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The General posted:What's the book about? The book is about the titular character and his all knowing teacher who get marched through a series of increasingly desperate situations, culminating in their becoming filth wallowing poo poo farmers (more or less).
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Aug 15, 2010 23:36
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Hello friends, I need to spend an Audible credit on something so I ask your advice on which of these is a better listen: Dune by Frank Herbert or Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America by Robert Charles Wilson
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Sep 17, 2010 21:17
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If you've never read Dune then go for that, it is credited as one of the best sci-fi books ever for a reason. Only problem is for some weird reason (budgeting? hosed up cast schedule?) only like 2/3rds of the audioplay is an actual audioplay, with some chapters interspersed with just the narrator reading all roles. The villain has a big baritone for when it is an audioplay but the single narator type makes him have almost a scottish accent. So it is a little jarring. The single narator does all of the incidental/"talking in their own head" text (A LOT OF THAT in Dune) though, and Simon Vance is quite excellent so it is not too much of a problem. I just wish they had stuck with one or another. Also, it is 99% unabridged, as they edited out the 'he said' or 'she said' parts for the audioplay sections, since with the different voice actors you already know who said what.
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Sep 17, 2010 22:15
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Syrinxx posted:Hello friends, I need to spend an Audible credit on something so I ask your advice on which of these is a better listen: I literally just finished listening to the new production of Dune, which is probably my favorite SF novel of all time, and it's pretty great. The main narrator is Simon Vance, who is one my favorites, but like someone else pointed out in this thread a while ago, this is a bit of a strange production, because some of the chapters have different actors playing the various characters, with Vance narrating, while others have him doing all the voices in traditional audiobook fashion. I have no idea why they did this (to cut costs, maybe?) but it works out fine once you get used to it. I can't tell you anything about the other book you mentioned, but if you're a fan of Dune or just great SF in general, you can't really go wrong with this one.
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Sep 17, 2010 22:21
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Borh posted:I literally just finished listening to the new production of Dune, which is probably my favorite SF novel of all time, and it's pretty great. The main narrator is Simon Vance, who is one my favorites, but like someone else pointed out in this thread a while ago, this is a bit of a strange production, because some of the chapters have different actors playing the various characters, with Vance narrating, while others have him doing all the voices in traditional audiobook fashion. I have no idea why they did this (to cut costs, maybe?) but it works out fine once you get used to it. I can't tell you anything about the other book you mentioned, but if you're a fan of Dune or just great SF in general, you can't really go wrong with this one. Yeah, first book is like 4/5ths audioplay with some chapters being a straight unabridged audiobook. Simon Vance is very excellent-- he's the same guy who has done the Swedish Girl Who Played With Fire/etc books. He's like Mr. Top Star Audiobook guy now. Also, the guy who plays Paul is pretty awesome. But the first book is like 4/5ths audioplay, with the second book being like 1/3rd, and by the third it's just a full normal audiobook and not audio play.
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Sep 17, 2010 22:37
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Yeah, Vance did a great job with the Millennium Trilogy. I know absolutely nothing of the Swedish language, but I loved the way he pronounced all the proper nouns in the books. Is he the narrator for the rest of the Dune books? I really feel like revisiting the entire series right now and they should be great, even without the rest of the cast.
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Sep 17, 2010 22:51
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Borh posted:Yeah, Vance did a great job with the Millennium Trilogy. I know absolutely nothing of the Swedish language, but I loved the way he pronounced all the proper nouns in the books.
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Sep 17, 2010 23:12
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Thanks I picked up Dune with my last credit. I was actually looking to cancel my Audible gold membership for a bit while I catch up on some reading backlog but if you cancel with a credit you lose it. I don't know why they wouldn't just leave the credit in your account and let you cancel but oh well. edit: They offered me a $20 account credit not to cancel so I accepted it, bought the Julian Comstock book for a total of $9 and canceled anyway. Syrinxx fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Sep 18, 2010 |
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Sep 18, 2010 20:33
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Just a warning to everyone, if you're listening to books in your car, be careful when you have your windows down. Especially for books like Gone with the Wind when you're driving through the hood and are listening to a scene with rants from pissed off confederates.
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Sep 19, 2010 17:16
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Syrinxx posted:Thanks I picked up Dune with my last credit. Audible's cancellation policy is a bit weird. the first time you cancel your account, there is a web form for it. However, if you re-up and then later on cancel it again, the web form is gone and you have to call them to cancel.
