American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Leaving for a trip that will usually allow me around 8 hours of listening time in the car, I couldn’t decide on any of the audio books I have in my unit. Some were tempting but too long, others I just wasn’t in the mood for. So I decided I’d listen to music for this trip, for something different.

Knowing I had 3 hours of the first stretch ahead of me I wanted something upbeat. I don’t think I got to the end of the first song when I knew I’d made the wrong choice. I just kept thinking this is such a waste of perfectly good audio book time. I searched around in the car for something I could listen to. When I found American Gods I knew I was in the mood for some Neil Gaiman.

It was only later, that I discovered how long the book went for… around 20 hours. It would definitely spill over from the listening time I had on that trip. Oh well, on I soldiered.

I loved the idea behind this book: everyone who has ever come to America brought their gods with them, in some form, these deities immigrated with their believers. 

However many years on, there are so many gods that live on in the hearts and minds of someone, so these beings live on in the American landscape, noticed or not by those who they pass by. 

One thing I have to say about Neil Gaiman is he is a genius of epic proportions when it comes to intertextuality and blending/adapting mythology and classic texts. American Gods was not the first time I noticed this, Neverwhere is brilliant, and then there are touches of it in his other books too. It fills me with such awe and jealousy, and makes me want to have his brain-children. 

I think I need to say that I felt American Gods was a little unnecessarily long. But I strongly believe that it is worth it. It’s a staggering undertaking, and he certainly has accomplished great things with his concept, and I can understand why he kept it at its length, It might have just benefited from some trimming here and there. 

So, if you ever find you have the time to offer to this book, it’s worth it.

 

3.5 Gold Stars

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JudgeABook Revisited: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Earlier this year, I talked about the cover of Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver in one of my JudgeABook posts. Basically, I really like the cover and the whole production of these books. (the blue text inside is also a nice touch). But, despite having owned it for a year or two, I had never read it. Well, I used my last trip to Canberra (long road trip for work) as an opportunity to listen to the audio book.So now, I come back and see if the book lived up to it's cover...

I need to be honest from the outset. I know I would have like this book A LOT more if I had just read it for myself. It was the most annoying audio book I've ever listened to. Talking about just the audio part of it for a minute, I think I preferred the one where the narrator didn't pause for breath in the right spots and it kept changing sound quality over this one.

Firstly, it was almost painfully American. I'm talking about the accents. So clearly American listeners wouldn't have the same reaction as I did, but I'm entitled to it. Secondly, the chapters alternate between the main girl character and the main boy character, each being narrated by someone of that gender. In theory, this was a good idea. In reality, getting used to different voiced for the same characters (as each character speaks in both types of narrated chapters) was annoying. Particularly because the male reader doing female voices sounded exactly like a man in drag from a show I watch. Thirdly, both narrators kept putting the most bizarre inflections into the words that seemed like they were very confused or a little slow. All in all, it was the most grating audio book I've ever listened to.

But that aside, what did I think of the book beneath the speakers? It was ok. If you like paranormal romance, then chances are you'll like this one too. I've seen blogs where people list these books as their "all time favourites". I didn't dislike it, and even though I know I would have liked it a lot more if I'd read it myself, I'm not entirely convinced I would have afforded it the time of sitting and reading. Reading time is precious, and I have too much gold sitting round my house un-read to worry too much about everything that comes around. I was drawn to these by their jackets (and their market penetration), but while they're perfect for their market, they're not at all what gets me excited. I'm not paranormal romance's biggest fan.

Where does this leave this revisited post? I congratulate the design team for a brilliant job on books that I know many will love, but I didn't, but didn't had. I'm just right down the middle with them.

2.5 Silver Stars

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8/40

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (Audio Book)

Last year, A Monster Calls was released. Patrick Ness had developed an idea that originated with Siobhan Dowd. It is absolutely AMAZING and you can read my review of it HERE.

Just recently, I had an almost 5 hour car trip in front of me (round trip in one day) and was looking for an audio book that could fit neatly into that journey: this one, running at 3 hours 52 mins was the perfect candidate. Particularly because I'd been desperate to revisit this book, and as I'd been given the Bolinda audio version of it, my decision was made.

And WOW.

This is the best quality, best read audio I think I've ever listened to. The book itself is amazing, but you can read that in my other review. Here I want to talk about Jason Isaacs.

