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Good Audiobooks? (Recommendations + Discussion)
Drez
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So...work is kind of numbery. That is, I play with numbers. My mind, thus, is free to wander. Or wonder. Or listen. To things.
And while exhausting my music selection is always a possibility, I forgot that I had the Neuromancer audiobook but never actually listened to it. It happened to be just about as long as my work day (8 CDs at 45 minutes each) and really helped pass the time.
But, past that, it's a pretty awesome audiobook. I'm not just talking about the fact that Neuromancer is a great book (which it is), but Gibson did a pretty good job of keeping the beat of the story as he read it, not to mention the musical interludes and intertwines which, at least in my opinion, were top notch.
So, basically, I'm wondering if anyone else can recommend any other really excellent audiobooks.
Beyond that, in keeping with the point of this subforum, I remember listening to the "author's notes" at the end of - I believe - the Ender's Shadow audiobook (it was either that, Ender's Game, or Speaker For The Dead). Anyway, Orson Scott Card said that audiobooks are actually "the best" way to experience a novel - even beyond the presentation of actual printed text - because it frees people to just close their eyes and imagine the world without actually reading.
He framed all this in the context of translating the books into movie format, so this was more or less an aside about preserving artistic integrity and what mediums lend well to translation and which do not.
I think I somewhat agree, but ultimately I feel you are just trading one sense - vision (for to read) - with another - hearing (for to listen). And depending on the production, multiple actors may be hired to voice the book and they may do more than just read it. Is an "acted" audiobook really better than the actual physical text? I wonder...
I will say, though, that I think I personally pick up on more when I hear something rather than when I read something. I've always been more of an auditory learner than a visual one, and usually auditory cues resonate longer with me than visual ones, which are fleeting.
And I'll say that I've read Neuromancer at least six times but the audiobook made the most impression on me, probably even more than a movie ever could. Perhaps it was just this production in particular, but the beat and the flow of the prose really came through Gibson's voice even better than my interpretation of the tone present in the text.
Thoughts?
And while exhausting my music selection is always a possibility, I forgot that I had the Neuromancer audiobook but never actually listened to it. It happened to be just about as long as my work day (8 CDs at 45 minutes each) and really helped pass the time.
But, past that, it's a pretty awesome audiobook. I'm not just talking about the fact that Neuromancer is a great book (which it is), but Gibson did a pretty good job of keeping the beat of the story as he read it, not to mention the musical interludes and intertwines which, at least in my opinion, were top notch.
So, basically, I'm wondering if anyone else can recommend any other really excellent audiobooks.
Beyond that, in keeping with the point of this subforum, I remember listening to the "author's notes" at the end of - I believe - the Ender's Shadow audiobook (it was either that, Ender's Game, or Speaker For The Dead). Anyway, Orson Scott Card said that audiobooks are actually "the best" way to experience a novel - even beyond the presentation of actual printed text - because it frees people to just close their eyes and imagine the world without actually reading.
He framed all this in the context of translating the books into movie format, so this was more or less an aside about preserving artistic integrity and what mediums lend well to translation and which do not.
I think I somewhat agree, but ultimately I feel you are just trading one sense - vision (for to read) - with another - hearing (for to listen). And depending on the production, multiple actors may be hired to voice the book and they may do more than just read it. Is an "acted" audiobook really better than the actual physical text? I wonder...
I will say, though, that I think I personally pick up on more when I hear something rather than when I read something. I've always been more of an auditory learner than a visual one, and usually auditory cues resonate longer with me than visual ones, which are fleeting.
And I'll say that I've read Neuromancer at least six times but the audiobook made the most impression on me, probably even more than a movie ever could. Perhaps it was just this production in particular, but the beat and the flow of the prose really came through Gibson's voice even better than my interpretation of the tone present in the text.
Thoughts?
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You must buy this and buy it now.
I was actually wondering about the Harry Potter books, since I've read none of them. They are good?
Still, they're a very good way of passing long journeys(I'm sure it should be journies, but firefox marks that as wrong) if like me you can't read in a car. A shame my crappy car only has a tape deck although I could just stick them on my mp3 player and queue them up I suppose.