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Sep 23, 2010 03:02
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For anyone interested in an awesome listen...Cinderella Man. Blows the movie away and the version I have has an interview with James Braddock at the end of it. Just an amazing story and beautifully told in this format. I cried worse listening to the book than when I watched the movie. Amazing. For some really awesome laughs I would recommend Holidays On Ice by David Sedaris. Holy crap is that funny. Amy Sedaris has a cameo too, his voice is not what I expected..kind of disturbing actually but still laugh out loud funny.
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Sep 25, 2010 17:59
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I just finished Money by Martin Amis (narrated by Graeme Malcom) this morning on the way to work and I'd put it up there with Slaughterhouse Five as one of my favorite audiobooks. The narrator pulls off a very convincing John Self. Awesome book, it really had me hooked. They are pricey but I have been enjoying The Modern Scholar series as well. It helps that I tend to listen to them at least twice and then go through the study guides. It didn't occur to me how freaking dorky that really is until I just typed it out.
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Sep 25, 2010 22:01
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Medic: Saving Lives from Dunkirk to Afghanistan Just came out October 2nd. Narrated by Michael Tudor Barnes. Has a wonderfully rich, British accent... sounds like a deeper-voiced Michael Caine. Publisher's Summary from Audible.com sums it up better than I could: quote:Doctors, nurses, medics, and stretcher-bearers must venture wherever someone is injured and the cry for assistance goes up. Their job is to put themselves in the heart of danger – to risk their own lives as they try to save the dying. Audible is one of the best treasure trove of history books I've seen, outside of libraries. Thinking of getting Richard Evans' Third Reich Trilogy next. Mister Facetious fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Oct 5, 2010 |
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Oct 5, 2010 05:28
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Only took me like three years to get you to check out audible
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Oct 5, 2010 08:32
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The General posted:Only took me like three years to get you to check out audible I'd make a snarky reply, but :files: references aren't allowed. So I'll just say it's too bad I can't play it on anything I have right now (DSi  ) except my PC, due to their goofy proprietary format, and DRM.Finding a cheap, compatible, non-Apple player is a pain in the rear end, in my tool of a city.
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Oct 6, 2010 05:18
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Mister Macys posted:I'd make a snarky reply, but :files: references aren't allowed. I may have a solution for you! I wasn't gonna comment but I've been keeping an eye on the thread for a while, and the mention of DRM was an opportunity I couldn't pass by, cause this might be the answer to your problems. https://www.weread4you.com - just started up but already has about 8000 books on the site, more following each week. Okay, it's not got everything Audible has, but it's a good place to start for a lot of the books. Advantages of the site: - .mp3 or .m4d files for 99.9% of the books on there - no DRM! - because of this, it works on over 20,000 devices - no subscriptions (unlike Audible), and usually works out cheaper in the end because of this. - if you register, you get a free audio book of A Christmas Carol and one free random audio book a month, depending on the publisher deals we have going. There's also a deal for Hallowe'en for 20% off some horror books (including Stephen King and Richard Matheson) and $0.89/£0.89 for Carmilla, the original vampire novel from way back before Dracula was written. If people are interested in getting audio books from there, I can update this thread with voucher information each time we have one. Currently the voucher code is 50% off (I think it stacks with the 20% off) using the code ORLA50246 at checkout until the end of October. Hexadecimal Gnome fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Oct 21, 2010 |
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Oct 20, 2010 19:30
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Just finished The First Law Trilogy (Narrator Steven Pacey) by Joe Abercrombie and am now 3/4 through Best Served Cold (Narrator Michael Page). Steven Pacey does a far better job than Michael Page (he has stronger characters to work with IMO), but Page isn't terrible either. Books are great though 
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Oct 20, 2010 20:46
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Hexadecimal Gnome posted:- no subscriptions (unlike Audible), and usually works out cheaper in the end because of this. I'm not sure how you can claim this? I pay 25/mo on audible. but if I where to buy the books without subscription, I would have been spending about 50. A Game of Thrones costed me two credits, so 25. On that site it's $42. I'd make more comparisons like that, but unfortunately that site doesn't have any other books I've bought 
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Oct 20, 2010 23:05
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aGoT costs you 2 credits? Holy gently caress. I have a 'legacy' account where I pay $20 a month for 2 books a month.. Then again I bought a game of thrones like 5 or so years ago so maybe it was different then?
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Oct 20, 2010 23:46
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I dont mind the two credits. They're fantastic books and really really long. Though I make sure to get my moneys worth out of audible. If a book isn't worth $20, I'll just buy it and use my credits on something else.
