What is with this Audio Book ? GRRrr!

[mrblonde]

I listen to 90% of the books I consume being on the road and on planes 4 days a week. I muscled through some crappy narrators to listen to a good book, but this one is KILLING ME! This guy whispers the end of every line like it's his dying breath. I have tried 4 times and can't get past the first 15 min. Anyone else annoyed by this guy?

[GNTLGNT]

I haven't heard it, but I'm surprised that Frank Muller would deliver anything but a fantastic read...

[Elemeno P]

Hate to agree with you because Frank Muller just knocks it out of the park on the DT series.

I'm not sure if I just got used to it or he changes, but that one second of breath really adds up.

If it's any consolation, he does Black House too and it's not so pronounced. It sneaks in every now and then, but I remember being where you are at the start of The Talisman.

[boogerb53]

Sorry...I disagree 100% Frank Muller was the greatest thing that ever happened to audio books. He had a flair the dramatic and for voices without being silly. It's a shame he died so tragically.

[Elemeno P]

I went back to listen to some of the DT, BH and TT audio to compare and contrast.

It's his pacing that's the difference. He reads faster in the DT and BH. His speed does pick up later in TT.

When he reads slower it does come out as a whisper when he finishes non-character text.

Personally, I was so used to hearing him through the DT that it took me a while to get used to the slower pace in TT.

[mrblonde]

I have listened to the 1st DT, and was fine with it. I didn't realize it was the same guy! Crazy!

[ArtGirl]

I listen to audio books while working in my studio - I just started "The Talisman" and couldn't make it any further than about the first 15 minutes due to my dislike of the narrator's voice -- I came to the message board to see if anyone else had had the same problem. Although Mr. Muller is a noted narrator, for this book he is using a voice suitable for a dastardly cartoon villain -- I was SO looking forward to listening to "The Talisman," but I just can't -- the voice just doesn't work for me.

[TEDG65]

I noticed it too........probably in comparison to a local radio station's ad guy who does the same thing....but I got through nearly all of it so far...

One other annoying reader was Mare Winningham reading Lisey's Story...whenever she did the psychotic Southern father impression, it drove me nuts........although I like her narrative of The Gingerbread Girl.

[Mr. Birkegaard]

Hello there
I had the pleasure to speak with a few members of the Danish society for the blind (not sure of the translation) recently, and they told me they preferred audiobooks with a very plain voice - they hated if there was too much "acting" and I realized their "problem":
They don´t have a choice.
People with normal vision and reading skills can just read the books themselves, but the blind is forced to live with the voice which is often decided by the publishing house. The "problem" with that is that audiobooks (at least in Denmark) is becoming more and more popular amongst people with normal reading skills, and they expects an "added experience" when listening to an audiobook, so a plain voice is not enough - they want the acting (of cause there are probably many exceptions to this). Danish is a small language so its very rare that more than one audiobook, and the blind is feeling left out because the growing market is for the people with normal vision and reading skills.
That makes me sad.

[dsurrett]

I thought the reader did a great job with The Talisman, putting character into the different character's voices so that everyone didn't sound the same. To each his own I guess. The only audiobook I've ever stopped listening to due to the narrator's voice was an Evanovich book. The lady who narrated it had a nasally voice with a strange regional accent (I'm from the south so don't have an accent) that I could not bare.