Books That May Or May Not Be Better Appreciated In Audio Format

[Marek]

I have recently listened to five out of six works from the Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy as read by Douglas Adams himself.

I really doubt I would enjoy them as much without him reading them and my reasoning is listed below.

For one his English accent is priceless and the voices he assigns to Zaphod, Marvin, Eddie, and others are hysterical.

His pronunciation of certain words, i.e. 'ate' and 'shone' are also hilarious and add to the charm of the sentence.

Most importantly is how he tends to speed up or slow down his reading for effect. When Adam hurriedly rattles through a totally elaborate fictitious name of a star system, construct of imaginary physics, flowery ridiculous bureaucratic institution name, or a painfully British tangential digression - the listener gains IMO a deeper insight into Adams' personal sense of humor and is spared the mental exercise of trying to read 5-10 totally imaginary and elaborate words in a row. Instead Adam blows through them at a speed and candor thats only possible for him, the mind behind it all, to do.

Conversely when Adams slows down, lowers his voice, then softly describes the beauty of the universe the listener can appreciate that above all the jokes and bullshit Adams was a man who loved math, physics, and the wonders of the cosmos more than anything else, even mocking the stupidity and frivolousness of Earthbound human culture.


A Confederacy of Dunces is another one that I feel is better in audio form, and this is because even though Toole died long before anyone cared to print his book, much less put it into audiobook form - it is a story that benefits heavily from Louisiana accents. The person who reads it on the audiobook is an exceptional voice actor and enhances the story in a way that I know for a fact my brain couldnt begin to do for me.


Carl Jung reading his own works is pretty awesome, but it only works for some of them. Theres no fucking way an audiobook of Synchronicity would be possible, but I'd rather listen to him read Dreams Memories and Reflections than read it in print.

Does anyone agree or have any suggestions for other audio books that are outstanding?

 

[Magician]

The 1981 BBC National Public Radio version of The Lord of the Rings...

...is awesome. Thirteen hours of goodness.

 

[SetaSouji??]

The wheel of time series on audio, you can quickly skip his five page rants about a table.

 

[Marek]

The 1981 BBC National Public Radio version of The Lord of the Rings...

...is awesome. Thirteen hours of goodness.

Hmmmmm

I'm skeptical that I would enjoy this more than reading it myself.

But maybe with a copy of the trilogy in hand, for the appendices, it might work out well.

The wheel of time series on audio, you can quickly skip his five page rants about a table.

Interesting. Having no knowledge of the series really I cant comment. Duly noted though.

 

[Magician]

Hmmmmm

I'm skeptical that I would enjoy this more than reading it myself.

But maybe with a copy of the trilogy in hand, for the appendices, it might work out well.

Maybe, if you don't mind the absence of Tom Bombadil that is.

 

[Marek]

Maybe, if you don't mind the absence of Tom Bombadil that is.

I would absolutely mind the absence of Tom Bombadil.

Not as much as I would mind the absence of the scouring of the shire (Fuck you Peter Jackson, fuck you forever!), but yes I think he and Goldberry have merit and should be there.


edit: Hey wait, if TB isnt in the audiobook how the hell does Frodo get out of the tomb of the barrow wights???

 

[SetaSouji??]

Hmmmmm

I'm skeptical that I would enjoy this more than reading it myself.

But maybe with a copy of the trilogy in hand, for the appendices, it might work out well.




Interesting. Having no knowledge of the series really I cant comment. Duly noted though.

You should check it out, excellent fantasy novels but they're LONG (roughly 30 CDs a piece)

 

[Marek]

You should check it out, excellent fantasy novels but they're LONG (roughly 30 CDs a piece)

for each book 30 cds eh?

 

[IcBlUsCrN]

1984 by george orwell . man the book was a tough read (didnt finish) but the audio book was great
war of the worlds by orsen wells. OK i guess it didnt start as a book but a good listen anyway

i listened to stephen frys hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy and like it very much.

 

[norton9478]

The unabridged Adams versions of H2G2 are priceless. I used to play them (and the radio series) all on random while I slept. Hell of a way to absorb all the content and concepts of the books (in pieces).

The adams are much better than the newer versions read by Marvin freeman and stephan fry.

