Dimestore Romance

Upanishad

By Belynda, May 30th, 2009 in Other
Tags: audiobooks, beloved, crime and punishment, Dexter, george guidall, listening, nick landrum, Reading, sweet and vicious, the gunslinger, toni morrison, upanishad

Because last night was so nice, and my bed was so warm, and my week was so long, I decided to write my Friday night blog post this morning.

“Upanishad” is the Hindi word for the scriptures that make up the essentials of the Venanta (the teaching of oneness with the universal being, or Braman.) It means “To sit at the feet of the master” and refers to the traditional way of teaching, the master passing on knowledge to the student by speaking the daily lessons. Books were produced by hand and so were considered priceless, kept well guarded by the temples. For this reason, lessons were passed from generation to generation of monk orally. The advent of the printing press obviously greatly improved the dissemination of information, and the oral tradition died out.

I made the argument recently that audiobooks were just technology picking up where the oral tradition left off. I catch a bit of flack about listening to them, but besides the fact that I can fit 45 minutes to 4 hours a day of “reading” into my schedule, I really enjoy listening to a good audiobook! I can listen to a book while filing at work, driving in my car, doing the grocery shopping or the laundry. Sometimes I just come home and decompress with my headphones on after work, or before I go to sleep.

What a lot of people miss by ragging on audiobooks, is that there is a connection not only to the story, but to the voice of the speaker. I have favorite narrators, just as I have favorite musicians or songs. There’s something soothing about the connection to the speaker that makes the experience unique.

I started thinking about this yesterday as I started “Beloved” by Toni Morrison. It’s narrated by Morrison herself, and while the story itself is gorgeous so far (I’m about 3 hours - or 60 pages - into the story), Morrison’s narration is incredible. Her voice has a buttery, soothing quality, and no one could read the book as well as its creator. Here’s a clip of Toni Morrison discussing her first days of writing, a step on the path that would take her to both the Pulitzer and the Nobel.

I finished “Crime and Punishment” yesterday morning on my way to work. It was loooong… 25 hours, for an unabridged translation of about 560 pages. But it was well worth it, a classic for a reason. The audio version is narrated by George Guidall, who could well be the most prolific narrator out there. There’s a good reason for this. He has this wonderfully gruff, basso voice that warms you right up. I’ve listened to “The Gunslinger” by Stephen King and now “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevky, and both were long but very enjoyable because of the narrator.

Of course I can’t miss mentioning my very first favorite narrator, Nick Landrum. I first became acquainted with his work on the Dexter Series, and although he said he loathes it, his voice really is perfect for the role. It’s quiet, steady cadence lends itself well to the inner monologue of Dexter Morgan, friendly neighborhood serial killer. Landrum has also recorded other titles. I’ve listened to both “The Virgin Suicides” by Jeffrey Eugenides (listen to a sample here), “Sweet and Vicious” by David Schickler. Both were wonderful books, and Landrum’s voice added to the experience.

I’m not saying that every audiobook is for you, or that even these narrators are guaranteed to be your cup of tea, but if you’re one to turn your nose up at audiobooks because you feel like they’re corny, or that you won’t be able to “get into” the story, or that you feel like it’s cheating to say you’ve “read” a book that you’ve listened to (ahem, EDDIE), then take it from me: give them another chance. You just might find that you can fit more stories into your schedule, and that you really enjoy the connection to the story that a good narrator can give you!