I recently went on a long-distance road trip, driving alone across the country from Oregon to Brooklyn and back. While I alternated between taking the interstates and slipping along back roads, I decided to include, for my first time ever, a little literary entertainment on my sojourn, initially to help pass the interstate miles. You see, going nearly eight thousand miles on just music didn’t sound so appealing. I mean, of course I would keep some tunes going at times, but I figured I would change it up a little. So, my wife talked me into subscribing to Audible and giving it a try. She is a huge fan of this and can often be found listening to books as she cooks and gardens.
But what books to choose, is the question. So, after a bit of thought, I came up with a pair of titles I would like to listen to. One I had read before, and one I always wanted to read. These were given very little thought beyond “I get two books for free when I start an Audible account.” Well, one thing leads to another, and I ended up with more than two, five to be exact. And some were good for listening to, and others not so good. Not necessarily due to the writing of the original volume, but the audible qualities of it. Lets dive into them, OK?
The five books, in the order that I downloaded them are:
- The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco
- War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
- The Wind-Up Bird Chronical – Haruki Murakami
- The Quiet American – Graham Greene
- The Cold Six Thousand – James Ellroy
Quite a list, no? Well, I need meaty books at this time in my life, and these would fit the bill.
So, lets look at each book.
The Name of The Rose was the book that put Umberto Eco on the literary map. Published in 1980, it was a true international sensation. The story of strange and sinister goings on at a medieval abbey, it is the tale of a religious mystery wrapped around a series of murders. Weaving back and forth between the daily religious life within the aforementioned abbey and the contemporary politics of the church, early intellectual life and grisly death, it is a tale well worth your time. And the Audible version is just as good. The narrator gives life to all of the characters and makes each clearly delineated by giving them different speech patterns and accents. This is a book well worth your listening time.
War and Peace. One of the most famous books of all time, I was eager to dive into this, but turned it off within ten minutes. Why, might you ask? Well, as I had never read it, I found that I couldn’t pay close enough attention to it and give it the attention that it deserves. And I found that listening to a book that I had no feel for was not a good thing, at least not while needing to pay attention to the road. So, that one is shelved for the time being. Sad, but there it is.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronical. A story of a man who looses his cat and, soon after, his wife. But in the search for both of them he gains an incredible understanding of both modern Japan and the actions of the Japanese military in Manchuria and Mongolia during the second world war. He also comes to see the beauty of the bottom of a well. After the failure of Tolstoy, I wanted to hear something both difficult and familiar, as I read this book around 20 years ago, and had found it challenging and wonderful then. So, like the Eco, I could dip in and out as I was listening, depending on road conditions. And for the most part this was quite successful, with only one of the voices jarring me. As in the case of The Name… the narrator creates a different vocal for each character’s speaking parts. And one voice just didn’t work for me. This was for an older, female character and I felt that the choice in cadence, timber, and nasal effect that was created just didn’t work. It was distracting and took me out of the narrative, but no too badly. Otherwise, I would heartily recommend this title.
The Quiet American is a 1955 novel by Graham Greene, about early US involvement in Indochina, now known as Vietnam. A great story that quite realistically encompasses many of the issues with our involvement in that country a decade after the events in the book take place, when we assume the position that the French had previously held. And I had to turn this off as the voice assumed for the main American character, the eponymous quiet American, rang false to my ears. Narrated by a Brit, the voice was more Texas than the Massachusetts the man is from. It was so bad I cannot recommend this title.
The final title was James Ellroys The Cold Six Thousand. The second book in his Underworld USA trilogy, I picked this one as I had recently read, in real book form, the book that came before this. The predecessor to this book, American Tabloid, is probably Ellroy’s best work, a book that has one of the best endings of any piece of fiction I have read. So, a tough act to follow. And when I had originally read it, I though it failed to live up to its promise. Ellroy has a habit of alteration and loves to play with language, not always successfully. And this has only gotten stronger as his career has gone on. Now, however, while I think that the story is nowhere near as strong as the previous volume, listening to it is probably the best thing. And I say that as those tics work so much better coming out of someone’s mouth and being listened too, as opposed to read. And it makes me want to go back and read his last two books aloud, feel the words roll around in my mouth, make audible the slang he loves, the ethnic speech, foul words, cop talk, jive, staccato beat of people actually talking. This was truly a revelation and shows the full power of an audio book that is meant to be heard and not read.
