Environment World

I went to school to study engineering. From my time at school I had this impression of science fiction as a brainless act of mental masturbation. This wasn’t from reading the material but from listening to my fellow geeks talk about one inane story plot or another. I am guilty of of a superiority complex, this is a sin I try not to be guilty of it.







Speaker for the Dead

Orson Scott Card

Read by David Birney, Stefan Rudnicki, and more

August 1994

I have read a few sci-fi books but typically couldn’t finish it because of how dumb it treated the reader. Perhaps most of the books in this genre deserve this classification but only on reading the book can this judgment be made. I think this book is an exemption to my rule. This was a good book, at times I found it difficult to turn off my iPod. The voice acting was top notch with only one criticism, there were too many actors reading the story. The book was read by 6 different readers both male and female with no real roles for the different voices, at random times a new voice would start reading the book which was a bit confusing. Not that I mean each voice reading a different charter in the book (which would have been interesting) but I’m thinking roles that are more like plot situations. It was something to get used to and once I did it wasn’t an issue. For a science fiction book there were a few moments that tugged on the heart strings, there was a point in the story that made me very emotional and that was a first for me. I haven’t read any other books in this series and will probably pick one up soon.

Finished “Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates” by Tom Robbins, as read by Keith Szarabajka. I was amused by his tale, then again I’m always amused by books from Tom Robbins or maybe I’m just always amused. I consider Mr. Robbins’ past books to be a very inventive diversion with plots filled with spirituality and sexuality. This book isn’t as inventive as his previous books. For example, his previous stories involve a love story inside a pack of Camel cigarettes (”Still Life With Woodpecker”) or a buddy road book involving a can of beans and a dessert spoon (”Skinny Legs and All”, my favorite). No this book is relatively mundane with the only bit of strangeness is having a South American witch doctor whose head is shaped like a pyramid. I don’t know about you but I run into them all the time, a little annoying when they stop by for tea unannounced.

Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates

Tom Robbins

Read by Keith Szarabajka

May 29, 2001

I consider my past reviews to be very wishy-washy. Always trying to look at the positive side of the story. Maybe now my infatuation with my iPod has reached a more mature level, the gee wiz aspect may be gone (I still love the iPod). This review is going to cut to the meat of the bone (what does that expression mean?). I’m going to dissect this book until I get bored and find something else to do. I promise to leave no stone unturned except the really dirty ones. To express cliches that boldly go where no man has gone before.

First a comment on the reading of this book. I haven’t run into a professional reader in these audiobook that I haven’t liked, except Stephen King. Keith Szarabajka is no exception to this rule. A very smooth voice capable of doing the separate characters with ease and giving the impression that someone else is reading those parts. Keith Szarabajka was very easy and enjoyable to listen to, I’ll look for more from him. Back to the book.

Tom Robbins has been a favorite writer of mine for some time. I’ve read several of his books and never been disappointed. I take that back this book disappointed me some. I hated the end, he could have done so much more. The book is a treasure trove of quotes to plagiarize and I’ve taken to the notion that since I get around with a cane and will go to a wheelchair soon (because of my MS). I’ll get a tattoo on my forehead with the words “Fierce Invalid”, I just haven’t decided on the font yet. I’m sure someone will misread that to mean fierce invalid (the English language can be so confusing sometimes). The only problem with the quotes is that you can never remember one when you need it so I make them up all the time, you can quote me on that.

The story meanders though the event that lead to… That’s the problem with the book, you think it will lead to “The Answer” but just tries to clean up loose ends and have a happy ending, sounds like a TV sitcom (American and Japanese). True there are mentions of actions that don’t take place on Friends (or at least we never see the actions). True only the Simpsons would have a pyramid shape head promoting laughter as the key. But all in all Mr. Robbins has produced much better stories then this. Read if you’re bored or are a huge fan of Tom Robbins otherwise give it a miss.

“The Hobbit” or “There and Back again” is the precursor to the novel “Lord of the Rings”. I would not categorize myself as a fan of fantasy novels, in fact I don’t like fantasies at all. These novels from this author are the exception. Please excuse me, I have to remind myself that this is not a review of the book “The Hobbit” by J.R.R Tolkein. What can I add to the discussion of this book? This book is a true classic in every sense and books have been written to describe and discuss each fine point in the novel. Just because I first read “The Hobbit” when I was 14 years old (23 years ago!) doesn’t give me a right to critique it. I know what you all are saying, “What a geeky kid.” Yes but look how I turned out; a geeky grownup. I love this book and the books that followed and will re-expirence them in any format available. I can’t say each reading adds something new each time but it is so entertaining with such rich, poetic language that I feel that I grow with each reading. I have said this isn’t a review of the book but it is my review of the audiobook. Read by Martin Shaw this was a delight to listen to. Listening to the words of this masterpiece with the rich vocal talent of Mr. Shaw makes me want to listen again but I’ll wait.



