CHUD.com Community › Forums › ARTS & LITERATURE › Books and Magazines › To which audiobook are you currently listening?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

To which audiobook are you currently listening? - Page 2

post #51 of 210
11/11/05 at 7:14pm
Finally back on the stick, with READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN. I'll be back in three months to tell you what I thought (it's 18 hours long).

On another topic, I really don't get the whole 'unabridged' thing that seems to be the main way stores want to sell audiobooks. Who are the people that say, "Well, if I have to listen to the damn thing then I want to skip every other page." I refuse to buy unabridged books which can make it difficult to find one that sounds good.
Reply
post #52 of 210
1/4/06 at 11:58am
Thread Starter 
Life of Pi closed as well as it opened.

Currently in the spinner: "The Pleasure of my Company," written and read by Steve Martin. Though well read, it's just not a particularly intriguing book.

Next up: "Altered Carbon," by Richard K. Morgan.
Reply
post #53 of 210
1/23/06 at 3:26pm
The Da Vinci Code. Alas.
Reply
post #54 of 210
1/30/06 at 7:48pm
Haven't listened to an audio book in a while but the standouts for me were anything by Stephen King read by Frank Muller. The guy was perfect for King's writing style and stories. Too bad he got in that motorcycle accident that ended his career....not sure if he's still alive. One oddity is that Michael Moore's books aren't read by the author which I always found strange.
Reply
post #55 of 210
1/31/06 at 11:56am
Thread Starter 
There's an audiobook out there called something like "The Wavedancer Benefit - A Tribute to Frank Muller". Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Pat Conroy are among the authors who read their own work and praise Muller. I think Muller's still alive and continuing to recover somewhere in the Carolinas.
Reply
post #56 of 210
1/31/06 at 12:02pm
I've heard that he's living in Apex, a little town outside Raliegh, NC. I understand that he's made a lot of headway since his accident, but he'll probably never be well enough to perform again.
Reply
post #57 of 210
2/4/06 at 6:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankCobretti
This morning, I finished 'Bay of Souls,' by Robert Stone, read by Arliss Howard. What a mess. Initially, I thought this audiobook was the victim of lousy abridgement, but it turns out that this is the unabridged version. It's just a mess, with characters I didn't invest in, narrative threads that went nowhere, and imagery that meant nothing. I was going to can this one after the first tape, but I so enjoyed "Outerbridge Reach" that I hung in there. Bad call.

Traffic was slow today, so I moved on to 'Portnoy's Complaint,' by Phillip Roth and read by Ron Silver. So far, it's funny, biting, and engagingly performed. I'm in!


The black House by King and Straub
Reply
post #58 of 210
2/4/06 at 6:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ockham
I used to rent audiobooks from 'audiobooks.com', but they discontinued the service late last year. Are any of you guys renting audiobooks? If so, from where?

I go to the nearest library.
Reply
post #59 of 210
2/4/06 at 6:40pm
Most audiobookstores rent as well as sell.

Right now I just finished listening to Sean Bean do a fantastic job with the Legends of King Arthur. Really terrific. For all ages.
Reply
post #60 of 210
2/5/06 at 4:10pm
Right now, I'm listening to the Black House by King and Straub
Reply
post #61 of 210
2/6/06 at 12:21pm
Thread Starter 
I'm currently listening to Richard K. Morgan's Altered Carbon. Though the narrator gets creepily breathless when reading the sexy parts, I'm happy with his performance overall. The book itself is thoughtful and fun.
Reply
post #62 of 210
2/6/06 at 5:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankCobretti
I'm currently listening to Richard K. Morgan's Altered Carbon. Though the narrator gets creepily breathless when reading the sexy parts, I'm happy with his performance overall. The book itself is thoughtful and fun.
Good to hear, Frank!
Reply
post #63 of 210
2/7/06 at 8:13pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham
Good to hear, Frank!

Ah, I forgot to note that the Estimable Graham is the very one who gave me this audiobook as part of the CHUD Holiday Gift Exchange. The man has great taste!
Reply
post #64 of 210
2/9/06 at 1:17pm
Currently listening to A Wizard of Earthsea read by Harlan Ellison with a bit of LeGuin herself.
Reply
post #65 of 210
2/21/06 at 10:36am
Thread Starter 
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, read by the author.