In the end, for long trips, listening to a book is a pleasant way to pass the time, but the wrong book or a book narrated poorly, is a huge waste of time, and trying to pay attention to a book that you have never read before, a book that is information dense, while trying to pilot a car at 80mph is not a fun thing in my eyes. Or ears.
This is my opinion, as well. And it extends to podcasts.
My mind wanders too much while I’m driving, unless it’s something like Harcore History.
Yeah, to clarify, I’m the same as you. It’s not the driving per se, it’s just that my mind thinks of all kinds of random shit during my hour commute.
I tend to go with light fiction for my road trips, so that I don’t have to fret over retaining the info if my attention is needed on the road. But I went with audiobooks years ago and have stuck with it since.
This. Can recommend Elmore Leonard along these lines. Lots of dialogue, snappy narration, and of course good stories and characters.
I have yet to see an Elmore Leonard movie adaptation I haven’t liked. #notareader
I assume you’ve watched Justified? Great stuff.
The writers all had WWED? bracelets and it seems like they channeled Elmore well.
There is a Christian Slater (?) version of Freaky Deaky I would avoid.
Leonard apparently hated James LeGros as Rayan Givens in ‘Pronto’.
Something that heavy would put me to sleep on a long road trip.
I go for military sci-fi on those kinds of trips. Lots of battles to keep me awake.
I read “The Name of the Rose” and “War and Peace”. I liked both, but “War and Peace” did get a little difficult at times to keep track of all the names.
“but “War and Peace” did get a little difficult at times to keep track of all the names.”
Yeah, this was a problem for me too. I realized how big a problem when, at one point, a character I thought had died several chapters before won a battle.
I felt the same way about 50 pages into Battle Royale and simply gave up. I was never going to win that battle.
For Fourscore, however, there’s several pages comparing Moscow after Napoleon burned it in 1812 to a beehive without its queen.
Without a queen bee there will be no regeneration and the hive will die.
It’s the reason the Shakers can only last 1 generation, need a little extra-curricular activities to keep the game going
I hated War and Peace. Tedious.
I couldn’t get more than two pages into it.
I thought I should read it and then I thought again.
I read it and don’t remember anything about it.
I do remember thinking it wasn’t hard to read, just long and, as you say, tedious.
Name Of The Rose is great.
I remember Wind Up Bird Chronicle being weird.
Murakami is a tough nut to crack. His style is easy-breezy, but he will through you throw you a loop with out your noticing it at first.
But, Boris the Man Skinner is a truly frightening creation.
You’ll probably hate Audie Murphy in the movie version of The Quiet American, then.
I think I read the book in the late ’50s or early ’60s. I can’t remember much about it but it seems at the time I was a skeptic. It wasn’t long after, 1962, that I was on orders for VN and the orders were changed. By the mid ’60s things took on a whole new outlook for me.
I just remembered, it was ‘The Ugly American’ that I read, maybe a little lap over?
I want to say that was Eugene Burdick who wrote that, if it makes a difference.
I’ve never done an audiobook and have no particular desire to. I’ve tried podcasts but my brain just wanders around and I have to rewind and rewind.
But thanks for the book-blurbs.
#metoo
Be Kind, Rewind.
Ha! There’s a blast from the past.
I tried it once, back when they were still on a dozen cassette tapes, didn’t care for it. But I do enjoy listening to old timey radio shows occasionally on road trips.
Pop in an audio book from the Wheel of Time. Visualize the unnecessary description of the contents of a room despite the complete lack of giving context to the continuation of the story, nod off, die…
Sounds promising.
I really liked WoT but this made me laugh out loud.
I’ve only recently been exploring audiobooks, but I am a podcast fanatic. I have a long road trip coming up and I have a bunch of history stuff ready. For some reason, fiction – despite being my reading groove – is harder for me to focus on than the pods.