The Hobbit
Authored by J. R. R. Tolkien

Read by Martin Shaw

I feel as though I’m sitting around a campfire, night before the battle with the Orcs at daybreak. There are a few of use huddled together. Not because of the cold but out of fear for what the daylight will bring. Our chieftan, Martin Shaw, tells us a tale to harden our spirits so that we may fight hard. This tale is about a small creature, a Hobbit. Timid by nature but capable of amazing feats of bravery. We listen to the the story of The Hobbit and we all feel as though we can measure up to this being, we can fight with dignity and honor at the coming of the dawn. Dragons be damned.



“The Hobbit” is the novel that introduced me to Middle-earth and particularly to a race of beings called Hobbits and their odd quirks. There is one among them called Bilbo Baggins, although diminutive in size he is large in stature but of course he doesn’t know that yet. Bilbo proves that he can hold his ground with any champion of the battlefield with grace and dignity. Makes we wish for big hairy feet or at least bigger feat. You know what they say about big feet, big shoes. Back to Mr. Shaw. His voice fits so well with the subject in the book that at times I forgot I was listening to a reading. I thought it was the my voice in my head that I was hearing (and I have so many voices). It was a delight to listen to this on a Tokyo subway. I highly recommend this book to all people of all ages and of all sexes to read or listen to. Just remember to have a stout heart!

Well I finally finished “Hearts in Atlantis” by Stephen King. An audiobook which weighs in at a 17 hr. listen, my longest listen to date. This audiobook is a series of 5 short stories that have themes and characters in common. This is a book written for the generation of people which lived through the 60’s, rather than a book that gives a glimpse into that era. Nothing expressed here is new or novel concerning the 60’s that hasn’t been beaten to death by dozens of other writers (except the “low men”). I didn’t garner any clearer idea of the ideals of that time. The 60’s were a huge time, of that I have no doubt. Just when a writer wants to “cleanse” him/her self of those memories is when I have problems. This was a time to change the world but this book failed to explain why.

Hearts in Atlantis

Authored by Stephen King

Read by Stephen King & William Hurt

The stories involve 3 close friends as they grow up, grow old and die. In the first story King kind of dips into his nom de plume of horror writing but it’s little more subtle then the stories of his I’ve read (Not that I would be an expert, the last Stephen King book I read was “It”. The ending made me so angry I never read another). Second story involved college in the 60’s, far out man. Third story involved guilt about Vietnam Vets, spare some change. Fourth was war stories and how it had been back in the “bush”. The fifth and final was a reunion and trying to get a feel good ending out of the whole thing. In this collection the stories I enjoyed most were the first and last as they were the most connected and act sort of bookends to the collection. Stephen King writes like Stephen King and his verbosity fits in the audiobook format, it’s just that the content of the novel itself wasn’t my cup of tea. William Hurt and Stephen King took turns reading the short stories. Hurt does a great job of reading after a slow start, he sounded kind of bored at the beginning, that soon changed once the characters were established. King has this voice that I find very unappealing, high and a bit nasally. Even with my comments on what was wrong with this audiobook it still was entertaining and a good accompaniment to my 50-minute commute to work (took almost a month to go through the entire thing). Can’t say that I wore an odd grin on my face during the read but it did help me keep my sanity and that’s a Good Thing.



Pros: William Hurt’s great acting ability and rich voice.

Cons: The 60’s again, Stephen King’s voice.

I´m back for a new review of an audible book. This audible book was decided on the recommendation of someone I will not state in this review, Oprah Winfrey (not to mention names). This was a book that was on the Oprah´s picks list and I thought that I could do worse then going with that recommendation, on hindsight I dont think I could have done worse. As the opening lines of this review may let on to the astute reader (you know who you are), this review won´t be very positive. I suppose that there where enough positive aspects to permit me to finish the book. I hope I can convey those points.

