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This one's had a lot of negative reviews and I almost didn't bother with it on the strength of those reviews, but I'm glad I did. Perhaps that's what's pushing me to go four, rather than 3 stars: my expectations were exceeded. It ties in nicely with [b:Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance 27213329 Grit The Power of Passion and Perseverance Angela Duckworth https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1457889762l/27213329.SY75.jpg 45670634], by Angela Duckworth. It talks about many of the same ideas and I'm at a stage in my life where I feel like I need to hear these ideas and act upon them. I'm 49 and starting again, again. I need to believe that I can be what I want to be and my fixed mindset is holding me back in quite a big way. I loved the idea that came out at the end of the book that you can name your fixed mindset characters and acknowledge them when they show up in a mindful way. I'm going to give that some thought, though I don't have a name chosen yet. Yes, the sports analogies DO get a little tiresome, but as examples of the book's primary message, it's hard to find a better example. Grit seems to be synonymous with the growth mindset, so you could really read this or that book and get the same takeaway. If you had to choose just one, I'd go with this one, especially the Audible version as it's narrated so well by Bernadette Dunne.
I'm really enjoying this series and looking forward to finding out how it leads into the [b:The Sword of Shannara Trilogy 478894 The Sword of Shannara Trilogy (Shannara, #1-3) Terry Brooks https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388201262l/478894.SX50.jpg 467318]. There are still too many characters to keep track of, but there haven't been many new ones added in this book so it's getting easier. I'm listening to the audiobook narrated by [a:Phil Gigante 521640 Phil Gigante https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1263251671p2/521640.jpg] and he does a really good job. I read the original trilogy in the late 80s and kept going until the end of the [b:The Talismans of Shannara 34919 The Talismans of Shannara (Heritage of Shannara, #4) Terry Brooks https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1168573644l/34919.SY75.jpg 201738]. I don't know what kept me from carrying on when more came out, but I'm making up for that now, having started again with the Sword trilogy and then went right back to the start of the Word and the Void. So I'll be jumping into [b:The Scions of Shannara 34988 The Scions of Shannara (Heritage of Shannara, #1) Terry Brooks https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1429347355l/34988.SY75.jpg 19017827], or do I have to read [b:First King of Shannara 92855 First King of Shannara (The Original Shannara Trilogy, #0) Terry Brooks https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1171251172l/92855.SY75.jpg 1245597] first? I'll have to check the chronology and go with that if that's the way to do it. I've got a long drive coming up next week so I guess I'll get into [b:The Gypsy Morph 2675261 The Gypsy Morph (Genesis of Shannara, #3) Terry Brooks https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1420943855l/2675261.SY75.jpg 2595624] then if my wife can stand it ha ha!
I bought this book on a whim whilst on holiday in the town of my Alma Mater, St Andrews university. It was my first time visiting Toppings Books and I happily spent a few hours in there.
I've had a fascination with the Stalin era of the Soviet Union since my army days when I studied GCSE Russian Studies and wrote a paper on the show trials and purges.
You might find this a little hard to believe, but I had never heard of Sholokhov, or his famous novel The Quiet Don. Why should it be hard to believe? Because I studied Russian language and literature for four years and spent years living in the former Soviet Union. When I saw the book in Toppings, I thought I was buying a book written about Stalin by his official scribe!
So, even though I thought I was reading something else entirely, I found myself completely drawn in anyway.
On the face of it, it's about an author whose magnum opus ‘The Quiet Don' is iffy at best because of plagiarism charges levelled against Sholokhov, and who wrote very little of note after that. But there is so much more to it than that.
It's about an author who was able to navigate the tricky political landscape and still managed to stay alive, become wealthy and even win the Nobel Prize for Literature. That in itself makes for a good story, and that is exactly what this book turned out to be.
Sholokhov was not afraid of speaking truth to power and was able to use his influence over the years, including instigating the release of 3 political prisoners released from the clutches of the NKVD after he'd learned of the truth behind the great terror.
