Quote:
Originally Posted by CRussel
We've got the movie on DVD, and I'm trying to schedule a time for us to watch it again. But meanwhile, I'm at ~25% complete on this re-read. I've been switching back and forth between the two audio versions I have and the eBook, and each has their appeal. I haven't changed my overall preference on the audio side (didn't expect to), but I have a greater respect for the Simon Vance version, which does have it's appeal. For example, I much prefer his Babbington voice -- it's just hard for a baritone like Tull to sound like a squeaker, and Babbington should definitely be a squeaker at this point in the series.
The other thing I'm recognizing are some precursors to things that become very much a part of the series as we go on. The bits of poetry from Mowatt, for example, in Chapter 3. And Jack's two-pronged and crafty(not to say sly) solution to the problem of his main mast (in Chapter 2).
|
I know I've said that one reason I prefer Vance is that Tull's Aubrey is too much the grizzled sea dog, when Jack's still in his twenties in the first book. But yeah, it's a tradeoff. Generally, I think Vance does a creditable American accent, no doubt helped by his having lived here for so long, but his Mrs. Wogan (in a later book), from the American South, took every bit of my loyalty to endure. That was painful.
I'm enjoying "meeting" for the first time so many beloved characters. I'm also switching among three formats and doing a lot of repeating as I do, which slows my process enormously. I suspect at some point I'll jettison Tull, as I
have listened to his version already.
There was a reference to Port Mahon's looking like a Canaletto. It's no Canaletto, but I found this image by a contemporary artist, Anton Shranz.