Audio Books narrators - Lucy Raynor

[mikado1]

Never had I realised how much of a difference the book narrator can make. Listening to Andrea Mara's The Other Side of the Wall and this narrator is beyond painful. Has anyone come across her before? It's so bad, and so affected, never mind the horrific Oirish accents, I'm close to dm-ing the author.

I've googled and see awful reviews so I feel a little less irritated now I know I'm not alone!! What a pity aa the book is good. Do the authors not ok the narrators I wonder.

Some of the Irish accent mispronunciations are so bad.

The narrator can make so much difference.

I'm so in awe of Robert Glenister. He has narrated the whole Strike series by Robert Galbraith (aka JKR) and he does an incredible job.

I just listened to a sample to see what you mean. That is awful. Really painful to listen to. How on earth do some people get hired? She reminds me of Moira Rose in Schitt's Creek, but not in a good way.

Ha ha, yes that's a great likeness!! Thanks both for understanding!

Examples of the Irish accent bloopers are
Spar for spa
Promenarde for Promenade
Bahermian for Bahamian
We pronounce rs when there is one, not when there's not!
The accents themselves are like a mix between Northern Irish/Cornish farmer and Oirish. Mad. I'd actually read it myself for free for Andrea M!!
Out of interest, do you think accents/voices are necessary? I don't really think so.

I think accents are quite important, so a narrator really needs to have some talent to perform well and be convincing. I love audiobooks but cannot listen to them if the narrator is bad.

Yes you're probably right. I'm new enough to audio fiction so I'm getting used to it.

I’m listening to Imposter by Damon Galgut, a South African, the story is set in SA -narrator is a Humphrey Bower and is brilliant.

Also listened recently to Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - in a suitable southern American accent. Brilliant. Another book with a strong but suitable American accent was Fair and Tender ladies by Lee Smith- brilliant.

I think that if you’d reasonably expect a certain character to have an accent, it’s important they do if you’re listening to it. I loved a book called Saltblood, that I listened to earlier this year. One of the characters was Irish, and I thought the dialogue sections were very well done, it was brilliantly immersive. (Narrated by Dakota Blue Richards).

I really struggled with the audio books of both Clock Dance and Olive Kittridge and only afterwards did I realise they had the same narrator (Kimberley Farr) and I tend to avoid her now.
The right reader makes a huge difference!

If it's from Audible then you can return it. I've only just discovered this!
Zara Ramm is a fabulous narrator

I always sample the narrator now as it does really make a difference.

Just returned one this year-found out you could on a MN thread!

Yes, if it's Audible you can return it. But if you return too many that you've listened to all the way to the end , you might be blocked from returning any more for a while, as they seem to have a new policy.

Narrators range from absolutely brilliant to godawful. I particularly dislike those who don't actually understand what they are reading, you can tell when their inTONation IS ALL wrong!