The Corrections

Authored by Jonathan Franzen

Read by Dylan Baker

Is this what middle America wants to be? I don’t really know what the heartland wants to be. I don’t know if I want to know if this is what I will find there. This story is a look at an American dysfunctional family from the mid-west. The family is statistically sound with three children, 2 boys and a daddy´s girl, now adults. A mother that is a servant to her domineering inventor engineer husband. The father that is stubborn in not the nicest way. There are few facets to the story that make it interesting to me and my expectations of a novel. The kids (now adults) have their own lives to live and are fiercely protective of their individuality but it looks like they could all use some help to discover common sense. One son, an unskilled writer trying to fulfill the promise of his doctoral degree, finds himself in Eastern Europe, but not to worry the story is not a spy thriller. His sister, the highly skilled chef, is so fiercely competitive that she misses a few steps in life, but nothing really interesting. Their brother, the oldest, the rock of the family is such a bastard to the family he came from but so giving to family of his making. The mother finally comes to some grips in life after her husband is out of the day-to-day part of her life (did I say too much?). The husband is, of course, the cause of everyone´s woes (as men are apt to be). Throw in some sexual confusion and you´ve got the making of an Oprah recommendation. I wouldn´t call the book predictable but it also didn´t offer any new elements to sink a set of teeth into, even false teeth.

Probably the only reason I finished the book was the narration of Dylan Baker. Some people are very good at telling stories or jokes. They know how to keep you memorized in the narration with well-timed pauses or changing of the tempo. Dylan is this good storyteller. The other aspects of the story were lacking compared to his telling of the story. I found the story pretty predictable but not in a far reaching sort of way. In better English, I wouldn´t be able to tell you what will happen at the end but once I started the second to last chapter I had the end figured out.

I´m down on the story but I guess what I disliked the most were the characters. I´m not a fan of the American mid-west and the thinking that comes from there. The “matter of fact&quote, this is the “right way of thinking” thinking. As if there were a right or wrong way. Sure there are wrong ways that are common in all culture, sticking body parts into flames comes to mind. But that the retired go to this place and not to that place is not one of them.

Good points:

The story-telling was enjoyable. I´m much too young to know radio dramas but this gave you a strong hint on why they were so popular. Even a bad story can have a charm when read aloud by a gifted orator. Maybe I was deprived of that and I´m trying to make up for it now.

Bad points:

Didn´t like the characters, the situations they got themselves into had no relation in my life. I found that I had no sympathy for the mother, or father or anyone.



It´ll take some convincing for me to get another audiobook written by Jonathan Franzen. What will it take to listen to another audiobook read by Dylan Baker, I´m looking at www.audible.com now.

This is my first attempt to write a readable (by you) serious review of a read (by me) audible book I have just finished. In this review I will use the familiar term read rather than listened to because it sounds, well familiar. The book that is subject to my first stab at this review stuff is

21 Dog Years: Doing Time @ Amazon.com

Authored by Mike Daisy

Read by Mike Daisy

I found this to be entertaining and informative read. I wasnt part of the dot com frenzy so Im very ignorant of the excesses that took place. I cant help but wonder if Tokyo was the boring place to be during the gold rush or a safe haven.

One thing about this format is that you must like the narrator if you are to enjoy the book. It could be said that War and Peace would have a different feel if Elmer Fudd read it. Mike Daisy doesnt have the rich vocal talents of a character like Elmer but since the book is written in his perspective his voice fits well. His acting experience/training was very helpful in getting his point across and bringing life to the other characters in his life. Listening to his voice for 6 hours and 40 min was not difficult. He is a flake and flakes are never difficult to listen to. Ok, ok he is the exception. His voice, as in his writing, has humor that will cause you to smile on a subway car during the commute to work. His criticisms of his job at Amazon, and of himself, are to be taken with a grain of salt. Like I said, he is a flake. He admits this fact with pride. Amazon is a company that realized how to get the most of it workforce of flakes. It knew that its success dependent on its flakey workforce. It was very good at getting everything it could (can?); hence its success in the commercial world. The company does not produce a product; it just sells other products by adding value to the transaction. The convenience of shopping in your underwear is the added value and should never be downplayed. You need a staff dedicated to the idea of online commerce to enable the consumer to shop in their undies. I have no affiliation with Amazon except the stuff you see on the front page. Mike has a respect of and is in awe of the company (and founder Jeff) but many factors contribute to a falling out between Mike and Amazon. The book almost reads like a love story without bodily fluids (well some).



I like 21 Dog Years, I like Mike, and I like smiling on Tokyo subway trains during the morning commute to work.



Update: 06 - 11 - 02

Just found this about a show that Mr. Daisey is putting on about the subject matter in this book.