Maimonides

Great book. Distracting pronunciation errors.

The book is a well researched, interesting listen for anyone interested in the life of this great sage. Unfortunately, for anyone familiar with Hebrew, you will notice constant mispronunciations of almost every single Hebrew word in the audiobook.

17 sur 17 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.

Well Research but not what I expected

Sean Pratt seems to be a established narrator of audio books. He reads with a clear voice but gosh, he started of slowly in this book. So much so, that I thought I would never get through the book. Maybe it is just I, but in the beginning of the book I found it extremely difficult to follow, mostly due to the way he read the book... v--e--r--y s--l--o--w--l--y, you struggled to grasp thought units. In all fairness, he improved a lot towards the end of the book. Yet he should be banned from pronouncing Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic and even Latin words.

About the book: Joel L Kraemer has written a solid scholarly and very well informed biography. This book might become the Authoritative work to consult in years to come about the Jewish physician and philosopher, Moses Ben Maimon. It is a critical history and the author aims to place Maimonides within his times. Kramer did especially care to do so.

Much of Maimonides' life is reconstructed through letters he wrote that were preserved in the Cairo Genizah of the Ben Ezra Synagogue. Kraemer has consulted a vast array of Arabic literature that bears on Maimonides. His proficiency with Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic impresses.

Kraemer introduces Maimonides systematically. His multi-faceted personality is almost divided into various parts eg. Maimonides the scholar of Jewish Law; the Physician and the Apostate etc. I found his method of 'publishing' his books in a pre-print time very intriguing. Earlier authorised copies, though endorsed by him didn't carry the same amount of weight as later ones.

I would recommend this book to someone who wants to know a bit more of Judaism in the Middle Ages and the coexistence of different religions with one another during this time. It will also be of great value to the Jewish historian, but be warned you might have to endure something similar to 'narrative torture' for just under a quarter of the book. Yet I suggest persevere.

9 sur 9 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.

Perhaps better as a text

Would you try another book from Joel L. Kraemer and/or Sean Pratt?

Kraemer dropped so many references that while Pratt mentioned them, I had to pause frequently to look them up. I gained a lot of information, but I felt it would have been easier if I could have kept my notes with a text copy.

2 sur 2 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.

Great Exposition. This book is a Treasure!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is an excellent piece of work. The writer undertakes thorough explanations of the real personality behind the RaMBaM. It is a must-read for anyone interested in Judaism.

2 sur 2 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.

Painful mispronunciations

I am a rabbinical student and was very interested to learn more about the life of Maimonides. However, as I listened, the number of hideous mispronunciations grew from amusing to embarrassing to painful.

I'm sure Sean Pratt did his best, but he so obviously speaks neither Spanish nor Hebrew nor Arabic. Biographies are full of proper nouns, and he butchered them often. He stressed the wrong syllable and flattened the vowels beyond recognition. I actually felt bad for the reader--at no point in the audio production did anyone give him any pronunciation coaching? Could they really not find a single actor who could handle the languages of Maimonides's world with aplomb?

It became so distracting that I couldn't even finish the audiobook, preferring to read this book on paper instead. I recommend you do likewise...

4 sur 5 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.

depth the the point of boredom

Is there anything you would change about this book?

More info on his writings, esp Mishnah torah and less on where he traveled and who he knew. The part of the role of a physician was insightful but I found the middle chapters to be a snooze.

Was Maimonides worth the listening time?

No

1 sur 1 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.

Great biography!

Great information and narration! Great summary of Maimonides' greatest works. East to understand and very easy to sense 12th century Europe and Middle East.

1 sur 1 personne(s) ont trouvé cet avis utile.

Excellent History, dry narration

Important and vital biography of a seminal thinker in Judaism, medicine and law. Narration could have been a bit more lively. otherwise well worth the time.

No indication to Maimonides greatness

The title of the book is “ ...of one of civilization’s greatest minds”
This is no evident in the book.
The are many things Maimonides did, wrote
Born there lived there at the mat date

I did not read an over view of his thoughts regarding philosophy, medicine and religion
One can not understand Maimonides greatness from reading this book.

Superb book

Just a magnificent audio book. A real book for the ages. Do you want to understand the present, visit the past thought the pages of this terrific book, masterfully narrated and delivered to you by a magnificent reader.