C. Hanratty

Endless pleasure

Revisado: 12-27-23

What a joy to hear insights and anecdotes about so many plays and productions. I’m already heartbroken to have finished, but will probably start again immediately…

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Remarkable book, but…

Revisado: 06-16-23

This is a giant book, and a mammoth task for a reader. By the time I reached the third section I was getting every fed up with the strange gulping saliva noises the reader kept making - couldn’t these be edited?!

Also- it felt like much of the performance was sight-read, since all too often the reader misunderstood, miscalculated or got the emphasis of Rushdie’s gargantuan sentences wrong. It’s a disservice to this astonishing piece of literature not to spend even a little time parsing his rapturous prose…

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Beautiful book, disgraceful recording

Revisado: 04-16-21

This recording is an utter embarrassment. I lost count of the number of ordinary English words that this ignorant actor pronounced laughably badly. (Never mind words in foreign languages - this might be forgivable...)
Even a modicum of research or humility might have led the performer to ask for help, but it’s a testament to US-American arrogance that this level of inaccuracy was let pass. A shameful indication of how poorly-educated people are in syntax, rhythm and language these days.
The book is beautifully written, a lush evocation of the world that gave birth to Cervantes. Manrique echoes the extravagant glory of Don Quixote’s language, and that of the Inquisition and even the Muslim world of the time. All of these are flattened and overlooked in this dull reading - and even if you do manage to concentrate and enjoy it, you’ll be lifted out with embarrassing frequency by the number of misunderstood words and unbalanced phrases. Whoever hired this actor (and recorded him) has done a great disservice to this splendid novel by a splendid writer. Five stars for the book itself, and I’d give zero for the performance if I could. Don’t waste your Audible credits.

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Extraordinary

Revisado: 02-03-21

Mr. Gregory has lived nine lives in one - and has some remarkable stories to tell. What’s particularly lovely about this recording is that, even as he is reading the book, he has a capacity to laugh at the more outrageous stories. A must for anyone who works in the theatre.

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Wonderful

Revisado: 05-03-20

This is a terrific book, and a superlative recording. Sian Thomas reads SO beautifully, and Edith Hall writes in a way that is informative, entertaining and evocative. I really didn’t want it to end- and would love Audible to produce many more such triumphs. Treat yourself - this is very, very good.

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Disappointing

Revisado: 11-27-18

This newest novel from Murakami is a bit of a slog. There’s a kind of a dance that’s happening between this story and The Great Gatsby, alongside the references to various operas, Japanese stories and so on. Unfortunately it doesn’t come to much, and the author comes across as more interested in young women’s breasts than anything else.

The narration is alright, although words in Japanese, German, French and other languages are very poorly pronounced throughout. This is very poor for someone reading a Japanese novel. Do your homework!

At 28 hours, it is a big commitment - one I doubt I’d recommend.

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