Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
I’m currently listening to “The Last Trail” by Zane Grey in audio format from Librivox.org.
I’ve always meant to read some of Zane Grey’s many works but have never seemed to get around to it. I’m about one-third of the way into “The Last Trail”, one of Mr. Grey’s earliest novels. So far it’s a great tale of the old west and the narrator, Mike Vendetti, has a beautiful deep voice that sounds as I would imagine a frontiersman’s voice to be.
May have to add some more Zane Grey to my listening list. Now if only Librivox had a feature by which I could search by narrator. I’d grab some more of Mike Vendetti’s work as well.
Tags: audio, book, novel, old west, Zane Grey
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Saturday, July 5th, 2008
I finished listening to “War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells from Librivox. This is the version done in collaboration and read by many different narrators. There is also a version red by a solo narrator. I have never read H. G. Wells original version. Only listened to recreations of the Orson Welles 1938 radio version or the 1953 and 2005 versions of the movie. Which brings me to a bit of a rant.
First, the audio book I listened to was very good. I did not mind the different voice at each chapter and found the quality of the audio very good. The story itself is of course legendary and in my mind far better than the other versions I have seen.
Now the rant. Why does hollywood alter such great stories and weaken them with their own ideas when frankly the original story is far more thrilling exciting? Perhaps it’s the lack of imagination. I’m ashamed to think that it is a need to “American-ize” everything. Another story I think was ruined by the Hollywood crowd is the story of Operation Primrose and the capture of U-110. You will probably recognize the Hollywood movie name of “U-571″. U-110 was captured before the United States entered the war and was captured by quick thinking British and the Royal Navy and is a grand tale on it’s own.
If you have never read of listened to H.G. Wells original story then please get it. It’s a great story!
Tags: audio, book, Entertainment, H.G. Wells, Podcast, rant
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Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
As I mentioned a few days ago, I downloaded some free audio books from Librivox. I finished listening to
“The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” yesterday. I’ve read the book myself and love the tales of Sherlock Holmes so was looking forward to listening to these great tales again. As it turns out, my choice perfectly illustrated something I commented about previously. And that is that when choosing audio books recorded by volunteers the quality may vary. Each chapter of this selection is read by a different person and some are a pleasure to listen to. While one or two others were a bit painful. But all in all it was fun to move around the empty quiet school building I am working in with the well known Sherlock Holmes.
In any case, I get what I pay for.
I’m now listening to “The Invisible Man” by H.G. Wells.
Tags: audio, book, Entertainment, Podcast
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