Audiobooks you've struggled with

[whatausername]

I think some books are better read as books and I struggle to take them in as audiobooks.

For example, The Chimes, a Charles Dickens story read by the delightful Richard Armitage. Nothing wrong with story nor narration. I think it's something to do with how verbose Dickens is combined with the subject - a slow book heavy on the imagery of the wind and the cold. It's one of those where once you get into your reading groove you tumble over the words as you eat them up and fuel your imagination. In audio format they are absorbed differently and it feels harder to take in, definitely a slower digestion of the narrative.

What other books have people found hard in audio but fine, or even wonderful, in print?

Silas Marner. Eliot's language was just too difficult in audio.

I haven’t read the book, but Im struggling to listen to The Beekeeper of Aleppo narrated by Art Malik.His diction is too slow and intense. I know it’s a very moving story but he’s putting too much emphasis on every sentence.

The Goldfinch. Hated the narrator and if I’m honest, the book.

I’m massively put off by an annoying voice.

The Bee Sting narrators were all excellent, but I think I’d have enjoyed it much more if I’d read the print version. I really only enjoy autobiographies or biographies on Audible. I REALLY loved Vanessa’s book this year. Her own voice adds so much.

Some authors work well on audiobook, others less so. Off the top of my head, P. G. Wodehouse, Douglas Adams, Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Sherlock Holmes, Evelyn Waugh and Jane Austen are great read out loud. The best books to listen to are generally comic, and/or character-driven and full of dialogue. Wilde's Dorian Gray is another example (though it's also a good idea to read it).

On the other hand, I don't think Henry James, Virginia Woolf, Joseph Conrad, etc, would work well on audio. And you certainly couldn't listen to, say, Walter Pater or John Ruskin (they're hard enough to read). I'm not sure it would be a good idea to listen to Mantell's Wolf Hall trilogy either.

I'm currently listening to The Intruder by Daniel Hurst and both the narrators have the most annoying voices ever. The male is hamming it up as a proper melodramatic baddy and the woman is so irritating in tone and pitch. Do not recommend.

I'm not sure it would be a good idea to listen to Mantell's Wolf Hall trilogy either

I'm a right aficionado/pedant of audio books and can vouch for the readers of "Bring Up the Bodies" Simon Vance and "The Mirror and the Light" - Ben Miles.

Ben Miles is the better of the two.

Happy listening.

I came on to say The Goldfinch too - I couldn't finish it. However, Wolf Hall I loved.

Ben Miles reading Wolf Hall is great.

I'm not sure it would be a good idea to listen to Mantell's Wolf Hall trilogy either.

Wolf hall is a book i struggled to read for years, I just couldn't get into it and tried many times. The audiobook did it for me and I listened to all three and really enjoyed them. The Ben miles version.

Going against the grain here The Goldfinch is one of my favourite audiobooks, I absolutely loved it.

Yes! Came on to say that I couldn't read Wolf Hall but the audiobooks for the whole series were amazing.

I couldn't cope with Raynor Winn- The Salt Path. The author reads her own books and I couldn't cope with her voice. Shitty I know but it really distracted me from the actual words. I need the voice to be dull basically 🤣

I listened to all the wolf hall trilogy and found it utterly delightful, it’s been a hot minute so can’t comment on the individual narrators but I enjoyed them.

Me too. I’m not sure I’d have enjoyed it so much in print.

I gave up on The Goldfinch because I hated the narrator!

I had to speed up the Goldfinch to 1.5 just to get through it 🥴

I love Maeve Binchy re reads or listens for bedtime comfort but the narration by her daughter Kate Binchy has meant I have had to abandon many. The couple of MB audio books which are not narrated by Kate are so much better listening. It isn’t her Irish accent, the others narrators are quite rightly Irish too, it is something in the tone.

Just going through my Audible recent ‘finished’ library to see which other voices annoyed me.

Matthew Perry - his voice was thickened, slurry and damaged. Unfortunate - but I found it distracting (plus his unlikeable arrogance but that’s by the by).

The List - hated every single narrator in this one.

Comfort Eating - I found Grace Dent’s sneary tone most irksome. I know she’s not a drinker, but she sounds like she’s pissed and half-asleep.

The Five - I was so irritated by this monotonous narrator I can’t tell you. I actually thought it was a robot.

But LOVED Nicola Walker’s narration of The Peepshow. It was excellent. And Anne Glenconner’s books are a treat for the ears. Like bathing in posh soup.

I think Kate is a cousin of Maeve, not her daughter.

I love all Bill Bryson's books but can only listen to the ones he narrates himself on audio. Someone called William Robinson narrates others, and his voice just has the nasal quality that I can't listen to, which is a shame because I'd happily relisten to all Bill's books.

The Discworld books (the recent re recordings) have some excellent narrators and I find they are easier to listen to than to read in many cases. Big shout out to Colin Morgan, who I think does an amazing job.

I happily listen to or read books interchangeably. But I have to like the narrator to be able to take a book in, otherwise I spend the entire time correcting their diction or pronunciation.

I tried listening to Richard Coles narrating his cosy crime. I think he's a nice person but the narration was not good at all. Got completely confused by who was who. Abandoned it in the end.

This is a really good topic to discuss. I’m only just getting into audiobooks but it’s interesting to consider what makes a good narrator.
ive just finished Frankie read by Graham Norton . His accents were a bit dodgy at times but I really enjoyed it. He got me immersed in the story

I am trying to read Murder Before Evensong but cannot get into ot at all