be helpful. The original Dune is narrated by Scott Brick, Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, Simon Vance and a cast of others. At first it seemed like a good idea to have each character in the book have a unique voice. Unfortunately, from the way the book sounds, each narrator performs in a different studio setting. How do I know? Because it sounds that way. The dialogue sounds stilted, jerky and downright amateurish. Everyone of the characters in the prequels is played by Scott Brick. And they are far superior recordings. Scott Brick’s character dialogues are fluid, of the same ambience and just don’t sound dated like the original.

To continue about the prequels, they have an added depth to them. The characters are more fully fleshed out. The separate and familial relationships among all the characters are more fully explored. I realize this in not in accord with some other reviewers who sometimes seemed to find conflict with the original material. On the contrary, I found mostly only continuity that added to and enriched the original.

In the prequels we learn how Paul Atreides becomes the product of the generations of genetic “engineering” (selective breeding) of the Bene Gesserit to obtain the Kwisatz Haderach. And we learn of the backgrounds of all the other major players: Baron Harkonnen and his maniacal family, Emperor Shaddam and his, Jessica, Rev Mother Mohiam and a whole lot of background on the other Bene Gesserit “witches.” There was a mystical context in the original chronicles but these prequels greatly amplify on that.

The Guild Navigators and their relationship to the spice is mentioned only tangentially in the Original but plays a significant part in the prequels. All the female characters of Dune Prelude play a much more significant role and that too is much to the credit of these authors. It’s always nice to have that balance. We could just go on and on but why spoil it. Hopefully, I’m communicating my sense of excitement about the Prelude to Dune Trilogy. I think that each “House” installment was just excellent and the old man would have been proud of his son and his coauthor. If you’re a fan of the Dune Chronicles, you owe it to yourself to read the “House Trilogy.”

This review is the same for all three books of the “House Trilogy.”

The author of the Dune [Chronicles] Saga, Frank Herbert, died in 1986 before completing the final installment, Dune 7. According to his son, Brian Herbert, a couple of years after the passing of his father, a safety deposit box was found with copious notes about the saga’s past and outlines for its future completion. His son collaborated with Kevin J. Anderson on the final book but also several prequels including a Prelude to Dune trilogy about the three prominently featured houses or families of the saga: Atreides, Harkonnen and Corrino.

I thoroughly enjoyed the audio version of the original Dune years ago. And, after just finishing the entire “House” trilogy, I reread the original to more freshly compare them. I must say, I think that I enjoyed the prequels more. However, I don’t know that I would have had I not read the original first. Before going on about the “House” series, because one cannot edit a review on Audible once it’s posted, a comment here about Book 1 might be helpful. The original Dune is narrated by Scott Brick, Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, Simon Vance and a cast of others. At first it seemed like a good idea to have each character in the book have a unique voice. Unfortunately, from the way the book sounds, each narrator performs in a different studio setting. How do I know? Because it sounds that way. The dialogue sounds stilted, jerky and downright amateurish. Everyone of the characters in the prequels is played by Scott Brick. And they are far superior recordings. Scott Brick’s character dialogues are fluid, of the same ambience and just don’t sound dated like the original.

To continue about the prequels, they have an added depth to them. The characters are more fully fleshed out. The separate and familial relationships among all the characters are more fully explored. I realize this in not in accord with some other reviewers who sometimes seemed to find conflict with the original material. On the contrary, I found mostly only continuity that added to and enriched the original.

In the prequels we learn how Paul Atreides becomes the product of the generations of genetic “engineering” (selective breeding) of the Bene Gesserit to obtain the Kwisatz Haderach. And we learn of the backgrounds of all the other major players: Baron Harkonnen and his maniacal family, Emperor Shaddam and his, Jessica, Rev Mother Mohiam and a whole lot of background on the other Bene Gesserit “witches.” There was a mystical context in the original chronicles but these prequels greatly amplify on that.

The Guild Navigators and their relationship to the spice is mentioned only tangentially in the Original but plays a significant part in the prequels. All the female characters of Dune Prelude play a much more significant role and that too is much to the credit of these authors. It’s always nice to have that balance. We could just go on and on but why spoil it. Hopefully, I’m communicating my sense of excitement about the Prelude to Dune Trilogy. I think that each “House” installment was just excellent and the old man would have been proud of his son and his coauthor. If you’re a fan of the Dune Chronicles, you owe it to yourself to read the “House Trilogy.”

This review is the same for all three books of the “House Trilogy.”

The author of the Dune [Chronicles] Saga, Frank Herbert, died in 1986 before completing the final installment, Dune 7. According to his son, Brian Herbert, a couple of years after the passing of his father, a safety deposit box was found with copious notes about the saga’s past and outlines for its future completion. His son collaborated with Kevin J. Anderson on the final book but also several prequels including a Prelude to Dune trilogy about the three prominently featured houses or families of the saga: Atreides, Harkonnen and Corrino.

I thoroughly enjoyed the audio version of the original Dune years ago. And, after just finishing the entire “House” trilogy, I reread the original to more freshly compare them. I must say, I think that I enjoyed the prequels more. However, I don’t know that I would have had I not read the original first. Before going on about the “House” series, because one cannot edit a review on Audible once it’s posted, a comment here about Book 1 might be helpful. The original Dune is narrated by Scott Brick, Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, Simon Vance and a cast of others. At first it seemed like a good idea to have each character in the book have a unique voice. Unfortunately, from the way the book sounds, each narrator performs in a different studio setting. How do I know? Because it sounds that way. The dialogue sounds stilted, jerky and downright amateurish. Everyone of the characters in the prequels is played by Scott Brick. And they are far superior recordings. Scott Brick’s character dialogues are fluid, of the same ambience and just don’t sound dated like the original.

To continue about the prequels, they have an added depth to them. The characters are more fully fleshed out. The separate and familial relationships among all the characters are more fully explored. I realize this in not in accord with some other reviewers who sometimes seemed to find conflict with the original material. On the contrary, I found mostly only continuity that added to and enriched the original.

In the prequels we learn how Paul Atreides becomes the product of the generations of genetic “engineering” (selective breeding) of the Bene Gesserit to obtain the Kwisatz Haderach. And we learn of the backgrounds of all the other major players: Baron Harkonnen and his maniacal family, Emperor Shaddam and his, Jessica, Rev Mother Mohiam and a whole lot of background on the other Bene Gesserit “witches.” There was a mystical context in the original chronicles but these prequels greatly amplify on that.

The Guild Navigators and their relationship to the spice is mentioned only tangentially in the Original but plays a significant part in the prequels. All the female characters of Dune Prelude play a much more significant role and that too is much to the credit of these authors. It’s always nice to have that balance. We could just go on and on but why spoil it. Hopefully, I’m communicating my sense of excitement about the Prelude to Dune Trilogy. I think that each “House” installment was just excellent and the old man would have been proud of his son and his coauthor. If you’re a fan of the Dune Chronicles, you owe it to yourself to read the “House Trilogy.”

What can I add to all that's been written about a book that's been around awhile except that I did not think as highly about it as others. There was nothing new or imaginative here: Typical holocaust story with no new theme, premise or nuance.

I read this around the same time as I saw the movie "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World." Both had similar themes but the movie was head and shoulders better and Rotten Tomatoes only gave the flick 55%. That's about what I'd rate this book. From a commercial standpoint, I think the book succeeds. In all other respects, not so much.

Will Patton did a decent job narrating. I just don't think that he had that much to work with. But then I wasn't particularly enamored with McCarthy's "The Road."