PDA

View Full Version : The audio book



Chap
11-25-2008, 01:48 PM
Hullo chaps.
I recently "aquired" the DT audio books and have only just begun listening to them.
After 4 chapters in The Gunslinger, I am amazed at how good the book is already. From reading it I thought it was the weakest book in the series, but after listening to it my opinion has changed. It's surprising to me how much the way the story is told can affect (SP?) how we see it.
The readers (Godall? I don't know, please fill me in:cowboy: ) voice is great, he does a great Roland and has, for me, lifted the scene with Roland and Brown from obscurity to one of the best moments in the series :o
Ok I don't really have any questions, just wanted to get this off my chest :P

oh, does anyone have a quick overview of who reads the various books? I think King himself reads one of the books I've got (Wastelands), but I may be wrong. I'm quite sure it said "read by the author" in the intro though. (and the voice was rather geeky, tbh)

The Chap

Wuducynn
11-25-2008, 01:55 PM
First edition of the audio books of 1,2 and 3 are read by King. Second Edition of 1,2,3 and first edition (and only so far) of 4 read by the late Frank Muller. First and only editions of 5, 6, and 7 and third edition of The Gunslinger (revised) read by George Guidall.
Glad you enjoyed The Gunslinger read by Guidall, cause so do I. King in my opinion does the best reading of them all though.

Chap
11-25-2008, 01:59 PM
First edition of the audio books of 1,2 and 3 are read by King. Second Edition of 1,2,3 and first edition (and only so far) of 4 read by the late Frank Muller. First and only editions of 5, 6, and 7 and third edition of The Gunslinger (revised) read by George Guidall.
Glad you enjoyed The Gunslinger read by Guidall, cause so do I. King in my opinion does the best reading of them all though.

Thanks alot!
I heard a few pages of Kings read of Wastelands and thought he did a fantastic Susannah, good Eddie and OK Roland.
Hope I have the Guidall versions of 5, 6 and 7 because he really nailed Roland (not that way) in the first.

Wuducynn
11-25-2008, 02:02 PM
Hope I have the Guidall versions of 5, 6 and 7 because he really nailed Roland (not that way) in the first.

You need to read a little closer -
First and only editions of 5, 6, and 7 and third edition of The Gunslinger (revised) read by George Guidall.

Chap
11-25-2008, 02:13 PM
yeah, my bad :P

Letti
11-26-2008, 01:35 AM
And how long is the Gunslinger? How many hours?

Chap
11-26-2008, 06:04 AM
I think it's around 7h20m :)
and once again I have to commend Guidall for this, he really sets the mood with his voice, amazing :clap:

KaLikeAWheel
11-26-2008, 06:05 AM
The first time I experienced "The Gunslinger," was in audio, read by King (Original Edition). I've read it several times since, but I enjoyed it much more on audio, which is usually not the case for me.

Brice
11-26-2008, 06:07 AM
First edition of the audio books of 1,2 and 3 are read by King. Second Edition of 1,2,3 and first edition (and only so far) of 4 read by the late Frank Muller. First and only editions of 5, 6, and 7 and third edition of The Gunslinger (revised) read by George Guidall.
Glad you enjoyed The Gunslinger read by Guidall, cause so do I. King in my opinion does the best reading of them all though.

Bolded for truth. :thumbsup:

Chap
11-26-2008, 06:08 AM
The first time I experienced "The Gunslinger," was in audio, read by King (Original Edition). I've read it several times since, but I enjoyed it much more on audio, which is usually not the case for me.

same here, this is actually the first fiction audio book I've heard, and I'm really loving it. I never understood why people listened to audio books before, but I do now!

jayson
11-26-2008, 06:18 AM
...King in my opinion does the best reading of them all though.

Bolded for truth. :thumbsup:

Absolutely. When possible, I almost always prefer to hear the creator of a story tell the story. It applies to music as well. As good as some cover versions of songs are, there is always something special for me about hearing it performed by the person who actually wrote it. There's an authenticity there.

Brice
11-26-2008, 07:20 AM
I agree...except for Bob Dylan. :P

Wuducynn
11-26-2008, 07:28 AM
I agree...except for Bob Dylan. :P


You just signed your death warrant with this post, Brice my friend. Jayson is going to hunt you down and make your death as slow as he can.

Brice
11-26-2008, 07:33 AM
I agree...except for Bob Dylan. :P


You just signed your death warrant with this post, Brice my friend. Jayson is going to hunt you down and make your death as slow as he can.

