Robert Seth

Good book, bad narration

Revisado: 09-21-21

This book covers a topic that is fascinating to me and I have doggedly listened to it perhaps three times so far, trying to absorb the information. What I have been able to grasp has been really good. But the narrator has got to be the worst I have ever heard. His reading is so stilted, jerky, mechanical, sing-song, full of unwarranted stops where none are needed and plunges ahead where pauses are required that it has been almost impossible to understand some of the material. And the rest is so distracting that it is hard to stay focused on the content. The man reads in unaccented American English that is easy to understand, yet he sounds like a machine, or like someone who has no understanding of the words he is reading. This is also a religious book, for which some special knowledge is needed. "Prophet" is not pronounced "PRO-fit," (with the first syllable the same as in the word "professional," and the second "fit," like someone is getting a "pro" fitting for an article of clothing). "Sadducees" are members of an extinct sect of Judaism, not a new and ghastly kind of cannibalistic fruit, as this reader's repeated pronunciation always makes me think. ("Saw-JUICIES"!) "Sovereignty," although admittedly a long word, has three syllables, not the five that the narrator requires to deal with this many letters. This is a tiny sample of the mispronunciations in this recording. The reading is so bad, the sentences so broken up with mistimed phrasing and wrong emphases, I sometimes cannot even follow what the author was trying to express. If it were up to me, I would have this book re-narrated, because I think it is a very interesting and well-written book. I would love to be able to listen to it with the clarity it deserves. I like what I've understood; I like it so well I am going to buy a print copy. The problems are not with the book itself, and the author does not deserve to be penalized for this recording.

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As Enjoyable as it is Informative

Revisado: 09-21-21

I've listened to this set of lectures repeatedly and glean a little more from them every time. The author/narrator is enjoyable to listen to, though for me, it took a little while to get accustomed to his New York accent. It soon provided color to the narration and made it seem more lively than it might have been if read by a prosaic and unaccented speaker. He often injects a light-hearted note into what is actually a very scholarly discussion. But make no mistake, Professor Schiffman is one of the world's leading authorities on the subject of the Dead Sea Scrolls and these lectures are packed with information, both on the writings themselves and on the people and culture of those who inscribed them. I've watched a variety of lectures Professor Schiffman presented on this topic and have always come away impressed at his depth of knowledge and his ease of presentation. If you are interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls, this is absolutely a must-read.

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Easy Way to Finally Read the Complete Holmes

Revisado: 09-12-14

Where does The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and I'd rate this one as above average. The story itself is wonderful--it's the original Sherlock Holmes, for heaven's sake! Not perfect, not infallible, but still a work of genius that inspires people more than a century later. I recently learned that some of the first movies ever made were Sherlock Holmes stories, such was their popularity, and obviously that popularity hasn't faded. The narrator, however, leaves something to be desired. He's good, don't get me wrong. As I said, I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and as narrators go, Charlton Griffin is somewhat above average, but he's not great. His range is a bit limited--he can do a variety of voices, but the variety isn't wide. He pronounces a startling number of words incorrectly, especially at the beginning of the book. He actually reads various phrases completely wrong, substituting language of his own. I've heard worse narrators, but I've also heard better.

What other book might you compare The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes to and why?

I'm not sure "comparable" is a fair word to use when the original Conan Doyle-written Sherlock Holmes is the standard of comparison. On the one hand, there are innumerable books today that are very comparable and even significantly superior; but when the fact that this is the original is figured into the equation, it becomes not a matter of comparability but of imitation. Everyone who loves this sort of fiction should read this book to see where it all began.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Read the book!! Sorry, don't mean to be hostile, but it's a bit exasperating that he read it so inaccurately at times. It's only the occasional flub; but I'm a stickler for accuracy, so the littlest thing annoys me. And he does it repeatedly, nor are his inaccuracies necessarily small ones. Sometimes he changes entire sentences, not just the odd word. On the other hand, I think he performs the accents and voices decently, on the whole; he's enjoyable to listen to, from the point of view of an American who very frequently listens to people with English accents of all sorts, on books and TV and movies. I think he sounds authentic, on the whole, though I've heard better performances.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I can't think of a particular moment; it was more the totality of the work that moved me, over and over again as I listened to it and realized how this one body of work has formed the foundation for not only the whole detective literary genre but also for our police forensic sciences of today. These days we tend to think more of the science fiction that has inspired our cell phones and computers and so forth and we forget that Conan Doyle's stories a century ago inspired a real revolution in police and forensic procedures. Quite literally, we would not have the crime-fighting abilities we do today without Sherlock Holmes. I found that profoundly moving.

Any additional comments?

For those who love detective stories, and in particular stories involving Sherlock Holmes, this book is invaluable as a reference and source material and as a foundation. The narration, while far from perfect, was enjoyable to listen to for its accents and voices, and fairly good for overall performance. Perhaps I would recommend another recording from a more scrupulously-accurate (and therefore Holmes-like) British actor who was also able to perform a wide range of characters, should one ever be made in the future, but this one is more than merely acceptable for now.

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O'Brian meets Austen

Revisado: 04-17-14

Would you consider the audio edition of Post Captain to be better than the print version?

