With this column, Shelf Awareness is introducing another
regular contributor: Ellen Myrick will write occasionally about new and
backlist audiobooks. Myrick is a book industry veteran of nearly 20
years and has listened to thousands of audiobooks. She has
been a board member of the Audio Publishers Association and is the 2008
Judging Chair for the Audie Awards. Her first try at narration,
Geraldine McCaughrean's Stop the Train (Full
Cast Audio, $48, 9781933322438/1933322438), was recently recognized as
a best audiobook for young adults by the Young Adult Library Services
Association.
It's been almost 200 years since Jane Austen slipped away from this world and her remains were laid to rest in Winchester Cathedral. Her memorial slab makes no mention of her writings.
A dozen years ago I wrote a column on the "Jane Austen Revival" for a book review publication. Sense and Sensibility had just come out, and the approaching Pride and Prejudice miniseries was getting unprecedented buzz. Who would have thought that in 2007 Jane Austen would still be so popular that her image would appear on the cover of Newsweek and she would be the subject of a biographical major motion picture? (Becoming Jane opens August 3.)
Shannon Hale has tapped into Austenmania with her novel, Austenland, in which Jane Hayes is given a bequest that promises to fulfill her obsessive fantasies about Mr. Darcy. Her great aunt has given her a trip to Pembroke Park, a scrupulous replica of regency England where actors and setting lend verisimilitude to women who long for their own Austen experience.
Some books should never be made into audiobooks, some audiobooks fulfill the promise of their original form and a rare few take the book and make it an even richer experience. Katherine Kellgren's reading of Jane's adventures in Austenland falls into the last category. Kellgren's infectious inflections give us Jane in all her many moods as well as hint at the Darcy-with-a-dash-of-Heathcliff intensity of Mr. Nobly, the joie de vivre of Colonel Andrews, the cooing affection of Aunt Sophronia and the hapless hunk of manhood that is Martin. Perhaps her crowning achievement is the mishmash accent of another visitor, whose layers of British "refaynment" can't quite suppress the bubbling up of Deep South.
Austenland (Audio Renaissance, $29.95, 9781427201416/1427201412) is a delicious experience in every way and serves as the perfect appetizer--or dessert, if you prefer--for a full meal of the real Austen.
Many excellent Austen audiobooks are available, but if you're looking to be steeped in the real land of Austen, Naxos productions have a clear advantage. In a society where evening entertainment consisted of young ladies demonstrating their accomplishments at the pianoforte, the musical interludes that punctuate Naxos audiobooks give an air of authority to their recordings. Emma (Naxos Audiobooks, $81.98, 9789626343944/962634394X) is read by the peerless Juliet Stevenson, a particularly appropriate choice since she was so memorable in the film adaptation.
Stevenson's voice has a wonderful richness that chronicles--with both tenderness and humor--Jane Austen's most self-centered heroine's ascent into self-knowledge. Emma's miscalculations and humiliation are tempered by her affectionate nature and thoughtfulness, and Juliet Stevenson obviously enjoys every moment.
But if only Darcy will do, you must have Pride and Prejudice (Naxos Audiobooks, $67.98, 9789626343562/9626343567). Emilia Fox's rendering of Jane Austen's most beloved work conveys the "light and bright and sparkling" nature described by the author herself of this most beloved of her novels. Fox played Georgiana Darcy in the 1996 miniseries but her range far exceeds the shy gentility of that character. Her portrayal of the brassy and boisterous Mrs. Bennet is a joy to the ear.
If you wish to venture beyond the Austen's six novels for your aural Austen pleasures, there are plenty of excellent choices even beyond repeated listenings to Austenland. Try The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler and read by Kimberly Schraf (Listen & Live Audio, $34.95, 9781593160272/1593160275) to spend time with a group of engaging Austen lovers. Confessions of an Austen Addict by Laurie Rigler (Penguin Audiobooks, $39.95, 9780143142416/0143142410) will be coming out next month and explores the dilemma of a contemporary ardent Austen fan who wakes up in a regency England bedchamber.
