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Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

The Books The Speakee

Our Lady Has Left the Building

11:52 / 12.03.07

I'm currently listening to an audio book version of 'Parable of the Sower' by Octavia Butler and, while it took ages to get going, I think I'm enjoying it more than I would do if I were trying to read it. I hope that sometime I'll be able to find audio versions of James Joyce's work because I just can't read his work.

So, who here listens to audiobooks? What are you listening to? Is it stuff that you'd normally read, or do you go for different stuff? And while we're at it we might as well discuss fiction podcasts, for what's good and what's not.

Twig the Wonder Kid

14:23 / 12.03.07

I listen to a lot of audio on my commute, both podcasts and audiobooks. I don't have as much time for reading as I once did so these days I probably consume half my lit this way.

I find that the quality of the reading makes a big difference, and can make or break an audiobook irrespective of the text. Peter Capaldi's readings of Iain Banks spring to mind as an example of it done well.

A great source for audiobooks is G=pod, who have links to torrents of stuff such as Chuck Palahniuk's Choke, Alan Moore's Brought To Light and lots of interesting non-fiction.

GogMickGog

10:41 / 13.03.07

Martin Jarvis is a pretty safe bet as king of the talking book - his versions of Wodehouse/Jennings/Just William are damn near definitive.

Saying that, I was raised on Kenneth Williams doing Just William. The man's voice was an unbridled pleasure to hear, somewhat like the aural equivalent of a rich mince pie.

Is that G-pod site for ipod audio tracks? If not, does anyone know where I might find some? The old time radio adventure stuff linked elsewhere causes mine to turn off as soon as I play it...

Twig the Wonder Kid

12:26 / 03.04.07

I think listening to audiobooks, i.e. having them read to you, is a very different experience to reading them yourself.

It's almost akin to the difference between comics and film, whereby with film you have the speed of storytelling dictated to you, but with comics you can choose your consumption speed to suit your mood.

With a book you are in control of the narrative, whereas with an audiobook you are along for the ride. Some books are actually improved by this, others not.

jamesPD

13:12 / 03.04.07

LibriVox is an organisation that records out of copyright books, mainly dictated by a range of volunteers. They are free to download, often available in multiple languages and audio formats, and cover a range of topics from science, philosophy, religion and fiction.

It was BoingBoinged a few days ago, and I enqueued a bunch of books for download. The catalog can be found here.

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