Tag: audiobooks

Top Ten Tuesday

Posted September 20, 2016 by Nicky in General / 2 Comments

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is all about audiobooks! I haven’t actually listened to that many audiobooks, at least not by distinct authors, but I do have a couple of recommendations.

The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper (BBC radioplay). I don’t know if there’s any way to actually get your hands on this if you don’t happen to have recorded it for yourself way back when, but I always found the casting perfect and the adaptation solid. It doesn’t keep every single feature of the original book, but it keeps to the spirit of it — unlike the movie version which, as far as I’m concerned, doesn’t exist.
Strong Poison, by Dorothy L. Sayers (BBC radioplay). You’ll notice that I’m quite a big fan of the BBC’s radioplays in general, and that’s because they generally have really good production quality, their adaptations are solid if not absolutely faithful, and they’re usually well cast. This is no exception, with a perfect Lord Peter and a great supporting cast too.
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien (BBC radioplay). Yes, another! It’s really well cast, there’s some music, and it’s pretty faithful — and it skips some of the bits people usually find boring, like Tom Bombadil. I wasn’t 100% a fan of Aragorn’s voice at first, but it grew on me.
Among Others, by Jo Walton (Katherine Kellgren). I was a little nervous when I started to listen to this, because the voice had to be just right. Fortunately, it is — and with a lovely Welsh accent as well.
The Collectors, by Philip Pullman (Bill Nighy). A neat little mystery, and very bitesize too. Bill Nighy does a great job at the narration.
Beowulf, by Seamus Heaney (Seamus Heaney). It might not be the most faithful or scholarly translation, but it’s one that feels very much alive.
Stardust, by Neil Gaiman (Neil Gaiman). The same goes for pretty much any book written and read by Neil Gaiman — not all authors are good at reading their own work, but Gaiman has got it down. There’s a warmth to his voice that just works perfectly.
Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman (Martin Jarvis). The book’s a hell of a lot of fun, and this narrator ‘does the voices’ and really brings across characterisation and delivers the jokes perfectly. My only complaint was that it doesn’t have many natural breaks.
The Martian, by Andy Weir (R.C. Bray). I haven’t finished listening to this one yet, but so far the narrator does a pretty good job. He doesn’t always deliver all the lines with feelings, but the deadpan delivery of some bits of it is just perfect. And it’s a book worth reading just for itself.
Busman’s Honeymoon, by Dorothy L. Sayers (BBC radioplay). I’ll sneak this in as number ten — Ian Carmichael remains perfect, and this one made me giggle a lot, dealing as it does with Harriet and Peter’s honeymoon… and all that goes wrong.

Any recommendations? I’m always looking for something to spend my Audible credits on!

Tags: audiobooks, books, Top Ten Tuesday

Meeting Will Stanton

Posted February 29, 2016 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

I wrote this post for the TDIR Readathon, but it never got posted. I thought my bit of nostalgia worth sharing anyway — with some additional details I thought of later…

The first time I met Will Stanton was via the BBC’s adaptation for Children’s Radio, written by David Calcutt. They aren’t yet available for the public as far as I know, though I keep checking back, because once upon a time I lent my old tapes to my sister… and somewhere between me and her, or somewhere in the clutter of our respective bedrooms, episode three was lost. You can find the audio via torrents and such, lurking in the dark and dubiously legal parts of the internet, but I’m holding out for being able to legally obtain them.

The thing is, David Calcutt’s adaptation was really good. It captured the spirit of the books and did a spectacular job with some of the creepier aspects. The voices of the Dark chanting “the Dark, the Dark is rising” terrified me as a kid, and the memory is one of those slightly chilly ones. (I know exactly what I was doing, and how reassuring the noise of my dad doing the dishes in the kitchen was.) It was a simplified version of the books, sure – Will had fewer siblings, for example – but faithful in tone and intent (much more so that the movie adaptation which I pretend doesn’t exist). The voice actors were good; I remember Ronald Pickup in particular voicing Merriman Lyon. Brilliant.

I didn’t meet Will Stanton again until I was fifteen or so. Maybe even sixteen. Somewhere in between, I saw The Dark is Rising at the library, but it never got hooks into me. It was when I finally read Over Sea, Under Stone that I was hooked, and promptly devoured the rest. The clinching point was probably when I finally, finally met Bran Davies, though. He was Welsh and proud of it, the landscape was one which called to me, the myths were those of my home. Arthur was rooted in a Welsh landscape, a Welsh context; noble and familiar from English retellings and not the wilder Welsh version, but closer to his roots than usual. Closer to me.

