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Tigana
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TIG: Not impressed by audio version
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I agree, I had a bit of time with the Audiobook, and I much rather the "narration" voice I have in my head!
I can see where the "reading out loud" of this book could come across as Tolkien-esque. One reason would be that he IS very much rooted in Tolkien, having cut his writing teeth working with Christopher Tolkien editing JRR's posthumous works. But there is also something about the actual reading which makes the language sound even more "intense" (can't think of a better word). And, yes, his reading style is a bit laid back.
But I did find that after a few chapters, I got in the groove of both the writing style and Simon Vance's interpretation. But you definitely can't go wrong with the paper version.
@Vance, Or e-book if you get it, which reminds me...
Glad I spent this month's Audible credit on Fall of Hyperion then. Since I only get one credit a month I was torn which way to go with it. I finally decided to continue Hyperion via audio and pick up Tigana at Half Price.
Oh thank heavens - it isn't just me! Ive restarted the Audio for Tigana so many times now that Ive set my timer to halt after 15 minutes... I Guarantee that I am asleep before then. This isn't a definitive negative - it means i can self medicate vs use a sedative in case of emergency... but thats not what i intended at all when I bought Tigana. I do Love Simon Vances' Voice - but - I sleep.
I'm loving the audio with Simon Vance. Maybe it's because I'm partial to the English accent, but I love the flow.
When I first started the audio book I was having trouble too. I listened to the first chapter four times before it finally clicked. I think because there is a lot of detail, it just took me awhile to get into the right headspace and absorb what was being said.
Yes, I think the problem at the beginning is as much data overload as Simon's reading. I am about 1/4 of the way through and the narration is very comfortable now.
Not sure if it's much Data Overload than it is that Chapter 1 is meant to be very vague... It clears up before you get to chapter 5.
Vance wrote: "Yes, I think the problem at the beginning is as much data overload as Simon's reading. I am about 1/4 of the way through and the narration is very comfortable now."I agree Vance. There are so many names and locations tossed around early on, it's hard to keep track of when you can't just flip back a couple pages to double check something or look at a map.
But I really like the audio so far. I'm a couple hours in. Simon Vance's voice just feels like a good fit for this type of story.
I'm very glad to hear that it picks up after a few chapters. That makes me much more eager to go back and give it another chance, rather than shelling out again for the paper edition.
Ok. I have now ordered a paper copy online to augment the audio book and slay the first chapter. I dislike the idea of lemming a book before the month has even begun, hopefully I can now enjoy both.
Aloha wrote: "I'm loving the audio with Simon Vance. Maybe it's because I'm partial to the English accent, but I love the flow."I adore the accent, may my husband and I never know which came first- my love of his accent or my love of him. Simons voice is like listening to my sweetheart read aloud - yumm.
@Arrika, are you going to listen to the audio book while reading along? I did an experiment like that once, found myself paced really well but kept wanting to skip ahead of the narration!Let us know how it goes!
@Nimrod & Arika - I don't think you meant you'd read them simultaneously did you? I started the song of Ice and Fire series on audio book but enjoyed it so much I got the books to get me through the story quicker. I'd have the audio on my commute to and from work and would then just pick up the story where I was up to on the kindle and vice versa.
@David, I am not sure that is what Arrika meant, but that is the experiment I did... Think those read along books for kids, but without the annoying ring to pass the page... LolI wanted to see if it would be quicker for me to listen to the audio book or read the book myself... Found I enjoyed the pace the audiobook had for world building, but when something interesting would happen, I would read laps around the narration as I usually am a fast reader...
I had a completely different experience, I'm loving the audiobook so far and nothing has even happened yet (just finished chapter 2). I think the narrator is suitably atmospheric, doesn't try to overact the different parts and is quite a good fit. I'm not too sure what seemed Tolken-esque about this or why that's even a bad thing but I quite like it so far. The only downside so far is that the political intrigue may be a bit hard to follow in the audio only version. Keeping track of all those fantasy names is tricky when you can't re-listen to segments as quickly as you can re-read them.
Even reading it has taken me most of the book to follow the politics involved... Not sure if I would have been able to follow with audio only.
Krystal wrote: "When I first started the audio book I was having trouble too. I listened to the first chapter four times before it finally clicked. I think because there is a lot of detail, it just took me awhile ..."totally agree. Chapter 4-ish is where it started to flow pretty well for me. Those first few chapters though...Yeesh. Rough is an understatement. all I was thinking was, "And how many hours am I going to have to listen to this?"
Listened to chapter one on 1.5x and couldn't stand it. Started over and slowed it down to 1x and still had trouble. Now on try #3 and starting to settle in. I don't think I can place the blame on Vance though. It's a tough book to dive into with an almost poetic writing style. Definitely takes some getting used to.
