Today is my wonderful fiance's birthday, so I am letting him guest blog about his favorite audiobooks. He also has a sports and politics blog, so if you (or anyone you know) are interested in either one of those, check him out at The Cognitive Cacophony.
In honor of it being Audio book Friday, I have chosen to review the Audio books for Harry Potter series. (I love the British adult covers for the Harry Potter books, so that is why I have used them as the picture rather than the American covers. Although I have to say that Mary GrandPre does a wonderful job on the cover art on the American covers as well.)
Now I know that this series is old news by now and most of us have found out Harry’s ultimate fate already, but what most people do not know is that the Audio books performed by Jim Dale are some of the best ever made.
About the books: This series chronicles the story of Harry Potter, a orphaned British boy with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead who discovers that he is a wizard. Harry, who is a famous hero in the secret “wizarding world”, leaves his muggle (non-wizard) family to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As he makes his way through a world of magic that he never knew existed, Harry discovers that his fate is somehow entwined with Lord Voldemort, the most evil wizard to have ever lived.
Andy says: J.K. Rowling crafts a masterful story and Jim Dale’s execution of over 400 different character voices are a joy to listen to. Jim Dale’s dulcet tones describing Rowling’s vibrant characters and majestic backdrop weaves its own spell around the listener. My only criticism is that Dale’s voices for the young female characters still sound a bit masculine. However, the whole of his performance more than makes up for this one shortcoming. I give these audio books 5 stars and I cannot wait to listen to them with my children. And because I can’t wait I will get them from the library again soon.
In honor of it being Audio book Friday, I have chosen to review the Audio books for Harry Potter series. (I love the British adult covers for the Harry Potter books, so that is why I have used them as the picture rather than the American covers. Although I have to say that Mary GrandPre does a wonderful job on the cover art on the American covers as well.)
Now I know that this series is old news by now and most of us have found out Harry’s ultimate fate already, but what most people do not know is that the Audio books performed by Jim Dale are some of the best ever made.
About the books: This series chronicles the story of Harry Potter, a orphaned British boy with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead who discovers that he is a wizard. Harry, who is a famous hero in the secret “wizarding world”, leaves his muggle (non-wizard) family to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As he makes his way through a world of magic that he never knew existed, Harry discovers that his fate is somehow entwined with Lord Voldemort, the most evil wizard to have ever lived.
Andy says: J.K. Rowling crafts a masterful story and Jim Dale’s execution of over 400 different character voices are a joy to listen to. Jim Dale’s dulcet tones describing Rowling’s vibrant characters and majestic backdrop weaves its own spell around the listener. My only criticism is that Dale’s voices for the young female characters still sound a bit masculine. However, the whole of his performance more than makes up for this one shortcoming. I give these audio books 5 stars and I cannot wait to listen to them with my children. And because I can’t wait I will get them from the library again soon.
I would love to hear what you think about Jim Dale's performance. Please put any comments below.
Jim Dale is divine! Nothing like having an amazing narrator to bring the book to life! I've never seen the adult UK versions of Harry Potter before - those are awesome!
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