The Diary of a Nobody, or I Can't: the Andrew Gower Voice Edition
I had my doubts whether I should write anything about this because technically it's not a TV-series and I don't do book reviews here (or anywhere, to be honest). Then again, I didn't read The Diary of a Nobody as a book. I listened to the two-part BBC radio adaptation during a three-hour bus trip a week and a half ago. Since it does feature Andrew in some form, I thought: why not? See, this is a fandom journal. I don't make people into fandoms. But fangirling Andrew is such a creative form of masochism that hey, he is his own fandom. So I thought I should say something about his voice role and, what the hell, his voice in general.
I confess: I fell asleep several times throughout the book. Could be because I fall asleep on bus rides all the time or could be because I found the book terribly boring. It's supposed to be funny, but I didn't find anything humourous about it really. Except maybe Andrew's part. But I'm not so sure I would have liked the book at all if Andrew hadn't been voicing a part in it.
Which brings me to my original reaction to Andrew's voice a year and a half ago when I first heard it on Being Human. I had found it grating and annoying. Actually, I think my overall reaction to Cutler had been something of that famous "Not sure if... or..." meme. XD
One day I will force myself to rewatch BH s4 and do proper reaction posts, in which I shall lament the awesomeness of Hal that we lost later on and the tragedy of Cutler. That days is not today because I've been traumatized by s5 to the point of nearly bursting into tears when I so much as think about watching BH ever again. But I digress. Back to Andrew's voice. It's as much a part of him as his neurotic blinking and his crazy hair (which is gradually taking over his entire head judging by his beard in The Borgias and The White Queen - and yet, despite the fact that I usually prefer clean-shaven people, I can't bring myself to mind, because I've already stated that my default reaction to him is "CUUUUUTE!" and "D'awwww!") and his bad posture (is it scoliosis? or is it an ongoing experiment in successfully immitating a question mark? it could be a reality show. There's a chance that he won't die at the end of it!)
Where was I? Ah, right. The Voice. This is what is technically so offputting about The Diary of a Nobody. We've only got the voice, but it's so integral to Andrew that I had no choice but to keep imagining Andrew behind it. Luckily, the character does seem like something he could play. I've often wondered: how recognizable should a voice be and how easily should it be separated from a character? I've recently familiarized myself with Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and then I downloaded the latest BBC adaptation. I haven't listened to it yet, but I've noticed that one of the main characters is played by Natalie Dormer. With all respect to Dormer, I don't picture that character looking like her and I wouldn't want that image to interfere with the way I perceive a character. In her case, I don't think it will, but Gower has a very distinctive and recognizable voice and intonation. I wonder if it's a good or a bad thing after all. Poor thing obviously fails at accents (remember his scary attempts at a Canadian accent in Murdoch Mysteries?) but what else does he fail at?
Before I give off the impression that I consider him absolutely talentless: LOL, no. XD He is in fact very talented. It's probably not a very good thing for an actor to have such recognizable features, but then we are at an impasse: if I had found his voice in this book barely recognizable, I wouldn't have enjoyed it at all. XD Besides, actors like Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston and Stephen Fry have quite recognizable voices too. I'm sure Andrew will learn to use it differently someday. And to be fair, he doesn't really need it now, he dies 3 seconds after he shows up on screen anyway! Optimistic, am I not?
There's another thing Andrew does, though: siiiinging. ;) And for a singer, a distinctive voice is a good thing.
(c) andrew-gower.co.uk
Predictably, the first song performed by Andrew I heard was Wires (and if it doesn't make you tear up and rethink your existence, there's something seriously wrong with you). It was after Frankenstein's Wedding (which I will also rewatch one day and weep over verbally) that I discovered Emerson and I now stand firmly convinced that Andrew needs to make more music because it's less fatal than working in TV-shows.
I think this post has veered wildly off track. XD I can't really describe Andrew's voice and I don't particularly want to try and review the book, but I wouldn't mind it if he did more voice work, unless he finds a way to die there too, in which case:
I doubt I'll get many responses but let's try anyway: What character would you like to see Andrew play or voice? I'm just curious.
