|
So, I just had to drive ~3200 miles from Maine to Los Angeles, which is ~52 solid hours of on-road driving (traffic, gas/food/restroom/let-my-cat-out-on-leash stops not included) and I did it all by myself. Well, I mean, my cat was there too. And you know, I was actually REALLY looking forward to the drive in part, just because, like, I love listening to audiobooks and driving long distances - I always find it to be a distinct pleasure, if I'm being really honest. The other thing was that I had just started the Dune series a week or two ago, and had finished the first two books in the serious - Dune and Dune Messiah - and I was really blown away and TOTALLY immersed and drawn in by the setting, characters, tone, even the performances were fantastic on the audiobook. So on this trip, I plowed through Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune - which really worked well, even with the 3500 years between the two books! It was really perfect for this trip, because what I wanted was something truly immersive and intriguing on the sci-fi level, and this more than fit that bill. I would sometimes get sick of Dune on a trip like this, though. The other thing I listened to was William Peter Blatty reading his own original novel The Exorcist, and I was really impressed with that. I'm a big fan of the original and the Legion/Exorcist 3, and as a book the original Exorcist reminded me more of Legion, but I guess that makes sense. Blatty did a fantastic reading of his own book, though. He does a very good demonic voice. Oh, the only sad thing about the Dune audiobooks is that the first one is like, REALLY great and a number of dialogue scenes are performed with specific actors voicing major characters like Paul, Duke Leto, Jessica, Baron Harkonnen, etcIt's a bit disappointing that all successive books are more or less narrated by Scott Brick on his own, but he is still very good and consistent in his performances so I didn't mind. I heard a bit of how George Guidall handled the voices in his original version, though, and it made me realize Scott Brick basically followed his lead on the vocal characterizations quite a bit. Not that this was a bad thing!
|
#
¿
Dec 27, 2019 20:29
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 16, 2024 18:22 |
|
|
Been trying to listen to ASoIaF in its entirety from start to finish recently, and I made it about... halfway through A Feast For Crows (book 4) before getting totally and utterly burnt out on these goddamn books, so I am having to uh... Take a break, at least for now. I decided to choose a decently reviewed Stephen King book that I have never read and which wasn't too cripplingly long, and chose based primarily on which reader I most wanted to listen to. I ended up with Duma Key mostly because it's read by John freaking Slattery, who is definitely near the top of the list of actors whom I'd enjoy listening to even reading the phone book. And he hasn't disappointed so far, though admittedly the story itself has yet to really grab me in the way most King books do, I mean, I'm not giving up on it or anything, but I was hoping for some sort of impossibly intriguing supernatural hook. 2 hours into the story and it's been a pretty straightforward character study so far - at least the protagonist is a painter (rather than, say, a writer) so I am thankful for such small things. edit: I guess I spoke slightly too soon, because I'm now 4 hours in and an impossible-to-resist supernatural hook has definitely appeared, just as expected. Now I get to see King continue to set it up perfectly and then screw up the ending 
kaworu fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Mar 1, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Mar 1, 2021 07:20
|
|
|
I hope it's OK to post this link to a page that has the complete audiobook in question; if it were readily available on Audible I'd tell people to get it there, but it isn't and that's frustrating for everyone: https://hdaudiobook.com/dune-book/ I was also curious about the Guidall version, since the one on Audible is a bit weird and not exactly a pure, consistent unabridged production of the text. I definitely find this one much, much more enjoyable.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 5, 2021 18:25
|
|
|
Kilometers Davis posted:Yeah I don't want to be scummy or whatever but the Guidall one you can't find anywhere to purchase, when I was looking I only found used tapes. I'll be happy to send it to anyone if you drop me a message at that email above. Everyone deserves some good Dune in the ears. Duuuuuune You know, I did link to a page with audio files of the Guidall version, specifically because it's not available anymore and everyone *does* deserve good Dune content 
|
|
#
¿
Aug 5, 2021 20:16
|
|
|
The other thing about the version on Audible that switches between the cast and Vance? It's abridged, which is especially obnoxious because they aren't exactly upfront about that and list it as an unabridged edition, when it most certainly is not. But I was just listening to the Guidall version for the first time earlier today, and just half an hour in there are sentences in that one which are absolutely not in the Audible version.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 6, 2021 04:42
|
|
|
jeeves posted:I randomly found an unofficial 'Soundscape' audio books of Lord of the Rings on Archive.org and holy poo poo this dude knocks it out of the park. Just started to give this a listen and I’m frankly pretty blown away! I generally find audiobooks that try to utilize music, sound effects, and more than one narrator/actor (or just any one of those things) to be irritating and distracting, sometimes to the point of rendering that particular audiobook unlistenable. The version of Dune currently on audible is a good example of a half-assed effort at something like this which fails more than it succeeds. I find this to be quite charming, though, and only mildly distracting sometimes - to my shock the sound effects and music actually seems to ENRICH this particular audiobook. I think it helps a great deal that the music (at least so far) is just Howard Shore’s score from the Peter Jackson films - which I might have found objectionable in its own way ~20 years ago, but the films and that score are firmly entrenched in the “nostalgia” parts of my brain today in 2022, so far from being an issue it‘a emotional and evocative in its own way. I’ve also never actually listened to an audibook of LotR, despite my father reading the entire trilogy to me over several years when I was 8-9 years old, and of course reading it myself at least half a dozen times after that as a kid. Somehow the Rob Inglis versions never appealed to me or felt right? This one appeals to me a great deal more so far. I think I’m even going to send it to my dad! Tolkien, Bob Dylan, and baseball are the three things we can casually talk about and agree on with one another without getting upset
|
|
#
¿
Aug 2, 2022 11:55
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 16, 2024 18:22 |
|
|
Has anyone else listened to that insane “Space: 1969” thing on Audible? I’m not sure where else to bring it up or discuss it, even though it’s not really anything like an audiobook, and feels more like some old-school radio drama formatted more like a modern TV series? Well, it’s on Audible so I’ll discuss it here, I guess. Anyway, I’ve been enjoying listening to it on and off, and the one aspect I thought might be annoying (the presence of Natasha Lyonne’s voice) turned out mostly to be a positive! The whole thing is extremely silly and pretty forgettable, and honestly reminds me VERY strongly of Futurama/Simpsons, with the pace of the jokes and the general satirical sitcom-y tone to the whole thing. Which isn’t BAD, but it’s certainly a very different thing from what I was expecting when I clicked on it.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 27, 2022 02:08
|
|