Esther

Spirited lecture

Reviewed: 01-03-23

A spirited, wonderful lecture series that focuses on storytelling, very exciting for a history newbie like me. Paxton is eloquent and is able to make these long-ago people feel real to me. Thank you! I’m going to try her other lectures now.

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Sordid yet dull

Reviewed: 04-24-19

This sequel to P&P starts off promisingly, with well-written prose and a modest appearance of Lizzie. The introduction of American characters is fun, if a bit stereotypical. But the story takes a dive when Charlotte is blackmailed and yet as sordid as the events turn, the story grows duller rather than more exciting. Very good to fall asleep to, I guess. It's too bad. I was really excited about this sequel, of a character I love and is often overlooked.

The narrator is lovely and does a credible American accent.

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1 person found this helpful

Reviewing narrator, Davina Porter

Reviewed: 07-25-17

The narrator, Davina Porter, is expressive and quite good at emoting the dialogue of various characters. However, she sounds too old & old-fashioned to be narrating the story of a young woman, and it jars me. I listen to a lot of audiobooks of 19th-century writers, so this isn't a comment on the writing itself. Porter sounds like a very pleasant grandmother who--whenever narrating about a darker subject matter--sounds like a she's scolding, disapproving, or is cross about it.

I wish I could return this in exchange for another version, but I got this audiobook over a year ago.

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Don't be discouraged by other reviewers

Reviewed: 04-20-17

This is an excellent narration. Ax Norman performs the dialogue with emotion that persuasively reflects the characters, and he doesn't resort to silly-sounding voices for women that a lot of male narrators are prone to. There is a bit of singing (Caramon's drinking song) and Norman does a rollicking job. The non-dialogue is read without drama, but simply and clearly.

OK, so his pronunciation of names varies. It's clear Norman wasn't given much background or prep on the books. Despite the many years, I see that the publishers still have NOT fixed the obvious typos ("Alone" when they mean "a lone," "aesthetic" when they mean "ascetic," etc.) So I blame the publishers for any odd-sounding reading.

Don't be discouraged! Norman does this great story justice. I'm looking forward to downloading War and Test. A wonderful nostalgic read from childhood. Weis and Hickman have refined their craft in this trilogy. I wish there was an audio Deathgate Cycle.

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Graceful, if at times FAST, reading

Reviewed: 01-04-15

Susannah Harker performs a gentle but spirited performance; does justice to the voices of the characters by making no one sound ridiculous (or more than they should, anyway!). I exchanged for this version after trying the Juliet Stevenson. I love Stevenson, but she sounded overly heavyhanded in that recording. Harker is extremely even keeled, yet manages to emote quite a lot, especially Lucy Steel's wonderful spite.

My only criticism is that the producers must have sped up some exchanges of dialogue. I doubt it was Harker, because I can't imagine someone reading so fast without needing to draw breath. I imagine compressing the recording time saved money, but it's too bad that about 1 in 4 exchanges go by very, very quickly.

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6 people found this helpful

Narrator Is Quirky—Read If You're Picky!

Reviewed: 09-13-13

This review focuses only on the narrator, Kate Lock.

She's a pretty standard narrator: makes distinct voices for her characters and reads at a steady, not-too-fast pace. There's nothing particularly good or bad about these aspects of performance. But if you're a picky listener like me, and you might be, since this book is over FORTY HOURS long, you may want to know:

1. She "acts" out the dialogue and all parts of it. So if a character coughs while talking, she coughs too. If a character is eating while talking, she talks as if her mouth is full. Some people might enjoy this realism, but I found it gratingly unnecessary. The mid-dialogue laughter is painfully forced.

2. The voices for Kitty and Dolly can be extremely high-pitched, especially when they're distressed—like crying cats.

3. I think this is the Constance Garnet translation; there are no translations for French or German pieces of dialogue, which are luckily sparse.

4. All this said, Levin's dialogue is performed terrifically.

I'll be shopping around for another narrator, however. Hope this helps other listeners!

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13 people found this helpful

Ironic, humorous, and restrained

Reviewed: 05-13-13

This is one of Kate Reading's better narrations, and the material could not be more compelling. Translated by Lydia Davis (master short story writer!), the book is both light and tragic, humorous and disturbing, emotional and cerebral. Flaubert is one of the few who can do that. The tragedy of Emma and the triumphs of Homais are delicately rendered in this smart translation.

