The Audiobook Wow Factor
January 29, 2025 5:10 AM Subscribe
"Audiobooks, indeed, are so much about personal connection—with the writer, their characters, what happens to them. Who tells that story to you is an intimate experience that can enhance and elevate—or contaminate and damage."
This post brought to you by my just having listened to the full cast production of Dune. It was great!
This post brought to you by my just having listened to the full cast production of Dune. It was great!
I'm listening to the expanse on audiobook---books I've already read before---and its my first fiction audiobook. I'm loving different voices for different characters!
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 6:15 AM on January 29 [4 favorites]
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 6:15 AM on January 29 [4 favorites]
I've been re-reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time in ages and this time it's via Rob Ingles' audiobook for the first time, and folks: it's neigh perfect. Having bounced off audiobooks previously, I'm a convert... at least for ones this well done.
He also did Earthsea. Also incredible. These may genuinely be my preferred way to experience these specific books right now.
What an extraordinary thing.
posted by BungaDunga at 6:18 AM on January 29 [7 favorites]
He also did Earthsea. Also incredible. These may genuinely be my preferred way to experience these specific books right now.
What an extraordinary thing.
posted by BungaDunga at 6:18 AM on January 29 [7 favorites]
I enjoyed the first "Rivers of London" novel as an audiobook read by the amazing Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, and since then I haven't laid eyes on a single page for any of the books in the series: he completely spoiled me. And the author Ben Aaronovitch agrees!
He does a huge range of accents, moods, timbres, rhythms...and carries an enormous cast of characters across nine (so far) novels. The stories are strong and the dialogue is great on the page, but when they are performed so well they just come alive!
posted by wenestvedt at 6:33 AM on January 29 [8 favorites]
He does a huge range of accents, moods, timbres, rhythms...and carries an enormous cast of characters across nine (so far) novels. The stories are strong and the dialogue is great on the page, but when they are performed so well they just come alive!
posted by wenestvedt at 6:33 AM on January 29 [8 favorites]
To add a negative example, I listened to a book that is well regarded for its scholarship on the last 500 or so years of China, read by a British VA who Butchered. Every. Pronunciation. I understand that crunch happens in audiobook production, but the fact that the actor, engineer, and producer all gave his mangled words the green light feels like it was more out of casual negligence than miserable expediency.
posted by Philipschall at 6:36 AM on January 29 [4 favorites]
posted by Philipschall at 6:36 AM on January 29 [4 favorites]
I don’t understand why the link puts scare quotes around “famous” actor. But William Hurt did a fine job on The Sun Also Rises.
posted by Lemkin at 6:45 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]
posted by Lemkin at 6:45 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]
Jon Culshaw's renditions of the Discworld City Watch books are immensely fun. He's such a good impressionist that he pulls off a "full cast production" all by himself (with a couple lamentable exceptions for female characters).
On the flip side, I'm now listening to Andy Serkis's narration of Small Gods and it's pretty mediocre.
posted by saturday_morning at 6:59 AM on January 29 [3 favorites]
On the flip side, I'm now listening to Andy Serkis's narration of Small Gods and it's pretty mediocre.
posted by saturday_morning at 6:59 AM on January 29 [3 favorites]
I wondered about that, too, Lemkin. I also read that version of The Sun Also Rises. It was simultaneously a wonderful experience and horrible—the antisemitism hit much, much harder for me than in years past. I’m more aware of that now than I was twenty years ago, but it was ugly to listen to. Can’t easily scan or skip over terrible text in an audiobook.
posted by cupcakeninja at 7:01 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]
posted by cupcakeninja at 7:01 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]
I've long enjoyed audiobooks as a convenience, but Moira Quirk's performances of the Locked Tomb novels were my first experience of realizing how much artistry a good performance can add.
posted by Pemdas at 7:01 AM on January 29 [6 favorites]
posted by Pemdas at 7:01 AM on January 29 [6 favorites]
Love the descriptions of the voice actors; "überpolyglot who’s great solo and also plays notably well with others" (Kurt Sanchez Kanazawa) is a heck of a pull quote for someone's resume.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:10 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:10 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]
Like Philipschal, I read a very good book -- Beevor's "D-Day" -- that was ruined as an audiobook. In this case it was an actor who tried very hard to do accents, but who was very bad at accents. He did German poorly, American poorly, French poorly....and I half suspect that his own English accent was also a bad put-on.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:12 AM on January 29 [2 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 8:12 AM on January 29 [2 favorites]
I've been listening to a lot of books over the past few years - while working, doing dishes, walking, etc. Just something to keep my head moving while doing something rote.
