Audiobooks

[telophase]

I've been listening to Terry Pratchett audiobooks from Audible.com (if you buy one of their plans and download a lot, it's a good deal) and I've finally hit a Pratchett audiobook that's a slog to get through. It's the first one with a female narrator. There are three male narrators that I've come across so far - Stephen Briggs, Nigel Planer, and Stefan Rudnicki, and while I like Stephen Briggs the best (his Vimes is spot-on, IMHO), I can deal with any of those.

But ... Wyrd Sisters is narrated by Celia Imrie. She's got a very soooooooooothing, soft, Regency-romance or cozy-mystery type of voice, which doesn't work well with the cynical humor in the book, and she does the various characters by actually changing her voice, making it querelous or holding her nose to make it nasal, to indicate the characters, when the men have so far tended to do it more with accents and speech speed, which works better in general. I think she also wasn't given much time to prepare and learn much about the characters, because she does Nanny Ogg as this weedy, querelous voice which is pretty much the complete antithesis of Nanny Ogg. And she pronounces several names differently than the men do - I'm assuming the way the men do it is the correct way, since they've remained consistent over several books.

I will, one day, finish listening to this book, but it's a seriously hard slog uphill both ways through the snow and I'm interspersing it with other books to give me fortitude.

Comments

[oneiroelpida.livejournal.com]

I honestly found Wyrd Sisters hard to get through when -reading-. For some reason, the witch books just don't click with me at all. I think, overall, I just don't like Pratchett's females all that much, with the exception of Cherry and usually Angua. Sybil is usually pretty fun too. But out of the audiobooks, Tony Robinson is by far my favorite reader. I don't think I've heard Stephen Briggs, though, so maybe he'd change my mind.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

The witch books click with me just fine - it's the Rincewind ones that don't work as well. :D I've got a couple of Johnny and the [Blah] books narrated by Robinson, but I haven't listened to them yet - my iPod died partway through the first one and I haven't gotten back into the swing of them yet now that it's resurrected.

I love Briggs' Vimes and Detritus.

[scribblemoose]

My favourite Pratchett reader is Tony Robinson, without a doubt. He gets the inflection of the narrative just how I hear it in my head, and has great timing.

I haven't heard Wyrd Sisters but I'm having trouble imagining Celia Imrie fitting it at all. Nanny Ogg is broad Yorkshire in my mind, or maybe Jane Horrocks (Little Voice?) - Lancashire. Most definitely not weedy!!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I've got a couple of Johnny and the [Blah] books by Robinson, but my iPod died partway into the first and I haven't gotten back into the swing of them, so I haven't listened to much by him.

Imrie just ... well she's a great reader for the right sort of book, and Pratchett is not the right sort of book.

[kate_nepveu]

I gave up on _Pyramids_ recently because I couldn't put up with Nigel Planer, so I sympathize. I'm pretty much sticking with the Briggs-narrated ones.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Planer doesn't bother me in the normal run of events - I got through Pyramids just fine. I started listening to Feet of Clay, narrated by him, on the drive to work today and it was a bit of a jolt because I just finished listening to The Fifth Elephant read by Briggs last night, but within an hour or so of listening, I'll be adapted to Planer.

Imrie, though ... I will never be used to Imrie reading Pratchett.