Not only did Sholokhov manage to keep from being imprisoned, exiled or shot, he also managed to stay in the good books of the leaders of the Soviet Union right up to the present, as it is mentioned in the afterword that Putin visited Sholokhov's home in Vioshki in 2005 to mark the centenary of Sholokhov's birth.
The writing style of the book made it easy to read. The research was well done and obviously extensive. It did seem to jump forward in time pretty fast towards the end, but I guess that's because there wasn't much else to say? Maybe it was edited down to make it shorter and an easier read? I'm sure it could quite easily have been twice as long.
It was interesting to read that there are still documents in locked archives.
“Though some of his secrets no doubt remain buried deep in closed archives, his contributions to Soviet history can now be recognized.”
P338
And Santa Barbara gets a mention in the afterword. That made me laugh. I spent a year in Odessa during my undergrad degree in 1995/96 and my landlady was obsessed with that show. She was also quite fond of Mr Bean.
This was a really good hiking audiobook, a dystopian fantasy and leading on nicely from the Word and the Void. I won't say it had me gripped - not until about the last third of the book, but then I really got into it. I feel like there were too many characters to get to grips with in the first two thirds, but I didn't feel the need to take notes as I did with Game of Thrones lol.
I'm looking forward to continuing as Terry Brooks has gone all cliff hanger on us with this trilogy.
I really enjoyed this. I'm not so worldly wise as I once was. In fact I'm rather out of touch these days, as I don't watch news or read papers or anything like that any more. I haven't done for years. So when I find an author whose content skirts over so much in short bite-sized chunks, I'm all over it. The Iron Men:- Viktor Orbán (Hungary)- Rodrigo Duterte (Philippines)- Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Turkey)- Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil)- Narendra Modi (India)- Boris Johnson (UK)I added that list because I would have liked to have seen a list to refer back to and get the name spellings, but there wasn't a list in the synopsis or in any of the reviews. Misha Glenny's style, and the production style of this podcast, really works well for me and it has whetted my appetite to listen to more. To that end, I've added a couple of the books mentioned in these episodes and am about to listen to one now on my weekly shop – Peter Pomerantzev's [b:Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia 21413849 Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible The Surreal Heart of the New Russia Peter Pomerantsev https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1407196452l/21413849.SY75.jpg 40714614] - okay, so it's not the same Pomerantzev book that was mentioned (that was [b:This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality 41717504 This Is Not Propaganda Adventures in the War Against Reality Peter Pomerantsev https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545380013l/41717504.SY75.jpg 65073585]), but I learned of that author through these podcasts. I'll come and clean and say that the only one of the six iron men I had heard of was BoJo. Well, I did say I wasn't worldly wise!
The Audible version of this was great, read by Derek himself. His voice really gets in your head and I find myself starting to think of my business, such as it is, in a different way. It's all right not to want to have employees. I like that. I sucked at being a boss.
This was recommended in a YouTube video of Ali Abdaal's, one of his top three (yes, I have the other two - go look ‘em up!). I'm super glad that I found Ali's channel; following his content and his recommendations is going to help me in a big way as I navigate the setting up of a solo consulting business. Derek's book is incredibly helpful, not only because of the insight it provides, but because of the way it makes me feel. I know, sounds weird, right? But listening to Derek's words being read by Derek himself has made me feel like I got this.
This was incredible. It was bought for my wife by a good friend of ours about 12 years ago and sat on the book shelf for as long.
The timing was good for me as the spiritual elements of the book tie in nicely with some of my philosophical meanderings right now.
“I dance when ever I can, but music only exists because the pauses exist, and sentences only exist because the blank spaces exist. When I'm doing something, I feel complete, but no one can keep active twenty-four hours a day. As soon as I stop, I feel there's something lacking. You've often said to me that I'm a naturally restless person, but I didn't choose to be that way. I'd like to sit here quietly, watching television, but I can't. My brain won't stop. Sometimes I think I'm going mad. I need always to be dancing, writing, selling land, taking care of Viorel, or reading whatever I find to read. Do think that's normal?”
