House of Mirth by Edith Warton

Source: LibriVox (zipped mp3s | iTunes)

Length: 12 hr, 32 min
Reader: Elizabeth Klett

The book: Lilly Bart, an unmarried woman on the fringes of New York high society, is trying to parlay her looks and eligibility into a suitable marriage to a wealthy man. But in the Gilded Age, a single woman without family protection was at the mercies of rumors and Lilly's self-willed spirit make her particularly susceptible to intrigue. The rules of society and the whims of love both seem to be working against Lilly as she tries to climb the social ladder, or at least avoid poverty.

Although set in roughly the same time period, this book plays out as the inverse of Downton Abbey.  Where Downton is English and rural, House of Mirth is American and urban. Where the Crawleys are an aristocratic family trying to hold onto its wealth, Lilly is trying to work her way into wealth and privilege. Yet, the battlefield of manners and drawing-room politics are similar. I ended up enjoying this book much more than I thought I would.

Rating: 8/10

The reader: Elizabeth Klett is one of Librivox's best readers. She has an expressive American voice that makes the story easy to follow. Klett doesn't exactly "do voices" here, but her intonation and expression change enough to make it clear who is speaking and give the speaker some characterization. The recording is clean and nicely produced.

Buy a paperback copy of  The House of Mirth

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

Source: Lit2Go (iTunes link)
Length: 14 hours, 23 minutes
Reader: Rick Kistner

The book: In 1864, the Confederate States Navy Huntley became the first submarine to sink a military vessel. Within a few years, most of the major navies of the world, including the French and British Navies, were experimenting with submarines. In this atmosphere of militarization of the ocean's depths, Jules Verne wrote Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, a novel about an advanced submarine that had great potential as a weapon, but was mainly used for exploration and science. The ship, and its enigmatic owner Captain Nemo, have become so well known in popular culture that it is worthwhile going back to the source to understand what their creator was trying to convey through their story.

As someone who first encountered the Nautilus through reruns of the 1954 Disney movie and the Disney World ride, I found the whole book to be a bit dry. Yes, there are some exciting parts like the voyage to Atlantis, the encounter with island natives, and the "devilfish" attack, but much of the book reads like a travelogue, with lists of destinations and types of fish seen there. Presumably this was more exciting in Verne's mind, exasperated as he was by politics and failed revolutions. Verne's novel encapsulates the fantasy of being able to escape the surface world and embrace the mysterious life of the ocean.

Rating: 7 / 10

The reader: I've commented many times on Kistner's reading. It's good without being outstanding. He does seem to rush his speech at times, but that is something the ear can adjust to within about 15 minutes. The recording is clear and well-produced. I recommend using the iTunes link for downloading even if you're not using an Apple device.

Buy a paperback copy of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle

Source: LibriVox (zipped mp3s)
Length: 14 hr, 43 min
Reader: Clive Catterall

The book: Although known now as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle considered The White Company and his other historical fiction as his best work. The title refers to an English mercenary band of archers during the Hundred Years' War. The book follows the adventures of two men from very different parts of the feudal hierarchy: Alleyne, a second son of a minor nobleman who after being raised in a abbey, goes off to find his fortune and John, a massively strong peasant who has been kicked out of the same abbey for flirting and drinking. They both fall in with Aylward, an enthusiastic recruiter for the White Company.

The story takes a long time in getting started, with plenty of descriptions of everyday life in the 1300s before the action gets going. Perhaps Conan Doyle was trying to set up a connection with the characters before thrusting them into danger, but they never seemed more than two-dimentional to me. The action set pieces are quite exciting and worth the wait. Although this was a fun book, I'd have to disagree with Conan Doyle and go with the Sherlock Holmes books as his greatest legacy.

Rating: 7 / 10

The reader: Catterall's narration is outstanding. He's a gifted narrator, using his tone of voice and pacing to play up all the action and humor that's in the text. His character voices are particularly well thought out. Sam Aylward's rolling baritone perfectly brings out the bravado of the old soldier. This is a top-notch recording. I'll be looking forward to hearing more of Catterall's work soon.

Hard Times by Charles Dickens

Source: Librivox (zipped mp3s)
Length: 12 hr
Readers: narrated by Bob Neufeild, voiced by many

The book: The lower classes do all the work and have little to show for it, while the rich get richer. Charles Dickens saw the same problems 150 years ago that people are protesting today. Like Upton Sinclair in The Jungle (previously reviewed), Dickens blends fiction and social activism in his attack on industrialization and the plight of the working class.

Unlike Sinclair's muckraking style, Dickens lacks authenticity in his novel. At the time of writing this book, Dickens was already a well-known writer, so it's unlikely that his sources were anything better than second-hand accounts of life in the factories. Instead of realism, Dickens makes his industrialists into blatant cartoons, bluntly criticizing what he did not know. Still, the novel is readable for Dickens' sense of humor and his trademark pathos. I just wish he had taken his approach more seriously and shown the real pathos in the working man's life.

