Tag: Audio books

Listening to read

For most of us, the first way we experienced the written word of was listening to someone read aloud to us. By the time we were ‘reading for ourselves’ we were experienced language users – we knew how to tell a story, we knew how to tell a lie, and we even knew how jokes worked, even if we weren’t very good at them yet. But the joy of listening to someone read to us never disappears. The skilful narrator provides a pathway into our imagination that allows us to ‘see’ the text in different ways, picking out subtleties by their tone of voice, intonation and pausing.

These days, over the course of any year, I read as many books by listening to audiobooks as by reading them for myself. On those occasions when I can’t bear to stop reading to do some less-than-exciting task, I’ll switch to the audiobook version, e.g., when driving or ironing thanks to the ability to sync between devices, and then happily switch back again when the task is done.

Another layer to reading is provided by listening to dramatised versions. If you grew up before the age of television then you’ll remember listening to radio plays such as the Blue Hills by Gwen Meredith, which ran for 5,795 episodes in Australia.  Radio plays were as vivid as if played out film (so vivid that apparently in 1938, the Orson Welles’ dramatic adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds caused considerable panic in USA).

As much as I enjoyed radio plays, I usually avoid dramatised versions of audiobooks, mainly because often they have abridged or edited the original text to make the play ‘work’.  This meant that I was not enthused when I heard that Audible were releasing full-cast dramatisations of the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. After all, I thought, how could they beat the stellar narration of Stephen Fry (my go-to audiobooks when life needs a lift)?

Well, I was wrong. I am thoroughly enjoying the dramatised versions. Hearing child voices in the Harry, Ron and Hermoine parts has been delightful, and it is clear there was a queue of fabulous British actors vying for the opportunity to read the adult characters. For example, Hugh Laurie is Dumbledore, Mark Addy is Hagrid, Kit Harington is a spot-on Gilderoy Lockhart, Iwan Rheon is Remus Lupin, and Matthew MacFadden is Voldemort – just to name a few.

Underpinning their voices is the narration of Cush Jumbo, with it all produced so that it is a seamless audio experience. In the accompanying interview in Audible, she describes how her narration is intentionally neutral in providing the scaffold for the dialogue. I confess I do miss the hint of J.K. Rowling’s authorial voice that Stephen Fry lets slip into his audible version and the way it provides that sly wink to the reader. I know this feature will draw me back to the original versions. In the meantime, however I’m enjoying the full-cast dramatisations.

These versions are being released monthly, so the first three books (Philosopher’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban) are already available, and this month (February) will bring Goblet of Fire, and the child voice roles will be taken by older voice actors from here on. The rest of the year’s fix for Harry Potter looks to be taken care of, and then of course there will be the new Harry Potter TV series due to begin on HBO/Max in 2027.  Not that I’m a fan or anything ….

Thought provoking reading

As much as I love reading fiction, sometimes you crave something that gives your brain more to chew on. Here are three non-fiction books I enjoyed during 2024.

Wifedom by Anna Funder, Penguin, 2023

Anna Funder has the gift of transforming highly detailed research into a readable whole. Her thesis in this work is that the writer George Orwell and his biographers have largely overlooked or discounted the important contribution of his first wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy.

As a well-educated women Eileen worked in a variety of jobs during their marriage while at the same time working on Orwell’s drafts, typing and retyping, proofreading, and providing feedback. In particular, Funder argues that one of Eileen’s poem (‘End of the Century, 1984’) written in 1934 dealt with a similar futuristic vision as Orwell’s novel ‘1984’, and that the writing style of his novel ‘Animal Farm’ can be seen as reflecting Eileen’s own wit and humour.

There are of course contrary opinions to that of Funder and, while it’s hard by the end of the book to have much sympathy for Orwell as a man, I think his quality as a writer is undiminished. For me the most compelling parts of the book were the descriptions of Eileen’s courage during their time in Spain during the civil war, and her physical labours and deprivations during their time living in the cold countryside. For a clever and skilled woman who could have taken other life paths, it was hard to understand how she could throw herself on the pyre of his success. He was indeed very fortunate to have her.

Into the rip by Damien Cave (‘How the Australian way of risk made my family stronger, happier … and less American’), Scribner Australia, 2021

I ran across this book through a short YouTube clip from an interview with the author.

The book is part memoir, part commentary on the author’s experience on moving to Australia from America with a young family. Since the family lived near the beach, they were intrigued by the Nippers program run by Surf Lifesaving Australia. Risk, particularly with regard to their children, was something to avoid in their previous life. In Australia, risk was the very thing that their children were being introduced to. The book is a quick and easy read, and offers a fascinating glimpse into ways our distinctive Australian way of viewing the world.

