my observations on everything right and wrong with the world - starting with myself.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
so here's my review for the unabridged audiobook of "The Traveler" by John Twelve Hawkes. I'm not sure when it will appear on Audible or Amazon...
...
"I had too many expectations"
After listening to the abridged version of "The Da Vinci Code" and listening to the wonderful narration, I was somewhat disappointed in the unabridged "The Traveler" not just for its lackluster narration, but also for the seemingly haphazard combination of fantasy and reality which is supposed to be convincing in the book.
The story was also filled with plot holes and in all honesty, the character development was not so great. I didn't think this was possible in an unabridged book...but c'est la vie.
Again, back to my initial complaints.
The narration was tolerable, but with the breadth of multi-ethnic characters in the book, all of them of different ages and backgrounds, you'd expect the narrator to at least have more than three distinct voices. I'd say that there are at least TEN important characters in the book: one 'European' woman, her father, two African-Americans, two Caucasian brothers, one ex-military general, one anal security manager, one Japanese-born-and-American-raised worker, and a scientist from New England. Of course there are many more minor characters, but regardless, the narrator only has three voices - his own, a nasal European accent that fluctuates between feminine and masculine, and an 'American' accent that goes from chicano to samoan to ebonic to southern to east-coast...you get the picture.
My other complaint is that the combination of fantasy and reality that the author wants to be convincing is just not plausible. In the story, the world is being controlled by "the tabula" who want to watch your every move while you're in "the grid". This 'grid' involves anything which can be connected to some sort of infrastructure, whether it be credit cards or property ownership or internet usage or using your real name...There are ways to get around the 'grid'...or are there?
According to the author, you can avoid the 'grid' by:
-Living in a commune in Southwest Arizona (this commune is connected to the Internet, owns their land, and makes their money by providing remote technical support to large companies)
-Using a satellite phone (let's not forget that satellite traffic is monitored because satellite bandwidth has to be owned and distributed)
-Wearing costumes and concealing your fingerprints (oh, by the way, every character that wears a costume is always carrying A METAL CASE CONTAINING A FREAKING SWORD!!!)
-Using "soft language" on the Internet to avoid the "carnivore trackers" online (I'm sure the ISP's of those who are avoiding the grid are sharing lots of music and movies online as well, since they're NEVER TRACKED DOWN)
I actually found this inconsistency entertaining...
But, I can go past the negatives and say the following positive things about this book:
-There's a neat and unexpected interview with the author after the story...if you think the plot holes in the book were glaring, you have to imagine the huge "reality holes" that the author probably needs to fill.
-The main character is a woman. I'm not sure why I find this to be so positive, but I do.
-All ethnic groups are positively portrayed. Yes. Even Samoans.
I'm sure that I would have given a much better review if I had read the ABRIDGED version...but then again, the same inconsistencies would be present.
...
The review was limited to 2000 words on Audible, so I had to cut out some parts when I submitted it. I'm not sure if it will even show up on Amazon since the review was intended for the audiobook and I submitted the review for the hardcover.
...
"I had too many expectations"
After listening to the abridged version of "The Da Vinci Code" and listening to the wonderful narration, I was somewhat disappointed in the unabridged "The Traveler" not just for its lackluster narration, but also for the seemingly haphazard combination of fantasy and reality which is supposed to be convincing in the book.
The story was also filled with plot holes and in all honesty, the character development was not so great. I didn't think this was possible in an unabridged book...but c'est la vie.
Again, back to my initial complaints.
The narration was tolerable, but with the breadth of multi-ethnic characters in the book, all of them of different ages and backgrounds, you'd expect the narrator to at least have more than three distinct voices. I'd say that there are at least TEN important characters in the book: one 'European' woman, her father, two African-Americans, two Caucasian brothers, one ex-military general, one anal security manager, one Japanese-born-and-American-raised worker, and a scientist from New England. Of course there are many more minor characters, but regardless, the narrator only has three voices - his own, a nasal European accent that fluctuates between feminine and masculine, and an 'American' accent that goes from chicano to samoan to ebonic to southern to east-coast...you get the picture.
My other complaint is that the combination of fantasy and reality that the author wants to be convincing is just not plausible. In the story, the world is being controlled by "the tabula" who want to watch your every move while you're in "the grid". This 'grid' involves anything which can be connected to some sort of infrastructure, whether it be credit cards or property ownership or internet usage or using your real name...There are ways to get around the 'grid'...or are there?
According to the author, you can avoid the 'grid' by:
-Living in a commune in Southwest Arizona (this commune is connected to the Internet, owns their land, and makes their money by providing remote technical support to large companies)
-Using a satellite phone (let's not forget that satellite traffic is monitored because satellite bandwidth has to be owned and distributed)
-Wearing costumes and concealing your fingerprints (oh, by the way, every character that wears a costume is always carrying A METAL CASE CONTAINING A FREAKING SWORD!!!)
-Using "soft language" on the Internet to avoid the "carnivore trackers" online (I'm sure the ISP's of those who are avoiding the grid are sharing lots of music and movies online as well, since they're NEVER TRACKED DOWN)
I actually found this inconsistency entertaining...
But, I can go past the negatives and say the following positive things about this book:
-There's a neat and unexpected interview with the author after the story...if you think the plot holes in the book were glaring, you have to imagine the huge "reality holes" that the author probably needs to fill.
-The main character is a woman. I'm not sure why I find this to be so positive, but I do.
-All ethnic groups are positively portrayed. Yes. Even Samoans.
I'm sure that I would have given a much better review if I had read the ABRIDGED version...but then again, the same inconsistencies would be present.
...
The review was limited to 2000 words on Audible, so I had to cut out some parts when I submitted it. I'm not sure if it will even show up on Amazon since the review was intended for the audiobook and I submitted the review for the hardcover.
