Monday, September 17, 2007

They should pass a law, only James Earl Jones can narrate audio books

I've never enjoyed listening to books on tape, or cd's; and if I had my druthers, I never would subject myself to it. In the last 24 hours though, I have been forced to hear two different audio books from very different genres.

JR has been listening to Harry Potter books for a while now. He's read them all, he just really enjoys listening to books on tape as well. Right now he's listening to Half-blood Prince. I wouldn't say the guy reading it has the greatest voice; but, he does a good job of trying to change the voices and inserts inflection as needed throughout the reading. JR usually listens in his room; but, today he had it on out in the kitchen, so I heard a bit of it.

The second book is one that our marriage group has been listening to, and we had a get together last night. It's called Love and Respect, and the guy reading it is the author. I understand that the content is different, and that it's not meant to sweep you up into a wonderful fictional tale; but, I wish the guy would try and spice it up a little bit. He drones on in a flat, monotone voice through the entire reading. We had a chili dinner right before listening; so having a full stomach, and listening to this guy's voice just about knocked me out cold within minutes.

I just can't concentrate on a story if someone else is reading it. To really grasp the content, or be immersed into the tale, I just have to read it myself and let my own mind and imagination absorb what's being presented on the pages. I've said it before---of all the talents out there, it's the novelist that I appreciate the most---and when I read something that another individual has dreamed up in their own mind, I want my mind focused on that and no other outside distractions, like whether or not the guy reading it sounds like Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

5 comments:

Steve said...

I am addicted to audio books. I've finished the entire Patrick O'Brian set and am now working my way through Charles Dickens. the narrator is key, though. A bad narrator throws off the whole tone of the story.

RobertDWood said...

Try Ender's Game, by Orsen Scott Card. That's the best produced audio book I've ever heard.
Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover is really well read as well.

Anonymous said...

Narrator plays important role in audio books. The fate of audio book is under the hands of narrator. Even a mediocre audio book can be turned to excellent audio book by barrator

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

Jones was born Todd Jones in Arkabutla Township, Tate County, Mississippi, the son of Ruth (née Williams), a teacher and maid, and Robert Earl Jones (1910-2006), an actor, boxer, butler, and chauffeur[1] who left the family before James Earl's birth. Jones and his father reconciled many years later in the 1980s and 1990s. Jones was raised by his maternal grandparents, farmers Maggie and John Henry Williams,[1] and is of African, Irish, Choctaw and Cherokee descent.
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