Rant or Rave: Audiobooks

Overall, I love audiobooks and generally rave about them. They make long trips much more enjoyable, and even the commute to and from work, or one of the many activities my kids are engaged in, more entertaining. Plus, I am "reading" works of literature that I doubt I would otherwise have found the time to begin, much less complete.

But there is a flaw in the audiobook appeal-- most of the books are read by a small number of narrators, a few hundred or so. Consequently, eventually you will hear a voice you have heard before reading to you. This isn't necessarily bad, but it is disconcerting. For example, I am currently listening to Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, which is fairly entertaining, but by no means a great book. It is being read by Richard Poe (one of the most common and popular of audiobook readers), who does a good job with the material. The problem is that the last book I heard Poe read was John Steinbeck's East of Eden.

Now, Dan Brown is a pretty good author with a knack for intrigue and puzzles. But he is not, by any stretch of the imagination, in the same league as John Steinbeck. Yet, hearing Poe's voice still brings back images and recollections of East of Eden and it takes a little bit of adjusting for me to shift gears to Angels and Demons. I suppose this is a testament to the quality and lasting resonance of Steinbeck's work, but it is still... weird.

So, a minor rant against... well, what? I'm not sure exactly. But whatever it is, I wish it would stop.

Rant or Rave: Audiobooks

I used to be a book purist. I turned my nose up at audiobooks, Kindles and the like. Then I got this job in Mukwonago, while still living just northwest of Racine-- roughly a 50 minute drive one way. And I tried an audiobook to fill some of that driving time. Loved it.

Since then I have listened to many books, and just this year I have read all of the following classics on audiobooks: Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, The Hobbit, To Kill A Mockingbird, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and The Great Gatsby. Without the ability to "read" in the car, I might-- and I stress might-- have gotten through two or three of these books. More likely I would've read one, maybe two.

And those are just the classics. In addition, I have listened to two Elmore Leonard novels, Fool by Christopher Moore, Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich, part of a Harlan Coburn novel (didn't like it), and Lion in the White House (a biography of Teddy Roosevelt).

There is no chance I would've read anywhere close to that amount of material if I wasn't able to "read" while driving. Even now that I live much closer to work, I still find audiobooks to be very useful because I do a fair amount of driving for my job and because I am inevitably ferrying my children to various events, occasions and get togethers.

So, a HUGE rave for audiobooks!

Rant or Rave: To Kill A Mockingbird

Guilty admission: I had never read Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. I love the movie and have seen it several times, but I had never actually read the book. So, since I am attempting this year to catch up on many of the classic books I have either never read, or don't really remember, I added Mockingbird to my list.

Top of the list, actually. But, as I have with most of my recent reading, I went with the audiobook version. A good book on CD really, really makes traveling much more enjoyable. I like music on the radio okay, I definitely like listening to Bob Uecker call a Brewers' game, and I do occassionally drop-in on talk radio, but the day I popped in my first CD audiobook was a revelatory one for me.

But I digress. To Kill A Mockingbird, as read by Sally Darling, shoots straight onto my favorite books of all time. I wish I hadn't waited so long to enjoy this marvelous book, but I'm very happy I finally took the time to do so. What a marvelous book. I do not think I can rave highly enough about this book to do it full credit.

It explores childhood, southern culture, life during the Great Depression, racism, kindness, joy, human nature, the law, schooling and more. It does so gracefully, seemingly effortlessly (though I know it took Lee a long time to write the story, with many, many revisions), and with such a gentle, easy flow that the profoundness of much of the writing seems to almost settle into the back of your brain without any conscious effort on the reader's part.

The story of Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, her brother Jeremy "Jem" Finch and their father Atticus, is both timeless and timely, gentle and unabashedly direct and unflinching. It is a snapshot into the past and a benchmark for the future.

In short, it is exceptional. Read it, savor it, and share it.

Video Rant or Rave: The Hobbit

Well, here is my first attempt at a video/YouTube version of my Rant or Rave feature:

It's okay, I think, but I did learn quite a bit from it. Namely, make sure the lighting is okay or you'll look like a reject from a Night of the Living Dead movie.

Additionally: Don't do this when your dog is around and wants to play tug-of-war with you. This is a recipe for disaster, and will likely require you to redo the whole thing several times. And sit up straight.

You'd think that having had to do it over a few times, I would've improved the lighting. You'd be wrong. Sometimes I have to be hit over the hard several times before my brain kicks into gear.

Anyway, hopefully this will be a more common occurence here, so let us know if you like the video embeds or no.