To be honest, when I saw that he was the narrator, I thought to myself, OK, so Lucius Malfoy is reading it, this will be interesting. I couldn't think of any other movies I'd seen that he'd been in so I couldn't compare styles or know what to expect.

Well, what can I say, he is incredible. And not just incredible, but the PERFECT match for this book. He deftly creates distinct voices for each character, there is never once confusion over who is saying what (as can sometimes happen). And his voice! His narration voice is deep and scratchy, perfectly eloquent, seemingly detached (as the narrator should be) but containing the perfect amount of compassion for the subject matter. For me, it sounded like Jim Kay's illustrations had found a voice. And that was even before the monster began talking. Deeper still, gruff and rumbling. An age old yew tree come to life. Oh I felt it. Not  for one moment did any voice, any character, feel forced.

I'm not sure what else I can say. If audio books are at all your thing, I couldn't think of a better way to spend four hours.

5 Gold Stars

Find it on Goodreads

8/40

The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

I’m a little unsure where to start with this review, so much so I almost wasn’t going to write it.

This is not a reflection on the book, but, if anything, a reflection on the audio book. I used a long trip for work to listen to the book, because it was my selection for Bookclub and I wasn’t sure where I was going to find the time to read it in amongst all my work and uni reading.

In retrospect, I would have been better to make the time to simply read it.

The story itself, as I suspected it would be (being a giant fan of Ursula Le Guin’s other writing) was fantastic. It was so fully realised and well constructed that, as usual, I was easily caught up in it.

The story, that is.

The audio book was the worst one I have ever listened to. It was clearly a digital recording taken from cassette tapes that sounded muffled and fuzzy, as if I were listing to a radio play on a wireless in some by-gone era. But on top of that, the quality and volume of the voice changed dramatically, and frequently, sometimes mid sentence. Further, the reader was not altering her voice at all for character, or emotion, or dramatic effect, so it took me a while longer than usual to differentiate who was saying what and which characters were which. She did, however, pause for breath in the most odd places, not where one would naturally pause if they were reading (aloud or in your head) which again threw me off.

Leaving that aside, I’ll now talk about the genius who was betrayed by this recording.

As with her other titles that I have read, Le Guin has made a perfectly tangible world for the reader to discover. This time set on a planet called Gethen where androgynous humans have a very different way of life to any that we know. Each person is gender neutral (or hermaphroditic) for most of the time, yet for 2 days out of every lunar cycle they enter ‘kemmer’ where they assume either male or female sexual organs in order to mate. To quote the book: “the mother of several children may be the father of several more.”

In this way, Le Guin has created a society where gender politics have been removed completely. It makes for a very interesting reflection of the nature of social gender constructs and how heavily they affect the way we think about people. Superbly done, the story is seen through the eyes of an outsider, a human from future earth. This way we are able to process what we are being shown in a way similar to our own constructed reality, yet with the scientifically and politically neutral commentary of the emissary.

One thought that I did have as I was listening to it, and after I had finished, was that it lacked the subtle, understated poetics that her writing for young adults has. This might have been because of the audio book, but others at bookclub found it hard to get into and somewhat uneventful. I’ll admit it was slow in places, and it took me a while to understand what was going on because of all the names and politics and relationships etc, took a while to be explained. But for those that love character development and don’t need too much action, then I’m sure there’s something in it for you too.

In the end, I’m glad I have read it. Judging by the quotes and reviews I’ve read, The Left Hand of Darkness is at the centre of the adult Sci-Fi and Fantasy canon. Personally, I prefer her Young Adult fiction, but I enjoyed this one all the same.

The BFG by Roald Dahl

I’m ashamed to admit, that if you look on my shelf, you will find a copy of Roald Dahl’s The BFG with a bookmark (a leather one, hand-decorated by my 8 year-old self) still marking the page where, for some reason lost to time, I stopped reading it. This bookmark has long remained untouched, but has not been forgotten. The shame of not finishing that book has haunted my reading life the way a faded stain on the carpet might haunt a tenant who is hoping for their entire bond back.

So, yesterday, I had a day where I would be in the car for a number of hours and thought to myself that I would finally lay the ghost of my youth to rest, and listen to the audio book right through.

If you haven’t read it, you must! I now find myself scolding my 8 year-old self for being such a fool in not finishing it, but at the same time, revelling in the fact that I could appreciate this book as an adult reader.