Your critique of The Quiet Man is why I’ll probably stick with reading that kind of thing. I fucking love that book, though. You should just read it.
Interestingly, I’ve read all of those except the Murakami. That never happens!
Thanks for the write-up Zwak!
I got a 12hr road trip on Friday, hit me with your favorite history podcast, I’ll give it a go.
Dan Carlin.
^^^so much this. And with a 12 hour trip, that should be like 2 episodes.
Dan Carlin
Countdown to Armageddon or Supernova in the East will both last you all
all 12 hours. Carlin does dwell a bit much on the most horrific aspects of war. I guess someone should, lest we forget. But it gets a little rough.
Yeah, that final episode of Supernova had me in tears about a third into it and I’ve never been able to finish it. Fuck war and fuck those who would get us involved in them.
Countdown, Blueprint, potato, potatahto…..
::slinks away in shame::
This was amazing.
Blueprint For Armageddon.
I also really liked Death Throes of the Republic, but I don’t think he’s had a bad one.
Wrath of the Khans.
KHAAAANS!
Another favorite.
I have read the Quiet American, and I am a huge fan of Graham Greene, but the audio just had the wrong reader
Yeah, I generally listen to the “sample” before purchasing so I can decide if I can stomach it.
Some books even add music or sound effects, which can be fairly cheesy.
I get why they do different voices, but I think they would do better if they just read them straight. But, then again, Name of the Rose shows just how wonderful it can work.
Yeah, Graham Greene is brilliant. I went on a mini-binge of his stuff some years back. For sure I read Our Man in Havana and Power and the Glory. I think there was one other but don’t remember which now.
A member card at most public libraries gives you access to thousands of audiobooks through apps like Hoopla. I’ve listened to many without ever paying for one (registered cheapskate).
You and my dad would get along fabulously.
Man, I couldn’t stand The Cold Six Thousand. I just couldn’t follow it. Ellroy’s ‘spare’ style of writing is just too on the nose for me. The Black Dahlia and L.A. Confidential were awesome, though.
Read American Tabloid. I think you would really love it, sparse style or not (it is his best for that.)
OT – I would have preferred it with wheels. And it’s too rounded. It just doesn’t feel right.
I can kind of listen to podcasts and love Hardcore History, but I don’t remember details from them as well as if I read it.
A good narrator is a wonderful thing. The guy that does most of the Jack Reacher novels, Dick Hill, is great. You don’t mind the silly plots so much because you like listening to him.
The worst audiobook I ever heard was a a Stephen King book, read by King. I don’t remember the title.
Oh lord… his brief attempts at “acting” are bad enough.
Damnit. I just finished my 15.5 hour day.
Wait, what the fuck were we talking about?
OK, I’m still barely cohrerent enough to talk about inflation, you know, that thing they just told us that is not possible in the USA? I mean that guy has a prize, right? So he can’t be wrong.
So, let’s talk inflation, which does not exist.
I just tried to buy wide mouth quart size Mason Jars.
Amazon: $40 for 10 jars.
All the local markets, $21, but no one has them in stock.
Now let’s rewind. When I was in my 20s, these were $3 a case and a case was 24 jars, not 12 or 10.
My suggested remedy? Lampposts, mulching devices.
When you were in your 20’s you could go down to the drug store and get a Coke from the soda fountain for a nickel.
I don’t think so.
Just an update. To get these jars by tomorrow, I am going to have to pay $50 for 12 of them. Someone is gong to have to answer for this shit and it is going to be very painful.
I bought a replacement of my shampoo today (a large bottle with a pump) and compared – the new one is 200 ml smaller. I’m pretty sure also more expensive, but that I won’t swear to since I don’t remember.
And my conditioner off Amazon is Pantene – but it’s in Turkish.
We are in so much trouble.
Shrinkflation.
I’m going to have to experiment and change shampoos. My hair is curly, coarse as straw, and just as dry, but the curl pulls out because of the weight of my hair. I’ve been watching the curly-girl vids and I swear I would go bankrupt buying all the shit I need to get my hair to where I want it to be.
“Shrinkflation”
This, it is happening.