Not bad as a fantasy trilogy for walking the dogs. It reads very much like a Stephen King novel, although he'd have made the trilogy into one big ass book. The character of Pick really annoyed me, but the concept of the gypsy morph was pretty cool and I'm looking forward to seeing what becomes of it, knowing as I do that that's the title of a later-written book.
Not bad as a fantasy trilogy for walking the dogs. It reads very much like a Stephen King novel, although he'd have made the trilogy into one big ass book. The character of Pick really annoyed me, but the concept of the gypsy morph was pretty cool and I'm looking forward to seeing what becomes of it, knowing as I do that that's the title of a later-written book.
Is it just typing? I don't think so. It's strange, because I found some of it deadly dull at the time of reading, but then found that it stayed in my mind while I was going about my daily chores.
I wish that I'd read this as a younger man, when travelling was on my roadmap more than it is now. I think it's that that has made it stay in my mind - it has me thinking back on my travelling days and looking at my kids as they grow into travelling ages and hoping that they get to do that.
It also has me thinking about my life now, as I approach 50 and go nowhere, but even if I did go somewhere, it would be to visit, not to live, and with family and not friends. Not that that would necessarily be a bad thing, just a different thing.
So the book has got me thinking, which is why I've given it four stars. The writing style suits the content perfectly. I think this is a book I'll read again in 10 years or so.
Such a serendipitous find too - I went to the post office which just happens to sell books too, and they had this on the counter as an impulse buy, so I impulsively bought it.
An interesting find as I'm exploring the Shannara books at the age of 48, having read the original trilogy and the Heritage for the first time between the ages of 17 and 20-ish. I've just completed the original trilogy again and am now about to go to the beginning of the chronology, rather than continue with the Heritage.
The idea of magic in the real world appeals to me in rather a big way; it's something I've thought about all my life. It seems like the Word and the Void are books that I'm really going to enjoy, as I did with this little teaser.
An absolute trip down memory lane and a moving tale in so many ways. It has led me to question many aspects of my own life. If only I and my group of friends in the 80s had had a Yauch in our midst. I feel like we and the Beasties grew up together, though they were a little older than we. But they were there through our teenage years and further. I remember delivering the whole of Paul Revere in C Troop corridor during basic training when I was 16 under orders from my troop sergeant. The VW badge thing? Yep, we did that too.
And now I find myself tearing up at the What If question posed at the end of the book. Imagining what it must be like to lose a friend like that.
I shall not regret the past now with to shut the door on it, but I will think about it nostalgically, as I often do.
I might be a little dusted...
An absolute trip down memory lane and a moving tale in so many ways. It has led me to question many aspects of my own life. If only I and my group of friends in the 80s had had a Yauch in our midst. I feel like we and the Beasties grew up together, though they were a little older than we. But they were there through our teenage years and further. I remember delivering the whole of Paul Revere in C Troop corridor during basic training when I was 16 under orders from my troop sergeant. The VW badge thing? Yep, we did that too.
And now I find myself tearing up at the What If question posed at the end of the book. Imagining what it must be like to lose a friend like that.
I shall not regret the past now with to shut the door on it, but I will think about it nostalgically, as I often do.
I might be a little dusted...
This was a lot better than I remember. I read it when I was 17 or 18, some 30 years ago, and continued through the saga as far as the Talismans of Shannara. I see now there were many others!
So, yeah, it's derivative. I get that. But that doesn't make it bad. I'm reminded of why I enjoy fantasy as a genre, particularly when I'm listening and walking the dogs in the hills and forests of the Scottish Isle of Arran, where I live.
I'm not sure whether I'll continue through the first trilogy, but I imagine I will, given that I enjoyed this reread a lot more than I expected to.
A good friend bought me a signed copy of this as a birthday present a few years ago. I do enjoy a good crime novel now and again, and this was one of those times. I enjoyed that I got most of the pop culture references too. The use of Scots is very well done indeed, though I wonder how it would read for someone south of the border. I should ask my wife to read it!
I do like a book with short chapters too.
I have the next in the series and will definitely be reading that. I may even seek out the first.
