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Old 09-09-2014, 04:36 PM   #16
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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.
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.

Last edited by ApK; 09-09-2014 at 04:39 PM.
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Old 09-09-2014, 04:48 PM   #17
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Do people prefer readers who voice different characters differently? The Sherlock Holmes that I enjoyed just had A Reader. And that's all I wanted. (Not that I've tried the alternative; I suppose I might like that too.)
I mean, there aren't different voices when I read on paper or ereader. So ... ?
I like to be able to tell who is talking, so yes, there needs to be some difference in the voice. When I read with my eyes vs my ears, the different characters sound different in my mind.

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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.
I agree! A good reader can let us know who is speaking without going overboard.

As for another option there are books with multiple readers. Generally speaking, I don't care for them. That breaks up the book too much for me. If I want to listen to that, I will go with some Old Time Radio or BBC plays.
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Old 09-09-2014, 05:56 PM   #18
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As for another option there are books with multiple readers. Generally speaking, I don't care for them. That breaks up the book too much for me. If I want to listen to that, I will go with some Old Time Radio or BBC plays.
I've enjoyed some multiple narrator books where alternating chapters or sections have a different POV character. Heather Gudenkauf's books, for example, and Megan Abbott's most recent, The Fever.

However, I wasn't crazy about the multiple voices in The Godfather, which had one person for the narrative, and various others voicing the different characters' dialog. There's another version with a single narrator, which I probably would have preferred.
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Old 09-10-2014, 05:29 AM   #19
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I've only just begun to get interested in audiobooks, and only using free offerings, so recommendations on this thread are greatly appreciated.

I do have a Librivox reader recommendation for your consideration:

Peter Yearsley https://librivox.org/reader/167
Very mellow British gentleman, and I'm in the process of listening to ALL his fiction readings now.

For me, the only yip about Librivox recordings is the 30-second blurb on every chapter giving URL and etc. I'm about to fire up my old Audacity sound editor and edit those out, they get very irritating after the third chapter.
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Old 09-10-2014, 01:09 PM   #20
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Hmm! I think I found the 30 second blurbs to be the one time when I could refocus my mind on my driving and check the GPS, etc! (though I was on a 10 hr stretch of no turns needed)
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Old 09-30-2014, 09:28 AM   #21
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I've been both under the weather and unable to read much lately. I indulged in some comfort listens, favorite books from my adolescence, and discovered a couple of good readers at Librivox.

I purchased Prisoner of Zenda from Audible and disliked the narrator so much that for the first time I returned a book to them. Andy Minter's narration from Librivox was far superior and those who like turn of the last century romance might give him a try.

I also listened to my Audible copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel and decided to move on to one of the sequels, which have not been professionally read so far as I can tell. Karen Savage at Librivox does a nice job with them, good cadences and inflections and reading swiftly. Her one flaw is that her character voices are not consistent; she differentiates between speakers in a conversation, but has a tendency to render the main speaker in a conversation in her own voice, which might not be the same as when the character is a minor participant in another conversation. This didn't seriously impact my enjoyment and she's a pleasant and competent reader.
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Old 10-05-2014, 11:36 AM   #22
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I just bought a new Concept2 rower (finally, no more having to go to the gym with other people!) and I listen to books and stories as I row. I have downloaded all 57 of Librivox's short story collections (i can usually get through 3-4 stories in one workout). I will pay attention this time to the good narrators and attempt to share here.
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Old 12-29-2014, 09:30 AM   #23
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I came across a list on Goodreads of favorite Librivox recordings.
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Old 06-17-2015, 11:02 AM   #24
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I enjoyed A House of a Thousand Candles by Meredith Nicholson. I think there's more than one recording now, and I don't remember which narrator I listened to. I think it was the Smallheer version, though, because I remember reading about it here:

https://librivox.org/2010/03/18/our-...s-old-and-new/
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Old 06-29-2015, 05:08 PM   #25
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Everything read by Bob Neufeld is fantastic. I've listened to quite a few of them.
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Old 10-12-2015, 07:47 AM   #26
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voices

Hello. I'm new here

I record Librivox audiobooks, and I was interested to come across this discussion - to do voices, or not to do voices? It's a tricky one, as if badly done it can ruin the experience. But I find that conversational books (and especially children's books) read without any attempt at 'acting' the dialogue tend to send me to sleep. I usually try to voice my characters and I hope I make a good fist of it, although I have occasionally come a cropper when the author flings in a character with an accent I can't do (I have awful problems sounding Scottish ).

I can recommend some great readers: Mil Nicholson does a marvellous job of Dickens novels. Karen Savage is a great reader, and seems to be able to read as effortlessly in an impeccable English accent as she does in a US one (and she even reads in Spanish). Tony Foster has the perfect regional accent for reading D. H. Lawrence authentically, and with great fluency and expression. And Andy Minter has a very endearing, genial vocal style and reads at a good pace and intelligent interpretation. All of these inspired me to read for Librivox myself. Definitely give them a try if you're hunting for good ones.

Helen
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Old 10-12-2015, 01:00 PM   #27
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Everything read by Bob Neufeld is fantastic. I've listened to quite a few of them.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, read by Bob Neufeld

I found it fantastic, but as English is not my first language I was not sure what a native may think of it.
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Old 10-14-2015, 09:58 AM   #28
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Do people prefer readers who voice different characters differently? The Sherlock Holmes that I enjoyed just had A Reader. And that's all I wanted. (Not that I've tried the alternative; I suppose I might like that too.)
I mean, there aren't different voices when I read on paper or ereader. So ... ?
Here is an example of with multiple readers, Kurt Vonnegut's short story 2br02b.

In my previous post I mentioned The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, read by only one reader who voices different characters slightly differently.
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Old 10-28-2015, 01:55 PM   #29
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LibriVox offers Carmilla, narrated by Elizabeth Klett, for free; Audible offers what looks to be the same Klett-narrated Carmilla for $11.99 ($8.39 for members). Even the cover picture is the same.

Elizabeth Klett is one of my favorite LibriVox narrators, though I haven't listened to this book.
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Old 11-01-2015, 08:41 PM   #30
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Martin Clifton does an excellent job on E. F. Benson's Queen Lucia and Chesterton's The Man Who Knew Too Much.

He's also done some poems and collaborative work.
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