Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Audiobook reviews

Y'know what there should be? There should be a website or something that reviews audiobooks as audiobooks. Not the book itself but the reader's performance - their vocal quality, the animation of the narration, the various voices the reader may put on. A critique of the performance as a performance.

See, I don't get audio versions of books I haven't already read. I already know whether or not I like the book. But readers are tricky things and a bad one is just impossible to listen to. Book reviews sites - at least, the ones I've played around on - don't give you the kind of information I'm looking for. And the few audiobooks sites that I've found have very very few reviews available.

Anybody have any suggestions?


On a related note, the audiobook of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is really very good. The reader's voice suits the dry whimsy of the prose and his voice for Mr Norrell is perfect. (I am not quite convinced by his Drawlight but I'm willing to work with him there, as I don't care terribly much about Drawlight. His Childermass, though, makes me very happy indeed.) I'm only on disc three, so I haven't gotten to Jonathan Strange as yet and thus can't comment on the voice given him. But the bit I was really worried about are the footnotes, as that's difficult to do in an audio format and they're so very important to the book as a whole. I needn't have worried - the footnotes are handled beautifully, in a way that flows into but doesn't disrupt the larger text.

As I say, I'm only on disc three and it's likely to be slow going as I can't listen to this one at bedtime (I'll never be able to sleep for trying to follow the story). But I'm very much enjoying it. I may have to copy it to the computer for future re-listening.

6 comments:

Constance said...

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is one of my favorites, so I'll have to check that out. How do they incorporate the footnotes? (You don't have to answer. I can wait & hear.)

I'm sorry I can't give a really good answer to your question about review sites... BUT AudioFile magazine has a section reviewing narrators on their Web site. (Look under the Golden Voices tab at http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/ if you are interested.) Their reviews often include assessments of narrators, but I think you have to subscribe to access them online.

Also, I can't resist, I recently read a great review of the audiobook of another of my favorites, The Egyptologist. Check it out at http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/12/22/183559.php. It has some interesting comments on the importance of good narrators.

westie_servant said...

Hey Birdhouse,
check out Johnny in his Fairy Saddle....
Whatcha think???
Janet
http://picasaweb.google.com/pearlygirl.janet/StaffPets/photo#5136607449538245746

Cronehenge said...

I am a big admirer of your intelligence and wit, shown through The Birdhouse blog. I think that YOU, my dear, could do your own audio book performance review Web site. Try a blog simply for that.


If I can do a movie, tv series "I loved this movie.." blog, profiling favorite movie snacks and mentioning a movie/tv series I liked/loved, you could do a lot more with a zippy and smartly considered review of audio book performances. You've identified an unfilled or overlooked "niche". I say...you go for it girl! I will be there, I am sure Constance will be there and many others.

Cronehenge said...

I am a big admirer of your intelligence and wit, shown through The Birdhouse blog. I think that YOU, my dear, could do your own audio book performance review Web site. Try a blog simply for that.


If I can do a movie, tv series "I loved this movie.." blog, profiling favorite movie snacks and mentioning a movie/tv series I liked/loved, you could do a lot more with a zippy and smartly considered review of audio book performances. You've identified a "niche". I say...you go for it girl!

Constance said...

I'll second Hannah's comments.

Sara F. said...

Constance - thanks very much for the links. (I'll let you discover the footnotes for yourself.)

westie_servant - oh, that's adorable.

hannah - I thank you very much for the compliment but honestly, that's a bit of a terrifying prospect. I'll have to think on it. ::hides in a hole::