Oh, and: I didn't mean to say The Diary of a Nobody is a bad book. I just don't think it's my cup of tea. Or I should be more awake when I listen to it. XD
I confess: I fell asleep several times throughout the book. Could be because I fall asleep on bus rides all the time or could be because I found the book terribly boring. It's supposed to be funny, but I didn't find anything humourous about it really. Except maybe Andrew's part. But I'm not so sure I would have liked the book at all if Andrew hadn't been voicing a part in it.
Which brings me to my original reaction to Andrew's voice a year and a half ago when I first heard it on Being Human. I had found it grating and annoying. Actually, I think my overall reaction to Cutler had been something of that famous "Not sure if... or..." meme. XD
One day I will force myself to rewatch BH s4 and do proper reaction posts, in which I shall lament the awesomeness of Hal that we lost later on and the tragedy of Cutler. That days is not today because I've been traumatized by s5 to the point of nearly bursting into tears when I so much as think about watching BH ever again. But I digress. Back to Andrew's voice. It's as much a part of him as his neurotic blinking and his crazy hair (which is gradually taking over his entire head judging by his beard in The Borgias and The White Queen - and yet, despite the fact that I usually prefer clean-shaven people, I can't bring myself to mind, because I've already stated that my default reaction to him is "CUUUUUTE!" and "D'awwww!") and his bad posture (is it scoliosis? or is it an ongoing experiment in successfully immitating a question mark? it could be a reality show. There's a chance that he won't die at the end of it!)
Where was I? Ah, right. The Voice. This is what is technically so offputting about The Diary of a Nobody. We've only got the voice, but it's so integral to Andrew that I had no choice but to keep imagining Andrew behind it. Luckily, the character does seem like something he could play. I've often wondered: how recognizable should a voice be and how easily should it be separated from a character? I've recently familiarized myself with Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and then I downloaded the latest BBC adaptation. I haven't listened to it yet, but I've noticed that one of the main characters is played by Natalie Dormer. With all respect to Dormer, I don't picture that character looking like her and I wouldn't want that image to interfere with the way I perceive a character. In her case, I don't think it will, but Gower has a very distinctive and recognizable voice and intonation. I wonder if it's a good or a bad thing after all. Poor thing obviously fails at accents (remember his scary attempts at a Canadian accent in Murdoch Mysteries?) but what else does he fail at?
Before I give off the impression that I consider him absolutely talentless: LOL, no. XD He is in fact very talented. It's probably not a very good thing for an actor to have such recognizable features, but then we are at an impasse: if I had found his voice in this book barely recognizable, I wouldn't have enjoyed it at all. XD Besides, actors like Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston and Stephen Fry have quite recognizable voices too. I'm sure Andrew will learn to use it differently someday. And to be fair, he doesn't really need it now, he dies 3 seconds after he shows up on screen anyway! Optimistic, am I not?
There's another thing Andrew does, though: siiiinging. ;) And for a singer, a distinctive voice is a good thing.
(c) andrew-gower.co.uk
Predictably, the first song performed by Andrew I heard was Wires (and if it doesn't make you tear up and rethink your existence, there's something seriously wrong with you). It was after Frankenstein's Wedding (which I will also rewatch one day and weep over verbally) that I discovered Emerson and I now stand firmly convinced that Andrew needs to make more music because it's less fatal than working in TV-shows.
I think this post has veered wildly off track. XD I can't really describe Andrew's voice and I don't particularly want to try and review the book, but I wouldn't mind it if he did more voice work, unless he finds a way to die there too, in which case:
I doubt I'll get many responses but let's try anyway: What character would you like to see Andrew play or voice? I'm just curious.
Oh, and: I didn't mean to say The Diary of a Nobody is a bad book. I just don't think it's my cup of tea. Or I should be more awake when I listen to it. XD