Better for reading than listening

A terrific story that reminded me of my young adult adventures on a kibbutz and living in Israel. I would give it a higher rating but the audio version was not good. The reader mispronounced almost every Hebrew and Yiddish word (and other languages as well!). Even commonly known words. She obviously had no coaching at all. One is taken out of the story with every mispronounced word (sometimes it was just the inflections that rendered the word wrong). Read this book, don't listen to it.

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2 persone l'hanno trovata utile

One - only one! complaint

Any additional comments?

Ms. Potter does marvelous work but every time she is called upon to pronounce a "Jewish" word - "mezzuzah", "Shoah", "kasha varnishkes" - it's like chalk on a blackboard. She accents the wrong syllable relentlessly. (Nu, there are no Jews at Dreamscape Media?)

But don't let that stop you. This is a terrific novel read wonderfully.

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2 persone l'hanno trovata utile

Great book-narration needs a better producer

I really enjoyed listening to this book and sorting out all the angst, desire, values and importance of all the characters, flawed as they may be. The history lesson about the times on an Israeli kibbutz were so interesting and the narration was good. But, about the narrator, who has done so many other books well--perhaps the people involved should actually TRY for five minutes to make a note of foreign words in Hebrew or Yiddish and ask someone to pronounce it for the poor woman. She so mangles the words that it takes you right out of the narrative and makes you laugh. I can't imagine who told her to pronounce the famous deli favorite "kasha varnishkes" the way she did repetitively (it was Zayde's favorite food), or what the heck she was saying when she had to say "the Jewish Agency" in Hebrew--the "Sochnut", which is admittedly unusual, but, really, there are so many ways to just ask somebody!

This book was well-written and engaging and I look forward to other books by this author.

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not happy

many of the Yiddish and Hebrew words were mispronounced by the narrator. in my opinion that is very tacky. additionally I didn't feel that the ending of the story resolved some of the conflicts within the story. totally disappointed.

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A nice story...

A very good story, told at a pace that kept my interest throughout. The characters were likable, easy to know, and there weren’t so many that it became confusing. I was invested early on in the story and by the 1/2-3/4 mark I couldn’t wait to return to the story! Overall I really enjoyed it but was left with a few questions of “well!?...what ever became of so-and-so???” I feel like I missed something or something! But I know I didn’t! Maybe I’ll rewind a 1/2hr and re-listen just to be sure. Ugh!

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I shouldn't have read this book.

This story was a struggle for me. I could not empathize with the protagonist, and it seemed like his entire story could have been left out without a change in the lives of the others. It just wasn't a satisfying read for me.

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It was kind of disappointing

I hated the characters and there was never growth or renewal of life except for one character the rest were just jerks and I never even knew what happened to the main character in the end. Felt like I must have missed a whole section of the book. really disappointed.

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Moving and meaningful

I found this book an accurate and touching account. The characters were true to varied national and cultural modes. The Russian, the Israelis, the Irish the Palestinian and New Yorker characters were portrayed with great depth and realism. I highly recommend Safekeeping.

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overall decent, but narrator wasn't very authenti

narrator should have dine assume research on pronunciation of common israeli and Jewish words and phrases.

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Unsatisfied with Ending

What made the experience of listening to Safekeeping the most enjoyable?

The first half of the novel was very good, but overall I was disappointed.

What could Jessamyn Hope have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I enjoyed this book until the end. Why did the author spent time developing the characters only to leave me anxious to know how they fared outside of the kibbutz?

What does Kirsten Potter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I always prefer an Audible book and this reader did not disappoint.

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