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Oct 20, 2010 23:54
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The General posted:I'm not sure how you can claim this? I pay 25/mo on audible. but if I where to buy the books without subscription, I would have been spending about 50. The General posted:I dont mind the two credits. They're fantastic books and really really long. Though I make sure to get my moneys worth out of audible. If a book isn't worth $20, I'll just buy it and use my credits on something else. If you're only buying one audio book a month, then sure, you'll probably save money if you're only buying massively expensive books. You sound like the person that knows how to make Audible work for them offer-wise, but a lot of people don't and don't realise how much money they can save. If you're buying a book which costs less you won't be making much of a saving, plus you're not taking into account the offers we're doing. I can't get onto the US site from home, but with 50% off you'll be able to get AGoT for $21, which still works out cheaper than your Audible price, and we don't demand a subscription each month, so you could sign up, buy that book and never return, or wait until the next deal to see what there is. Either way, we won't chase you for money - you pay for the book and that's all. We're almost always going to have a 50% off deal running as well. Plus currently, I believe the Hallowe'en offer is 20% off on certain horror books, which stacks with the 50% off. So a book that costs $20 is going to cost you a maximum of $10, probably $8. These offers are usable more than once and on multiple books. So if you buy in bulk, it's a way better offer than Audible's. I am aware we have less books because the site's been active for a total of two months. We have 14000 books in the back database, plus more on the way, so we're aiming to compete with Audible. Anyway, it's up to you if you want to use the site, but it's a good alternative for people that want to burn to CD or have awkward mp3 players/phones to put them onto. Hexadecimal Gnome fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Oct 21, 2010 |
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Oct 20, 2010 23:58
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Also, get a sweet rear end android app so I can download all my poo poo directly onto my phone and home screen widget so I can hit play/pause without having to open it up too. Then, then I may give you some love  I'm some sort of Audible Fag. 
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Oct 21, 2010 00:02
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The General posted:Also, get a sweet rear end android app so I can download all my poo poo directly onto my phone and home screen widget so I can hit play/pause without having to open it up too. Then, then I may give you some love It's a future idea for us to have apps since Androids, iPhones and iPads are a big audience, but our priority is getting the site fully equipped with audio books. I'm pushing for it because I have the latter two myself, so I'll certainly post if we get any news on it. And yeh, you're the kind of person my boss believes we'll never drag away from Audible because you know how to make the system work. 
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Oct 21, 2010 00:07
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I believe there's also a link to where you can disable drm or whatever a few pages back in this thread. I need to look into that because I want to subscribe to some service. I'm getting too old I guess but I don't enjoy music on my iriver as much as a good audio book nowadays, usually. I think DRM is disturbing and I don't want it on my computer. I bet Edwin Black has had his own thread maybe more than once at SA, probably at D&D. I'm currently listening to "Internal Combustion," a honey of an essay on the long history of energy cartels and trusts, and how they've determined so much of our lives today. Agree or disagree with his views, you will probably find some objectively interesting bits of history here and there. I have. I'm only on disk 3 so far and I listen mostly when I exercise, so it's slow but enjoyable. Read pretty well by Stephen Hoye, it's a complete unabridged version, 13 CDs. SnakePlissken fucked around with this message at 13:19 on Oct 24, 2010 |
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Oct 24, 2010 13:17
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Hexadecimal Gnome posted:It's a future idea for us to have apps since Androids, iPhones and iPads are a big audience, but our priority is getting the site fully equipped with audio books. I'm pushing for it because I have the latter two myself, so I'll certainly post if we get any news on it. You work for Audible? Any reason why Sony players aren't compatible? They're ever so much cheaper than Apple in this country.  Mini review: Julius Caesar's "The Commentaries" is loving awesome.  The narrator is clear, deep, and very well-spoken, with his Great Britainish accent. Mister Facetious fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Oct 28, 2010 |
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Oct 28, 2010 04:40
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I just finished The Hunger Games and Carolyn McCormick did a good job with it, especially considering how many opportunities there were for it to be terrible (like one character who's a drunken old man who talks entirely with slurred speech, or a precocious mousey little girl with a high voice, not to mention all the crying out in pain and dying and shouting and a bunch of other things that can be really annoying when done wrong by the reader). Also, looking up the book for this post I found out that the reader did the voice of nearly every female character in Deus Ex, including Anne Navarre and Maggie Chow. 
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Oct 28, 2010 05:18
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Mister Macys posted:You work for Audible? No, he works for another company trying to steal audible customers. No DRM, so they'll work on your sony.
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Oct 28, 2010 06:41
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I'm not buying a Sony, until Sony/Audible makes it compatible. It doesn't matter, really, I bought something else today.