I’ve read it over and over since then, and I’m not really sorry I didn’t read it as a child, or that my introduction was through an adaptation. Now there’s the perfect voice for Merriman and the Rider, recorded faithfully in my head, and I was old enough when I came to the later books to appreciate some of the subtleties which I know I would have missed as a child – like the tender, painful relationship between Bran and his adoptive father, for one.

At the same time, I’m glad I did encounter the Rider for the first time as a child. Now he properly frightens me – as he should.

Tags: audiobooks, SF/F, Susan Cooper

Review – The Collectors

Posted February 7, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

The Collectors, Philip Pullman, read by Bill Nighy

I don’t think I knew when I picked this up that it was part of the His Dark Materials world, but it doesn’t really matter that it is. It does add another dimension if you can identify why certain things go together, but it works as an atmospheric creepy story, too. Especially as read by Bill Nighy — I don’t often read something only as an audiobook, but this seems very much designed to be an audiobook. The action is almost entirely in dialogue.

The feeling of the story… it’s something like Neil Gaiman’s style, now I think about it. And it feels more like Clockwork, of Pullman’s work, than His Dark Materials. That’s not a criticism, despite the fact that Clockwork is aimed at a younger audience. I think both capture something creepy and bring it across in just the right number of words.

For an audiobook I got for free, this is definitely worth the half hour’s listening. Especially if you are a fan of Pullman in general.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: audiobooks, book reviews, books, SF/F, short stories

Review – The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club

Posted February 4, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Dorothy L. Sayers

Featuring Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter Wimsey, Peter Jones as Bunter, and Gabriel Woolf as Inspector Parker

This has never been my favourite of the books, though it does touch on some of the horrors of war (in the figure of George Fentiman) and there are some interesting moral issues — particularly because this is one of those books in which Peter chooses to offer someone a “gentlemanly way out”. On the one hand, it bothers me because the guy is basically painted into a corner: his guilt has been figured out, and now here comes Lord Peter to make him write a full confession and then gently hint that he should shoot himself, rather than face due process and be condemned by a jury. Of course, the death penalty is probably his ultimate destination, and yet… who is Lord Peter to decide? To offer a way round the law?

It’s one of those stories in which Peter is asked whether he’s a detective or a gentleman, and he pretty much dodges the issue.

The radioplay is a fun enough adaptation, though the pacing is bizarre. Just as you think it must be approaching the denouement, it turns out that no, there’s still half the story to go. It feels very odd, even when you know it’s coming.

As usual, the voice acting is pretty excellent, and there was no desperate overacting by extras in this one, either. Hurrah.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: audiobooks, book reviews, books, crime, Dorothy L. Sayers, mystery

Review – Unnatural Death

Posted January 24, 2016 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Unnatural Death, Dorothy L. Sayers

Featuring Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter Wimsey, Peter Jones as Bunter, and Gabriel Woolf as Inspector Parker

This is a quick review, since I’ve read the book the Unnatural Death radio play was based on several times, and heard the radio play at least once before too. The casting is generally great: the voices are perfect for the characters, for the most part, though sometimes the dramatics are a bit too dramatic (the boy scout in episode… five or so comes to mind). Miss Climpson’s letters are narrated by the character, which seems fun at first (and gives you a wealth of information on the character’s attitudes, etc), but knowing the story as well as I do, I found it annoying over time.

The story itself is a pretty good mystery, satisfyingly tangled and yet with one of those surprisingly simple solutions. The original crime is simple and elegant: as Wimsey says, it’s everything the criminal does to hide the crime that actually ends up revealing them.

There’s an interesting review here on the race issues in this book. I’m not sure to what extent I agree with it, without knowing more about race issues in Britain in the period, but it is an interesting point to make.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: audiobooks, book reviews, books, Dorothy L. Sayers

Review – Clouds of Witness

Posted March 16, 2015 by in Reviews / 1 Comment

Clouds of Witness, Dorothy L. Sayers
Featuring Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter Wimsey, Peter Jones as Bunter, and Gabriel Woolf as Inspector Parker

This is the second of the Lord Peter radioplays, at least going chronologically by the order of the books. It’s longer than Whose Body? and a bit more personal: Lord Peter has to defend his own brother, the Duke of Denver, against a charge of murder. As usual with the Wimsey radioplays, the cast is excellent, and the parts chosen directly from the novels for dramatisation are great. I think only Ian Carmichael could get exactly the right tone for me in the part where Wimsey climbs on Parker’s back, looks over the wall, and then announces that it’s a marvellous ditch which he is going to proceed to fall into.