Reading reads with perfect inflections, making Emma sound airy and "arty," Charles slow and pitiful, Leon slippery, etc. No silly attempts at trying to sound male; just excellent infusions of the character's personality into his/her voice to make him/her sound believable. The speed is just right. I've heard other narrations by Kate Reading and some don't match up in quality or direction.

The writing style seems so effortless and light that you almost think Flaubert knocked it out with the wave of a hand, but as you keep listening, you realize what a brilliantly composed, tightly plotted piece this is. Also superb is Davis's introduction in the print version. It's not in the audio version, but if you can get your hands on a print (or digi) copy, by all means, read!

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15 people found this helpful

Glad to have, but overdramatic narration

Reviewed: 05-03-13

I've been a fan of the Secret Circle since the 90s, and was thrilled to have an audio version. Sorvari has a perfect, sulky teenage voice, which would seem great for delivering this somewhat melodramatic trilogy. Her reading speed is perfect; neither too fast or slow.

Given how over the top the narrative already is, I wish Sorvari had read more evenly. She delivers ferocity, sulkiness, and drama, but does so in ALL instances, even for ordinary sentences, like, "Cassie's grandmother stood up." Does a sentence like that really need to be read with such intensity? Haha-funny lines, like those of the Henderson brothers, are also strangely sarcastic instead of slapstick. Sorvari pretty much delivers the entire book in this one way, and it becomes monotonous.

This sulky delivery also doesn't fit the protagonist's personality. Cassie is shy, ethical, and earnest, not at all bratty or rebellious, as Sorvari would have you believe.

As for the book itself, I read this when I was 10 and have reread it since then. But hearing it through someone else's voice revealed unintentionally silly it can be! There are plot holes that go unaddressed: Doesn't anyone think it's weird Cassie arrives exactly when she "needs to"? Wouldn't they be even slightly suspicious? And for the trilogy as a whole: Isn't it odd how little say Adam has? The romantic decisions are made entirely by Cassie, and he's a Romeo-like doll, never choosing but being told who he's allowed to be with. To Smith's credit, he does set up certain crucial scenes and this is a female-centric world, but he nevertheless seems flat and unappealing. (Nick, on the other hand, is much more interesting b/c he has a backstory.)

Most gratingly, there is an absurd amount of attention paid to how beautiful and frightening Faye is—it is repetitive and even embarrassing. I skipped over those paragraphs and paragraphs of how golden her eyes and skin are and blablabla, but you can't do that in an audiobook.

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Hilarious, and not in a good way

Reviewed: 07-29-12

The producers erred terribly in hiring Rosalyn Landor because

1) She can't do an American accent.
2) Her male voices sound like the voice you make when you drop your chin into your neck and make as silly a deep voice you can.

The pity is that the protagonist for this book is American and a New Yorker (I'm both) yet sounds exactly like someone parodying a flat, part faux-midwestern, part cowboy accent with the most rollings R's I've ever heard a Brit or American bother with. Lillian and her sister sound like they should be riding mules and shooting their pistols instead of coming out of New York society.

You can imagine how scenes of ardor sound when a woman sounds like a cowgirl and a man sounds like a kid pretending to be a man. The declarations of passion are absolutely hilarious and ridiculous, and I found all the male characters very difficult to take seriously because they sounded so awful.

If you can get over these two things and are a fan of Lisa Kleypas, then I guess it's a fine read. Try not to laugh.

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2 people found this helpful

Cannot recommend a better narrator!

Reviewed: 07-29-12

Edith Wharton's novel is deliciously enjoyable, especially if you delight in watching detestable characters crush one another and see people behave more brutishly and vulgarly than you could have expected. By "people" I primarily mean the wonderfully named Undine Spragg, a social climber who bulldozes as many people as she can to attain an ever escaping, ever elusive goal of social grandeur and wealth. Wharton's satiric, witty, whip-smart writing fairly sparkles here, and the entire novel has lighter touch, perhaps because about half of it is in the mind of a buffoon, rather than the plodding Archer of Age of Innocence, for example.

But I really want to write about Barbara Caruso here, who should narrate EVERYTHING. She reads with warmth, humor, wit, and imparts an incredible understanding of each of the characters. I wonder about the difficulty of being a reader—she has to play every role, and she does so splendidly. Conflicted characters like Undine, whom one would normally expect to hate, are given depth and conviction. Brava.

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22 people found this helpful