Anyone else have issues with audiobook narration?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| So I recently started trying to listen to audiobooks, as I was burning through podcasts too fast. However, I'm finding that I'm really disliking them, for the most part, and I think it's because of the narration, as opposed to the content. The only one I've liked thus far is Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. I think that was okay because it was non-fiction and the narrator had a nice accent. For the fiction I've tried the narration -which is really more like voice acting- is just so cringe I can't get into the story... Does this happen to anyone else? Am I just picking duds or is it time to give up and go back to podcasts? |
Anonymous
| Which ones didn’t you like? |
Anonymous
The Fever by Megan Abbott Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate Look Alive Out There by Sloane Crosley |
Anonymous
|
I love audiobooks -- there are definitely better narrators and not so great ones.
I LOVED Tom Hanks narrating The Dutch House by Ann Patchet. Great story -- wonderful narrating!! |
Anonymous
| The narrator matters at least as much as the author for audio books. You have to listen to the samples before buying |
Anonymous
|
Narration can be hit or miss! Sometimes the narrator
is so good at getting different voices, I don’t even notice after a while if it’s man doing a woman’s voice or vice versa. Non-fiction where there isn’t a lot of dialogue just is a question of whether you like the reader. I also loved Patrick Raddon Keefe’s reading of Say Nothing! The northern Irish accent is lovely to me. I always read reviews carefully to see what people say about the narrator and you can listen to a sample on audible before buying. You can also search for narrators you like since they sometimes read similar authors or series. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| Love podcasts. Love non-fiction audiobooks. I CANNOT do fiction on audio. It’s just terrible. Never realized how much I make up voices for characters in my head when I read. |
Anonymous
Some voices are grating. Try other narrators. You can listen to samples before buying. Apples Never Fall Project Hail Mary American Dirt Unbroken |
Anonymous
| I actually hate both podcasts and audiobooks. For similar reasons. |
Anonymous
This, 100%. The woman who did "The Push" was amazing. |
Anonymous
| I listen to tons of audiobooks but have to go 2x speed or I hate every narrator. |
Anonymous
| Always preview. |
Anonymous
I love audiobooks too and speed up the narration as well. The narrators don’t generally bother me, but I think most speak way to slowly. |
Anonymous
Ugh I hated this performance. But to me Tom hanks only ever sounds like Tom hanks, so I didn’t get a good picture in my mind of the character beyond Tom Hanks. |
Anonymous
+1 I read almost exclusively via audible. I love audiobooks. The narrator is 100% performing and I love it. Rebecca Lowman reading Rules of Civility Sissy Spacek reading To Kill a Mockingbird Neil Patrick Harris reading Henry Huggins 
|