However, if you get the chance, you should definitely listen to the version read by Geoffrey Palmer. His voice for the Big Friendly Giant had me laughing out loud as I drove up the freeway. Then, when I thought it couldn’t get better, in come the Queen of England… Between those two characters, I thought it was just hilarious! Anyone who has read it will know that the BGF has a very particular way of talking. So, imagine hearing him talk, without having to make your brain process what the word in front of you looks like, and then how it would sound. Geoffrey Palmer reads it all like he’s been speaking that way for his entire life.

The whole thing was so enjoyable! So, if you’ve got a shame-faced child somewhere inside you, that is blushing because they either didn’t finish The BFG like I did, or perhaps they didn’t read it at all: Do away with the guilt! Do away with the shame! Get your hands on this marvellous book and laugh! … and live!

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

This week, I listened to Northanger Abbey on audio book while driving around for work. I was able to knock the whole thing over in a day. It’s days like that that I’m a) thankful for audio books and b) glad to put all that driving time to use.

This is only the second Jane Austen I’ve ‘read’ (I actually did read Pride and Prejudice). And I just love them! I should say, that I was listening to a version put out by Penguin Audio and it doesn’t say anywhere on the case if it is an abridged version or not, all I know is it runs for just over 3 hours. So perhaps someone might be able to tell me if I heard the whole thing or not. I will be reading it again in the future however, because I am a collector of quotes from books and this one is ripe to bursting with them! And being on audio, and me needing to keep my hands on the wheel, I was unable to record any of them.

The narrator (who I’m not certain of their name because I have returned the CDs to my friend without taking note and can’t find the information online, is either Joanna David or Jill Balcon) read it with the perfect affected accent you would expect of a Jane Austen novel which only added to my enjoyment.

The storyline of this one was a bit more straight forward: Girl goes on holiday, sees a man she takes a fancy to, pines over him while he’s not there, spends time with him, falls in love, there are numerous misunderstandings she’s turned out of their home, then everything gets resolved. But it was great fun!

It seemed that Jane Austen was also using this book to critique the contemporary opinion of novels as there was much discussion about the types of people who read novels, and their supposed embarrassment in being caught reading ‘just a novel’. Then, to the author’s defence come the Hero of the story, claiming that men read ‘nearly as many as women’ and that he has read ‘hundreds and hundreds of novels’.

Then, I had to hunt down this quote because I loved it so much, I laughed out loud when I heard it:

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”

I feel like framing that and hanging it on my wall!

All I can say now is: I’m very excited to get around to the rest of Jane Austen’s books!

If you’ve never read any of them, you’re missing out!

The Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan - John Flanagan

Back when I worked in a bookshop, I sold the Ranger’s Apprentice series by John Flanagan in bucket loads; I doubt anyone who has worked with children’s books retail in Australia would argue that this series seems to work. But other than to say “these books are really popular” or to dutifully merchandise them, I never took much more of an interest.

Fast forward a few years, and as far as I can tell they are still going strong, despite being up to book 10 or so in the series. So, having no spare time to fit in a physical reading of any of them, I acquired the audio book of the first one and gave it a go in my plentiful driving time.

I can now see why the Ranger’s Apprentice books are so popular.

There are more than enough Arthurian knights and castles and battles to satisfy the more avid fantasy readers, yet none of the magic that would normally turn off those who are not that way inclined. It is accessible fantasy. As a fantasy fan, I would even attempt to use The Ranger’s Apprentice series to subtly draw the non-believers in, show them what they’re missing out on.

John Flanagan’s writing is easy to read, without being simple. It’s descriptive, without being overwrought. Character and plot development move forward hand in hand so there is never a dull moment. If only I had the time to go right onto the next 9 books!

I also want to mention William Zappa’s reading as well. Maybe it was the relief of hearing an Australian production, with no grating accents or strange pronunciations, but this was a very enjoyable audiobook to listen to. Zappa’s voices were well executed and didn’t hit that level of ‘cartoon ridiculousness’ that many audiobooks do. I know that at some point I will listen to the rest of this series, because for me the characters are embodied by Zappa’s reading of them.