The only plane in the sky: The oral history of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff  (full cast recording (15 hrs), Octopus Publishing Group, 2019

Every September since the events of 9/11 we are provided with documentaries and memorials. Each year I swear I’m sick of it, but I find myself drawn to it. I think many of us remember where we were when it happened. Watching the events unfold on live television broadcasts seared these distant events into our consciousnesses.

‘The Only Plane in the Sky’ (2019) is an audiobook collection of 500 oral accounts collected in interviews by author, journalists, and researchers on a two year project. The interviews were condensed and edited for clarity, but remain uninterpreted: pure oral history. For the audiobook, in order to achieve the highest audio quality production, the accounts are narrated by actors selected for similarity with the original speaker.

The collection is large and too much to absorb in a continuous way. I still haven’t listened to them all, but the chapter segmentation is easy to follow and I found I could dip in and out to follow where my interest lies. This collection isn’t for everyone, but it is a fascinating resource.

Reading not writing

2024 has been a year of way more reading than writing (hence the year lag in making this post!). However, as my head turns back to writing, I thought I’d give you a taster of the reading that piqued my interest over the last twelve months. Here are three recommendations if you’re interested in fiction. (I’ve also picked three non-fiction ones to talk about in my next post.)

In no particular order, they are … (drum roll) …

  1. Here one moment by Liane Moriarty, Macmillan Australia, 2024

The premise of Liane Moriarty’s book was so interesting I was prompted to make an impulse purchase. The story opens on a plane flight as a seemingly ordinary older woman moves along the aisle, telling passengers at random how and when they’ll die.

Unusually for a  mystery by this author, this isn’t an interconnected series of threads that culminates with an ‘aha’ ending. Instead, the novel asks how hearing these revelations will shape the future decisions of the characters, including their effect on the life of the woman who found herself making the predictions. It took me a little while to let go wanting a whodunnit but, once I did, I enjoyed the explorations of each character as a reality-bound way to think about deeper philosophical questions (‘who am I?’, ‘why are we here?’).

Of course, as you’d expect from Liane Moriarty, the prose writing is crisp and a pleasure to read. If you’re prepared for something on the more reflective side, I can recommend it.

I’ve recommended the Slow Horses series by Mick Herron before, and it’s great to see so many people enjoying the television adaptation. Herron’s latest book is ‘The Secret Hours’ and the press associated with it spent a lot of time trying to tell us that it was a standalone publication. Don’t believe a word of it. I don’t want to spoil the plot twists but perhaps knowing that the story is set in Berlin before the wall came down might point to the two Slow Horses characters you’ve always wanted to know more about. The writing is tight yet poetically evocative (as is always the case with Herron), and the audiobook is read by Sean Barrett, whose dry gravelly voice catches every nuance.

Yes, I’m obsessed with Philip Pullman’s two series about the nature of ‘Dust’, i.e., the development of human consciousness. I’ve read the three volumes of ‘His Dark Materials’ in paperback, ebook, and listened to the audio book recordings read by the author.

However, as much as I enjoy his writing, I don’t think Pullman’s reading stands up to the wonderful reading of his ‘Book of Dust’ by the actor Michael Sheen on the first two volumes currently available in that series (‘La Belle Sauvage’, ‘The Secret Commonwealth’). I’d secretly wished that Michael Sheen might be asked to do another audiobook version of ‘His Dark Materials’.

Lucky for me, Audible have gone one further with a fresh audiobook version of ‘His Dark Materials’ by the inimitable Ruth Wilson, whose acting as the evil Mrs Coulter in the television series was outstanding. So far only ‘Northern Lights’ is available for purchase (which the other two volumes expected in 2025).  Ruth Wilson’s reading breathes life into Lyra’s character and provides a layered performance of all the other characters, including the fascinating Mrs Coulter.

Listening to books

The best of 2021

The books I read in print form last year were a disappointment so I won’t share the pain. On the other hand, 2021 brought me some fabulous listening pleasure with the following audio books. As usual, I flit between genres so it’s hard to present them in any particular order. Let me know if you enjoyed any of these too!

Top favourite of 2021

Slow Horses: Slough House, book 1 (2010, John Murray Publishers) by Mick Herron

(audio book narrated by Sean Barrett)

In the first book of the series, we meet British MI5 agent River as he is bungling an important training mission. For this, he gets sent to the sad and miserable dumping ground for failed spies, Slough House.  However, it is River’s boss, Jackson Lamb, who captures our attention for the series. Fat, farting, swearing, smoking, and without a politically correct bone in his body, Lamb torments River and his fellow failures. The plot is intriguing and the writing witty. Best of all, the BBC is currently filming some of the series, with the wonderful Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, in a cast that includes Kristen Scott-Thomas and Jonathan Pryce.