Oh...he's gonna' make me listen to Bob Dylan? :scared: :cry:

Wuducynn
11-26-2008, 07:43 AM
Oh...he's gonna' make me listen to Bob Dylan? :scared: :cry:

Right, instead of slowly pulling your tongue out of your mouth using red hot pliars, he's going to do that, which is even MORE painful.

jayson
11-26-2008, 07:46 AM
Brice is allowed to disagree with me about Dylan. As long as he's comfortable with being wrong, who am I to judge him. :evil:

Brice
11-26-2008, 09:11 AM
Brice is allowed to disagree with me about Dylan. As long as he's comfortable with being wrong, who am I to judge him. :evil:

Thus Jayson disproves his superiority in musical taste. :lol:

As I've said before Dylan as a songwriter is a genius. He just shouldn't be allowed to sing his own songs...not even in the shower.

jayson
11-26-2008, 09:25 AM
And as I've said before, I think the "Dylan can't sing" thing is an over-simplification. The nasally whine thing is not his presentation for every song. On a great number of his songs there is a fragility and an honesty to that voice that simply can't be replicated by anyone else. Like I said, there's an authenticity to it as the songwriter that is absent from cover versions. That is not to say cover versions of Dylan songs are bad, some are quite good, but there's something about Dylan's delivery that can't be found in covers. Take a song like "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" for example. Susan Tedeschi does a beautiful rendition of it, particularly when she performs it live with The Allman Brothers Band. She has a great voice and nails the song. However, Dylan's version carries extra weight because it's his emotions, his story.

Ultimately it's a matter of personal preference, but I've had the "Dylan can't sing" discussion many times over the years and every time I contend that over the depth of that vast catalog there are numerous examples of his being (a) a damn good singer, and more importantly (b) the best possible singer of his songs.

It actually goes back to the audio book thing (see how I brought that full circle). In terms of just the tonal quality and timbre of his voice I actually find Stephen King's voice to be a bit grating and annoying. However, his phrasing of his own stories is absolutely perfect. Guidall and Muller both have exceptional vocal quality but as good as they both are at reading stories, neither of them quite nails the little intricacies like King does. It's a matter of his intimate knowledge of these stories as their creator.

Wuducynn
11-26-2008, 09:29 AM
I actually like King's voice, especially his rendition of Roland and Gasher. Amazing.

Brice
11-26-2008, 09:32 AM
And as I've said before, I think the "Dylan can't sing" thing is an over-simplification. The nasally whine thing is not his presentation for every song. On a great number of his songs there is a fragility and an honesty to that voice that simply can't be replicated by anyone else. Like I said, there's an authenticity to it as the songwriter that is absent from cover versions. That is not to say cover versions of Dylan songs are bad, some are quite good, but there's something about Dylan's delivery that can't be found in covers. Take a song like "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" for example. Susan Tedeschi does a beautiful rendition of it, particularly when she performs it live with The Allman Brothers Band. She has a great voice and nails the song. However, Dylan's version carries extra weight because it's his emotions, his story.

Ultimately it's a matter of personal preference, but I've had the "Dylan can't sing" discussion many times over the years and every time I contend that over the depth of that vast catalog there are numerous examples of his being (a) a damn good singer, and more importantly (b) the best possible singer of his songs.

It actually goes back to the audio book thing (see how I brought that full circle). In terms of just the tonal quality and timbre of his voice I actually find Stephen King's voice to be a bit grating and annoying. However, his phrasing of his own stories is absolutely perfect. Guidall and Muller both have exceptional vocal quality but as good as they both are at reading stories, neither of them quite nails the little intricacies like King does. It's a matter of his intimate knowledge of these stories as their creator.

I actually would agree that Dylan can sing. I've heard him sing...without the nasal thing he's usually got going on. Unfortunately that grates on my nerves to the point where I can't enjoy the songs personally. The only exception to this is an occasional listen to Dylan & The Dead.

jayson
11-26-2008, 09:51 AM
I actually like King's voice, especially his rendition of Roland and Gasher. Amazing.

I also like the voices he comes up with for the characters. It's his general speaking/reading voice that I find kind of annoying. If I had to listen to King read something that wasn't a King story in his regular voice I'd probably turn it off after about 10 minutes. However, when he's reading one of his stories, the quality of his voice takes a backseat to what he's actually saying. The man is a great storyteller, both in terms of writing and reading stories.



I actually would agree that Dylan can sing. I've heard him sing...without the nasal thing he's usually got going on. Unfortunately that grates on my nerves to the point where I can't enjoy the songs personally. The only exception to this is an occasional listen to Dylan & The Dead.

It's funny, I actually think the Dylan & The Dead album that came out are some horrible versions of those songs, both in terms of Dylan's performance and, especially, the Dead. I have a bunch of shows from that tour and better performances exist of each and every one of those songs. They should have picked different ones for the official release. If anybody wants a perfect example of Dylan's voice being perfect for Dylan's songs, watch and/or listen to his set with The Band on The Last Waltz. Tomorrow is a good day to do it as The Last Waltz was a Thanksgiving Day show. That particular performance of "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)" is as good as it gets.

