Terrific but dense read. Take time to savor and unpack.
345565
The authors put forth an elegant view on how we make decisions and the inconsistencies and paradoxes that result from our thoughts and experiences.
4902386
This is not a light, easy read.  It is dense, hard hitting, and at times a bit convoluted.  The author packs this novel full of knowledge and facts to the detriment of the plot.  This leads to the overall impression of the author being long winded at times.  Once I did finally get into it the story was quite gripping.  There were some very intense moments amidst a great deal of what amounts to scene building.  There were also some very intriguing historical and philosophical debates that really caught my attention as well.

The characters in this novel were quite well developed yet I felt that they remained aloof from the reader.  The sense of who this main character was, however, was definitely felt throughout the novel.  Race and position play a poignant role in the novel, as they did in society during the time.

Although this novel is very well developed and executed I simply felt that as a while it was difficult to become and stay immersed in.  It is an enjoyable and well written, yet very dense read.

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.
4093776
A ton of great insights, perspective, and substance. The sentence structures, the overall wordiness, and the (very) esoteric allusions make it a chore to get thru.
3000345
Having lived through the period of the Vietnam War, I was very interested to see why this book received the praise and prizes. I can honestly say that it's a great book! However it is not an easy read. The author's prose is dense; I often needed to read a sentence of paragraph two or three times to get the gist. Without giving away too much of the plot, I'll tell you that 3/4 of the way through, the reader discovers why it's dense. In the meantime, the story develops slowly but steadily. If you want a page-turner, this book isn't for you; if you want a thoughtful and deep discussion of the implications of war and its aftermath, you'll be rewarded.
3382030
Downside is that it is dense, textbook like to read. Also, overly heavy on manufacturing examples for my purposes.  On the upside, I think this is the best overall read for executives on Lean as it doesn't oversimplify what Lean is all about, but gets to driving cultural transformation.  Highly recommend for the reading list.
3712626
Allan Schore's writing is chock-packed with science and well thought out conclusions and theories.
He takes me a very long time to read, much less to digest. If you have the kind of mind that
absorbs everything in one go-bye, this book is excellent.  I admit I like something more conversational!
579392
Extraordinarily insightful, but a bit academic and dense at points throughout the book.

The appendix is wonderful. Read this first.
3201076
This is a history book first and a math book second.  The reading is dense.  I enjoyed the book, but it is a long read that goes into great detail.
1406778
Christopher Sorrentino is a gifted word crafter. His writing is intricate and clever, however slightly too dense to enjoy it easily. Took me twice as long to finish it, I kept reading and rereading certain passages just to make sure I understood what was written.
The story picked up pace in the second half of the book, which is were the mystery/crime part of the novel finally started to make sense.
Folktales about the trickster Nanabozho in between book parts were a delight to read and kept the novel from getting too heavy and lightened the mood severely.

3.5*

word gem
bardo: (in Tibetan Buddhism) a state of existence between death and rebirth, varying in length according to a person's conduct in life and manner of, or age at, death; an indeterminate, transitional state.

Review copy supplied by publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a rating and/or review.
921233
Excellent but very dense introduction. Not recommended for absolute beginner, but ultimately quite rewarding for anyone with some previous background who is looking for a thorough overview.
4644860
This is a good read but is almost too much info to absorb. Lots of characters & moving parts but its worth the time invested to read it.
323791
Excellent history.  Dense, detailed, illuminating.  Organization is a little confusing at times.  Will read of h err two books of the trilogy.
572024
Good book.  Very technical.  Not an easy read.  Must dedicate some time.
4849143
It's pretty indepth. Not for the faint at heart. Study was rewarding, but confusing at times. Enjoyable, if you don't mind going deep in both thinking and time.
4669940
As a point of reference, I typically read fiction at a pace of roughly 30 pages per hour (not a fast reader).  This work consumed 80 hours, roughly a month of reading for me.  The flowery writing style prevalent in so many 19th century writers is one factor, but there is also much to be considered in the themes presented by the author.  I reread many passages to make certain that I fully understood the ideas that were being presented, before moving forward.  In short, this is not an easy read.  There are passages that are beautifully composed, and there are others where the reader must skim the text to advance.  In the case of the later, these passages are few, but so exasperating (the listing of street names is one example).  As I finished up, I recall coming away with the feeling that I was glad to have read this... the time spent was nothing.
4881481
Yes, its a masterpiece. Wonderful material. Thought-provoking.

It's also a monumental struggle to read. How's that? The translator uses every multi-syllabel word there is, and seasons it liberally with nominalizations. The words aren't BIG, obscure words, they're just large words that absorb a lot of space in a sentence. This makes the reading hard work because you have to fill your braincells with all the large words, process them, then try and assemble it all into a simple, cogent thought. The translator or author crams too much stuff into each sentence. Youll swear youve been sentenced to hard labor. But you won't need a dictionary to understand any of it.

I'm always tempted to translate the French-Latin derived English into simple Anglo-Saxon English.

The bottom-line is: Is the book useful? Yes, very. It bundles a lot of history into discreet packages and reveals the method in the madness of criminal justice. But the writing sux.

I plan to buy another copy.
4171705
This is a very long, very dense read on political thought from Greek times to the present. I thouroughly enjoyed the look at the various thinkers and times, but the author comments too often on what he agrees or disagrees with. A history of politics, as I understand it, should be an overview rather than having the author say things like "as is correct" etc. While I understand and appreciate the breadth of the tome, it is just that a tome, at a very lengthy 1,011 pages. At times, the author meanders and it feels like a stream of consciousness. Alan Ryan is clearly a very intelligent person well-versed in the history of politics, but this means for a very dense work which is sometimes difficult to follow.