An audio book question
My friend Carolyn and I were having this discussion yesterday, and she suggested I throw it out to all of you:
Would you rather listen to an audio book read by the author or by an actor? Does your answer vary depending on the author or the type of book? Have you had any particularly good or bad experiences with books read by authors or actors?
In short, please tell all.
[tags]Audio Books, Books on Tape[tags]
February 25th, 2007 at 7:52 am
What’s an audio book?
February 25th, 2007 at 8:29 am
I hate to give a wishy washy answer but it depends on the author.
I enjoy listening to audiobooks; sometimes the actor isn’t very good. And I’ve also listened to authors who weren’t that great. I think that doing a proper audiobook requires the right skill set; just being the author of that work doesn’t mean that the author can do their own work justice.
February 25th, 2007 at 9:52 am
“Just being the author of that work doesn’t mean that the author can do their own work justice.
Yeah, Liz, I agree with you. I can’t imagine anyone but David Sedaris reading his own work–and he does such a great job at it–but not every author has that “skill set” as you said.
February 25th, 2007 at 11:03 am
I believe that James Earl Jones should narrate everything.
February 25th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
If it’s a memoir, I definitely prefer the author. But for a novel, I think it depends on the voice of the author.
February 25th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
I haven’t listened to many audio books but it sounds like Liz is right to me. I do have a recording of Stephen King reading to an audience one of his short stories”LT’s Theory of Pets” and it’s like sitting down in front of an oldtime storyteller,weaving his verbal magic.
I do plan on listening to the audio of Higher Power Of Lucky that I got at the RHCB event(mainly to hear the scrotum bit but also to check out the story). With a major league snowstorm heading my way tomorrow,looks like I will have plenty of time to do so.
February 25th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
So here’s the question: have you ever been so turned off by the person reading an audio book that you’ve had to stop listening, even though you suspected the book was good?
February 25th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
i’ve only listened to one audio book. it was so excruciatingly bad, but for the fact that we were driving for seven hours through southern new mexico with our only alternative being the born again radio stations broadcast from across the border, we would have flung it out the window. (really we wouldn’t have flung it out the window, i say that figuratively, because we never litter. we would have stopped at a road side rest area and left it on the picnic table for some other unsuspecting auto-listener-prisoner). the last three hours all my husband and i did was talk back to the narrator. example, she would ask in one of the 10-20 southern accents she affected, “i asked mahself is this really all there is, should i end it now?” we would scream in unison, “yes this is it, end it end it NOW!!!!” we were exhausted by the time we reached our destination. i’ve held on to it as a possible regift to someone i’m not too happy with at the time.
February 25th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Yet another reason (as if any of us need it) to stay in your good graces. And by the way, you’re so damn funny it’s not even fair.
February 26th, 2007 at 1:09 am
Granny Torelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech was read by an actor who just didn’t jibe with me. I never finished listening to it. I know it is a good story but the never picked it up to read either after that.
I love Jack Gantos’s reading of his Joey books. He should have done the audio for The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs too. I wish he could go back and record the Jack books.
I also get attached to certain narrators of series books. When they change readers, it is never as much fun.
February 26th, 2007 at 7:00 am
excellant obsevation patrick.
February 26th, 2007 at 7:51 am
Annette, do you also return your shopping cart to the little shopping-cart return place at the grocery store?
(Quite frankly, I’m always surprised when people don’t, but I didn’t yesterday and I felt really BAD about it.)
(Not that I don’t totally support your non-littering!)
Robin, in answer to your question, I don’t think I’ve ever had a horrible audio listening experience. But the opposite is true — I’ve had SUCH GOOD readers that I’ve kept listening when I otherwise might not have.
February 26th, 2007 at 8:22 am
If it is non-fic, especially a bio, I would prefer to hear the author. For fiction, I would want to hear the best voice available.
February 26th, 2007 at 8:24 am
Hey, Camille, welcome! You’re right about how we get attached to certain narrators in a series. When publishers switch out, it’s like giving us the new daughter on Roseann. Like we weren’t going to notice.
Patrick, high five on the James Earl Jones thing. I wish every company in the world would pay him to record their “thank you for holding” and other messages.
Heather, I’m with you on the bio stuff, generally, but I did hear this great version of Patrick Conroy’s memoir My Losing Season that was read by an actor who was fantastic. Just riveting. At the end of the book there was a long interview with Conroy himself, and even though it’s not like he had squeaky voice syndrome or some other defect, I really did prefer the actor.
Laura, you crack me up with that comment about returning the grocery cart. I feel TOTALLY guilty if I don’t do it. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one like that. And I agree with you that some readers are so good you’ll keep listening even if the book itself is only so-so. This is why we love actors.
February 26th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Sean Connery, too. He could narrate anything as well.
Especially hot Romances -
“Valerian woke with four nekked women in his bed,” said Connery. “Ahem. For the record, I woke with FIVE.”
February 26th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Patrick, so true.
February 26th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
For me it all depends on the narrator’s voice and how the narrator goes about entertaining me. Yes, it’s all about me. I’ve only listened to children’s audiobooks. I’m not sure if the entertainment factor would matter as much to me if I were listening to an adult fiction or non-fiction audiobook. The voice however would still be important.
The Junie B. Jones series, has 2 different actresses that narrate the audiobooks. Lana Quintal is the perfect narrator for a funny read for 5 - 7 year olds. I can’t listen to the tape by the other actress.
The audiobook of Ella Enchanted narrated by Eden Riegel is very entertaining…the actress uses different voices for various characters and there’s even music to add drama.
The audiobooks of The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe with Michael York and The Series of Unfortunate Events/Lemony Snickett narrated by Tim Curry are other audiobooks I’ve really enjoyed.
February 26th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
That’s good to know, Vivian. I’ve had people ask me for recommendations for kids’ audio books before and I’ve never known what to say since I don’t think I’ve ever listened to one. So thanks for the reviews!
March 1st, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Don’t do audio books…. I have an infinite amount of time to just read - audio books affect me the same way most movies do: allergies…. I don’t like someone else’s “vision” whether visual or aural.
Caveat: I exempt LotR (the movies). Probably the only time in my 60 years that I’ve found books have been translated into movies where I mostly validate the translation. And these are books I read once a year and have done since 1966…. ALL of them - even the obscure titles.
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:14 am
Okay, Vc, we can be friends. If you’d said you hated the Lord of the Rings movies, you would, of course, be banished.
If you look at my List of 30, you’ll see Peter Jackson (for those who don’t know: director of LOTR) on there. That man is a genius and I don’t mind saying so.
March 2nd, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Heh. You can have Viggo, I’ll take Orlando…. the few cavils I had with LotR (the movies) were Aragorn, Arwen and Galadriel….
March 13th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
For me it does not matter if it is the author or actor. The only exception is memoir or autobiographies, then I like the author to do the reading. It seems more personal coming direct from the actual person the book is about.
I do really like The Secret being read by the author Rhonda Byrnes though. I thought she did a wonderful job and the other people inside just added that extra flair to keep everything flowing right along.
Overall, if the actor is truely a talented voice, I would prefer to listen to an actor. Especially if the actor can do multiple voices of the different characters. An example is Jonathan Davis narrating the Star Wars Audio Books. He is fascinating with his array of characters which he brings to life.
So ultimately whoever the narrator is, if they are blessed with great talent, they will be entertaining to listen to and make the audiobook a wonderful read.
http://www.audio-books-for-everyone.com