Jim Dale has been nominated for a Grammy for the audio recording of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The category is Best Spoken Word Album for Children (category 78 of a very long list).
I'm thrilled because I'm a huge fan of Jim Dale, but also because I think the audio book is particularly wonderful. I have the Harry Potter audio books memorized (Really, I do. I'm not kidding. Quiz me.) Deathly Hallows kicks it up an extra notch, and even surpassed Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (which I thought was the best until I heard #7.)
There are numerous times in the 7th book where the characters drink Polyjuice potion and transform into other people. Jim Dale manages to keep all these occurrences straight (something that gets quite confusing in the print version) by creating new voices for the Polyjuiced characters. Even better, he adds a bit of the original character's voice. For example, if Hermione was impersonating Bellatrix... the voice would sound both like Bellatrix AND Hermione. It's very impressive and very helpful.
Congratulations, Jim!
Showing posts with label Audiobooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Audiobooks. Show all posts
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
In defense of audiobooks
I was quite startled to see an article entitled "Your Cheatin' Listening Ways" in the New York Times on Thursday that slams the audiobook industry and implies that listening to a book is a form of cheating. It surprised me because audiobooks are extremely popular these days and the article felt like it could have been written ten years ago when books on tape (or CD or MP3) were far less in vogue.
Why are audiobooks so popular? One reason (as the article points out) is that people are busy and listen to audiobooks while they're doing another task, such as driving or laundry. While this is true, I think the article neglected an important point: that the quality of audiobooks has markedly improved over the years. Audiobooks have gone from dry atonal readings to full scale productions which include music and multiple narrators. Many people are auditory learners and simply absorb things better by hearing than by reading. And of course, people who are blind or dsylexic listen to audiobooks. I don't think this diminishes the experience of the book at all.
My favorite audiobook narrator is Jim Dale (see this post). I think he's absolutely wonderful. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was a particularly good audiobook and possibly the best of the whole series. As always, I think Jim Dale's narration enhanced the text and gave it an additional dimension.
I've recently been drawn in by Bruce Coville's company Full Cast Audio. As their name implies, Full Cast Audio has a different narrator for every character and I think this adds an incredible richness to each of their recordings. I had the pleasure of listening to their production of Kenneth Oppel's Airborn and it was just fantastic. I had thoroughly enjoyed the book when I read it, but I really feel in love with it when I listened to it. Matt Cruse was read by teenage actor David Kelly and this helped me get a much better sense of this character than I have before. I also thought that Bill Molesky, who read Captain Walken, was right on the money with his wonderful magisterial interpretation.
Why are audiobooks so popular? One reason (as the article points out) is that people are busy and listen to audiobooks while they're doing another task, such as driving or laundry. While this is true, I think the article neglected an important point: that the quality of audiobooks has markedly improved over the years. Audiobooks have gone from dry atonal readings to full scale productions which include music and multiple narrators. Many people are auditory learners and simply absorb things better by hearing than by reading. And of course, people who are blind or dsylexic listen to audiobooks. I don't think this diminishes the experience of the book at all.
My favorite audiobook narrator is Jim Dale (see this post). I think he's absolutely wonderful. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was a particularly good audiobook and possibly the best of the whole series. As always, I think Jim Dale's narration enhanced the text and gave it an additional dimension.
I've recently been drawn in by Bruce Coville's company Full Cast Audio. As their name implies, Full Cast Audio has a different narrator for every character and I think this adds an incredible richness to each of their recordings. I had the pleasure of listening to their production of Kenneth Oppel's Airborn and it was just fantastic. I had thoroughly enjoyed the book when I read it, but I really feel in love with it when I listened to it. Matt Cruse was read by teenage actor David Kelly and this helped me get a much better sense of this character than I have before. I also thought that Bill Molesky, who read Captain Walken, was right on the money with his wonderful magisterial interpretation.
To my delight, there is a new award for children's audiobooks sponsored by the American Library Association. The Odyssey Award is in its first year, and I can't wait to hear the winner and honor books announced in January 2008.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Jim Dale and Audiobooks
There's an article today by Motoko Rich in the New York Times about my favorite audiobook narrator and how he makes an excellent Secret Keeper.
He's won a Tony, a record number of Audie Awards and been nominated for tons of Grammys and even an Oscar. To find out more, visit Jim's website.
He's had a very interesting career to date.... audiobooks are relatively new for him but he's also been an actor, comedian, DJ, songwriter... and when he was younger he was a rock star. Now, that's a cool career.
But that's not why I think he's so great. He's my favorite because he can make a story come alive utterly and completely. He's my favorite because I totally forget that I'm not listening to a full cast recording and there is just one man doing hundreds of voices.
I discovered the power of Jim Dale 's voice through the Harry Potter audiobooks (as most people did) but I've been beguiled into listening to everything else he's recorded. My favorites (not including Harry Potter, of course) are Peter and the Starcatchers and Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. (These books are so good that I'll give them a post of their own at some point). I think the books are great, but Jim Dale manages, incredibly, to make them better.
Here's some quick unscientific research about how popular audiobooks have become (and in particular the Harry Potter audio books). This morning I went to my library's catalog and added my name to the holds list for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in book, tape and CD format.... and saw what number I was on the lists. (Then I removed my name... because I reserved my copy months ago).
But here's what I found out for my library system (a large suburban system near a major city):
He's won a Tony, a record number of Audie Awards and been nominated for tons of Grammys and even an Oscar. To find out more, visit Jim's website.
He's had a very interesting career to date.... audiobooks are relatively new for him but he's also been an actor, comedian, DJ, songwriter... and when he was younger he was a rock star. Now, that's a cool career.
But that's not why I think he's so great. He's my favorite because he can make a story come alive utterly and completely. He's my favorite because I totally forget that I'm not listening to a full cast recording and there is just one man doing hundreds of voices.
I discovered the power of Jim Dale 's voice through the Harry Potter audiobooks (as most people did) but I've been beguiled into listening to everything else he's recorded. My favorites (not including Harry Potter, of course) are Peter and the Starcatchers and Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. (These books are so good that I'll give them a post of their own at some point). I think the books are great, but Jim Dale manages, incredibly, to make them better.
Here's some quick unscientific research about how popular audiobooks have become (and in particular the Harry Potter audio books). This morning I went to my library's catalog and added my name to the holds list for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in book, tape and CD format.... and saw what number I was on the lists. (Then I removed my name... because I reserved my copy months ago).
But here's what I found out for my library system (a large suburban system near a major city):
- 754 holds for the book
- 247 holds for the CDs
- 107 holds for the tapes
So, that's 754 holds for the book, 354 holds for the audio format; for a total of 1108 holds.
Which means that in my library system, of the people who put themselves on the holds list... 68% will read the book and an astounding 32% will listen to the audio book (either in CD or tape format. So, essentially one in three people will listen to the sound recording instead of reading the print edition. Wow....
I'm anticipating the Harry Potter audio book as much I'm anticipating the actual book. I don't see it as an extra.... I feel that the two versions (print and audio) combine to make a complete experience. There are things that work better in print than in the audio version.... but there are also things that work better as audio than in print. I'll get more into the specifics of the Harry Potter audio books in another post.
It might be dangerous for me to be involved in a business negotiation with Jim Dale. He could talk me into anything.
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