Audio Books

I get paid today and was thinking of getting some Iain M. Banks books.

just to clarify, unabridged is the full novel, no cuts?
 
I have a lot of audio stories that I listen to while traveling. a lot of Start Trek adaptations, but all so Agatha Christie, Conan-Doyle, PG Wodehouse and many other. They help break up the noise and distraction of the train. car or coach, while traveling but still let you look out the window.
The standout one for me is To Kill a Mockingbird read by Sissy Spacek. She has just the right lilt and pathos in her voice for you to feel the southern heat and closeness of it all.
On the other extreme, there is a BBC version of a Batman vs Superman tale, where everyone seems to be screaming and running around all the time. It was so frantic it was almost unlistenable. Then I read that it was a compilation of mini episodes that were dropped in to another programme. Hearing 1 or 2 of theses 3 minute dramas a day would have made more sense but 50+ minutes a disc was too much.
The one I really can't get on with is Neverwhere ready by Neil Gaiman. I love his writing and love the book Neverwhere but he reads it all wrong! Not that he would know of course;) He pauses in the wrong places and emphasises the wrong parts of words or phrases.
To me it feel like James T Kirk Trying... To read... Shakes... Spear.
 
I agree about Gaiman reading Neverwhere. In fact, I find most authors make fairly poor narrators.

My biggest surprise was when I was sampling the audio books of the James Herriot stories being read by Christopher Timothy. You would have thought this would be a perfect marriage but Timothy sound angry and put out in the sample I listened to, and it wasn't because the story called for it.
 
So I bought Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games, Use of Weapons, Excession and Look to Windward.

Looks like some kind of Iain M. Banks listen is in my near future. Obviously starting with Consider Phlebas.
 
Sooner or later someone is bound to come up with a device that allows an audiobook to adopt the voice of any personailty.

I think I could listen to any book narrated by Christopher Lee or Richard Burton. And just for a laugh Basil Brush (boom boom!)
 
Perhaps Joe Pesquale needs to start reading for audio books.

Vince, It'll be interesting to listen to. I found that particular chapter a difficult read, I would go as far to say that I found the chapter unnecessary..

I think I'll read new books and listen to old books.
 
I cheat!

I have an app on my phone called AIReader that reads ebooks. It is not as good as a real audiobook book but better than reading physical or electronic books.

Can you drive at 70 mph while reading Ender's Game?
 
I listen to a lot of audiobooks. They fit in while driving or doing mundane tasks. I generally don't listen to nonfiction while driving because it's easier for me to miss something and have to backtrack to re-listen. But maybe that's just me.

It really depends on the narrator(s) and if it's a good match for the tale.
 
@psikeyhackr , if you get a chance could you post a link to AI Reader? -it sounds good;) (I stuck 'AI' and 'reader' into the search engines and they came back with a Pandora's Box worth of gobbeldygook!)
 
I've been listening to Consider Phlebas all week instead of watching telly and I'm about 3 hours in (We're just arriving at Vavatch). It's been a pretty interesting experience. The reader tries to read in voices so that each character has a different sound and accent. I'm also surprised at the number of words that I'm mispronouncing. I'm also finding that I'm sleeping a lot better as I'm not overstimulated by the TV.

Definitely working for me and It has been very enjoyable but I am finding that it's really making me want to re-read the book more.
 
I thought the narrator for Consider Phlebas to be top notch. I think he reads all the Culture novels. I thought his accent for the Idiran characters were excellent, not how I heard them when I read the book, but now I'll probably hear that accent from now on.

You're right about it making you want to reread the Culture, Rodders.
 
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