Rambling About Audiobooks
I am really loving audiobooks right now! It's been so hectic-crazy-busy at school that I've been unable to read a lot of traditional printed books. Well, I haven't been reading any interesting ones, anyway. There are always plenty of textbooks to pore over, but I can't really talk about those with anyone. But audiobooks, which are so incredibly convenient, allow me to keep reading when I'm commuting to school, and when I'm stuck doing mundane tasks like filing at work.
Audiobooks have let me knock out many of the classic books I've always wanted to read, but never gotten around to. Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera and W. Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge were all knocked off the “to read” pile thanks to the power of the MP3. Oh, and Anna Karenina - how could I forget that book? It took over a month for me to finish it, but there's no way I could have gotten through thirty-one CDs any faster! Sure, I could have read the book at a much quicker pace, but with the time trade-off I wonder if I could have really finished any faster.
When you get a really good narrator, it adds a magical quality to the story. I've read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe countless times, but when I heard Michael York's performance it was like encountering the story for the first time. He brought a new energy and vitality to the tale, especially since some of his interpretations of the characters were different from how I'd pictured them in my head. It was quite fun.
Conversely, a bad narrator can ruin a book that might have been enjoyed otherwise. At the moment, I'm blanking on a good example, but most of the narrators I've really disliked have been for childrens' books and I didn't take note of their names. Their biggest crime is a tendency to over-emote and occasionally butcher a word like the reader who uses hard J's when he reads San Jose and Junipero Serra..
Audiobooks really brighten up long road trips, too. I've learned to bring multiple books with me after a disastrous James Patterson book left a companion and me with neither a book nor music for a seven hour drive to Los Angeles. Certain authors have become mainstays; Christopher Moore's novels always get played whenever I head north to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. (I don't know how Moore became the default, but that's how it is.)
Anyone else feeling the audiobook love?
Audiobooks have let me knock out many of the classic books I've always wanted to read, but never gotten around to. Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera and W. Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge were all knocked off the “to read” pile thanks to the power of the MP3. Oh, and Anna Karenina - how could I forget that book? It took over a month for me to finish it, but there's no way I could have gotten through thirty-one CDs any faster! Sure, I could have read the book at a much quicker pace, but with the time trade-off I wonder if I could have really finished any faster.
When you get a really good narrator, it adds a magical quality to the story. I've read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe countless times, but when I heard Michael York's performance it was like encountering the story for the first time. He brought a new energy and vitality to the tale, especially since some of his interpretations of the characters were different from how I'd pictured them in my head. It was quite fun.
Conversely, a bad narrator can ruin a book that might have been enjoyed otherwise. At the moment, I'm blanking on a good example, but most of the narrators I've really disliked have been for childrens' books and I didn't take note of their names. Their biggest crime is a tendency to over-emote and occasionally butcher a word like the reader who uses hard J's when he reads San Jose and Junipero Serra..
Audiobooks really brighten up long road trips, too. I've learned to bring multiple books with me after a disastrous James Patterson book left a companion and me with neither a book nor music for a seven hour drive to Los Angeles. Certain authors have become mainstays; Christopher Moore's novels always get played whenever I head north to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. (I don't know how Moore became the default, but that's how it is.)
Anyone else feeling the audiobook love?