Deb Omnivorous Reader > Recent Status Updates

At first, when I realised that there were TWO narrators I was doubtful. I can't stand audiobooks that pretend they are radio plays; lots of different voices, crashing music ect ect.

In this however, the two narrators work perfectly with the story. And I am loving the story of the woman in the library.

But, there is something eerie and off about the second narration. The 'dear Hannah' part... I am not sure what

Well, it is more a series of travel notes than a fully integrated book. The level of genocide occurring in South America is downright nauseating to a modern human, even Darwin had issues with it. The modern human may also be appalled at the carnage Darwin was wrecking on the local wildlife. Reading his thoughts on the palentology was fascinating. The narration is... not the best choice.

Fourth chapter is about the American Korean conflict. Not a bad chapter as I was a bit vague on the topic of the Korean war ect.

" We behold the face of nature bright with gladness, we often see superabundance of food; we do not see or we forget that the birds which are idly singing round us mostly live on insects or seeds , and are thus constantly destroying life... we do not always bear in mind, that, though food may be now superabundant, it is not so at all seasons of each recurring year." [pg 60]

" We behold the face of nature bright with gladness, we often see superabundance of food; we do not see or we forget that the birds which are idly singing round us mostly live on insects or seeds , and are thus constantly destroying life... we do not always bear in mind, that, though food may be now superabundant, it is not so at all seasons of each recurring year." [pg 60]

"Even second-rate barmen tend to resonate with the beer they serve, and the vibrations, coming from the big barrels behind him no longer had the twang of hop and head. They were broadcasting an altogether more lactic note."

I am struggling a bit. I loved the early parts, which were about the land and the people, but now we are bogged down in the politics of how poorly Great Britain dealt with it's 'empire'. Telling me they were morons about it is preaching to the converted, but I don't really know enough about Cyprus and Enosis to be able to enjoy the serious part of this narrative.

'... Let's just say that if complete and utter chaos was lightning, then he'd be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armour and shouting "All gods are bastards"... '

Chapter 11 : A bogged camel, an exploding cow and a series of falling-outs

...and this is distressingly difficult to read, for the huge amount of research that has gone into it. There is definitely a lot of knowledge there, but it is quite hard to glean it out of the writing.

This is actually a bit of a hard slog to read.