Whether you prefer the original canon or wish for a different perspective, there is plenty of ammunition for the Austen enthusiast in the audio world.--Ellen Myrick
It's been almost 200 years since Jane Austen slipped away from this world and her remains were laid to rest in Winchester Cathedral. Her memorial slab makes no mention of her writings.
A dozen years ago I wrote a column on the "Jane Austen Revival" for a book review publication. Sense and Sensibility had just come out, and the approaching Pride and Prejudice miniseries was getting unprecedented buzz. Who would have thought that in 2007 Jane Austen would still be so popular that her image would appear on the cover of Newsweek and she would be the subject of a biographical major motion picture? (Becoming Jane opens August 3.)
Shannon Hale has tapped into Austenmania with her novel, Austenland, in which Jane Hayes is given a bequest that promises to fulfill her obsessive fantasies about Mr. Darcy. Her great aunt has given her a trip to Pembroke Park, a scrupulous replica of regency England where actors and setting lend verisimilitude to women who long for their own Austen experience.
Some books should never be made into audiobooks, some audiobooks fulfill the promise of their original form and a rare few take the book and make it an even richer experience. Katherine Kellgren's reading of Jane's adventures in Austenland falls into the last category. Kellgren's infectious inflections give us Jane in all her many moods as well as hint at the Darcy-with-a-dash-of-Heathcliff intensity of Mr. Nobly, the joie de vivre of Colonel Andrews, the cooing affection of Aunt Sophronia and the hapless hunk of manhood that is Martin. Perhaps her crowning achievement is the mishmash accent of another visitor, whose layers of British "refaynment" can't quite suppress the bubbling up of Deep South.
Austenland (Audio Renaissance, $29.95, 9781427201416/1427201412) is a delicious experience in every way and serves as the perfect appetizer--or dessert, if you prefer--for a full meal of the real Austen.
Many excellent Austen audiobooks are available, but if you're looking to be steeped in the real land of Austen, Naxos productions have a clear advantage. In a society where evening entertainment consisted of young ladies demonstrating their accomplishments at the pianoforte, the musical interludes that punctuate Naxos audiobooks give an air of authority to their recordings. Emma (Naxos Audiobooks, $81.98, 9789626343944/962634394X) is read by the peerless Juliet Stevenson, a particularly appropriate choice since she was so memorable in the film adaptation.
Stevenson's voice has a wonderful richness that chronicles--with both tenderness and humor--Jane Austen's most self-centered heroine's ascent into self-knowledge. Emma's miscalculations and humiliation are tempered by her affectionate nature and thoughtfulness, and Juliet Stevenson obviously enjoys every moment.
But if only Darcy will do, you must have Pride and Prejudice (Naxos Audiobooks, $67.98, 9789626343562/9626343567). Emilia Fox's rendering of Jane Austen's most beloved work conveys the "light and bright and sparkling" nature described by the author herself of this most beloved of her novels. Fox played Georgiana Darcy in the 1996 miniseries but her range far exceeds the shy gentility of that character. Her portrayal of the brassy and boisterous Mrs. Bennet is a joy to the ear.
If you wish to venture beyond the Austen's six novels for your aural Austen pleasures, there are plenty of excellent choices even beyond repeated listenings to Austenland. Try The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler and read by Kimberly Schraf (Listen & Live Audio, $34.95, 9781593160272/1593160275) to spend time with a group of engaging Austen lovers. Confessions of an Austen Addict by Laurie Rigler (Penguin Audiobooks, $39.95, 9780143142416/0143142410) will be coming out next month and explores the dilemma of a contemporary ardent Austen fan who wakes up in a regency England bedchamber.
Whether you prefer the original canon or wish for a different perspective, there is plenty of ammunition for the Austen enthusiast in the audio world.--Ellen Myrick