Andy

Simon Prebble does amazing work here and enables the tension and fun in this book to come out. Interestingly, I picked it up right after I'd concluded his different narration of "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and was surprisingly struck by the plot point similarities.

It's not an easy thing to take a chainsaw to Copperfield, but the one wielded here, to abridge 30 hours into 5, is fairly graceful. The main threads are all here. Main characters are all here too, and many minor ones: Mister Dick and the donkeys are here. Gip the dog, Little Em'ly, and David's invisible sister Betsey Trotwood Copperfield are here. Barkis is here, and willin'. What's lost is the depth of self reflection, the time it takes to develop the agony at parts, such as David's runaway to his Aunt. But it's surprising how much pain and loss does indeed remain, such as Chapter 55's awful Tempest. And it's gratifying how much little unnecessary detail remains, because the gingerbread detail is what helps captivate us to the novel. But the abridgement means the story skips along, and transitions can seem abrupt. The narration by Nathaniel Parker is servicable, but frankly doesn't have deep joyful friendliness I would have liked in some characters, such as Aunt Betsey (who sounds like Monty Python doing Her Majesty) or Wilkins Macawber (who sounds like Cary Grant.) I do have the Simon Vance and Frederick Davidson narrations of the complete Copperfield and love them, especially the excellent Davidson voices. But for a good precipitate, this abridgement can fit the bill.

I have 3 versions (wonderful Simon Vance, Nathaniel Parker and this one) but this is the best, full of energy, delight, humor, irony and surprise. All of the male characters and most of the women's voices were wonderfully characterized. Murdstone has depth, his sister is our nightmare, fisherman Dan'l Peggoty is a mighty sailing man and his nephew Ham brave and true at the last; Clara Peggoty's a blubbering love, Aunt Betsey is harsh and loveable and David himself is voiced as an excited innocent. The only voice I didn't always like is that of the narrator, Frederick Davidson, who seems to speak with a nasal looking-down-at-us quality. But he too is an invention, just another character of the astute David Case, who's recorded over 800 audio books.

This is a slightly abridged version of Sylvia's 1990 bestseller, and yes it's fascinating, and to me it's also very funny. I mean, who would open a psychic studio next to a smelly diaper-cleaning service? Sylvia Browne recorded this herself a dozen years after writing it, and often stops her reading along the way to give quick updates, side comments or a special emphasis. She's clearly reading, but is reading quickly. There's a lot packed into these three hours. I usually like long audio books but with this one I never felt shortchanged. At the end I was sorry to leave her company.

The original was written with Toni May in the ThirdPerson, but here Sylvia does her best to rephrase it in the FirstPerson. I should note that I've avoided Sylvia Browne despite five years of mining the Hay House catalogue, but I only did myself a disservice. Sylvia is an uncut diamond. She is clear eyed and matter-of-fact about her psychic powers, the bad and good life decisions she's made along the way, and her lifelong ability to be helpful and useful.

By the way, the paper version is reprinted as the first third of 2009's "Accepting the Psychic Torch."

The whole book, Side Effects, has 17 stories. It was published in 1980, and so is, in fact, his early stuff. But this recording is new: if you listen carefully you can hear that Woody Allen's voice has aged some. It is fun to hear him read his own comedy.

I sampled "My Apology". It's a funny story, a knock-off on Plato's famous text of Socrates' final days in prison. It's a short story written in the 70s, and has nothing to do with his wife or life. If they'd got Allen to do read "Side Effects" 10 years ago I think his delivery would be more flexible and his comedic style stronger but still I enjoy hearing Woody doing Woody.

The history is written dramatically; the story is read compellingly by Richard Poe. It unfolds like a thriller, and reminds of a time when two journalists were heroic.

Other reviewers note the dozens of characters in the story. Some say it's hard to know which characters are minor and which are significant. Readers at the time it was written would have known many of the names from the daily news, in a way that we do not. For instance, although Woodward is baffled by the name 'Charles Colson,' book readers at the time would have known the end of the story: that Colson was high in the White House and would go to jail for the coverup. Readers then knew that John Mitchell, E. Howard Hunt and John Dean were household names.

Yet, the story is gripping even without it, and clear enough, when the listener flows with the story. I really enjoyed it.

An odd story. You have to meet the book half way. Pynchon said his characters would stop what they are doing to sing a stupid song, and they do. In the end the book is fun, but for me it's Dick Hill's narration that makes it accessible. ALERT: the book is not available in the Enhanced format (at least as I write in Feb '10).

Good absorbing story, which unfolds methodically to a strong ending. I enjoyed Colleen McCullough's novels of ancient Rome so much I thought it was time to dive into this classic of hers. Yes, the narration here does have the weaknesses others have mentioned but it was not too much of a problem for me and did not stop me from becoming engaged with the story anyway. McCullough's writing is not sentimental or emotional, although the story is. I liked it that way. It was satisfying and I recommend it.

The rewards with Gabaldon are the meandering introspective globe-trotting journey to get there. Davina Porter - the narrator for all of the unabridged Outlanders - was again superb with the adult voices (and a little too cute for the kids.) We men like blod and guts and sweat and love. Please, may I have some more.

I never heard of Rosenthal and "Raymond" was a show I watched only when the wife had it on, but this book, and especially Rosenthal's reading of his book, is just wonderful. Hilarious at times, moving at times, it moves along at a good clip. It offers mostly good information on how he and Ray Romano and the 5 men and women writers in the backroom worked together to mine their lives. You can get a good sense of the acting skills, too. I can now see the soul that was intentionally placed in each episode. One boring part about a boring vacation, and yes, there are many mysterious spots of silence throughout this audio. Yet overall one of the best audiobooks I've heard. And I have heard dozens.