Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
I like some variation, but I prefer when they don't go overboard. It's annoying when a female narrator tries to do a deep male character voice, and even worse is the reverse--the male narrators sound silly when they go all falsetto for a female character. I don't want to be thinking about the character's voice--it shouldn't be calling attention to itself. I want to be thinking about the character's words. It's better if the narrator keeps to slight variations in inflection, pacing, etc. to distinguish characters.
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Right. It's one of the key attributes of the readers I enjoy most that they can make clear who is speaking with subtle changes, not caricatures.
I don't want every book to be a radio play with a cast of thousands, but often the differentiation of characters is a real value-add of audiobooks, and makes it possible to follow the story even while doing something else, like driving or mowing the lawn.
And honestly, sometimes, when there is a lot of snappy dialog, I have trouble keeping up with who's speaking in a print book, too.