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Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated The Boy Who Talks to Animals in Books

Feb 29, 2020

The Boy Who Talks to Animals

Nic Carey | 2019 | Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences

3.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

What I liked best was the Professor's description of hidden skills and his explanation of Autism was one of the best I have ever heard. (0 more)

There is a four-page synopsis at the beginning of the book. While a synopsis in itself is not a problem this one was so long and detailed that after reading it I lost interest in reading the book. (0 more)

Honest Review for Free Copy of Book

The Boy Who Talks To Animals by Nic Carey is a hard book to describe. The best way I can come up with is to offer a quote from the book:

“Where does legend end and reality begin? Perhaps all reality has root in legend and the two are intertwined.” - Professor Lofthouse page 140

Ben has worked at the zoo for years and had always wanted to be a zookeeper ever since he was a child. He loves animals and has dedicated his life to their care and happiness. Sometimes this means going into work super early and at times staying all night long. One night he started to notice strange things happening at the zoo restaurant, making him believe someone is breaking in and getting into the food. Concerned about the security of the zoo and the safety of not only the animals but also for the person breaking in, Ben sets a trap and waits to see who it is.

Much to Ben’s surprise, the culprit is a young boy about twelve years old. This boy appears to be a runaway and has been getting his food from the zoo for quite a while now. Slowly Ben befriends the boy and discovers something odd and wondrous about him. While this boy either can’t or won’t talk to people, he can talk to animals. All the animals in the zoo love this boy, even the most dangerous ones consider him to be one of their own. The people that spend a lot of time around the boy also start to notice some changes within themselves. Now all Be can hope for is that the zoo can offer this special boy the shelter, protection, love, and life that he deserves.

What I liked best was the Professor's description of hidden skills and his explanation of Autism was one of the best I have ever heard. He suggests that our ancestors had abilities like the boy in the story but since we lost our connection with the planet we lost those abilities. At times that extra chromosome shows up, giving a person access to these ancient abilities, but they must give up something else such as the ability to speak in order to access it. Honestly, my biggest problem occurs before the book actually starts. There is a four-page synopsis at the beginning of the book. While a synopsis in itself is not a problem this one was so long and detailed that after reading it I lost interest in reading the book. This was because the synopsis contains major spoilers and tells the reader how the book ends. I highly recommend if anyone decides to read this book that you do not read the synopsis.

Content-wise this book is safe for just about anyone to read. Aside from kissing the only thing that could be classified as inappropriate is a primate grabbing at a woman’s butt in one short area. The book is a bit long which may discourage some younger readers. I rate this book 2 out of 4. The story itself is really good but the delivery isn’t all that great. Besides the synopsis (which ruined the book for me) inside the book which tells everything of importance that happens. Also, the book drags, nothing really happens until the last few chapters and the first half of the book is really slow to progress.

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Kudos

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Wolverine (2013) in Movies

Aug 6, 2019

In 2009, we were treated to the origin story for one of Marvel’s most beloved characters: The Wolverine. Enthusiasm for the story turned to discord and malcontent for most, but if you had the ability to look past the inadequacies found in most Marvel silver-screen adaptations (as I did), then at least you would have enjoyed seeing the comic come to life.

Here in 2013, Hugh Jackman reprises his role for the 6th time, making his way to Japan to bring about one of the community’s favorite portions of the mythos: the way of the samurai, Muriko, and the Silver Samurai.

The story opens with the bombing of Nagasaki, and Logan’s survival of the atrocity. He saves a Japanese soldier from suicide, and then from the Atomic Bomb.

Fast forward to the present and we have a broken mountain man that was once Logan (Jackman). He lives in the hills, away from people, because he no longer wants to be a soldier. His immortality has become a curse.

After a rousing row with some local hunters, a representative for Yashida (the aforementioned Japanese soldier) talks Logan into going back to Japan to pay his respects to a dying man.

The story spins away from there on a turbulent ride that is equal parts drama and action.

Let’s get to my thoughts.

—————The good ———————-

The cinematography, script, acting, and editing was top-notch. The sets, costumes, effects, stunts and fight scenes were all pleasurably executed. This was a very well-made movie.

—————-The bad ————————

The plot holes were too numerous to be anything but amazingly distracting. Without giving too much away, here are just a few:

During a ceremony, in broad day light, on a huge roof, one of the main secondary characters is lurking. With as many people and security, this was HIGHLY implausible. Laughable, at best.

Ninjas are not a real thing, and they never were. They were a fable; a story told without any factual, historical basis, and their presence cheapened the film.

When the A-bomb was dropped, those who survived the actual explosion still died to the radiation within a certain range. There is no way Yashida would have survived Nagasaki the way the event was portrayed in the film.

At some point, Wolverine loses his ability to heal. It’s never clear if his regenerative powers are fully gone or just suppressed, but he can’t heal well enough to stop bleeding. With this in mind, his survival of so many shots to the body is extremely questionable.

On that same note: if he can’t heal, how did the holes made by the blades extruding from his hands heal up? After every scene in which the blades come out, his hands remain free of blood or marks.

Wolverine was clearly killing people with his claws, which I liked, but there should have been far more limb and torso severing, given how sharp his adamantium blades are and how overwhelmingly strong he is supposed to be.

The Wolverine character has an unmatched sense of smell, but it was never used in the movie, not even once. The opportunity presented itself multiple times.

These are just a few examples, and there were many more jarring discrepancies. There were so many that it detracted from the movie in an unforgivable way. Even this was totally separate from the comic-to-silver-screen transition, for which those remarks are better left to someone more learned in the comic realm.

The part I enjoyed the most came during the last 30 seconds of the film, as part of the credits. It sets up a future film. Enjoy.

All in all, The Wolverine was great. That said, if you have a critical eye, like myself, you will find many faults.