My opinion of this series has definitely been influenced by the fact that I have only listened to most of it. I read "Master and Commander" many years ago after hearing that these were wonderful books, and I couldn't understand what all the hype was about. It was a good book, but rather dry and full of detail to the point of being almost tedious. Then I started checking them out of the library on tape, and I was hooked. "Post Captain" is no exception.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jack Aubrey's character is given more depth here in "Post Captain" than perhaps he had in "Master and Commander," which is another way of saying that the difficult circumstances he encounters here cause him to grow. In this book he runs the gamut from the depths of despair to the heights of triumph and elation, and most everything in between at some point in the story. The reader gets a deeper glimpse into his character here, beyond the rather earthy yet undeniably heroic naval officer first portrayed in "Master and Commander." Not that he was simplistic in that earlier story, but here we see depths and nuances not previously encountered.

Have you listened to any of Patrick Tull’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

As many have pointed out before, some like Tull's style and others don't. I am unashamedly one who loves to listen to Patrick Tull. I few years ago I heard him narrating a PBS special on the civil war battle ship Maine, and I was instantly hooked and had to watch the whole thing. When I first started listening to the Aubrey/Maturin series, I did it through my local library and was thus forced to listen to whatever they happened to have available. The first reader I heard was Richard Brown, who I grew to quite like. Then Patrick Tull, who did not convince me at first. I skipped back and forth between these two for several more books of the series and decided I liked both of them, but maybe I liked Brown a little better. As time went on, and the recordings by Richard Brown were re-done and replaced by other narrators, I eventually heard Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin voiced through David Case--a reader I absolutely love for anything by Dickens--and Simon Vance as well. I have listened to Vance read other books, too, as I listen to a lot of audio books. By now, I have gone through the entire Aubrey/Maturin series several times, mostly listening to Patrick Tull. My conclusion is that Tull's mastery of these books and his perfection for this role he loved might not be immediately evident to the new listener, since this is what happened to me. And several listeners seem to have been baffled by his British accent, which is a common-enough occurrence with Americans unfamiliar with that dialect. I remember watching a British movie when I was a little kid and hardly being able to understand a word they were saying! However, I discovered British TV about three decades ago, and by now I barely notice the accent, it sounds so normal to me. The idea that Patrick Tull is "hard to understand" is something only someone unfamiliar with British speech could possibly say. His readings are extremely clear and easy to understand (if you are comfortable with an English accent), yet at the same time, full of character and emotion. By comparison, Simon Vance is unbearably bland, and that's what I don't like about his narration of this series, or in fact of anything I've heard him read--the latest was "The Elephant Whisperer," which was an interesting book, but Vance's stilted narration didn't help it. Whenever I listen to him saying the familiar words of the Aubrey-Maturin series, I am always forcibly reminded that he is reading a book to me. It is all at second-hand. His enunciation is so careful and--by comparison with other readers--impersonal. When I listen to Patrick Tull, I am immersed in the story and it is as if I was there. The characters come to life, each one distinct and sharply-defined from all others. Tull was great with the different voices, and I love his slight Irish lilt when he voiced Stephen Maturin, who was after all half Irish and spent some of his childhood in Ireland. Admittedly, this may not be accurate, since no one who sees Maturin or hears him speak has any idea that he is Irish. But it sure makes it easier to distinguish the characters when you are listening to them, and I personally love Tull's interpretation of him. It isn't a heavy or thick Irish accent, as he did with certain other Irish characters along the way. I think, though, that it probably comes down to a matter of personal taste in the end. I've listened to Simon Vance read other books, and at least so far, I just can't enjoy listening to him, no matter how much I've liked the book he was reading. It isn't only that I think he's wrong for the Aubrey/Maturin series; I simply don't enjoy the sound of his voice! I'm sure there must be people who feel the same way about Patrick Tull. Still, I would recommend that anyone who likes this series give Tull a good, long chance. Get familiar with him. It's definitely worth the effort.

Who was the most memorable character of Post Captain and why?

Jack Aubrey stands out--and after all, he is the title character, so that's only fitting. As always in this series, however, it is a duet, not a solo piece. Stephen Maturin also becomes more clearly defined as the story progresses. In some ways he is the more admirable character, exhibiting more restraint and self-denial than Jack, partly because he is innately more mature at this point in the series and sees more clearly what is happening, Repeatedly, he decides to put his own interests aside in favor of his loyalty to his friend Jack. Though he is front-and-center in many scenes, he plays second fiddle (or cello, as the case might be) to Jack in this story.

Any additional comments?

With its lengthy passages on land, involved in the manners of the English gentry and their courtly rituals, this book is perhaps the one of O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series which is most like Jane Austen's body of work. There are still sea-battles in plenty, as well as the intrigue of intelligence work, so don't think this is something like "Sense and Sensibility." As others have noted before me, the book actually feels like three books in one. The first part is the most Austen-like, as Jack and Stephen move ashore and take up fox hunting and visiting with the female neighbors. In the second part, everything goes sour, particularly for Jack. It is one of the darkest, gloomiest parts of the entire 20-book series. Finally, in the third part, as Jack's fortunes take a turn for the better, there is a light-hearted, humorous jubilation that makes a sharp contrast with the feeling of depression which preceded it. O'Brian's wit is evident throughout the story, sometimes blatantly expressed, as when Stephen comes aboard their ship with a bulky cello and a portable beehive, waving a narwhal's horn in one hand; to more subtle winks to the reader, as when the members of the dinner party on Jack's ship drunkenly sing of "Three Blind Mice," a reference by O'Brian to the three men who are stupidly pursuing the same woman, all of whom are in attendance at the dinner. While this is a really good book, in retrospect I think a person only comes to see these works in their proper light once they've read those that follow. I enjoyed "Post Captain" the first time I read it, but I like it so much better now that I've read the entire series. The Aubrey-Maturin chronicle really has nothing similar to it in modern literature, so it's hard for many people to get into, but it certain repays any effort involved.

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