It’s been happening for years. First, it was sugar, going from 5-lb bags to 4-lb bags. Ice cream, going from 1 gallon to 3/4 gallon. I think I read an article about an olive or pickle or something company that started shorting each jar of 1 olive/pickle/whateveritwas and it saved them gobs of money. I am too lazy to find that article.
I keep seeing this and no one seems to believe it, so I am glad you see this. First I noticed it is that my wife likes Microwavae popcorn and she kept telling me that she’s not getting as much in a bag and so I started paying attention and I’m like ‘yeah, you are right’. I mean there is no doubt about it.
Yeah, same with canned goods. Messes up old recipes that ask for a “16 Oz can of _____”, but the cans became 15.5 Oz, then 15.0. I think sweetened condensed milk is down to 14 Oz now.
I’m pretty sure the green onion bunches have less onions in them, despite being 30% more now.
I know inflation sucks, but I try to keep it in perspective by realizing my annual salary reached 25x higher than it was when I had my first job out of college and all those “10 cent Cokes, and 15 cent burgers” were available. Probably Forescore has the same problem with “I remember when ….. cost only X.” I try to trick my mind by dividing today’s price by 10 and asking myself if I would still buy it.
Don’t look at how times more you made over minimum wage then, now, and somewhere in the middle.
Going on a 20 hour trip Friday, too bad the radio in the new to me car doesn’t work.
Thanks for the book ideas.
I use audible on my hour commute to Las Vegas (each way) or to the Test Site.
One of my first selections was all 3 volumes of Shelby Foote’s Civil War history. I found the pace of that narrator (it’s not Foote) to be a little slow, so I used the handy speed feature on Audible to kick it to 1.1x speed. They do a good job of speeding it up without changing the pitch.
For Ben Shapiro, i playback at 0.9 x speed so that his pace doesn’t raise my blood pressure.
I also got Mark Steyn’s books (America Alone, After America, and the Undocumented Mark Steyn) and listened to those even though I’d read them in print previously.
Audible does a pretty good job making suggestions for me based on past purchases. I’m currently listening to a history of the Plantagenets by Dan Jones.
I don’t care for ear buds (I find them downright painful to wear) so when I want to fall asleep to a book; Audible has a sleep timer to set home much you hear before turning off. I use Bluetooth headphones in a headband. They are cheap at Amazon. I have 2 sets so one can charge while I use the other.
Now that I’m getting cataracts it’s easier to listen to my “bedtime stories” than to squint at my phone, plus there’s no light to bother my significant other.
Squint? At a phone? That is what hardcovers are for!
Have you looked at e-readers? I love my Kindle Paperwhite.
^^^This is the way.
I had an old large format kindle (DX it was called; 10”x 7”) that I loved but that Amazon no longer supports. It had “lifetime free 3G access” but it turned out to be the lifetime of a basset hound.
Then I got a kindle Fire and found that I didn’t use it much.
I will consider a paperwhite.
So, I have a 2nd Gen Kindle keyboard. It never had 3G access, so I could side-load my ebooks if I wanted. It doesn’t work now, but I keep it because I still have access to the Kindle files that I can download to my hard drive and save, whereas I wouldn’t be able to do that if I didn’t have a device that requires I download the files.
A few years back my buddy loaned me a Clive Cussler audiobook that we enjoyed on one of our Montana trips. When returning it I thanked him and asked if he had another, so he loaned me “Red-Headed Stepchild” by Jaye Wells. We enjoyed it and it morphed into a funny moment in our travels. In the book the protagonist is half-vampire and half-“mage”, a sort of magician. Vampires are long-lived but can be identified by their red hair. Young vampires are firey while the older ones turn to more of a chestnut color. There are special nightclubs for people of the night and her favorite drink was “Type O+ with a shot of vodka.”
Anyway, we went to a place for dinner that night and our server showed up with red hair of a color not found in nature and pancake makeup as pale as paper. She asked for our drink order and it was all I could do to not say “Type O+ with a shot of vodka.” We laughed ourselves silly after she left.
Sadly, neither of our Jeeps has a CD player so I’ll have to console myself with some Firesign Theatre.