In some ways, the Adams readings are better than the radio series. Particularly the second installment as much of the second radio play was written by someone else (Adams was working on Dr. Who much of the time, and he always had a problem with deadlines). When Restaurant was written as a book, Adams changed all of that.

Anyways, when it came time to make the third installment of the radio series (2000ish), they superimposed Adams' book reading for the Agrajag character.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Generally speaking, I think audiobooks can go fuck themselves. I hate them. Audio dramatizations are okay, but straight-up readings of books are bullshit, imo, and I don't want to hear about how you have a long commute to work.

I guess I allow some leeway for when an author reads his own unabridged work. But when a publisher hires some random celebrity or voice actor to read someone else's novel, or when they have abridged the original text in any way, then that's where the go fucking themselves comes into play.

 

[Marek]

The unabridged Adams versions of H2G2 are priceless. I used to play them (and the radio series) all on random while I slept. Hell of a way to absorb all the content and concepts of the books (in pieces).

Wow on random. What a weird thing to do. Adams would approve.

I'm pretty sure I'm listening to the unabridged Adams versions.

Im almost 1/3 of the way into Mostly Harmless.

Its kind of sad that Fenchurch disappears at the beginning of Mostly Harmless. Dark way to begin after the whimsical 'So Long and Thanks...'

I might read, 'And Another Thing' in print though. Is it any good?

 

[Ami Tajiri]

I might read, 'And Another Thing' in print though. Is it any good?

No. I bought it for my brother, and after he thoughtfully finished it and passed it along to me, I couldn't struggle more than fifty or sixty pages into it before giving up in exasperation. The jokes were annoying and repetitive and the characters were completely out of whack. I asked my brother his opinion, and he said that there was only one tiny section that was genuinely funny.

I can't recommend it, in other words.

 

[norton9478]

Read "Last Chance to See".

It's good stuff. Some of Adams best writing.

 

[Taiso]

I don't normally listen to them unless I'm driving or have no other way of physically holding the book itself and it's my only outlet. When I was suffering the vision problems a few years back, unabridged audio helped me to continue absorbing new novels. It was a great way to pass the time and keep me from dwelling too much on my condition.

I've heard that Jim Dale's readings of the Harry Potter books are quite good. A lot of people consider them the gold standard of books on audio. From what I've heard, they're not too bad. My wife swears by them. Personally, I'd rather listen to the first two books than read them. The first two books are just written for too young an audience for me to get into them.

I'm presently listening to A Game of Thrones, read by Roy Dotrice. He has a pretty interesting technique for reading the books-he does it more like a storyteller at a fireplace than a person dully reading the book on audio. There's no production value to it, but it's almost like he's remembering a story from his youth and just being wordy about the recounting of it. At first it was an odd, rough voice to be hearing it speak about the complex issues contained. I thought I wanted a more even tempered voice relaying all those complex characters and politics, but I realized then that politics and skullduggery SHOULD be given to me with a storyteller's voice, not a dull narrative.

I've listened to a number of Moorcock's books, unabridged as well. Just recently got done with all of Hawkmoon and the Chronicles of Castle Brass on audio. I'm pretty certain I would have hated spending time physically reading the books all over again, and the audio helped me to go through them. Surprisingly, it holds up pretty well.

If you can, get Stephen King's On Writing in unabridged audio format. He reads it, and it's awesome to listen to him recount it in his own voice.

 

[SouthtownKid]

I've listened to a number of Moorcock's books, unabridged as well. Just recently got done with all of Hawkmoon and the Chronicles of Castle Brass on audio. I'm pretty certain I would have hated spending time physically reading the books all over again

I love re-reading through Moorcock's Eternal Champion stuff every several years. Count Brass, yeah, maybe a little less than some of the others, but Hawkmoon? You'd hate to read Hawkmoon again?

 

[fenikso]

On the whole I don't enjoy audio books (for many of the reasons STK mentioned), but I'm tempted to track down the Adams H2G2's now that I know of their existence.

Wow on random. What a weird thing to do. Adams would approve.

I'm pretty sure I'm listening to the unabridged Adams versions.

Im almost 1/3 of the way into Mostly Harmless.

Its kind of sad that Fenchurch disappears at the beginning of Mostly Harmless. Dark way to begin after the whimsical 'So Long and Thanks...'

I might read, 'And Another Thing' in print though. Is it any good?