@Ja, as expressed before, the book itself is vague on the first 2 chapters on purpose, just need to get through it :-)
Simon Vance's voice is that perfect soothing tone so it becomes white noise to me. I choose to do audio books frequently because I like to work on projects while I'm "reading". But even doing absolutely nothing except listening, I find myself having difficulty keeping my attention from wandering. :/
@Eiragwen, I agree, but that's me with most audiobooks... lol
I have only listened to one other book narrated by Simon Vance and that put me to sleep too. He is really good at maintaining a high level of tension in his voice the whole way through. Unfortunately it becomes monotonous and sleep-inducing. I prefer the other Simons (specifically Prebble and Jones) when choosing an audiobook.
To each their own I guess. I'm loving the audiobook version!
I finished Tigana and thought Simon Vance did a terrific job narrating and dramatizing the voices. What most irritates me is when a narrator sounds like he has not read the book and is dramatizing as he goes along. Simon Vance was very professional and sounded like he fits the intonations of the voice with the passages in the book. The book was about memory, according to the author, so that longing feel in the voice, the ache for Tigana, was perfect for the theme of the book.
I really loved the Audible book with Simon Vance. I guess it just shows that no one or no thing can make everyone happy.
I am not sure it was that I disliked his voice... From the sample I heard, I may have just not liked the feel he gave Devin and Alessan when he performed their voices... Especially Catriana's...
I'm approaching chapter 10 and I'm flowing through this pretty easily. I like his tone and the voices that he gives to the different characters. Sometimes it is a little hard to tell when he's changed scenes, unlike in a book when you have that break. But with the poetry of the prose, his voice just adds to it, and I like it. Like words normally do, his voice manages to whisk me away to the scenes he is reading.It did take me a bit to get into it, but it helps that I listen to it on my commute to and from work every day.
@Nicole, I can't even imagine how hard it would be to notice the scene changes in the audiobook... sometimes all we got was a * * * between paragraphs and then we were in either another perspective or another scene.
Nimrod wrote: "@Nicole, I can't even imagine how hard it would be to notice the scene changes in the audiobook... sometimes all we got was a * * * between paragraphs and then we were in either another perspective..."Yeah, you should try reading some of the Malazan books - you don't even get the * * * and I find myself having to go back a page to figure out where the transition was.
That's like some of the postmodern books. Some don't even tell you which character is speaking. You only have a dash and a paragraph break between a phrase. I guess the author figure that if you're brave enough to approach postmodernism, they are not going to cater to you, that you should have sense enough to detect the subtleties. I guess that goes back to poetry days when you have to rely on the rhythm and clues to get what the poem is about. It's hard to imagine that poems used to be more popular reads than prose.
I'm okay with Simon Vance's narration. The only issue I have with the audiobook so far is I just finished listening to The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest which is ALSO narrated by Simon Vance. As he uses similar voices for certain characters, I find myself mixing up characters from the two books. It's kind of odd when you realize how dramatically different the two novels are.
Eiragwen wrote: "Simon Vance's voice is that perfect soothing tone so it becomes white noise to me. I choose to do audio books frequently because I like to work on projects while I'm "reading". But even doing absol..."thats why I dont do audiobooks, I think have selective hearing. Only I'm not selecting what I want to hear
As I've said before, I'm not a fan of audiobooks, mainly because I read too fast. I decided to give Tigana a try in audiobook format because I'd started the paper copy a few times and never finished it (not thrown down in disgust, just drifted away and read something else).That said, I am enjoying Simon Vance's reading, and the book itself, quite a bit. What I do notice, though, is one of the reasons I drifted off from the book while trying to read it fast - Kay writes beautifully, but he is quite long-winded and poetically redundant. The same refrains are used over and over again and I'm sure in skimming through them while reading, I was missing the "voice" of the author and part of the appeal. On the other hand, it does get a bit tiring, but I've only been listening to the audiobook driving to and from work (20-30 minutes at a time) and on a long walk (about 1.5 hrs).
Here is my impression of what I'm talking about (I'm spoilering it in case you haven't got very far yet). This is not a quote, but not quite a parody. Also, if I screw up a name, remember that I'm going by the audiobook and a few looks at Wikipedia.
(view spoiler)
And so on... I actually don't mind it much in the audiobook, but it can get grating when reading through at a rapid pace. I have a hard time reading poetry without reading it out loud or at least sub-vocalizing it for the same reasons.
I read a bit of a paper copy today at a B&N and discovered that I place nearly all of the blame for that reaction on the audiobook performer. I found the written prose to be quite solid and it didn't bear (for me) the sense of 'undifferentiated Tolkein knock-off' that I got from the audiobook reading. Your mileage may vary wildly, but I had a negative enough reaction to the one version that I thought I'd share it, in case folks were still deciding how to consume the novel.