Bewitching Story, Butchered Production

This magical story is one of my all time favorites so the second I saw it on audible I bought it. I didn’t notice it was abridged until I started listening to it and the butchery started in the first sentence, leaving the meat but slicing out the charm. To be fair even had I known it was abridged I probably would have bought it anyway just because a condensed version of it is better than no version at all.
But as it’s a brief story anyway, chopping it up like this is as foolish as it is unnecessary. It drains away some of the charm and magic for a new generation of potential fans and is a heartrending loss for those of us who already love it.
The book itself and the original story are an easy 5 stars. This chopped up version more of a 3-4.
But the production is where this version is really hurt. Jenny Agutter is a gorgeous reader so the fault is not with her but rather with the quality of the recording. As others have mentioned she sounds muffled much of the time and even with headphones I found myself straining occasionally to make out some of the words. I wouldn’t say it’s unlistenable but it’s close.
Tragic.
Please, Audible, have this marvelous and magical story re-recorded. And unabridged please. The book deserves it.

6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Terrible Playback Quality

It has been years since I read this book so I purchased the Audible version to listen to while driving to see my son. Unfortunately, the sound quality of some of the voices was so poor and low that I could barely hear parts of it even later when I put on headphones. This is the only time I have ever had difficulties with an Audible book. The book, of course, is still a beautifully descriptive example of Mary Stewart's work.

4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Poor sound quality

This was about half volume the whole time and sort of unfeeling or slurred at times. I had to rewind and listen again and again to catch everything. The publisher would benefit by re-recording or re-editing the content.

Cute story. Well written.

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Love the story, narration too uneven

I love Mary Stewart's novels. She excels at mood, sense of place, and characters, and Thornyhold is wonderful in all three. Unfortunately it took a lot of effort to listen to. I love Jenny Agutter as an actress, but she was louder at the start of each sentence and then tailed off, making it hard to set a comfortable volume.

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Sweet short story, Muffled Performance.

The story was very sweet and short. And the reader was easy to understand. The only real problem was that the performance sound was muffled through out and sometimes lower in volume then other times.

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Great story but the recording quality was terrible

I love this story and the woman reading it is great. However, the recording is terrible. It sounds muffled and quiet and is very difficult to hear.

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Sound quality terrible. Story chopped.

The sound quality seems as if the reader's voiced is muffled by sheets of cotton. There are also frequently rumbly background noises as if the microphone is being moved or rubbed.
The story is severely abridged, missing some of the most charming detail.
A favorite story treated very poorly.
I liked the narration, when audible, and the sound tolerable.
Skip this

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Great story

Great story, but if I didn’t know story (it’s my favorite book), I wouldn’t know what was happening. Even with my phone at full volume, I could barely hear it!!Very disappointed at that.

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Abridged and poor sound

I think this must be an old recording of an abridged version of the book. I pulled out my Ballantine paperback version and there are so many dropped segments in this audio version just in the first few chapters as to make it difficult to follow. The sound is fuzzy and faint as well. I had to turn the volume up high and still had trouble understanding the muted recording.
Don’t waste any money on this version narrated (well from what I could hear) by Jenny Agutter.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

One of my favorites!!!

I loved it. It has been one of my favorite books for many years.