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Oct 28, 2010 07:20
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There's lots of mentions of iTunes in the thread, but there is Search for Lit2Go in iTunes U, or go to their website here for awesome books. Unfortunately their website is kind of rear end, and doesn't even list all of their works (example: for some reason they left off Shakespeare's Macbeth when you view their titles page, but it is viewable when you browse by author). Still, it is a small price to pay for such kickass free audio books. Myrmidongs fucked around with this message at 02:30 on Nov 2, 2010 |
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Nov 2, 2010 02:27
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Ok, I posted about this in a Stephen King thread, but Jessica Hecht is driving me bonkers narrating Full Dark No Stars. Everything she says brimming with like... goddamn happiness and warmth. To inappropriate levels. Like imagine a fairly girly woman reading to children, and pausing every so often to make sure her voice is super sweet and full of "aren't we having fun" and beaming at everyone with rosy cheeks, but she's talking about horrible rape and psychological stress in a Stephen King book instead. She's not a bad narrator in general, it's just... Unfortunately the Audible sound sample is from the other narrator, so you can't really tell what I'm talking about.
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Nov 13, 2010 08:00
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For anyone interested, NPR has a neat story about audiobooks and they talk with George Guidall. () http://www.npr.org/2010/11/11/131248703/art-of-storytelling-alive-and-well-in-audio-books?sc=fb&cc=fp
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Nov 17, 2010 02:31
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Two books that go well together: "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and "Internal Combustion" by Edwin Black. I found an audiocassette version of "Atlas Shrugged" at the thrift for $2 read by Edward Hermann, who was the secret head vampire in "Lost Boys," BTW. I've recorded it to mp3 and I'm giving it a listen, since I've laughed about Ayn Rand for the last 30 years since my "Ayn Rand phase" that lots of bookish teens used to go through back then, and now I wanted to see if she was really as shallow as I remembered. And yes, or perhaps she wasn't but her novel is. Definitely the kind of stuff Ronald Reagan would have approved of. But unfortunately the abridged version is leaving out some of the tastiest bits, like all the different sappy tales of "who is John Galt?" seem to be missing. And on a related note, I think my last audiobook, "Internal Combustion" should be read in conjunction with "Atlas Shrugged," for comparison. The story of how dishonest speculators abused the American capitalist system in order to eliminate public transportation and lock America into an exclusive reliance on gasoline-powered automobiles strongly reminded me of Atlas Shrugged, except that it basically really happened. And except that the lions of industry who Rand's supporters would probably celebrate were in most instances the perpetrators of the most heinous offenses she vented on in her writing. (Except charity, which she detests.) Mostly, that is. Black really paints a heroic portrait of Henry Ford, who in "Internal Combustion" more resembles one of Rand's larger-than-life heroes than almost anybody who's ever lived. And as a small aside, Black opines that it was Ford's PR officer who poisoned Ford with the notorious anti-semitism that's so marred his image for posterity, and apparently said PR officer was arrested as a Nazi spy during the war, too. BTW, Black also mentioned that the German Blitzkrieg was made possible with GM trucks, and fueled by Standard Oil, who provided the Reich an extraction technique for synthesizing petroleum from coal, which he says they refused to provide to the US. Very interesting stuff. Black's story, mostly derived from solid research, extant literature and real court cases, reads like an epic novel. It was a real page-turner, so to speak. As for Atlas Shrugged, an entirely made-up fantasy, sort of a big CEO's wet dream, seems kind of boring to me now. But I'm only up to tape 3 so far, out of 8. Almost dreading the rest right now, but it may get better or at least provide more entertainment as I rake the leaves. Maybe John Galt will come back to America if we offer him tax incentives? Surely it was the tax-and-spend liberals who drove him off!
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Dec 2, 2010 20:46
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Locus posted:Ok, I posted about this in a Stephen King thread, but Jessica Hecht is driving me bonkers narrating Full Dark No Stars. This might be a great way to read Stephen King, actually. At least for me it might make the reading experience more King-y. I also picked up a cassette version of a Patricia Cornwell novel at the thrift for to listen to during a 5-hour drive with my wife. I had to ask my wife if we could listen to the radio before the first tape was done. I guess I should have done a double take when I read "Move over, Carl Hiassen," in the raves on the back, but I guess I had some vague hope it would resemble Carl Hiassen or something on account of that. Horrid writing, definitely for the soap opera crowd. Hiassen is glib, sexist, rather shallow, reminds me of watching MASH on television when I was a kid, but at least he's clever.
