Choosing an Audiobook
I'm going to Atlanta in a few days, so can listen to one of the following audiobooks I checked out from the library. Which one do you think I ought to choose? Given the drive time and that all these are unabridged, I can only listen to one. Keep in mind that I *gulp* have never read any of these:
Virginia Woolf, Orlando
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Jack Kerouac, On the Road
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Comments
You have never read Pride and
You have never read Pride and Prejudice???? Shame on you! I say go for that one, but only if it is unabridged. The characters are so snarky and funny that you don't want to miss one quip!!
Dr. B.'s Blog
more prideful prejudice
A second for that recommendation. P&P should make a a perfect audiobook (I think that the A&E adaptation used about every single line of dialog in the book.)
Harrison
yes, austen
My first choice would be Pride and Prejudice (I've read it three times, no, twice, in the last six months--I taught Reading Lolita in Tehran to a comp class, and we read that, along with Lolita, Gatsby, Daisy Miller and P&P--loved the reading, but the students didn't!). Sam's right on about the characters, particularly the heroine Elizabeth, and her father's pretty good too. The mother, ugh. A great person to laugh at. Loads of great characters to love and hate. After that my choice would be either Woolf, just because she is who she is and I love her, then Wilde, because he is who he is and I love him. I love them both. Kerouac? Well, haven't read much of anything by him and probably won't in the near future. I just love the old stuff too much. The beats just don't speak to me. Have a fun drive and let us know what you think.
On the Road
I say that because you are driving to Atlanta, on the road. I say that also because I myself would choose On the Road. You, yourself must make your own choice.
P&P
Geeky Mom
I'd vote for Pride and Prejudice. I listened to it on tape my first time through and it's really nice to listen to. I definitely think Austen thought about what it would sound like.
Orlando
Tied for my first recommendation: P&P and On the Road. Those are the two of the four that I've read. And so if you listen to Orlando, then blog about it, it'll give me cause to rethink whether *I* should read it. And Dorian Grey...no clear basis for feeling this way, but I hope you have NoDoz and Mountain Dew on board if you go with that one.
So: 1. Orlando (if it stinks, switch in...) 2. On the Road, then 3. P&P. Good (by which I mean grim, zany) as P&P is, you'll get to it eventually. Maybe on the next road trip.
Pride (In The Name of Orlando)
Have to go with the majority here and say it's Austen as my first choice, followed by Woolf. Never having sampled an audio version of either, though, it may be a question of narration.
I vote for P&P too.
but agree w/Dr. B that you don't want to miss one word. I still remember exactly where i was sitting when I read certain parts of that book.
jmp
or
I agree w/Samantha. Sorry, got my commenters mixed up.
jmp