Looking over recent reads:
I'd still love to know the mechanics of the recording process because it has to be a churn to make the price points make sense. I assume they read the text through at least once to understand the characters and then how long is a recording session? How many sessions? How much editing? How many re-takes, etc.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:51 AM on January 29 [3 favorites]
Looking over recent reads:
- Andy Serkis did a great job with the LotR and the Hobbit, no guesses as to which character he nailed the best. (And I swear he's nearly channelling Ian McKellen when he does Gandalf)
- Audible did a "full cast" production (not unabridged) of The Mysterious Affair at Styles with Peter Dinklage playing Poirot and it was excellent
- Lynne Thigpen did a great read of Parable of the Sower
- Titus Welliver now is basically Bosch in my mind (like James Marsters being Harry Dresden)
- loved Orlagh Cassidy doing the Maisie Dobbs novels, even if I wanted to shake the character sometimes
- I preferred Lesley Manville's read on the first two Thursday Murder Club books, wasn't as much of a fan of Fiona Shaw's read
I'd still love to know the mechanics of the recording process because it has to be a churn to make the price points make sense. I assume they read the text through at least once to understand the characters and then how long is a recording session? How many sessions? How much editing? How many re-takes, etc.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:51 AM on January 29 [3 favorites]
Is this where we can plug ones we like? I just finished Devolution by Max Brooks read by Judy Greer. It was fun!
posted by Gyre,Gimble,Wabe, Esq. at 11:12 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]
posted by Gyre,Gimble,Wabe, Esq. at 11:12 AM on January 29 [1 favorite]
Re: the price points, this analysis of Audible-slash-ACX is handy for understanding how end-user payments are broken apart to the narrators these days. This interview with an audiobook narrator seemed to be particular on-point for learning what it's like as a job — there are lots of 'guides' but somehow an interview rises above them, so.
posted by Callisto Prime at 12:44 PM on January 29
posted by Callisto Prime at 12:44 PM on January 29
Huh, 50-60 hours isn't too bad actually. I hadn't realized that a number of these narrators would do the editing themselves, but it also explains why in some books under headphones I can distinctly hear breath, page and other sounds that I'd strike in a heartbeat.
posted by drewbage1847 at 1:38 PM on January 29
posted by drewbage1847 at 1:38 PM on January 29
Don't forget Kevin R. Free and the Murderbot Diaries. I think he captures Murderbot's tone pretty well.
Also, ngl, still a BIG fan of the older Discworld narrations by Nigel Planer and Stephen Briggs. I thought Andy Serkis did ok with Small Gods, but not IMO better than Nigel Planer. Though I guess the older ones are getting hard to find. :(
posted by Archer25 at 1:55 PM on January 29 [4 favorites]
Also, ngl, still a BIG fan of the older Discworld narrations by Nigel Planer and Stephen Briggs. I thought Andy Serkis did ok with Small Gods, but not IMO better than Nigel Planer. Though I guess the older ones are getting hard to find. :(
posted by Archer25 at 1:55 PM on January 29 [4 favorites]
Moira Quirk's Locked Tomb series is my new benchmark for audiobook reading. Instantly iconic.
posted by valrus at 2:44 PM on January 29 [2 favorites]
posted by valrus at 2:44 PM on January 29 [2 favorites]
Adjoa Andoh or gtfo
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:14 PM on January 29 [4 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:14 PM on January 29 [4 favorites]
A shoutout to Jefferson Mays, whose reading of the Expanse series was so iconic that they re-recorded the 4th book with his narration. Also he got an easter egg in the show with a spaceship named after him.
posted by kokaku at 3:23 PM on January 29 [1 favorite]
posted by kokaku at 3:23 PM on January 29 [1 favorite]
Mefi’s Own Charles Stross has a series of novels called The Laundry Files, which are an unholy blend of espionage thriller, Elder Gods mythos, and the O’Reilly technical library. The lead character in most of the novels is a sysadmin-cum-secret agent-cum computational necromancer and unreliable narrator named Bob Howard. The first novel has two audiobook recordings: one by a volunteer for Britain’s audiobooks for the visually disabled who sounds a bit nerdy and frazzled, like what Bob Howard would sound like in real life, and one by actor Gideon Emery who sounds just as unflappable and dangerous as Bob presents himself in the novel. It was fun comparing and contrasting both.