Rant or Rave: Interview With the Vampire

Anne Rice's reinvention of Bram Stoker's Dracula has achieved tremendous commercial success and fair amount of critical acclaim as well. Interview With the Vampire and her subsequent vampire novels have won Rice thousands of devoted fans and inspired a major studio film adaptation starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. And I had always meant to read it, if for no other reason than to see what all the fuss was about, but somehow had never gotten around to it.

So, I took advantage of the Mukwonago Community Library's CD audiobook holding of the book to give it an overdue "read". As with all audiobooks, the reader of the novel is very important, and this particular adaptation features Frank Muller. Frank is a prolific audiobook narrator who does a good, though I would not say great, job with the source material. His voice characterizations are generally good and he is ever reasonably believable as the voice of Claudia, the child vampire.

As a totality, I'd have to say that my review of the book would be neither a rant, nor a rave, though it is a bit more of the former and less of the latter. Rice's re-interpretation of the vampire myths and legends is ingenious, and some of the topics she explores are quite riveting. Particularly the existence of Claudia and her conflicted relationship with her "father", Louis-- the title character of the book.

There are moments in the book that are luxurious and wonderful to experience, but in the end I was left with the feeling of having eaten too much of an overly rich food. The prose is so... prosaic, so elaborate and sensuous that after awhile I grew tired of it, wishing rather that the story would get to its point.

Additionally, I found the themes of ennui, angst and retrospection that Rice explores through the character of Louis to get rather tedious after the first part of the book. In the end, Louis is a bit of a twit. Lestat seems the more interesting individual, so perhaps I will take a look, or listen, to The Vampire Lestat, but I will admit that I am not in a hurry to do so-- much like a rich dessert, I think my palate will be best served by leaving Ms. Rice for a while.

I may also peruse the film one of these days. Mostly because I, like many critics, can't figure out why they cast Pitt as Louis and Cruise as Lestat instead of the other way around. And I'm curious to see Kirsten Dunst in the roll of Claudia.

Rant or Rave?

One of the "regular" features I hope to incorporate into this blog are reviews of books, DVDs, and other materials available at the Library. Just some food for thought and a starting point for some impromptu discussion.

This particular Rant or Rave will be two-fold: Audiobooks: Rant or Rave and Lisey's Story, by Stephen King. I'll end all of the suspense and give the quick and dirty evaluation here: Rave. I am now a big fan of audiobooks and Lisey's Story is one of King's better efforts.

Okay, audiobooks: Love them. I presently have a 40 minute one-way commute, so having one of the many novels I haven't had a chance to read to keep me company is most excellent. And there is a certain richness to the audiobook-- you can't skim or skip or read quickly. The story will unwind in its own time and I can only sit and listen to that story being told at whatever pace the author and reader have determined is appropriate. In that way, audiobooks are somewhat akin to a play or movie, yet deeper and fuller than any dramatic presentation can be.

One other quirk to the audiobook-- the reader of the book makes a huge difference in the overall success and quality of the novel itself. Again, similar to a play or movie-- the best script in the world is easily reduced to dreck if the direction and acting is substandard and hackneyed. By the same token, a good reading of the material can greatly enhance the overall impact and effect of the written material. I recently listened to a collection of Harlan Ellison stories as read by the author-- and they were fantastic. I've always liked Ellison's edgy fiction, but it was SO much better when read by him as he intended it to be read.

Lisey's Story: I have been a Stephen King fan since about fifth grade when I read The Shining. Scared me to my toes, but I also loved it. After reading other King novels, it became clear that his work is a bit hit or miss. Or perhaps more acurately, his work at its best is tight, riveting and pure storytelling and at its worst is bloated, meandering and ponderous.

Lisey's Story falls into the former category. It is not quite on a level with The Stand or the best parts of the The Dark Tower saga, but it is very fine storytelling indeed. It is the story of Lisa Landon, Lisey, widow of bestselling author Scott Landon. Of the love they shared, of the secrets we all hide, even from ourselves or from those we love the most and are closest to. It is about memory, and grief, and loneliness and the creative process. There is quite a lot of suspense in the novel, but very little horror.

In many ways it is an autobiographical look at King himself and perhaps an answer to that age old question for popular and prolific authors: Where do you get your ideas? And it is King at his best, with little fluff or distraction, gracefully unwinding the story of a life. He is one of the finest storytellers of the 20th and early 21st century, though not as highly regarded as the Hemingways, Steinbecks and Vonneguts of the literary world.

Final words: kudos to Mare Winningham, who reads the story with admirable timing and excellent voice characterizations. She captures the central figure, Lisey Landon, extraordinarily well, but also voices the central conflict/danger of the book, Zack McCool/Jim Dooley extremely believeably. I think my appreciation for Lisey's story was greatly enhanced by hearing it read so extremely well.

So, any other thoughts? Contrary opinions? Suggestions?