Funny thing about me and 'Mostly Harmless' is that the first time that I read it, I found it really funny, and the second time I read it, I found it really depressing. So depressing, in fact, that I almost couldn't finish it.

Don't read '...and Another Thing' it's a horrible book. At least if you decide to read it, get from the library (don't pay for it, is what I'm saying). A really horrible book. The author previously had written books for tweens and it shows. Angsty BS that is also poorly written.

 

[Taiso]

I love re-reading through Moorcock's Eternal Champion stuff every several years. Count Brass, yeah, maybe a little less than some of the others, but Hawkmoon? You'd hate to read Hawkmoon again?

Hawkmoon has a kind of flawed beauty, but its not strong enough to overcome its technical deficiencies based on heart and ideas alone. In its defense, however, it's a brisk read.

I believe Moorcock's own explanation of where Hawkmoon came from, creatively, is from a time period when a young writer thought he could solve all the world's problems by writing about them. I remember when I read it back in high school, my feelings were very much the same. This was in the days before I had access to the many essays he wrote about the subject of fantasy literature. I remember thinking 'there's a lot of big ideas in here feuling this work, but it's kind of a clumsy read.'

But tell you what. After I get done reading Martin, I'll read something that is less masterful and then physically read Hawkmoon after that. Martin is pretty brilliant, and Moorcock's early works would just look all the more flawed next to that. I may need a 'cooldown' before hitting Hawkmoon again. In the meantime, you watch Two Towers and Return of the King.

I'd love for Moorcock to release a bunch of his essays in a compilation. I find the man's meanderings on the artform utterly fascinating.

 

[Ami Tajiri]

Don't read '...and Another Thing' it's a horrible book. At least if you decide to read it, get from the library (don't pay for it, is what I'm saying). A really horrible book. The author previously had written books for tweens and it shows. Angsty BS that is also poorly written.

Officially the worst present ever. My bad.

I'd always heard the Stephen Fry version of the H2G2 is really good, but I've never listened myself. Now that I know about Adams' recordings, I'd really like to give them a listen.

The worst way to listen to an audio book is with the text-to-speech on the Kindle. I was riding back from Chicago with a friend of mine, and she played American Gods with that horrendous robot voice for several hours of emotionless recitation. (You should've heard how awkward the erotic scene sounded...)

 

[Nesagwa]

I've heard that Jim Dale's readings of the Harry Potter books are quite good. A lot of people consider them the gold standard of books on audio. From what I've heard, they're not too bad. My wife swears by them. Personally, I'd rather listen to the first two books than read them. The first two books are just written for too young an audience for me to get into them.

Jim Dale's versions are very good. The UK audio versions are read by Stephen Fry and are also very good. They're different but both are enjoyable.

Poppy:

The 1981 radio drama version of LOTR is very similar to the movie versions. Frodo is even voiced by the guy that plays Bilbo in the films. Its really more of a play than an audiobook. Its enjoyable for what it is.

There is an unabridged version from 1991 read by Robert Inglis that I have downloaded. Its not bad. He has the voice for it. Only problem being unabridged is its 44 cds and over 48 hours long.

The audio books of Sarah Vowel's books read by her (and other guests) are very good. I enjoy them a lot.

I do have a copy of To Have and Have Not read by Will Patton that is probably one of the best readings of any book I've ever heard.

 

[fake]

I only listen to books on vinyl. I find vinyl creates a much warmer replication as opposed to the overly produced and lifeless sounds from the compact disk format.

 

[Nesagwa]

I only listen to books on vinyl. I find vinyl creates a much warmer replication as opposed to the overly produced and lifeless sounds from the compact disk format.

I actually have Winnie-the-Pooh unabridged on vinyl

 

[SNKorSWM]

Just about any voiced by Orson Welles.

 

[Taiso]

I actually have Winnie-the-Pooh unabridged on vinyl

This comment, for some reason, reminded me of my first exposure to Conan the Barbarian, from a time before I read novels.

 

[The_Chosen_One]

I'm currently listening to World War Z and it's pretty impressive so far. I loved the book when I read it, and picked up the audio book because it just made sense for this book. It is an oral history of the zombie war after all. Each interview is a different actor, including some pretty good ones like Henry Rollins, Mark Hamill, Rob & Carl Reiner, and Max Brooks is the narrator or interviewer.