Brice
11-26-2008, 09:56 AM
I actually like King's voice, especially his rendition of Roland and Gasher. Amazing.

I also like the voices he comes up with for the characters. It's his general speaking/reading voice that I find kind of annoying. If I had to listen to King read something that wasn't a King story in his regular voice I'd probably turn it off after about 10 minutes. However, when he's reading one of his stories, the quality of his voice takes a backseat to what he's actually saying. The man is a great storyteller, both in terms of writing and reading stories.



I actually would agree that Dylan can sing. I've heard him sing...without the nasal thing he's usually got going on. Unfortunately that grates on my nerves to the point where I can't enjoy the songs personally. The only exception to this is an occasional listen to Dylan & The Dead.

It's funny, I actually think the Dylan & The Dead album that came out are some horrible versions of those songs, both in terms of Dylan's performance and, especially, the Dead. I have a bunch of shows from that tour and better performances exist of each and every one of those songs. They should have picked different ones for the official release. If anybody wants a perfect example of Dylan's voice being perfect for Dylan's songs, watch and/or listen to his set with The Band on The Last Waltz. Tomorrow is a good day to do it as The Last Waltz was a Thanksgiving Day show. That particular performance of "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)" is as good as it gets.

It's not my favorite either. It is the only recording I have of them together though and I do occasionally listen to it.

jayson
11-26-2008, 10:00 AM
It's not my favorite either. It is the only recording I have of them together though and I do occasionally listen to it.

I'll make a note to make you some copies of some of other versions of stuff from that tour the next time I send you music. I do think that many of Jerry's best interpretations of Dylan's work were done with the JGB. The only Dylan song I thought the Dead ever really got right was "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". Of course, if you really want to hear a great version of that, I'd suggest the cover by Them (feat. Van Morrison). It's one of the few Dylan covers that I think is superior to the original.

Brice
11-26-2008, 10:05 AM
I've never heard of that. You know I'll appreciate what you send when you do.

jayson
11-26-2008, 10:07 AM
If you heard it, you may recognize the musical arrangement because it is heavily sampled by Beck in the song "Jack Ass" from Odelay.

Brice
11-26-2008, 10:15 AM
I've heard the Beck album many times.

jayson
11-26-2008, 10:22 AM
Then you essentially know the music to the Them version of "It's All Over Now Baby Blue". That mellotron figure that's repeated throughout most of the Beck song is lifted from the Them song. Friggin' haunting piece of music.

So, could we possibly get more tangential? What was the topic anyway? :P

Brice
11-26-2008, 10:23 AM
Oh...you're right! Sorry everyone! :blush:

jayson
11-26-2008, 10:26 AM
Well at least there was an interesting conversation in there about Dylan covers. We now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion of audio books already in progress...

Chap
11-26-2008, 03:54 PM
I wonder if Dylan has any connection to the dark tower :P

on topic: now that I've got further into the story, I got to add that Guidall is good as Jake too. and the man in black :)

Letti
11-29-2008, 02:10 AM
I suggest opening a thread for Dylan.

Letti
11-29-2008, 02:11 AM
I think it's around 7h20m :)
and once again I have to commend Guidall for this, he really sets the mood with his voice, amazing :clap:

Just 7 hours? I thought it's much longer. Maybe because I am not good at reading out.

Chap
11-29-2008, 08:59 AM
I think it's around 7h20m :)
and once again I have to commend Guidall for this, he really sets the mood with his voice, amazing :clap:

Just 7 hours? I thought it's much longer. Maybe because I am not good at reading out.

Yeah this is one big file. So I really hope I'm not missing any parts, that would be embarrasing :blush:

Just finished it last night. The only thing I didn't like was how "Jake" said his famous "Go then"-line.
Other than that it was great!

Letti
11-29-2008, 01:46 PM
Why didn't you like the line that way?

Chap
01-25-2009, 03:11 PM
Oups, sorry for not replying. I forgot about this thread :blush:

I didn't like it because it didn't sound like I imagined. The voice sounded a bit "whiny", and I imagined it to be calmer, as if Jake had a moment of clarity (or a epiphany, if you will). So the voice was more relaxed, resigned and calm in my head.


That said, now that I've heard Guidall, Muller and King all read DT books, Guidall is definately the best IMO. King is a better Eddie and Susannah, but overall Guidall is on top :thumbsup:

mtdman
05-25-2011, 06:49 PM
IMO, the version of books 2,3,4 with Muller are the best. I haven't heard the 2nd edition version of book 1 with Muller, but he's definitely my favorite narrator. Muller does the Talisman and Black House as well, and does them well.

Although Guidall is pretty good in the books he reads as well.

Major
04-01-2021, 09:42 PM
I'm listening to the Frank Muller version of this for the first time.... I'm really digging it.

Lots of Drama and character to his voice.