Best light fare for 2021—two contenders

  1. The Thursday Murder Club (2020, Viking Press) by Richard Osman

(audiobook narrated by Lesley Manville, Richard Osman, Marian Keyes)

Having seen Richard Osman being amusingly knowledgeable on British television game shows, I was intrigued to hear that he’d written a few cosy crime novels. The setting is a retirement village where (shock and horror) the residents are anything but sweet senior citizens. With a ‘Midsomer Murders’ sort of plot, this novel was very much in the style of the author’s personality: clever, warm, with a few unexpected twists and turns.

(audiobook narrated by Zara Ramm)

This is a continuation of a consistently amusing series that is among my favourites. The Time Police were the bad guys in the original ‘Chronicles of St Mary’s’ Series, which is all about historians who ‘investigate major historical events in contemporary time’ (i.e., time travel, but don’t let our heroes hear you say that). In the Time Police series, we follow three raw recruits who don’t fit the usual tough guy Time Police mold.  In this book, they’ve graduated and are doing things in their own hilarious way.

Best Young Adult fiction for 2021

The Rest of Us Just Live Here (2015, Quill Tree Books) by Patrick Ness

(audiobook narrated by James Fouhey)

What happens if you’re the teenagers in the background while the superhero kids go head to head with zombie monsters and mysterious blue lights? This novel uses this fun premise to explore sadder themes that are all too real for adolescents. The writing is tight and the characters are compelling—definitely worth a look.

Best dystopia for 2021

Metro 2033 (2005, English edition Gollancz) by Dmitry Glukhovsky

(audiobook narrated by Rupert Degas)

The novel, originally written in Russian, inspired a widely popular video game. Translated into English, I loved how ‘Russian’ it still felt. Basically, the world above ground has been destroyed and contaminated by nuclear fallout. Our hero, Artyom, lives in the Moscow Metro system where every train station has evolved into its own State while subjected to the ever present threat of the mutant monsters that lurk above. Artyom is entrusted with a quest to deliver an important message. His journey is a post-apocalyptic odyssey where new characters emerge to help or hinder the battles he must fight as he navigates his way through the underground. Warning: it is long, but then—it is Russian!

Best non-fiction for 2021

Educated (Windmill Books, 2018) by Tara Westover

(audiobook narrated by Julia Whelan)

This memoir tells how the author grew up in the back blocks of Idaho, raised in a Mormon family which was dominated by her father whose survivalist ideology became increasingly bizarre and damaging to his wife and children. It’s a grim tale, but written evocatively in a way that allows us to sense the inner resilience that burned within the author who eventually found her way out to engage with formal education and a wider world view.

And finally,

Best re-read for 2021

The Lord of the Rings (1955, Allen & Unwin) by J.R.R. Tolkien

(audiobook narrated by Andy Serkis)

Really, what is there to say? I’ve listened to a couple of versions of Lord of the Rings, but I think Andy Serkis (aka Gollum) is the best narrator. My only complaint is the songs….I confess I skip these when reading LoTR, but I can’t do that in an audiobook very successfully, and Serkis’ singing isn’t up to his voice acting level. Still, good on him for being authentic, I guess!

Reading with 2020 vision

2020 was a good year for reading (when we weren’t glued to our screens). Looking back, I find that I chewed through over forty books, either by reading or listening to an audiobook. I confess that I abandoned a few half-way (life in the times of COVID is potentially too short to be bored). However, here are some I’d recommend if you’re looking for something to read during a snap hotspot lockdown.

My top 3 audiobooks of 2020

(judged on both story and narrator)

  • Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol – read by Hugh Grant who brings the dark ironic tones of Dickens to the fore.
  • Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling), Troubled Blood: Cormoran Strike, Book 5 – read by Robert Glenister. Rowling’s controversial comments meant that this book received critique by people who hadn’t read it. I recommend a read, or enjoy listening to the hard-boiled detective voice of Robert Glenister.
  • HG Wells, War of the Worlds – read by David Tennant in a way that captures the intense psychological struggle of the protagonist in a time of fear and uncertainty. Definitely a story for our time.

My top non-fiction book of 2020

  • Alan Davies, Just Ignore Him. Seeing the funny side of things is the life raft that Alan has used to overcome tragedy and abuse. In this well written memoir, his lightness of touch makes this memoir all the more poignant.

My top relaxers of 2020

  • Jodi Taylor, Doing Time: The Time Police, Book 1 – audiobook read by Zara Ramm. In Jodi Taylor’s series ‘Chronicles of St Mary’s’, the Time Police are always portrayed as the arrogant dunderheads that fearless historians must outwit to save the day. In this new series, Taylor flips our perspective by introducing us to three new recruits to the Time Police – each of whom is uniquely unsuited to the role.
  • Martha Wells, The Murderbot Diaries (4 novellas and 1 novel). Making an android a compelling and sympathetic protagonist is the central achievement of this series. Sardonic humour laces the edges of fast-paced action and an unfolding mystery. Book 5, Network Effect was the latest stellar addition.

