The Captain of the Pole Star

By: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrated by: B. J. Harrison

Length: 1 hr and 6 mins

Publisher's Summary

Word goes among the crew of the Pole Star that the captain is haunted by demons. And after the days turn into weeks in the frigid Arctic Ocean, stories begin to circulate of ghosts and midnight hauntings.

Public Domain (P)2007 B.J. Harrison

Conan Doyle wrote more than Mr. Holmes.

The story of ghostly happenings on a whaling ship is eerie and atmospheric. The mysterious Captain of the Pole Star is a hypnotic character. The Doctor narrator, ( Hmmm, another Doctor narrator?) is in an excellent position to tell the story from all perspectives.
The story is first rate, the narration by BJ Harrison is better than some of his books and his dialects were very good.
All in all a great listen!

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

good story

good story and narrator. didn't know author did other books besides sherlock. I would recommend

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Old School but Good

Any additional comments?

Old school horror done right. It was creepy but not really scary, basically a ghost story.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

Wonderful Narration of a Classic Tale

This was a classic tale of a ghost story from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It wasn’t particularly scary, but the narration and voices were excellent.

over acted

I liked the story and while I'm sure many people will like the reader I felt it was overly dramatized.

Good for a short book

I started uninterested and by the time I became interested the book was mostly over, I hated the ending and I wish the author had kept it going. the author probably did himself favors by just sticking to writing Sherlock Holmes books.

The narrator I thought did a great job.

A Love Story Of A Most Peculiar Kind

From the decks of the Pole Star, a Scottish whaler and crew, a Captain with a torn soul whose agony stirs fear and terror in all around him yet has radiant bursts of delight and comradeship. Surrounded in the ice cap of the arctic circle ,strange imaginings appear in sight and sound and BJ's mastery of voices keeps you on deck in the blinding snow and cold wondering - can this truly be a love story?

Ok but not great.

Short and easy to get into but thought the ending was to quick and simple.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Narration is terrible

I bought two books narrated by B.J. Harrison because they were both less than a dollar together. And I regret it. The stories aren't bad at all. But the narration didn't let me enjoy them. B.J. Harrison's voice is annoying to me. He tends to take pauses where there shouldn't be and he always changes the tone, speed and volume of his speech after a pause. And even though very subtle, I can still hear his lips smack when he's about to begin a new sentence. All of it makes him sound somehwat condescending and smug. I hate it. I'll never buy a book narrated by B.J. Harrison. I wouldn't even take one for free.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Narrator is simply terrible

Why do many Americans think they can do accents? Particularly British accents (yes, there are more than just Scots, Irish, and English!)? Mr. Harrison obviously thinks he can truly sound Scottish but he sounds clownish instead. No, I'm not British by birth but I have lived in the UK for 19 years and I can promise you that this gentleman simply cannot perform any British accent whatsoever. I'm not trying to be pompous, just honest. This is painful and embarrassing to listen to.

Add to that all the mispronounced and poorly pronounced words and its truly difficult to listen to. It would really help if Mr. Harrison simply looked at a dictionary or even to Google for words he is unfamiliar with before attempting to record them. 'Quay' is pronounced 'key'. It's not difficult.

This is a classic Conan Doyle and it should be read as such but the narration made this entirely too painful to listen to. I couldn't finish it and have deleted it after just a few minutes listening time. There are other versions of this story on Audible that are well read and I highly recommend listeners search for a different narrator rather than attempt to listen to this.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Weird accent

The sample gave me the impression this was read by a British actor but the whole story was read by an American, at high speed, and with the oddest idea of what Scots sound like... Not quite Hound of the Baskervilles, but mildly entertaining way to spend an hour.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

This is really a good book and i recommend it !!

This is really a good book and a very good narrator who depicts the story very well .

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

We all know Sherlock but this is how Arthur Conan Doyle should be enjoyed.

Everybody knows about Sherlock but this is where Arthur Conan Doyle really comes into his own, sweeping us off into an adventure of his skilful and wonderful imagination. Underappreciated, Doyle's short stories should rightly enjoy for recognition. Harrison does an admirable job narrating this tale serving up an easily pictured scene, getting Doyles language and tone right and transporting us back in time to that of Doyle's . Very well done.

POOR NARRATIVE - HOW DEOS AUDIBLE CHOOSE THESE NARRATORS?

I have the BBC full casts of this play which is excellent and was pleased to find this on audiobook but extremely let down by this most unsuitable of narrators who has no idea about the meaning of this play, which he reads in the negative without any atmosphere. All the characters sound the same and the narrative has no depth. I would like to know how the narrators are chosen to read these books because so many of them are unsuitable they spoil the them.

Wuthering Heights goes to sea.

What did you like most about The Captain of the Pole Star?

The story was enjoyable and not as predicted on purchasing the title.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Captain of the Pole Star?

The ending does come to mind in colour more than the rest of the story.

What does B. J. Harrison bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The narration is very good and individual characters played well.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A Ghostly love story.

Any additional comments?

This is a short nautical story in the essence of the great classic., 'Wuthering Heights. The dark young captain is depicted as a character very like Heathcliffe.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful