Saturday, February 5

 

I’ve discovered audiobooks, a bit late, I know, but I’ve never felt the need before now to explore the possibilities.  Perhaps I should say that I’ve re-discovered them because, years ago, I used to have some CDs of various books which I played when we were doing our long car trips in North Queensland.  It didn’t take long to discover that the sound of the voice would send Marilyn off to sleep within minutes.  I said it was a throwback to her childhood when her parents would read her a story at bedtime.

 

When we stopped doing our long trips, we gave up the stories and the idea faded from my memory.  And then, all of a sudden, I find myself being inundated by suggestions that audiobooks are a good idea.  When you buy a book now, especially online, you receive a message that the accompanying audiobook is available.  When I registered with Amazon to buy coffee online they offered me a free trial of their audiobook program, Audible.

 

It all came home to me one day when I was sitting in the car, waiting for Marilyn to come back from the supermarket.  It was too dark to read and there was nothing on the radio.  I found a podcast on my phone and the idea occurred to me: this might as well be a story.

 

I found a couple of trial programs on-line, and have now listened to all the Harry Potter books.  Stephen Fry has a great voice for this medium, but some of the other readers I’ve experienced are woefully lacking.  I tried the Elizabeth George books but the reader doesn’t suit me, he has an upper-class English voice which grates; the reader of James Patterson books has a Noo Yawk accent, which I can’t tolerate.  Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club has a female reader with an awful English accent.

 

I was starting to wonder whether I was stuck with books read by Stephen Fry when I discovered the actor, Robert Glenister reading The Silkworm.  I remember Robert Glenister from the Hornblower series of twenty years ago, and the wonderful Life on Mars.  I notice his birthday is February 10 as is mine, although he is about 20 years younger.  He has just the right touch of authority in his reading to make it believable and it has shown me that an audiobook is about more than just the story.