Rating: 6 / 10

The readers: This book is presented as a dramatic reading, somewhere between a play and a narration. None of Dickens' words have been changed (the "he said"s are even still there), but different readers play each part. This can be a great help in keeping track of who is who, but it gets a bit disconcerting to hear all the different voices, especially since they have different accents and recording equipment. The parts are done very well, for the most part, and edited together nicely. Bob Neufield, as the narrator, does most of the speaking. The main parts are all well-acted, but I won't spend time naming names. This is an interesting way to present an audiobook and, for the most part, it works.

(Entered in Cym Lowell's Book Review Wednesday. Follow the link to read reviews of other books)

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Source: Lit2Go
Length: Approximately 15 hours
Reader: Rick Kistner

The book: The Jungle is best known today as the novel that awoke the American public to the importance of food safety in industrialized meat packing and inspired the foundation of what would become the Food and Drug Administration. The author's intent, however, was to get the public riled up not about the product but about the people of the meat packing industry. Sinclair was a socialist, and believed that through collective action, the workers could wrest control of the meat packing industry away from the greedy capitalists and into the hands of the workers, raising wages and improving working conditions at the same time.

The areas where The Jungle fails are largely due to the transparency of Sinclair's efforts to force his readers to sympathize with the workers. Lithuanian immigrant Jurgis Rudkis and his family are hard-working and honest bunch who are just looking a better life in America. Sinclair piles onto this family a host of hardships and swindles, trying to achieve a sentimentalism that is never quite earned. As the story unfolds, we're treated to a fascinating tour of the slums of Chicago and the many ways that workers can be cheated out of their pay, but eventually, Sinclair's agenda overwhelms the verisimilitude of his intensive research. By the end of the book, the deus ex machina solution that Socialism will solve everything seems like mere propaganda.

Rating: 7/10

The reader: Kistner does an nice job with what must have been a difficult book to narrate. The text is filled with tongue-tying Lithuanian names that, to my unknowing ear sound as accurate as I could guess they are. Kistner reads with a quick pace; nonetheless his reading is understandable. There are occasional audible lip smacks, but the sound quality is otherwise good.

The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers

Source: Librivox (zipped mp3s)
Length: 12 hr, 24 min
Reader: Gesine

The book: In 1903, the German Empire had grown into a political and military power in Europe and was looking to expand its influence around the world. Britain, meanwhile, was confident in its separation from mainland Europe and its strong navy to defend itself from any enemies. Childers, an Englishman, wrote Riddle of the Sands to wake his countrymen up from their complacency and recognize the threat of the German navy. The story revolves around two Englishmen, based on Childers himself, who discover a German plot as they cruise in a small sailboat around the waters off the Baltic Sea coast.

Although the novel is a direct influence on later spy novels, I found much of the book not the exciting, suspense-filled yarn like those of John le Carre or Frederick Forsyth. Instead, the first part of the book reads like a travelogue of the Baltic coast mixed with a introduction to nautical terms. This part of the book highlights its difficulty as an audiobook; it relies heavily on the reader following the boat's progress on a map provided in the print editions. Later on in the novel, Childers delivers suspense and intrigue as the two friends creep through fog to spy on the German plans and find their earlier explorations pay off with their knowledge of high-tide paths through the treacherous estuaries.

Rating: 7/10

The reader: Gesine speaks in a pleasant British alto. She reads in a measured pace, with only a little variation. It's not the type of performance that enhances the text, but in my experience, this type of no-frills reading fades allows the listener to pay attention to the words while the reader fades into the background. As I mention above, much of the book relies on reference to a set of maps. The LibriVox catalog page includes a link to these maps so listeners aren't completely left in the dark, but the constant referral back to maps may make this an unwelcome book for some listeners who prefer to listen untethered from a screen.

Howards End by E.M. Forster

Source: LibriVox (zipped mp3s)
Length: 12 hr, 11 min
Reader: Elizabeth Klett

The book: Although Howards End is a deep book, it is not a difficult book. The story mainly concerns two families: the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes, and to a lesser extent a third, the Basts. All three families occupy the middle class, the Schlegels through inheritance, the Wilcoxes through business acumen, and the Basts barely clinging to the lower rungs of the middle class. Forster's book concerns the relationships between these families, but the plot does not get weighed down with the sense of overreaction to insignificant problems that burdens many novels of manners. Instead, Forster rewards the reader with humor and warm characters that enliven a plot full of twists.

