Mostly Harmless

Author: Douglas Adams

Reader: Martin Freeman

Short Review: A good reading of my least favorite book in the series.

Long Review: The disappearance of Fenchurch, the appearance of Random, the multiple Trillians–it’s all too much, and too dark to fit well into the series. Adams himself was open about his disappointment in the tone for this, the sort-of-ending to the series. I enjoyed hearing it, nonetheless.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Author: Douglas Adams

Reader: Martin Freeman

Short Review: Another decent reading of a book I love, which suffers by comparison to the Stephen Frye reading of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Long Review: Er, fourth verse, same as the second? Thankfully, no.

I love this series, as I said in my review of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I think Martin Feeman is a pretty good reader, apart from that whole Zaphod thing. Thankfully, that’s not really an issue with this book. Another plus: we get the addition of Fenchurch. I’m sure some readers wish Adams had just left the musky stuff out of the series, but my sappy little heart sings when something nice finally happens to Arthur Dent.

Unfortunately, this is probably the weakest book in the original four-part trilogy (blame Adams for that misuse of trilogy, not me). This story isn’t as tight as the previous books in the series. Even so, I like reading and listening to it.

Life, the Universe and Everything

Author: Douglas Adams

Reader: Martin Freeman

Short Review: Another decent reading of a book I love, which suffers by comparison to the Stephen Frye reading of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Long Review: My opinions on this audiobook are, sensibly, quite similar to my opinions on The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. I love the book, and am grateful for having less of Freeman-as-Zaphod to annoy me. The silliness of the Cricket/Krikkit plot carries over nicely in the audio version.

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Author: Douglas Adams

Reader: Martin Freeman

Short Review: A decent reading of a book I love, which suffers by comparison to the Stephen Frye reading of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Long Review: I love this series, as I mentioned in my review of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I think Martin Feeman is a pretty good reader, but Stephen Frye is such a great reader that I can’t but prefer his casting.

Freeman does one particular thing as a narrator that drives me mad. He reads Zaphod Beeblebrox as a stereotypical Jewish New Yorker. That, in and of itself, would annoy me. His accent is atrocious, though, so it also seems insulting. British folks love to make fun of Americans because we’re so terrible at mimicking their accents. Well you know what? The vast majority of Brits are just as bad at mimicking us, and this is a particularly galling example.

Apart from that, it’s a pretty good rendition. But Zaphod is a huge part of these books, so reading his role poorly really harms the whole audio book.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Author: Douglas Adams

Reader: Stephen Fry

Short Review: A great reading of one of my favorite goofy novels.

Long Review: Like many people, I learned about Douglas Adams’ series when I was a kid, read it, laughed myself silly, read it again, laughed myself silly, saw the TV series on PBS, was terribly frustrated by its failings (go ahead and stone me as a heretic), read the books again, saw the film, found it disappointing, and read the books again.

So I was a bit worried about the audio books. Previous attempts to shove this brilliant, silly stuff of my childhood into other media had not gone so well, in my eyes. But Stephen Fry’s participation convinced me to at least check it out. As the voice of the Guide, Fry was the highpoint of the film for me. I think he was the perfect choice for the reader: he has that excellent, tony prep school diction required for the Guide itself, but also a lot of vocal range, and a good dose of nerdy silliness, which is required.

Fry doesn’t disappoint. He has great comic timing (as well he should), good diction, reads the Guide sections clearly and convincingly, and seems to match the goofy voices for characters like the ship’s computer Eddie and Marvin quite effectively to what my brain wants. Nice trick, Fry.

This is one of those audio books I’ll listen to again when I need something light and fun.

Author: Lemony Snicket
Read by: Tim Curry

Short Review: Tim Curry! Lemony Snicket! Creepy and dark, yet strangely endearing. And you get to hear an interview with the ever elusive Mr. Snicket.

Long Review: Yes, this is technically a children’s book - but even if you are over 10 (or over 20 for that matter), don’t let that stop you. I read this book before I listened to it - and I definitely preferred having Tim Curry read it to me. For those who haven’t come across this series before, it is about the Baudelaire orphans and their terrible trials and tribulations after the death of their parents. But these are no ordinary orphans - they are clever and they never give up. That is a good thing, because there is no end in sight for their troubles.

Rather than steering clear of challenging words, Snicket’s narrator provides definitions along the way. The flavor of the story is gothic and dark (with the guarantee of no happy ending from the very first sentence) - but the combination of Tim Curry’s voice and Lemony Snicket’s storytelling make this one a very tasty treat indeed.

Short Review: Super fun and irreverent vampire romp through San Francisco, stellar reader to whom I could listen all day long.

Long Review: I just finished listening to this - and all I can say is WOW. This is one of those audio books that I let just replay the last disk because I didn’t want it to be done. Susan Bennett is sheer magic. Some readers can just do that - make you forget that you are listening to one person read. Each character is clear and distinct - and the three core characters are made so much more tangible through her vocal choices. But the best reader can’t make a dull story good - lucky for us this reader is paired with a super fun ride through present day, vampire ridden San Francisco. For those who have read Bloodsucking Fiends, this is a sequel. I hadn’t read the first book but still loved this one. For the record, the character that I ended up loving most was the one I was sort of annoyed with when I first met her. I bet it happens to you too. I also loved the interview with the author at the end. I like hearing author’s voices and learning tidbits about their creative process.

You Suck: A Love Story is also available through the Simply Audiobooks Rental Program.