I have The Gunslinger somewhere, unabridged, I believe but I really can't stand the narrator's voice. I want William Shatner or Lenard Nimoy to do it.
Yeah, I thought so. The narrator does all the voices pretty distinctly, which helps because the books are apparently really dialogue-intensive.
And yeah I keep meaning to try and find the radio plays. Are they available anywhere?
Good to know that they are good though.
I've no idea honestly. Adams was dead by the time they came out, but he could have had a hand in scripting them.
I was under this same impression. Maybe my information's just confused as well.
Either way, it's not like you really should stick to the source material with adaptations The Guide. It's all silliness and social commentary and fun. Zooey Daschanel can go rot in a hole for fucking up Trillian, though.
Thirded or fourtheth or whatever for the Hitchhiker's guide stuff, I find the new stuff just as good as the old, though obviously slightly different.
The Harry Potter books, as read by Stephen Fry, are really, really good as well. He's just an excellent narrator.
Discworld again rather good, although sadly only the abridged ones are read well, imo anyway. Tony Robinson does the abridged ones and does an excellent job. Can't remember the guy who does the unabridged ones but his voices just don't really fit with the ones I already have in my head from the books.
I'm sure I'll think of some more soon but I'm drawing a blank at the moment, I'll edit them in later or something.
If you can find them, the Hitchhiker audiobooks read by Douglas Adams are great too.
Also "Anansi Boys" by Neil Gaiman - read by Lenny Henry, it's brilliant.
Also, World War Z. The voice cast is really excellent. Mark Hamill, Alan Alda, Carl and Rob Reiner, and it goes on.
That said, they also sound weird if the narrator doesn't put SOME inflection into their voice.
I think the best audiobooks I've heard are Douglas Adams' narrations of his HGTG and Dirk Gently novels. I'm not sure if any of those are in production anymore though. (I know they made a new audiobook of the first Guide book, narrated by Stephen Fry. That one's good too, but I prefer Adams.)
He loves the Dark Tower audios (whatever you think of King's writing, the narrator is really fabulous, and adds a lot to the experience), couldn't do Neuromancer (Gibson's voice drove him nuts), and has been tackling a lot of classic sci-fi novels, although most of those are not proper, studio-produced "audiobooks" so much as 1960s "books for the blind" read in droning monotone by charitable volunteers. Even so, he loved Foundation and I, Robot and is moving on to Dune.
For myself, I've sampled the Game of Thrones audios and what I heard was fabulous - Roy Dotrice has a great voice, and it's nice finally hearing how certain characters' names are pronounced. As mentioned above, Stephen Fry's renditions of Harry Potter are very good, and I've also gotten for myself a copy of his memoir Moab is my Washpot, which has helped kill time at work. Also, to Drez, I highly recommend finding some Sherlock Holmes audios: there's been a recent series read by some British actor who gives a very zesty performance.
I have no idea if it's still in print in the audio format, but that's how I originally came to the book, and it is amazing.
I really wanted to listen to that audiobook to A Canticle for Leibowitz, too.
I listened to the ENTIRE series this way while I went to work, exercised, or basically did anything outside my house for six months. WONDERFUL.
I actually only like the unabridged ones (Nigel Planner does a lot of the earlier books, and Stephen Briggs does the latter ones). I think you miss out on too much of the subtleties that Pratchett has running through his texts. And a lot of the voices is just getting used to them. You heard Tony first so you're just used to it sounding that way, but if you make the switch you get used to it the other way around.
If you're just looking for a way to kill time, The unabridged Wheel of Time books... they're well read at least.
Since this thread started I've been listening to Strata [Stephen Briggs]; would make a pretty good film with the world-building machines and all.
His voice is a pleasure to listen to, and I enjoy his subtle humor.
"Wobegon Boy" is a good one to start with.
Also, the "Book of Guys" is a nice collection of short stories.
The audiobook reading must be fantastic because that book was pretty much tripe. It's like the entire book was premised off of a pun title.
No kidding. I quit halfway through because I was both bored and annoyed. It was really disappointing given how much I liked American Gods.
Topic... if you're into Doctor Who there is a metric fuckton of radioplays available. The quality ranges from really bad, to really awesome, so read some reviews before you try them. Or ask in the Who thread - I expect some people there have listened to a few.