Other recommended listens and reads

(alphabetically by author surname)

Ben Aaronovitch, Tales from the Folly: Short Stories from the world of the Rivers of London series – read by multiple narrators

Anne Brinsden, Wearing Paper Dresses. If you liked The Dressmaker by Rosalie Hamm, then you’ll love this story of rural hardship.

Tiny Fey, Bossypants – read by Tina Fey. Finding out what makes comedians tick is always fascinating.

CS Forester, Mr Midshipman Hornblower – read by Christian Rodska. A rollicking tale on the high seas.

John Le Carré, Agent Running in the Field – read by John Le Carré, who turns out to be a dab hand at accents, as well as a riveting writer.

Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing (book). I never thought I could be so interested in marsh wildlife. Intensive botany lesson embedded in a compelling story.

Michelle Paver, Wolf Brother – read by Sir Ian McKellen. This is an old-fashioned tale of an American Indian boy coming to manhood and I loved every minute – entranced by McKellen’s ‘tell me a story’ voice.

Andy Weir, The Martian – read by Wil Wheaton. Seen the movie? Now read the book. Originally, I planned to read it in print, but I’m glad I opted for the audiobook. I think I would have skimmed the technical details in print, but they form a mesmerising rhythm that builds the believability of events when read aloud.

On to 2021 …

Best audio books 2017

Redphones: Listening to music while waiting for a friend, Garry Knight, Flickr, CC2.0 licence with attribution.

While cleaning out my father’s flat after his death earlier this year, I came across the notebooks in which both my parents kept a listing of the books they had read each year. My own reading habits are not nearly as methodical.  However, new ways of consuming books do such cataloguing work for us.  I have become addicted to audio books as it allows me the chance to read and knit at the same time (unlike my mother who learned to do both simultaneously to defend herself from my grandmother’s accusations of ‘wasting her time reading’).  I subscribe to audible and they sent me a summary of my own (well-spent) 20,250 minutes of listening time this year. Apparently, my favourite genre was ‘crime & thrillers’— which suggests some new writing directions for me later.  I entirely agree with their analysis of my ratings that showed that my favourite author was Philip Pullman and my favourite narrator was Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (narrator for the delightful PC Grant detective series by Ben Aaronovitch, but I’m saving a review about that series for another post).

my top three audiobooks for 2017

 (in no particular order)

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

by Gail Honeyman (hard cover and paperback published 2017 by Harper Collins). Audio book released 2017, read by Cathleen McCarron.

Written in the first person, we are taken inside the character of a fascinating woman who leads a highly circumscribed life.  This is a novel about small moments and their effects. The narrator fully captures the tension between Eleanor’s self-awareness and her lack of insight. The newspaper reviews of the book are very positive but often contain spoilers, so if you like to know more about what’s ahead have a look at these: from the Guardian, or from the Washington Independent Review of Books. Reese Witherspoon’s production company has apparently optioned the book for a movie so you could wait till then or, best of all, just dive into the book and find the treasure there.

A Legacy of Spies

by John leCarré (hard cover and paperback published 2017 by Penguin Random House). Audio book released 2017, read by Tom Hollander.

Peter Guillam is called back by the Circus to account for the past Cold War operations of George Smiley.  The reviews of the book have been unanimous in their praise, see the review by the New York Times for example.

Actor Tom Hollander is exactly the right person to read it – a master of restraint in the context of overpowering emotions. (You may remember Tom Hollander from the TV mini-series ‘The Night Manager’, and the TV series ‘Rev’, amongst many other roles.)

 

 

La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust, Volume 1

by Philip Pullman (hard cover and paperback published 2017 in association with Penguin Random House). Audio book released 2017, read by Michael Sheen.

Philip Pulman takes us back to the very beginnings of Lyra’s life and the disturbance she brings, even as a baby, to the control exerted by The Magisterium. The heroes of the story are Malcolm and his daemon Asta who must save Lyra when the flooding of the Thames brings both corporeal and magical threats.

Actor Michael Sheen is a captivating narrator. (Michael Sheen was recently seen as Dr Masters in the TV series ‘Masters of Sex’, and you might remember him as David Frost in the film ‘Frost/Nixon’ back in 2008).

 

This is the first of three planned prequels to ‘His Dark Materials’. I, for one, will be lining up for the others. The reviews have welcomed the return to Lyra’s world, for example see the review in the Sydney Morning Herald. Like the reviewers, I look forward to the next instalment in this series.