A Pronunciation Massacre

This production is an audio massacre. I'm sure Danny Glover was delighted to read the autobiography of such an admired man, but this production did Mr Mandela no favours. I can't vouch for the Xhosa pronunciations, but Glover butchers common SA English words such as "veld" (pronounced felt) and even Mandela's own name. It's man-DEH-lah.

This audiobook is a perfect example of how British and American disregard for accent and pronunciation leads to accusations of cultural imperialism. If Tom Sawyer was read by a Pakistani narrator, how many Americans would complain? There would be an outcry. So why not get a South African narrator to do a proper job? There are a number of SA voices with the deep vocal quality of Glover, without the glaring inability to pronounce names correctly.

I'm sure I will eventually get used to the butchering of names and words, but it is all so unnecessary. The author deserves better respect than this disaster. The producer owes him an apology, but this is unlikely to happen.

20 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Amazing story let down by a poor narrator

The story is completely riveting and no fictional account could invent the drama and pathos of the events.

Unfortunately, Danny Glover was not up to the task. He could not pronounce the South African surnames and place names correctly which detracted from the narrative. Oddly, even some of the English names (eg. "Meedowlands" for Meadowlands) were incorrect.

There are hundreds of very accomplished African actors and voice artists who could have narrated the story with passion and authenticity. To hear Mandela's words spoken with an American accent is jarring but this would not be the first (or last time) that Hollywood has butchered a good story by casting an American in the lead role.

Morgan Freeman played Mandela in "Invictus" and James Earl Jones played Rev Khumalo in "Cry the Beloved Country".

African accents are rich in nuance and actually quite easy to understand for any English speaker, its a great pity this book could not be narrated more authentically.

10 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Danny Glover and isiXhosa : water and oil

Would you consider the audio edition of Long Walk to Freedom to be better than the print version?

Had this version been read by a person who is fluent in South African indigenous languages in general and could read isiXhosa in particular it would have received a five star rating from me. It needs to be redone, as this inspiring sometimes sad, and mostly beautiful story has been hard done by the readers inability to pronounce South African words such as Veld or even isiXhosa, how was he expected to even utter the words such as ndiyindonda (I am a man) properly, though Bra-Danny Glover is a good english reader. Audible has pulled a fast one on me, I guess, if I could, I would return this version of the book to sender....unfortunately I am not sure how I could do that digitally.

6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Bad Bad choice of narrator

Nelson Mandela is an absolute icon of the 20th/21th century, if not the most respected and idealised human being and role model.

As a south african, I know that the pronounciation of the afrikaans and african words is hideous!
Danny Glover as a narrator was a very bad choice. There are many talented South africans that could have given the autobiography of the man who lead south africa out of the era of apartheid a more authentic and enjoyable experience.

I stopped listening to the audiobook and bought the book so I could read it for myself!!!

I rate the book as 5 stars as I would not want the dissapointing choice of narrator to take away from what a brilliant read this is and to be able to experience the trials and tribulations of our Madiba!!

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Nelson Mandela's Life Story

Would you try another book from Nelson Mandela and/or Danny Glover?

I was particularly disappointed with Danny Glover's voice and hence I didn't enjoy the book as much as possible.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

There was not enough detail to really grab my attention, and in addition to this I found there was a never ending list of people's names and associations that in the end became somewhat meaningless.

Was Long Walk to Freedom worth the listening time?

I expected a lot more from this book. The only parts that really grabbed me were the freedom songs that were occasionally inserted into the story and the actual speech by Nelson Mandela towards the end of the book.

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

In spiring story in spite of a terrible narrator

The story is truly inspiring. Unfortunatley the Xhosa and Afrikaans sentences and words are horribly mutilated by the pronounciation of the narrator, who attempts fake Afrikaans and Xhosa accents but ends up coming ccross with something that is completely incomprehensible to people who understand the languages. If it really unfortunate that someone who speaks both Xhosa and Afrikaans could not be found to read this. Please find a better rendition of this and replace this truly terrible narration

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Difficult to understand the narrator

Danny Glover does not have a clear voice to be a narrator, at times listening became uncomfortable, words were mumbled and swallowed and the attempt to pronounce indigenous names was very poor.
I think Nelson Mandela deserves better than this.
I wish I could get a refund for this purchase because I did not get the full benefit of the book. I will have to read it myself.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Great story, awkward narrator

The story was fantastic and thank you for abridging. As a South African it was a bit challenging listening to an American butcher South African words, phrases and names. But I highly recommend the audiobook nonetheless.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Interesting reliving history

Interesting to relive history and hearing it from the other side, especially as Madiba is one of the greats (and you can understand why)

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Loved it!

This is undoubtedly better than reading the book. Danny Glover did a great job reading this and the occasional background music was a beautiful touch. Nice to see (hear) that producers of audiobooks are thinking beyond straight readings. And of course, the bio itself is inspiring!!

1 personne a trouvé cela utile