| May. 29th, 2008 @ 08:51 am The Audiobook Syndrome |
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I touched in this on Tuesday's post, but it's like I can't stop myself.
First off, I love listening to audiobooks.
- In the car (not with the kids - I do talk to them instead).
- While exercising.
- If a book is good enough, I'll even listen while cleaning.
Audiobooks are fantastic. The readers have to be some of the most talented people I know, and being able to read a book while doing something else is such a great use of time.
But I've come to the conclusion I need to stop listening to series on audiobooks. I actually came to this conclusion many series ago, but I can't seem to stop myself. Here's how it generally goes.
First book - I love it. It's brilliant. The narrator gives such life to the characters.
Second book - Small flaws begin to stick out. Adverbs scream out at me. Characters repeat some dialogue which was used in book one. I notice it, and it starts to tickle my brain somewhere.
Third book - Every time the main character does something stupid, I cuss at her/him. They do the dumbest things in every situation, really, they shouldn't be because they've had two books before this to learn from their mistakes. Have they learned nothing? And every time they talk, I want to scream. By now dialogue repeats enough to drive anyone nuts.
BUT...
I really want to point out this is strictly an audiobook thing. The books are really great. And I guarantee that 90% of the time, if I were reading the same books, I'd never notice any of these annoyances. But having someone read it to me makes everything stand out.
(Sidenote: I see things "planted" by the writer - do you?)
So why do I keep listening to series on audiobooks?
I guess secretly I keep hoping I'll find a series where this won't happen. I actually managed to get through about eight Janet Evanovich audiobooks and loved each and every one. Then I finally hit my limit. Her dialogue is exceptional, however, which might account for how I got through so many. I also listened to probably 10 Terry Pratchett books before they changed the narrator. I couldn't go with the change; I loved the old narrator, and had to give up the new books.
So my question - Do you listen to audiobooks, and what's the best series you've listened to? |
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