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Dec 2, 2010 21:05
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SnakePlissken posted:This might be a great way to read Stephen King, actually. At least for me it might make the reading experience more King-y. I actually listened to an audiobook narrated by King himself recently, and he was way better. He actually sounded slightly morose, wry, tired, etc, as fit the book. Not bursting with barely controlled ADHD style cheer.
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Dec 2, 2010 21:29
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Locus posted:I actually listened to an audiobook narrated by King himself recently, and he was way better. He actually sounded slightly morose, wry, tired, etc, as fit the book. Not bursting with barely controlled ADHD style cheer. Well that would by definition be the most King-y way to do it. I really like audiobooks read by their author. Now on tape 4 of Atlas Shrugged. It's definitely picking up. I'm totally re-learning that charity and compassion are for sub-human pussies.
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Dec 2, 2010 23:39
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Locus posted:Ok, I posted about this in a Stephen King thread, but Jessica Hecht is driving me bonkers narrating Full Dark No Stars. I've run into this a few times. Most recently Blasphemy by Douglas Preston is narrated by a guy named Scott Sowers, who is fine as long as he doesn't attempt accents. Unfortunately, he spends the whole book attempting accents. He can only really do two with any regularity and those are "terrible Jack Nicholson" and "surprisingly good Comic Book Guy." It's pretty grating and goofy. This is the only book I've heard read by him, so maybe he was just off his game. It's happened to everybody, even Patrick Stewart once or twice. I think my favorite narrator, for consistency and tone, is Scott Brick. He gets into it, but not so much that it's overly distracting.
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Dec 3, 2010 01:19
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Here's a one-sentence, end-of-year review for the books I grabbed this year: Michael Pollan - "Second Nature" Features home gardening, autobiographical and historical observations, and the battle between different gardening philosophies... and a woodchuck. Narr. - Michael Pollan 4/5 Michael Pollan - "The Omnivore's Dilemma" US-centric look at farming and the food industry, including factory farming, local organic, industrial organic, historical methods, and emerging community ventures. Narr. - Scott Brick  4/5 Michael Pollan - "In Defense of Food" Follow-up to Omnivore's Dilemma, focusing on the US corn industry, why processed foods aren't a good thing, the obesity epidemic, the history of the food pyramid, how hard it is to get accurate diet studies, and more. Narr. - Scott Brick 5/5 Hannah Holmes - "The Secret Life of Dust" Book about minute particles of dust, how they travel (and how far), from the cosmos, to farms, mines, and your bedsheets, and dust's effects on human health. Narr. - Eliza Foss 4/5 Frank W. Abagnale - "Catch me if you Can" Book about one of the greatest con-men in US history. Narr. - Barrett Whitener 3.5/5 Jim Butcher - "Side Jobs" Short stories featuring the many characters of the Dresden Files universe, including a story that takes place after the book "Changes". Narr. - James Marsters 5/5 John Reader - "The Untold History of the Potato" A history of the potato, and the various countries and socio-economic factors it influenced, though not as potato-centric as Kurlansky's "Salt" was salt-centric (if you get me). Narr. - Martin Hyder 3/5 Adam Leith Gollner - "The Fruit Hunters" Book about fruit including history, the association with sex, fruit tourism, smuggling, cultivating, the industry, and how big sugar killed Miracle Fruit as an (natural) artificial sweetener. Narr. - Stephen Hoye 5/5 Jack & Anne Rudloe - "Shrimp" Featuring shrimp, shrimp catching, shrimp farming, the history of shrimp eating in the US, trawl nets, "bycatch", endangered sea turtles, and how land developers are destroying shrimp habitats. Narr. - Peter Johnson 4/5 Mark Kurlansky - "Salt" The history of man, from ancient China, to the modern USA, as influenced by the need to acquire salt, which was quite difficult up until the Industrial Revolution. Narr. - Scott Brick  5/5 Yes, I'm gay for non-fiction. Mister Facetious fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Dec 31, 2010 |
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Dec 31, 2010 05:39
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To the many people who recommended Lolita as read by Jeremy Irons: thank you. What a perfect voice for narrating unspeakable atrocities
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Jan 1, 2011 01:51
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For you LJ nerds, whilewesleep is a good resource for audiobooks.
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Jan 1, 2011 16:53
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Mister Macys posted:Here's a one-sentence, end-of-year review for the books I grabbed this year: Awesome, was just getting to the end of my existing queue of audiobooks to listen to. By the way, The God Delusion works really well as an audiobook, probably better than it does in print.
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Jan 2, 2011 04:49
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