Monster Blood Tattoo Book One: Foundling - D.M. Cornish

Another trip to Canberra, another audio book listened to. The Library is fantastic if you want to try out some audio books but don't want to pay for them not knowing if you like them. Before every long trip I always make sure I visit to see what takes my fancy. This time, I found this: Monster Blood Tattoo. It had been recommended to me very strongly and I was going to have to wait until I was able to borrow it, but then I happened upon it in the library and my wait was over. My choosing also taking considerably less time than usual.

So what did I think?

First and foremost, I think I needed to say that Humphrey Bower reads brilliantly. his accents and voices are completely believable and not at all affected. There wasn't any characters that made me wince as in some audio books. My only issue with this recording is more of an editing problem. At times the pauses were unnecessarily long making me lose the flow of the story, and at other times, such as at the end of the chapters, there wasn't enough pause. ChapterthreewouldendFourTitleofchapterfour. But that aside, This is a great series.

When it was recommended to me, it was described as 'more like The Hobbit than Harry Potter' and I would have to agree. The reason Harry Potter had come up is because when this book was first released, I heard a rumour that it would be the "New Harry Potter". I think that was said about a lot of books, and still is because so many people (particularly publishers) want books to be the next Harry. Who wouldn't? No-one can argue with those sales. But as far as this series is concern, the likeness extends as far as 'Unpopular orphan boy goes on adventure in the vague direction of his destiny'.

While part of the charm of Harry Potter's world is learning all the ways wizards fit/hide within the world we know, Cornish has constructed a world from the ground up. Each chapter begins with a pseudo dictionary definition of some part of that world. He paints a picture of the harsh life humans live, constantly assaulted by the ruthless and bloodthirsty monsters and how those that slay them are revered as heroes and monster sympathisers are scorned or even hanged.

I very much enjoyed learning the way of this world only to have our little boy hero with a girl's name come to wonder if all monsters deserve death.

The story, simply put, is the journey of Rossamund from the orphanage he grew up in, to a distant city where he is to take up the post of a lamp lighter. The only trouble is, the journey does not go as planned from the very beginning and he had quite an Adventure on the way.

The way of life and countryside is well realised without being over-laboured. This is a great fantasy adventure!

The Keys to the Kingdom: Mister Monday - Garth Nix

Much of my 'Non-work' reading is done in the car with Audio books. There'd be a lot of books I would have just ignore completely if they weren't available because I simply don't have the time for them all. My regular drives to Canberra also help in churning through a few Audio books.

All that said, I got myself a copy of Mister Monday because I had always intended to read this series, but had never found myself getting around to it. Now that book one is behind me, all I can do is chide myself I did't read these earlier when I would have had the time to sit and read them all in a row. I Loved it!

Admittedly (and I will get this out of the way before I go on) there were one or two voices of characters that irked me and kind of threw me out of the story, but over all Allan Corduner did a very good job of reading the story. This is the main problem with Audio books, if the reader's voice is annoying or pronounces words in an odd way, it can be very distracting and detract from the book itself. This wasn't the case with Mister Monday, but I have had this happen with other titles.

Now that the 'negative' part is out of the way, I can go on raving about this book.

Nix has built a brilliant fantasy world that is so thoroughly thought out and planned it all fits together perfectly - like clockwork as it were. But that does not make it burdensome for the reader. Keep in mind these books are aimed at 8-12 year olds, it would be a shame if they were unnecessarily complex. That said, reading them with an adult mind, I found them fascinating in thinking over all that is being alluded to or suggested by the constructs of this fantasy world.

Our universe is known as "The Secondary Realms" which were created by "The Architect" out of Nothing. She also created "The House" which sits between the Secondary Realms and Nothing and its purpose was to observe and record. When the Architect "went away" she left a Will to govern the house.

The custodians had other plans, and divided the Will, destroying it's power and assuming control of one part of The House and one day of the week. Seven days of the week mastered by seven illegitimate rulers, afflicted by Seven Deadly Sins. Mister Monday is impaired by Sloth and has let the Lower House fall into disrepair.

Enter the hero, a young boy who has severe asthma and nearly dies half way through the cross country run at his new school. Then he must go into The House and try to find a way to right the wrongs that Mister Monday has brought upon his friends and family.

I had so much fun with this book, and could strongly recommend it to anyone who has any interest in fantasy. Even adult readers shouldn't be put off by the age of it's target audience. As I know very well and I try to convince people of all the time: Children and Young Adult fiction is full of treasures for all ages.