And of course, the ending with everyone drunk is pretty funny…

The main thing that doesn’t really work for me is, unfortunately, the sound effects. The gun sounds are more like party poppers — hardly the dramatic scenes needed. And I could maybe wish that Ian Carmichael wouldn’t sing — it’s in character, but something about it grates.

Rating: 5/5

Tags: audiobooks, book reviews, books, Dorothy L. Sayers

Review – Whose Body?

Posted March 12, 2015 by in Reviews / 5 Comments

Whose Body?, Dorothy L. Sayers
Featuring Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter Wimsey, Peter Jones as Bunter, and Gabriel Woolf as Inspector Parker

I think the casting for the BBC radioplay adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayers was nigh on perfect. Ian Carmichael might’ve been too old to play Peter, but it doesn’t show in his voice, and he perfectly conveys the warmth and humour, the silliness, and the underlying strength. I can never get used to the new voice actor for Parker in the later episodes, either: Gabriel Woolf sounds just perfect as Inspector Parker.

It might not be a high octane crime novel (rather more toward the cosy side), but I still found the adaptation to be a good one, bringing across moments of confusion, embarrassment, discovery and conflict. It does a pretty good job with narration (weaving some of it into Peter’s character) and in choosing which scenes to represent, and how. One thing I do miss is the Dowager Duchess’ rambles. There’s more sense in them than you’d think at first blush, but of course it would cause anyone to tune right out in audio form.

These are all now available on Audible, which is certainly more convenient than having all the CDs, and definitely worth trading a credit a month for. Needless to say, given my affection for both Sayers and these radioplays, I’ve sped that process up rather and have (I think) all of them.

Rating: 5/5

Tags: audiobooks, book reviews, books, Dorothy L. Sayers

Thursday Thoughts: Audiobooks

Posted September 4, 2014 by in General / 15 Comments

Aaaaand this week’s theme from Ok, Let’s Read:

Do you listen to audiobooks/Have you listened to an audiobook in the past? What books? Do you enjoy audiobooks? Why or why not? Are there certain genres that you feel might lend themselves better to being read in audiobook form?

Audiobooks! I love listening to audiobooks, particularly while I’m crocheting or doing something else that similarly occupies my hands but not (too much of) my mind. For a long time I was just listening to the BBC adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayers’ work, and the mammoth set that is The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings: I’m now supplementing that with a bit of Ngaio Marsh read by Benedict Cumberbatch, and I have some other books on the queue: some Iain (M.) Banks, one of Chris Holm’s, Trudi Canavan… I love the BBC audioplays of most things best: they do great casting, and they have a great range of stuff. My favourite was probably the adaptation of The Dark is Rising. It’s different, but I can accept that, because that’s what adaptations have to do. (Same reason as I reluctantly accept Faramir being less noble in The Lord of the Rings movie, because the reasoning makes sense. Also why I accept that some people will enjoy The Hobbit film, but I don’t: it’s an adaptation, and I can accept why they’ve done it that way, it just doesn’t work for me.)

So yeah, right now I’m listening to Artists in Crime (Ngaio Marsh) and Dead Harvest (Chris F. Holm). I’m struggling a little bit with Dead Harvest, even though I love the novel itself: it’s not abridged, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about the narrator at first, though by now I’ve decided he sounds perfect. Just a pity he doesn’t change his voice a little when Sam changes bodies…

The downsides to audiobooks for me, really, are when I disagree with the adaptation, the choice of narrator, the abridgement, etc. Also the pace: I’m a fast reader, and in the time it took the narrator to get to chapter three in Dead Harvest, I could’ve been on chapter ten by myself. Still, it’s a different medium and I try to enjoy it for what it is.

In terms of genres, no, I don’t think there’s a particular genre that lends itself to the form. I do think there’re styles that do, though: something with a lot of dialogue, and less by way of visual description, or with a good first person narrator, for example. So much depends on how the adaptation is done.

Tags: audiobooks, books, Chris F. Holm, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Thursday Thoughts, Trudi Canavan