lemming audio

[LegalKimchi]

do I love audio books. I love buying tapes from half price and listening in my old car. nowadays I do the audible thing in my current car.

my question: have you ever lemmed an audiobook?
should we calling something other than lemming? deafened? silenced?

[Chuck]

Actually, I lemmed the Shadowmarch series, by Tad Williams. I say the series because I got through the first book and really tried listening to the second one. I just couldn't. I really like his new Bobby Dollar series, but apparently this is a departure from his normal style. hmmmm... "shadowmarched"?

[Tim]

Yes, a couple of times. The Hunger Games had a really irritating and condescending narrator, and World War Z was just awful. The really nice thing about Audible is they let you return the book for a refund or pick another. :)

[LegalKimchi]

part of the greatness of these forums is diversity. world war z is my favorite audiobook and the only audiobook my wife every liked.

I lemmed shadow ops control point. I am about to lem under heaven of it doesn't get better for me.

[James]

Would you guys agree that lemming an audio book has as much to do with the narrator as the author?

That was certainly the case for me. I found an old Library of Congress recording of Steven Eriksons Mallazan books and was all amped up on it because I love long series and the Narrator was so dusty, dry and boring that I couldn't listen for more than a few hours. Next day went and found something else.

[LegalKimchi]

Yes, yes, a thousands times yes. I lemmed game of thrones for that reason. picked up the book though. loved it

[Chuck]

The narrator certainly plays a huge role in the experience. I've found myself passing on books I might like because of the person reading.

[Tim]

Generally yes. Now I absolutely loved the Game of Thrones audiobook - could't get enough of it. Tastykimchi, it sounds like our tastes are exactly opposite!

Does it make a difference that I'm English, so English accents sound more natural (well, with the exception of the Solihull sisters in Tad Williams' Dirty streets of Heaven - GAK what the narrator was trying for...) and American accents sound less so? Maybe...

[LegalKimchi]

I think you may be on to something tim.
I do like british tv shows though.

[Travis]

Accents don't bother me so much but I am bothered by higher pitched male readers. A deep voice in any accent is far more pleasing for extended listening than a high one. It's the reason I can't use audio books for YA material. They pick the most obnoxious narrators who think the best way to sound young is be high pitched and whiny.

[Tim]

Actually, the reason I lemmed the Hunger Games had nothing to do with the narrator's accent, but rather the fact that the way she read what was supposed to be a fast paced tense exciting action drama was as if she was reading out a grocery list to a five year old with learning difficulties. There was no tension in it whatsoever and it just came over as condescending.

WWZ was like listening to a government white paper on housing reform set to continuous repeat.

[Serendi]

The full cast abridged version of World War Z is terrific. Max Brooks's family friends, I assume - includes Carl and Rob Reiner, of course, Alan Alda, Mark Hamill, buncha others. The author is the son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. This version does leave out a lot of the book, though.

[Daran]

I'm thinking about lemming Hard Magic because Bronson Pinchot (who I normally love) has given the lead protagonist an accent I can only describe a slow-witted panhandle mechanic. Admittedly the character is often underestimated because of how he sounds, but the accent is just so bad it stops the story entirely when he speaks.

[LegalKimchi]

ive gotten a little better since ive started listen to books ar 3x speed

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

Tim wrote: "Yes, a couple of times. The Hunger Games had a really irritating and condescending narrator"

You know, I've heard a few people complain about The Hunger Games narrator, but I really enjoy her reading style. My mind never drifts, and I'm always clear who everyone is and what they are doing. I think it can be hard to know, sometimes, if author or narrator are to blame, but I don't find Carolyn McCormick annoying at all. Perhaps it has less to do with accents per se, and more to do with our own internal voices. So I guess that means mine is female, irritating and condescending! She has also picked up a slight American feel to her accent, probably due to all the American shows I watch. She would probably read Hunger Games in a similar way to the narrator.

[Tina]

I lemmed The Lies of Lock Lamora. Not because of the narrator, who was great, but because I just didn't get into the story. If I had been reading it, I probably would have lemmed it a lot sooner.

[kvon]

I couldn't get through the audio of Pretties due to the nasal tone of the narrator; and the (South African) accent on one of the No 1 Detective Agency books killed it for me.
On the other hand, I haven't finished The Land of Laughs because the protagonist is such an idiotic twit.

[Tiffany]

I had to lem the audio of Cloud Atlas. I think it was the dialect at the beginning of the book. I didn't even get through the first couple of pages. I fully intend to read the book, but there wasn't any way I was getting through the audio.
I think it's sort of like reading Shakespeare. Shakespeare is much easier to understand when you see it performed as opposed to reading it.

[Aeryn98]

I was really excited when Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber came out in audio. Not far into it I had to stop because the narrator was making eating noises in my ear. Yes, in the book the character was talking while he was eating, but I can use my imagination rather than having dissgusting smacking noises in my ear. Ick.