Sunday, October 04, 2020

Six Degrees of Separation: The Turn of the Screw to Ready Player One


Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best.  The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links.  I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.






This month's starting point is The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. I haven't read Henry James before, so both that fact, that it is short and also that is a spooky read made it a perfectly ideal time to read it. I could also count it for the RIP XV challenge, and that was going to be my theme for Six Degrees of Separation - books that I have read for RIP  (Readers Imbibing Peril) challenges over the years. It was a solid plan right?

You know that there is a but or a however coming though.

In order to read it, I decided to listen to it on audiobook. Just over 4 hours to listen to is doable. And so I began to listen, and was in for a surprising treat when I realise that the first couple of chapters are narrated by Richard Armitage, and then the meat of the story is narrated by Emma Thompson, who I find very soothing to listen to.  So, instead of the more obvious theme of spooky reads, my theme this month is going to be audiobooks with a celebrity narrator.




Sylvester by Georgette Heyer - This morning I spent some time reading posts from 10 years ago which show just how obsessed I was with Richard Armitage. I mean, it's understandable, but still. One of the reasons I do like to gush fangirl, I mean admire him is as as audiobook narrator. He has now done around 40 or so. I have listened to a couple of other books narrated by him, but it really is the Georgette Heyer books he has narrated that I go back to time and again. And every time I do listen to one of these my review is bound to contain the words aural bliss or something similar. The other Heyer books he has narrated are Venetia and The Convenient Marriage. Venetia is great too.






The Further Tales of Peter Rabbit by Emma Thompson -  It would have been remiss of me to have not included an audiobook narrated by Emma Thompson given that she narrates the vast majority of The Turn of the Screw. I was, however, surprised to see that she has written a couple of Peter Rabbit books that she has then narrated.




Mythos by Stephen Fry
- Another example of a celebrity who is an author reading their own audiobooks is Stephen Fry who has narrated many of his own books. He also famously narrated the Harry Potter books when they came out. I have listened to the first of series of short stories that were Audible exclusives and really enjoyed those so I do intend to listen to more by him.




Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman - If Stephen Fry is an example of a celebrity who is an author, then Neil Gaiman is pretty close to being an author who is a celebrity, and someone else who likes to narrate his own audiobooks, not to mention the mythology link here. When we went to hear him speak back in February, he did a reading of the new childrens book that is about to be released called Pirate Stew. I think one of the reasons I like hearing authors narrate their own books, if they are good at it, is that you can hear the expression and emphasis as they meant for it to be heard.




One Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley - There are occasions when the celebrity narrator (or any narrator really) doesn't work for a book, and for me that was true of this book. It didn't help that the book was abridged and I didn't realise it but the narration wasn't for me either. Given that I listened to this 15 years ago (on cassette tape no less) it is probably time for me to let it go, but it certainly has turned out to be memorable for all the wrong reasons.



Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - I wanted to finish on a positive not though! This is not one I have listened to, but I have heard so many rave reviews about Will Wheaton as the narrator. He is also going to be the narrator on the sequel, Ready Player Two, when it comes out later this year so I think I might listen to it instead of reading it!

So there you have it! The Six Degrees of Separation celebrity audiobook narrator edition.

Next month the starting point is the book that you finished this month with, so I will be starting with Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Goodness only knows where that chain is going to end up.

14 comments:

  1. Ha, Stephen Fry... I have his audio book of Heroes (i.e. the long dead Greek ones) beside the bed, and when I can't sleep, it is so boring that I eventually nod off!

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    1. Maybe I should try that when I am awake in the middle of the night Lisa!

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  2. I never heard about the RIP challenge. Maybe I'll join next year (although I don't read many of those books). Really great chain. Too bad about the Thousand Acres narration, the book is stunning!

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    1. The RIP challenge has been lots of fun over the years Davida.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. Hi Marg! Love what you did. Clever twist! I love audio books, just don't have enough time for them. I've listened to Stephen Fry reading The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. It was super cool! And Neil Gaiman reading The Graveyard Book, loved it. I also featured it on my 6 Degrees of Separation - The Ghost Edition

    Hope you are having a good week!

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    1. That is the one thing I miss from my commute. Now that I am working from home there is no time to listen.

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  4. Enjoy Ready Player One. It's so good on audio!!!

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  5. I read Turn of the Screw many many years ago. I love the direction your took your chain. It's been ages since I was able to listen to an audio book. The opportunity just hasn't been great since we've all been cooped up at home together. Constant interruptions. No time alone. I loved the audio of Ready Player One. It isn't one of those books I probably would have picked up to read at the time, but I was excited about Wil Wheaton as the narrator. I heard there's going to be a Ready Player Two coming out next month.

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    1. There is a Ready Player Two coming, and I am thinking I might listen to this one!

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  6. I love that you looked for books that are narrated by celebrities. I rarely pay attention to audiobook narrators but your post got me thinking of some of the audiobook narrators I've listed to.

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    1. I really only pay attention to one celebrity narrator. You might be able to tell who from my post! lol

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  7. Sorry Marg I didn't see your Six Degrees come through. I love your choice of links. I'm not a big fan of audiobooks, partly because of not liking some voices, but, I'm hoping to get more into them on future road trips. I did love Alan Bennett reading The lady in the van, and Roald Dahl reading Charlie and the chocolate factory. I like it when authors read their own books, as long as they are good readers. I can imagine Stephen Fry would be great.

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  8. One of my best friends is listening to that same edition of The Turn of the Screw! I could listen to Neil Gaiman read the phone book and be happy. I didn't listen to Ready Player One but I did listen to Armada, which was also narrated by Wil Wheaton. Armada wasn't as good but Wheaton's narration was great. I'm going to hold out for the audio of Ready Player Two as well. Great chain!

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