27 replies to this topic

[Darrel Manson]

If you have significant $ to pay for them, there are lecture series from The Teaching Companythat can be very interesting.

[Christian]

Jeremy, I second everything Beth wrote above. I've enjoyed several audiobooks narrated by people with whom I'm unfamiliar. I try to remember their names, but I inevitably forget them -- until the next time I hear them read an audiobook. Point is, I'm always going for the book first, and hoping for a good reader second, although it's true that a bad reader can ruin a good book.

[NBooth]

Agreed with the above. Actually, the books on tape I've enjoyed most were narrated by anonymous readers, and it never damaged my appreciation of the book. Plus, if you're willing to listen to non-famous (and, um, amateur) readers, there's the whole LibriVox library (available at the website and on iTunes). I've used them a couple of times, and if they aren't the round wonderful readings that, say, Morgan Freeman would give--they ain't bad.

If you need a fabulous, famous voice, though, I would suggest Ian McKellen's reading of The Odyssey:

Edited by NBooth, 28 February 2012 - 07:58 AM.

[J.A.A. Purves]

BethR, on 28 February 2012 - 12:12 AM, said:

An audiobook doesn't necessarily have to be read by a well-known actor to be listenable. First, it has to be well-written. Flat writing, repetitive syntax, a tin ear for vocabulary or dialogue--all things a person might be able to skim over if the plot is moving along--will be magnified if you have to listen to EVERY...SINGLE...WORD ... Seriously, find a book you want to listen to first; don't worry about who's reading it.

Christian, on 28 February 2012 - 06:50 AM, said:

Jeremy, I second everything Beth wrote above. I've enjoyed several audiobooks narrated by people with whom I'm unfamiliar. I try to remember their names, but I inevitably forget them -- until the next time I hear them read an audiobook. Point is, I'm always going for the book first, and hoping for a good reader second, although it's true that a bad reader can ruin a good book.

NBooth, on 28 February 2012 - 07:52 AM, said:

Actually, the books on tape I've enjoyed most were narrated by anonymous readers, and it never damaged my appreciation of the book.

Because I read a significant amount on my own, I don't really need to use audiobooks to get to necessities. Therefore, since I'm going to start using them more often, I figured I might as well seek out the very best readers. I could care less if they are famous actors or celebrities. With the sheer number of them out there, I would even assume there are probably relatively unknown audiobook readers who could read better than most celebrities. My experience with reading out loud has been cultivated by two parents who were both experts at it, with a couple teachers who taught how different classic works of literature are actually intended to be read out loud rather than silently, AND with an old (now alas, lost) audio recording (probably on a record) that I remember as a child listening to - it was a collection of famous short stories read aloud by the actor, Charles Laughton. And I still hold to this day that Charles Laughton was one of the most skilled reading-out-loud storytellers of all time.

All this said, my only experience with audiobooks was back in college, when, while working a security guard job I acquired a couple Raymond Chandler audiobooks. I forget who the readers were because I didn't last longer than an hour through the first one. I tried another to see if the other reader would do better and it was even worse. The prose of Raymond Chandler can sound wonderful when read aloud. Neither of the audio-readers could do Chandler's prose justice (one of them had a relatively high-pitched voice that, as I remember, occasionally squeaked) and the other sounded like he was bored and rather in a hurry (you cannot read Chandler out-loud quickly, it defies and destroys the entire personality of the narrator).

So, in order to try this again, I've now acquired (1) Miles Gone By by William F. Buckley Jr. and read by William F. Buckley Jr., (2) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and read by Kenneth Branagh, and (3) Pontoon by Garrison Keillor and read by Garrison Keillor. We'll see how it goes.

Darrel Manson, on 28 February 2012 - 12:48 AM, said:

If you have significant $ to pay for them, there are lecture series from The Teaching Companythat can be very interesting.

Thanks for the recommendation. I am saving this for future use.

[J.A.A. Purves]

Persiflage, on 04 March 2012 - 02:15 PM, said:

So, in order to try this again, I've now acquired (1) Miles Gone By by William F. Buckley Jr. and read by William F. Buckley Jr., (2) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and read by Kenneth Branagh, and (3) Pontoon by Garrison Keillor and read by Garrison Keillor. We'll see how it goes.

And it's going well. I'm not sure whether to really include a book I've listened to on my yearly "books read" list, because there's no way I remember half of what I listen to compared to what I remember after having sat down and read a book with a pen. But it's a highly profitable way to spend time that I can't spend reading. It sure beats listening to the radio (even listening to NPR) and it improves having to do chores around the house. After now having gone through Buckley, Conrad and Keillor (all to be highly recommended), I've enthusiastically acquired:

(4) Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (John Dryden's translation) - read by Bernard Mayes
(5) The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk - read by Phillip Davidson
(6) Freddy and Fredericka by Mark Helprin - read by Robert Ian Mackenzie
(7) The Waste Land & Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot - read by Paul Scofield
and
(8) Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway - read by Bruce Greenwood

[Christian]

Persiflage, on 09 June 2012 - 12:47 PM, said:

it's a highly profitable way to spend time that I can't spend reading. It sure beats listening to the radio (even listening to NPR) and it improves having to do chores around the house.

Yes! Radio is dreadful, although it's such an ingrained habit that I go back to it regularly. Plus, audiobooks only during the daily/weekly commute can turn oppressive if I don't give myself an occasional radio break between discs.

Quote

After now having gone through Buckley, Conrad and Keillor (all to be highly recommended), I've enthusiastically acquired:

(4) Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (John Dryden's translation) - read by Bernard Mayes
(5) The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk - read by Phillip Davidson
(6) Freddy and Fredericka by Mark Helprin - read by Robert Ian Mackenzie
(7) The Waste Land & Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot - read by Paul Scofield
and
(8) Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway - read by Bruce Greenwood

I'm glad those earlier choices panned out. I'm currently immersed in The Pale King, just over halfway through it. On my iPod, I'm on book 2 of the Westlake's/Stark's Parker series. I read the first, The Hunter, in paper and ink, am listening to book 2 in the series and have book 5 as a free-download ebook. Mixin' it up, format-wise.

[Overstreet]

The sound-clip peril of recording an audiobook: Whatever you read aloud... you just said that.

Warning: NSFW. http://www.regretsy....d-of-your-shit/

[NBooth]

Overstreet, on 11 December 2012 - 02:28 PM, said:

The sound-clip peril of recording an audiobook: Whatever you read aloud... you just said that.

Warning: NSFW. http://www.regretsy....d-of-your-shit/

Oh my. That's...pretty funny stuff.