A Book EVERYONE should read once.

Amazing. There are a just a few books (Meditations, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Brothers Karamazov, On the Nature of Things) that I feel every person on the planet should read. This is one of those books. If you are a historian, a diplomat, a civil war buff or a amateur philosopher, this book will strongly resonate.

34 people found this helpful

Wow! This is Boring!!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A narrative more interesting than reading about a priveledged man travel thru life complaining about never learning anything.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Extreme boredom.

Any additional comments?

This book is at the top of the MLA's Non-Fiction List. I'd hate to see what is at the bottom.

8 people found this helpful

Disappointing

Perhaps it because I am not American (or because I started listening to this book on my own rather than studying it with a wise prof in university), I found this book didn't live up to its billing. Modern Library has ranked it as the best nonfiction book of all time. No doubt it is historically important, but the best of all time?

8 people found this helpful

I kinda like Henry and his book, but still a zzzzzz

I am not completely sure that I gained more than a dash of knowledge or new perspective from this reading. But awww shucks, it gave me a soft spot for Henry anyway. Plus the narrator and dry material snoozed me right to sleep. Seriously echoing other readers sentiment of flabbergast whilst considering the books placement as #1 on Modern Library's Best Nonfiction of All Time List 😕

3 people found this helpful

Accidentally ok in parts

Agrarian aristocrat blithely devalues his immense advantages in life and accidentally records some history he is only present to witness because of his family name.

He then decides to write a philosophical treatise on complexity, evolution, and unity that he himself spent the first 80% of the book admitting he has no knowledge or education to write. His philosophy, 100 years later, are as muddled and incoherent as you'd expect.

Oh, and this literary abortion is really long, too.

3 people found this helpful

Enlightening and absorbing

One of the most enlightening and absorbing books I have read. It struck a chord to much of my own struggles. I wish I had read it as a younger man rather than a man of 59.

2 people found this helpful

Least interesting book I ever read.

How can this be a classic? It reads like arrogant pomposity, a blue of opinions by a blathering crank. I learned nothing and I felt less.

1 person found this helpful