However, Forster is not content to make this a merely entertaining novel. He spells out his symbolism and has his characters discuss his themes. The Schlegels come to symbolize the World of Ideas, the contemplative life, and the brotherhood of nations, while the Wilcoxes represent the World of Things, the active life, and imperialism. Howards End poses the question of along what direction will England's future be: that of the Wilcoxes, the Schlegels, or the Basts' struggle for existence? Forster doesn't chose one over the other, but instead as Margaret Schlegel says, "Our business is not to contrast the two, but to reconcile them."

Rating: 9/10

The reader: If I had read this as a physical book instead of as an audiobook, I don't think I'd ever have finished it, not because it was too boring, but because I would have had to read back over the most beautiful passages again and again. Elizabeth Klett does credit to Forster's language with her marvelous reading. She has an American accent for narration, but for voices she performs a variety of English accents that are, as far as I know, quite accurate. My favorite voices she does are those of Jackie and Dolly, two characters that could be annoying but are instead humorous in Ms. Klett's able hands. My only complaint with the reading is a bit of an echo in an otherwise clean recording, but this I became accustomed to after the third or fourth chapter.

Earthcore by Scott Sigler

Source: Podiobooks.com
Length: Approx 15-16 hours
Reader: Scott Sigler

The book: I had intended to wait and write a review for this book in the summer. After all, it does have the "beach-read" feel of a sunscreen-logged paperback. But then I saw where Random House is publishing Sigler's new book, Infected and giving away pdf copies until April 1st, when the print version arrives in bookstores. So, this is my last chance to review Earthcore before Sigler becomes the next Stephen King.

If you're familiar with Michael Crichton's science fiction thrillers, you'll recognize the plot outline: a hubris-heavy corporation tests the limits of science to gain massive profit . . . until Something Goes Wrong. Earthcore concerns a company drilling a three-mile deep mine shaft to excavate a massive platinum lode. When Something Goes Wrong, they employ some good guys to find out what the problem is. As they explore the problem, company redshirts are mysteriously killed by platinum-bladed knives. Meanwhile, a sadistic killer employed by a rival company is trying to wreck the whole enterprise. Earthcore may have a ridiculous and over-the-top plotline, but it's good eye-rolling fun.

This isn't a book for the squeamish and it's definitely not for kids. Sigler throws around blood and gore like a low-budget zombie movie. Curse words abound and there's a particularly gruesome torture scene. However, if you're wanting an action-packed novel that doesn't waste time on things like "relationships" and "literary merit", Earthcore is great popcorn entertainment.

Rating: 7/10

The reader: I think Sigler knows his book is a lowbrow sugar rush; he reads his own work with an enthusiasm that winks, "Can you believe this, folks?" He does voices for every character, which range from pretty good to campy silliness. Sigler's falsetto women's voices are somewhat grating, but it's hard to fault him when he's obviously having so much fun. Each episode is bookended by aggressive nu-metal and some remarks by Sigler. The files are hosted by Podiobooks, which requires a free registration to download the book. The registration only requires an alias and email; I did not see any increase in spam to the email address I registered. Once you've registered, it gives two download options: a subscription to a podcast, which delivers the files on a daily, weekly or other time-release basis or by an "all-at-once" option which lets you get all the files.

Kim by Rudyard Kipling

Source: Librivox
Length:13 hr, 8 min
Reader: Adrian Praetzellis

The book: Kim by Rudyard Kipling is a meandering voyage with an Anglo-Indian boy and his Tibetan mentor through colonial India. Kipling provides a detailed portrait of India’s diversity of cultures, landscapes, languages, and races comparable to Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children.

Although Kipling is known as a colonialist writer, I found his characterization of the native people to be even with that of the English. Europeans are definitely in control, but the native population is able to get the upper hand through its knowledge of local dialect and customs. Superstition is gently ridiculed, but the Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims are all portrayed more positively than the Anglican clergyman.

The problem with this journey is there is no drive to the narrative. Kipling never seems to instill the sense of danger that the plot calls for. Kim is set during the Great Game, when Russia and England were on the brink of war over Afghanistan. Kim’s story often intersects these larger events, but it never builds the tension reflective of an international conflict. We’re left with a story that promises adventure but delivers a travelogue. The quality of Kipling's characters and the few hints of excitement provide a novel that can be rewarding for those with patience.

Rating: 6/10

The reader: Adrian Praetzellis provides a crystal clear recording punctuated by distinctive voices for each character. This approach is entertaining but forces the listener to adopt the reader’s characterizations. For example, Praetzellis acts the Tibetan Lama as old man with a high-pitched sing-song voice. From the couple of times I’ve seen talks by the Dali Lama , I’d judge it an excellent imitation of a Tibetan holy man. But I wonder if I would have seen the character as less pitiable and more heroic if he had a sonorous rather than wheezy voice. With any text, voice actors, like their film and stage counterparts, must make decisions on their performances. Here, Praetzellis turns in a wonderful performance and makes the book much more entertaining than it would otherwise be.