Cussler sucks, I cannot even read that garbage. Sorry…
No apologies necessary. After a couple of his books he gets real tedious. Handsome, rugged man, long-limbed, full chested beautiful woman, comic book bad guy. Repeat dozens of times.
Allister McLean did it better.
The real Clive is Barker, now that guy is an incredible writer.
I’m still waiting for the third Book of the Art. I mean, it’s been 28 years. He needs to stop writing children’s books or whatever the hell he’s been up to.
You should be waiting for the tome of my Firsts.
I have almost no experience with audiobooks, so I’m not ready to commit to an Audible subscription. My local library promotes the Libby app for both audiobooks and e-books. Does anyone have any knowledge of that app? Is it “user-friendly” for a relative noob to audio? (I’ve been almost exclusively an e-book freak for years now.) My work commute is only about 30 minutes (during which I’m much more interested in the local traffic report,) so I’m more likely to listen to audiobooks while exercising at the Y.
The only thing anyone ever needs to read is the First. Everything after is inconsequential.
Yeah, but on audiobook, it just seems to be repeating itself
“first. first. first. first. etc.”
Not worth the money.
I started listening to audiobooks last year with the free app Librevox. It’s free because all the books are at least 100 years old and all the readers all volunteers.
I really like biographies, and a couple favorites so far were US Grant, Frederick Douglas, and Uncle Tom extraordinaire Booker T Washington. I like Maggie Thatcher, but avoid her autobiography read by herself at all costs!
Hands down my favorite books to listen to are Mark Twain. I had read Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer before, so if I drifted in and out while listening it didn’t matter much. His travel stories are great for driving if you drift in and out, since it’s mostly a mixture of true stories with lots of embellishments. I loved Life on the Mississippi the most. Listening to it for the third time right now. A couple other good ones are A Tramp Abroad, Innocents Abroad, and Roughing It. He cracks me up constantly with his stories describing the various people he meets, silly customs, and other observations.
Duly noted!
I hate reading nonfiction, but I do listen to self-help audiobooks. I listened to the Dan Carlin series on WWI (which I still don’t understand, really). That was lovely. I listen to Jordan Peterson’s Bible lecture series. I don’t think I would like to be read fiction, but I could be persuaded to give Dostoyevsky a whirl.
I listen to audiobooks all the time, since the girlfriend is three hours away, and I visit every weekend, for the last three years. Feynman’s lectures are hard to listen to especially when he gets into the vector calculus, but I forget the name, letters book was very awesome. Also, listened to Maxwell’s Demon, which narrated from the Demon’s perspective, and quite lovely. Just got done with Beyond 12 rules by Peterson, and now listening to How to Win and Influence People. The narration is great, and wish more books were read by this narrator.
I listened to this yesterday:
https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Stranger-Interdimensional-Insurance-Agent/dp/1522642145
Will recommend, all day long.
Good, silly fun and approved for many Glibs. If you appreciate the author or Adam Baldwin or Firefly or silly fun or good customer service this is for you.
https://news.yahoo.com/madison-cawthorn-says-blackmail-wont-004450515.html
“Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) has responded to a video circulating on social media that appears to show the conservative congressman in the nude, making thrusting motions near the face of another man.”
Wait, what?
“has complained that members of the LGBTQ community have gone too far in pursuing their rights”
The activist hit-piece this line links to is so old that the slippery-slope the dude is alluding to hasn’t yet been renamed to “gender affirmation sugery”.
“…that appears to show the conservative congressman in the nude, making thrusting motions near the face of another man.”
/ and Lindsey Graham just giggles to himself
Why is there a Bob’s Burgers movie?
https://youtu.be/hldGGWN9HcI
Happy Cinco de Mayo (artisanal?)
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/the-scene/celebrate-cinco-de-mayo-2022-these-food-discounts-and-deals/3674334/
https://www.nj.com/news/2022/05/shoppers-caught-unprepared-but-some-show-support-for-njs-new-plastic-bag-ban.html
NJ continues to suck.
I was there yesterday, I hated it. I imagine it was the same road rules as I would find in the middle east.
You’re just upset that New Jersey is utopia now.
