The Blue Hotel, The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, and The Open Boat

Three Famous Short Stories by Stephen Crane

By: Stephen Crane

Narrated by: Deaver Brown

Length: 3 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

These are Stephen Crane's three most famous short stories. He also wrote others of great value, but these are the ones that stand out the most. Each one has themes relating to life, death, random acts, danger, and delight. This audiobook is the place to start for newcomers to Crane. This recording contains forwards and afterwords that can be listened to or skipped over per listener preference.

Public Domain (P)2012 Deaver Brown

Poor Narration Spoils Classic Stories

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The three stories included in this collection are classic examples of nineteenth century American realism. The narration, however, is awful -- among the worst I have heard in over twenty years of listening to audio books. This is not your typical audio book. It includes an informal introduction and afterword to each story, as if the narrator were teaching a high school literature class. The narration itself contains mispronunciations, halts, stumbles, lack of inflection, and incorrect emphasis. It doesn't appear to have been edited. The narrator comments that he has changed some of the text of the stories to make them easier to listen to, and states that he has left in some of the stumbles to illustrate the differences between the audio and the written versions. The entire production seems amateur.

Would you recommend The Blue Hotel, The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, and The Open Boat to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend the stories, but not this version. All of these stories are available on audible.com with other narrators.

What didn’t you like about Deaver Brown’s performance?

Just about everything.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I was disappointed. The narration was so bad that I found myself focusing on it instead of the stories.

Wow, I guess anyone can narate a story...

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A professional narrator.

What other book might you compare The Blue Hotel, The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, and The Open Boat to and why?

It is irrelevant; my review is solely about the narrator, who is terrible.

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator pauses mid-sentence, stutters, and mispronounces basic words. Further, background noise can easily be heard. I should not hear mouse clicks, computers, or doors opening and closing in an audio book. Further, if these sounds are generated by someone who is reading a script, he should not stutter.

This narrator not only needs to stop performing on audiobooks, he needs to take a public speaking course.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Not relevant to this review.

Any additional comments?

I was shocked at the poor quality of this book. I couldn't listen to the story, it would have ruined it.

Poor, choppy narration

Would you try another book from Stephen Crane and/or Deaver Brown?

I would not buy a book narrated from this narrator again. He stumbled over some words, mispronouncing them. He would not stop at periods either.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Choppy performance. Mispronounced words.