It's a sad and beautiful story of a life, made worthwhile by its perspectives on Afghani life and culture and its author's way with words.

Edit: I finished it today, and I'm very impressed. While I did wince at a few poetic parallels, the book was thoughtful and heartfelt, and it choked me up more than once. Bravo.
Reply
post #66 of 210
2/21/06 at 2:17pm
Listened to that - and read it - last year. Terrific.
Reply
post #67 of 210
3/5/06 at 7:33pm
Thread Starter 
1776, by David McCollough, read by the author.

This is a glacial book, glacially read, but a man's got to eat his vegetables.
Reply
post #68 of 210
3/6/06 at 7:17pm
Legends
Stories by the Masters of Fantasy Vol. 1
Just finishing up Rober Silverbergs piece on to Stephen King next.
Reply
post #69 of 210
3/14/06 at 12:01am
Thread Starter 
The Slave, by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

This is an 8-CD title, and I'm most of the way through CD #1. So far, the story has a great setup: a Jew and a Gentile fall in love in feudal Poland. Singer has a gift for scene and dialogue, and he's already given me some images I doubt I'll soon forget.

A fine listen.
Reply
post #70 of 210
3/19/06 at 1:02am
A Crack at the Edge of the World, by Simon Winchester.
Reply
post #71 of 210
3/19/06 at 2:24am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Subotai
A Crack at the Edge of the World, by Simon Winchester.
What do you think of it?
Reply
post #72 of 210
3/20/06 at 11:53pm
Thread Starter 
The Slave turned out to be a solid book, but it was so heavily grounded in Jewish culture that some of it blew right by me.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Guide to Punctuation, by Lynne Truss, was a series of short BBC radio spots on grammar. Hey, there's no such thing as an ex-English major. I just began Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season because that's the kind of baseball whore I am.
Reply
post #73 of 210
4/1/06 at 8:42pm
Thread Starter 
Faithful makes many references to Moneyball: The Art of Winning and Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis. It's a fascinating book about baseball, and it offers profound insights into metrical analyis and human resources management. This book is must reading for baseball fans, professional analysts, and HR specialists.

I'm about four discs in, though, and I still don't have the answer to an important question: is he right?
Reply
post #74 of 210
4/3/06 at 4:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankCobretti
What do you think of it?

I liked it. Entertaining and informative with some nice turns of phrase. Winchester can write. Ultimately, I suppose, a pessimistic view of the future.
Enjoyed it more than Krakatoa.

Moving on to Gates of Fire by Pressfield. The narrator does an excellent job.
Reply
post #75 of 210
4/14/06 at 10:24am
I was on the road recently and listened to my first ever audiobook-The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis. It's performed by Joss Ackland, who has a rich, resonant, suave British voice. I haven't listened to the whole thing, but so far the performance is impressive. Each chapter begins with the Demon Srewtape intoning "My Dear Wormwood..." and its cool to hear the variety of tone and temper in the actor's voice. The text itself is more insightful than I expected. It feels honest, even to this non-Christian.
Reply
post #76 of 210
4/14/06 at 11:04am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Subotai
Moving on to Gates of Fire by Pressfield. The narrator does an excellent job.
I have fond memories of reading that book on the Star Ferry between Kowloon and Hong Kong proper. When I got off the ferry, I kicked 27 guys in the face, rappelled off a skyscraper, and drove 137 mph through downtown traffic.

Nobody batted an eye. That shit happens all the time in Hong Kong.
Reply
post #77 of 210
4/14/06 at 11:09am
Thread Starter 
But seriously, folks, I recently listened to "Luckiest Man Alive," a Lou Gherig Biography, and "Ted Williams."

Gherig was a great man who happened to be a great ballplayer. Gherig was a right prick who happened to be a great ballplayer.