It’s a brave new world. We even have legal soma now!
https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylvania/capitol-ideas/mc-nws-pa-diesel-price-pennsylvania-20220503-7yk2glt6yrc5rgg7qjt2dy26ty-story.html
I’ve seen $6.39 this week.
Stab a democrat.
Good morning Glibs.
Glad to see Pie is back.
suh’ fam
whats goody
Good morning, homey, Sean, & rhy!
Didn’t get my more ergonomical keyboard tray yesterday, but they PROMISED to deliver it today.
Woo hoo. It’s like Christmas. ?
I ordered a new drum/toner combo from Amazon on Tuesday since they swore it would be here yesterday.
It may be here today…
*grumble* I’m tired of waking up before my alarm clock.
The worst is when I awake 30 minutes or so before, wide awake. Then manage to drift back into a slumber like Im in a coma 10 minutes before it goes off.
That and “morning” for me is usually 9 pm for “you people”.
That’s when the most vivid dreams happen. It’s hard to break back into reality.
“The check’s in the mail.”
Mornin’, GT. Hope Santa delivers on time.
Thanks! Good morning, ‘patzie!
Part 2 of my most recent order has been bouncing around NJ for a couple days – Teterboro, Edison, now Linden – and is already noted as “Running Late”. I wonder if it will ever arrive or get lost like the last one.
Teterboro, Edison, Linden? That is quite the itinerary.
I’ve read three of the five books. I can’t imagine listening to an audio book on a long road trip. I use that shit to will me to sleep. At work it is generally music just to keep my heart-rate up. Droning voices and following the plot seem like a recipe for disaster seeing as how I can’t pilot a vehicle for more than about 10 hours at a time. I use podcasts to lull myself into dead.
I read most of War and Peace for a college Western Civ history class. Got perilously close to the end, heard from a classmate that most of the rest was some screed about history, and gave up. BSed my way through the final and/or required paper.
Sounds about right. I willed myself through to the end. That was back when I couldn’t not finish a book. In for a penny, in for a Pound. Used to have five or six books on the go at all times. I can barely sit still long enough to watch anything over a half an hour long, now. I haven’t watched an entire movie in 3-4 years.
I want to go back to sleep
Excellent idea. Being awake is highly overrated.
Where’s robodruid with a sheepy update, I need to know how ewe’s doin.
Not baaad, I am sure.
Ting, ting Ting ting ting ting
Daily Quordle 101
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Netflix is acting a documentary about Three Mile Island.
https://nypost.com/2022/05/04/how-a-brave-engineer-saved-the-us-from-nuclear-catastrophe-new-doc/
Not debating the seriousness of the incident, but the timing is interesting. The only existing technology capable of replacing fossil fuels to generate electricity gets more bad press. I guess the cronies who are benefiting from solar and wind “investments” need more.time to cash in.
Airing, not acting. I hate autocorrect.
Maybe they’re trying to take our minds off the nuclear catastrophe our doddering president seems to be leading us into.
Up here they are still fighting the new hydro project but the commie Government is all about charging stations. The Stupid. It hurts!
In super early to coach a tech through a software adaptation and catching flack from other managers saying “you shouldn’t be doing that”. Doing what? Developing a newer technician? Guiding them along as they follow a new procedure?
Maybe your teams look at you in disdain cause you aren’t invested on their professional progress?
I dunno…I need coffee
Stop thinking for yourself and problem solving from the ground up, OBE. That will only lead to wrack and ruin!
Heh. I should be rolling in late and leaving early like my peers.
I just got ripped off for nine years. I’ve been doing the work of two people all this time. Roll that rock salt around in your mouth for a bit. At least it kept me in shape, sorta.
Seriously? Sounds like an old union shop where working too hard was strongly discouraged lest you make the other lazy fucks look bad.
Any other day I’d have another tech do this but all are on military leave or on opposite shifts. Work still has to go on and what an opportunity for a new tech. I will pass off some of this 2-decade old knowledge. Other managers be damned
You are a good Man, OBE!
Woot!
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Suspect
H8ter!
Poo.
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The gaywhun says poo. How droll 🙂 My mom used to say that…