posted by infinitewindow at 5:07 PM on January 29 [1 favorite]
posted by infinitewindow at 5:07 PM on January 29 [1 favorite]
I generally prefer to actually read fiction, but audiobooks are absolutely my go-to for nonfiction. Reading nonfiction tends to feel like homework to me, but a good narrator changes everything.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:16 PM on January 29 [1 favorite]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:16 PM on January 29 [1 favorite]
Stephen Briggs is by far my favorite audiobook narrator, based on his work on Discworld (and other Pratchett). Second to him are Stephen Fry for the Harry Potter books -- yes I know Rowling is awful, but Fry did an absolutely amazing job with those. Hundreds of characters, so many different voices and accents, and he pulled it off. Astonishing.
And then there's Patrick Tull, who narrated the first audiobook adaptation of the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brien. He's simply wonderful. He somehow made complicated tall ship maneuvering understandable, or at least interesting even when you can't really follow what's happening. He's very very good.
I do feel that a good narrator is necessary; I have stopped listening to books and bought the ebook in order to avoid a bad narrator. (Looking at the Paksennarion series, which changed narrators for one novel.). I tried to listen to some Margaret Atwood at one point, and just couldn't; the narrator couldn't make the narrative understandable or engaging. It makes such a difference.
posted by suelac at 8:37 PM on January 29 [3 favorites]
And then there's Patrick Tull, who narrated the first audiobook adaptation of the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brien. He's simply wonderful. He somehow made complicated tall ship maneuvering understandable, or at least interesting even when you can't really follow what's happening. He's very very good.
I do feel that a good narrator is necessary; I have stopped listening to books and bought the ebook in order to avoid a bad narrator. (Looking at the Paksennarion series, which changed narrators for one novel.). I tried to listen to some Margaret Atwood at one point, and just couldn't; the narrator couldn't make the narrative understandable or engaging. It makes such a difference.
posted by suelac at 8:37 PM on January 29 [3 favorites]
[Pops head in through the doorway]
Is this the I Hate Scott Brick support group?
I'm not a huge audiobookhead but I've been feeling a little podcasted out lately so dipped my toes back in; for me the key is listening to something I've already read or am familiar with, otherwise it's just too hard for my dumb brain to follow while doing other tasks.
I just listened to the audiobook I Am Legend last night and, despite having read it at least three times before, Robertson Dean's narration really made Neville's isolation and grief hit harder than it ever did in the reading.
Also recently listened to a 2011 full cast adaptation of I, Claudius which was a pretty big let-down aside from Derek Jacobi doing Brian Blessed's Augustus.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:55 PM on January 29 [1 favorite]
Is this the I Hate Scott Brick support group?
I'm not a huge audiobookhead but I've been feeling a little podcasted out lately so dipped my toes back in; for me the key is listening to something I've already read or am familiar with, otherwise it's just too hard for my dumb brain to follow while doing other tasks.
I just listened to the audiobook I Am Legend last night and, despite having read it at least three times before, Robertson Dean's narration really made Neville's isolation and grief hit harder than it ever did in the reading.
Also recently listened to a 2011 full cast adaptation of I, Claudius which was a pretty big let-down aside from Derek Jacobi doing Brian Blessed's Augustus.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:55 PM on January 29 [1 favorite]
I do listen to audiobooks sometimes, but I laughed a bit too hard at the Foil, Arms and Hogg sketch about the Audiobook book club (2 min).
On some fan subreddits I follow, far more people seem to listen to the audiobooks than read them.
The audiobook of Eddie Izzard's autobiography is fantastic as she ad-libs, chats to the producer and adds extra material as she goes.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:01 AM on January 30 [2 favorites]
On some fan subreddits I follow, far more people seem to listen to the audiobooks than read them.
The audiobook of Eddie Izzard's autobiography is fantastic as she ad-libs, chats to the producer and adds extra material as she goes.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:01 AM on January 30 [2 favorites]
Seconding Frank Muller's reading of Moby Dick.
posted by sneebler at 10:48 AM on February 1 [1 favorite]
posted by sneebler at 10:48 AM on February 1 [1 favorite]
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Listen also to anything read by George Guidall, Frank Muller or Nick Sullivan
(Guidall did the first audiobook of "Gravity's Rainbow," Sullivan did all the William Gaddis novels in brilliant style, Muller ... well anything he did is extraordinary, Moby Dick and Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy are standouts. RIP)
posted by chavenet at 6:07 AM on January 29 [3 favorites]