Next up, I'm taking a break from fiction to do some Japanese language CDs. I'm not looking for fluency. I'm just looking for "Hi," "Excuse me," "Do you speak English," and "Where's the bathroom." You know - the usual.
Reply
post #78 of 210
4/14/06 at 3:17pm
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pages--yes, my library found their copy. It's dryer and more academic than I had expected. You hear this work quoted or appropriated by looneys and hippies so often (in fact, when I came home yesterday, my wife was watching one of those highly speculative documentaries about the Gospel of Mary on the National Geographic channel) that you expect it to be much more lurid. I can't decide if this impresses or disapoints me.
Reply
post #79 of 210
4/17/06 at 6:19pm
I've found that Terry Pratchett serves my purposes for audiobooks well. Discworld novels are too light for me to read, but they're great to listen to while you're doing something else at the same time. Comedy also benefits from a good performance. I've got Going Postal and Hat Full of Sky, both very well read by Stephen Briggs.
Reply
post #80 of 210
4/19/06 at 1:07am
Went up to Ottawa this weekend, a bit of a drive - listened to A Storm of Swords, narrated by Roy Dotrice. Another terrific job.
Reply
post #81 of 210
4/28/06 at 3:51pm
Thread Starter 
I'm at the halfway point of Friedman's The World is Flat.

I think it should be required reading (or listening) for anyone with an interest in global affairs. Friedman lays out thoughtful, plausible ideas and observations with the clarity that comes from mastery of material and medium. The reader, whose name I don't recall, does a fine job.

This book is informative, engrossing, and thought provoking. I enthusiastically recommend it.
Reply
post #82 of 210
5/5/06 at 3:01pm
Someone mentioned it above but Gaiman's Anansi Boys is frickin brilliant. It's a great story with a fantastic performance by Lenny Henry...one of the best I have ever heard. It actually works really well as an audio book because it's all about oral storytelling and it's place in shaping the world. It also played well immediately after listening to Adams' reading his own Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul.
Reply
post #83 of 210
5/12/06 at 3:13pm
So I finally finished the utterly fantastic READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN. I had originally guessed it would take three months, but it ended up taking six, heh. Part of the reason is that I went on a pretty serious music bender, using the commute to rock out. And then there were times where RLIT got really heavy and sad and I would just need a break. But it was interesting to get an idea of just how hideous a fanatical religious totalitarian system can be, particularly relevant these days.... well, I guess it's more correct to say "particularly relevant at any time in the past, present, and future".

Even the long tangents into classic romantic literature, something I indiscriminately loathe basically because I'm an oaf who just doesn't "get" it, were very instructive and interesting.

Having finally gotten this book put to bed, I'm enjoying the freedom of opportunity knowing there's a world full of audiobooks just waiting for me. I'm thinking about something a little less painful, maybe some classic fiction. Hopefully not 18 CDs in length. We'll see.
Reply
post #84 of 210
5/12/06 at 8:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BruceL
I'm thinking about something a little less painful, maybe some classic fiction. Hopefully not 18 CDs in length. We'll see.
May I recommend THE THREE MUSKETEERS? It's a whole lotta fun.
Reply
post #85 of 210
5/15/06 at 11:51am
Another smash-n-grab run on Barnes & Noble before a movie... ffs, this latest set cost me almost sixty bucks. I *really* need to start buying my audiobooks on Ebay or something.

No _Three Musketeers_ at B&N, although that would have been absolutely perfect. I was once again stymied by the mystifying volume of abridged books, so I ended up with _For Whom The Bell Tolls_. I kind of expect I'll regret not having a print version to linger over, but so far, so very very good. Bombs, bridges, drinking brandy with a scarred Russian general, and rugged guerillas experiencing existential fatigue... and that's only halfway through disk 1!

Edited to add that this too is 18 CDs. And now I realize that I'm complaining about abridged books in the same thread that I'm complaining about CD count. I guess video games really do rot your brain.
Reply
post #86 of 210
5/15/06 at 6:58pm
Thread Starter 
Dude, it must suck to have to buy all your audiobooks. If it weren't for my local public library, I'd go broke.
Reply
post #87 of 210
5/16/06 at 1:46pm
It's purely a time issue. Barnes & Noble is one mile away: in, select, pay, home. 20 minutes, and the only time I ever have 20 minutes is after my kids are asleep or if the wife and I are seeing a movie right next to B&N. The libraries have more restricted hours, are farther away, and who knows about the selection.

And anyway, right now I'm pounding through audiobooks at a rate of... two a year. I can swing that.
Reply
post #88 of 210
5/16/06 at 2:15pm
Bruce, both Nick and I have Audible Platinum subscriptions that we adore. $24 a month for two books per month (unless you want the ungodly long, 20+ hour books). Might want to check out audible.com.