A CT Yankee in King Arthur's Ct, by Mark Twain

Source: Librivox (direct link)
Reader: Steve Anderson
Time: 13 hrs, 43 min

The book: On writing the title for this post, I chuckled when I realized that the postal code for Connecticut and court are the same. I don't think Twain intended this abbreviated pun, but I think he'd be amused by it nonetheless. Twain didn't use puns too often in his humor; he preferred getting his laughs from placing outlandish characters into difficult circumstances then watching them weasel their way out.

In A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Twain does just that -- he magically transports the titular Yankee, Hank Morgan, into the mythical world of King Arthur and sets him up to be burned at the stake. The plot is nothing more than a constant rehash of this same type of set-up and escape, but the character is what is most memorable about the book. Twain has a talent for making his characters simultaneously over-the-top and real, creating a person both exasperating and fascinating. Hank, as "The Boss", is constantly making grand plans and trying to convince his medieval compatriots to adopt a late 19th century lifestyle. You'd love to be friends with Hank, so long as you didn't have to spend an entire evening talking with (or listening to) him.

Apart from the unforgettable characters, the other hallmark of Twain's works is his misanthropy. Toward the end, the sarcasm becomes a bit too harsh to be enjoyable as Twain's love for persons individually begins to be outweighed by his distaste for people in general. Before this poison starts to take effect, though, Twain gently but effectively ridicules organized religion, politics, advertising, personal hygiene, war, and, of course, the Arthurian legend. It helps if you have tried to read (and, like me, failed to finish) Mallory's Le Morte D'Arthur, but anyone familiar with chivalrous tales of knights in shining armor is bound to get the joke.

Rating: 8/10

The Reader: Steve Anderson's reading is full of enthusiasm. He lends just the right amount of sarcasm to his telling and makes Hank's story come alive with wit. Anderson doesn't "do voices" for other characters very often, which since the story is told as a 1st person narrative, is just fine. The only small fault is with the recording itself. There's a bit of background hum and the louder tones are cut off, giving the voice a tinny character at times.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Source: Librivox (alternate version)
Reader: Anne Coleman
Length: 13 hr, 25 min

The book: I started this novel thinking that it would be a girl-book full of overwrought emotions, improbable love, and very little action. This is not my kind of book. To my surprise . . . I was completely right. But the real surprise was that I liked it.

Austen tells her story while chuckling at her characters, which is what makes the whole love story palatable. I say "chuckling" because she rarely actually makes fun of the characters by forcing them into paper-thin stereotypes (Mr. Collins may be the only exception), but instead portrays real people acting with their own goals in mind and crossing each other's paths. Elizabeth, the main character, is especially agreeable and so completely breaks the stereotype of the swooning love-lorn girl that I can't see why romance writers ever went back. The plot can be a bit difficult to follow when listening, since you can't flip back a few pages to see who some minor character is, but is not unmanageable. It wasn't my favorite book; toward the end, I felt like smacking a few heads to speed the characters toward an ending that was by now obvious, but I understand why many of my female friends claim it as their favorite.
Rating: 8/10

The Reader: Anne Coleman is one of Librivox's excellent amateur readers. You'd never mistake this reading for a pro job; there's some background noise, some pops and crackles in the recording and some breathing into the mike. Ms. Coleman's voice, though, is lovely to listen to and her love of the book shows through the reading she gives. She has a nondescript American accent and gives enough voice to her characters to usually know who is speaking, but not so much that it's annoying. If you're an audiophile who loves a clean recording this isn't for you, but if you're willing to overlook some noise, this is a fine reading.

Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

Source: Librivox (direct link)
Reader: Stewart Wills
Length:14 hr, 25 min

The book: At first, I came to Lord Jim expecting it to be about the adventures of a young man in the South Seas and was initially disappointed. The plot would sometimes drag and minutes would go by in circular talk between characters.

Once I decided to take the time to think about what Conrad is doing in this novel and how he's doing it, I recognized the fine craft that went into telling the story and began to enjoy the plot as well. Conrad is what I call an "English teacher's writer". Listening to the book, you could go through every entry in the Big Book of Literary Devices and check each off: foreshadowing, flashbacks, unreliable narrator, dramatic foil, symbolism, mythological references, and so on. I found myself composing little essays in my head about the symbolism in the novel and its relation to the British Empire.

I still got frustrated at times listening to a description of Jim standing on the bank of a river, but now I was able to let my mind explore not only the portrait Conrad was painting, but also to examine the detail of the brushstrokes, then step back to admire the big picture.
Rating: 8/10

The reader: I would've never gotten to the point where Lord Jim started becoming interesting to me if Mr. Will's reading hadn't been so compelling. He does voices for each character, and does them well, enhancing rather than distracting from the text. His recording is crystal-clear. This is a audiobook I would gladly pay money for if it wasn't being offered for free.