(I'm such a shill)
Reply
post #89 of 210
5/16/06 at 7:01pm
Been thinking about that, I've just been waiting for them to come up with a good offer. I don't need an iPod shuffle right now.
Reply
post #90 of 210
5/16/06 at 9:39pm
It's a good suggestion but unfortunately I can only listen to audiobooks in the car, which means I need CDs and not downloadable stuff (plus there's the whole 'still on dialup' thing). So I guess I'm stuck with buying 'em. Thankfully, I am very, very rich*.

* Not really
Reply
post #91 of 210
6/7/06 at 1:39pm
Wow, _For Whom The Bell Tolls_ was stunning. Campbell Scott was a great reader, although I did think the tones he picked for the narraration and main character were a little too drab and monotone. He sure nailed some of the supporting characters, especially Pablo and Karkoff. The accents were great, very fluid shifts between them, and it must have been a hell of a job to remember so many different characters. And I was wrong about wishing I'd bought a paper copy; the verbal simplicity and Hemingway's deliberate approach ended up being perfect for the car. What a totally kick-ass book.

The wife and I are going into serious belt-tightening overdrive now to be able to pay for our cabin, so my days of dropping sixty bucks on audiobooks are officially over. Hello, library! Man I hope the selection is decent and unabridged.
Reply
post #92 of 210
6/8/06 at 11:40am
Thought this was a pretty useful find: Project Gutenburg free audiobooks and more free audiobooks at Librivox.
Reply
post #93 of 210
6/8/06 at 11:41am
I plan on getting the Anderson Cooper audiobook; unless someone beats me to it and gets it to me for my birthday.
Reply
post #94 of 210
6/8/06 at 11:51am
I've been meaning to give audiobooks a try for a while. There's a stack of them in my local library, and they're only a few coins to rent for a couple of weeks.
Reply
post #95 of 210
6/9/06 at 6:01pm
I just finished Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell on audio. I had already read the book, but I much preferred the audio version. Simon Prebble did an absolutely fantastic job. So...32 hours later...I am looking for the next selection.
Reply
post #96 of 210
6/13/06 at 11:14am
Thread Starter 
Cinnamon Kiss, by Walter Mosely, begins with Easy Rawlins and Mouse in a dive bar. Mouse is trying to talk Easy into a heist. That's right. A heist. And Easy is listening.

I've always enjoyed reading Mosely's work, and Cinnamon Kiss is my first go with him on audio. The narrator is doing a fine job, but the production company chose to add some sound effects and music, and it's rather distracting. Nonetheless, it's Mosely so it's worth the time.
Reply
post #97 of 210
6/20/06 at 6:21pm
Thread Starter 
Cinnamon Kiss ended well. If you like Mosely, you'll like this. I wish Devil in a Blue Dress had made money, because I'd love to see more EZ movies.

Now, I'm on disc 2 of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Shadow. It's fun and well performed, and it's motivating me to revisit Ender's Game, which I haven't read in over a decade.
Reply
post #98 of 210
7/14/06 at 6:54pm
Been moving through the Librivox free library, then I hit Bookman's and got some used stuff.

Completed On the Decay of the Art of Lying (Mark Twain) and Rime of the Ancient Mariner, both enjoyable although the reader of the second was worlds better than the first. I made it halfway through Plato's Euthyphro before the misery that was the recording quality and reader talent made me turn it off and snap my CD-R in half. For God's sake, who thought that was worth putting online?

On a non-Librivox item now, selections from Atwood's Wilderness Tips. It's ok, decent even, although considering how spectacular The Age of Lead is I'm surprised at how less fulfilling these stories are. Plato's Poetics are on deck.
Reply
post #99 of 210
7/17/06 at 9:59pm
I am listening to Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie. I am not sure what I think about it at the moment. There is so much description in the beginning beautifully written, but nearly overwhelming at times.
Reply
post #100 of 210
8/10/06 at 4:13pm
Thread Starter 
I'm about halfway through Isaac Asimov's Foundation, read by Scott Brick. It's brilliant stuff, the kind of material that reminds my why science fiction captured my imagination all those years ago. Asimov's vision of future technology may be OBE, but his ideas concerning the formation and governance of societies and civilizations remain though provoking. Add to that tight plotting, interesting characters, and an excellent performance by Brick, and you have a certified winner on your hands.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Books and Magazines
CHUD.com Community › Forums › ARTS & LITERATURE › Books and Magazines › To which audiobook are you currently listening?