Stephen King as an audiobook reader

  • This message board permanently closed on June 30th, 2020 at 4PM EDT and is no longer accepting new members.

fushingfeef

Finally Uber!
Aug 14, 2009
10,194
21,965
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
I'm enjoying listening to SK reading "Elevation" the audiobook, and I also enjoyed hearing him introduce each of the tales in "Flight or Fright". Nothing like having your favorite author in your ear, it's kind of a warm cosy feeling. Is that a weird way to put it? I like a good professional reading, but I guess it's an even more intimate storytelling experience when you know it's the actual author of the book. And I think Steve does a pretty good job of it!
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
Steve has done quite a few audio recordings of his works- the first three DT books (good luck finding those babies!), Bag Of Bones, Blood And Smoke, etc. He even did the audio of Tabitha King's One On One. I like his voice.
 

Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
53,634
236,697
The High Seas
I LOVE Stephen reading his own works.

He knows exactly where he wanted emphasis. He knows the pacing. He knows the overall tone he was setting when he sat down to write it. So I feel like we are getting even more of an intimate experience with him when he reads. I would buy every single book he's done on audio if he would do them.
 

Spideyman

Uber Member
Jul 10, 2006
46,336
195,472
79
Just north of Duma Key
Steve has done quite a few audio recordings of his works- the first three DT books (good luck finding those babies!), Bag Of Bones, Blood And Smoke, etc. He even did the audio of Tabitha King's One On One. I like his voice.
Drawing of the Three- cassettes read by SK. Fearful to play them anymore.

Nothing like the author reading his/ her own book.
 

ghost19

"Have I run too far to get home?"
Sep 25, 2011
8,926
56,578
51
Arkansas
I absolutely loved his reading of the actual story called Hearts in Atlantis in the book of the same name. You could almost imagine "Pete Riley" as a young Stephen King making his way thru college at the University of Maine. His inflection in that story almost made it seem like he was telling the story of his youth and he did it perfectly. The story always chokes me up because of his spot on explanations of how your goals, points of view, relationships, just how everything seems to change in college. Mr. King does a great job narrating all of his own stories, but HIA is my favorite. Mr. King's description of his characters is one of his many strong points in writing, but the characters he brings to life in the dorm life of HIA almost seem real in his reading.
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
...he does well with his vocal efforts, and I’ve even grown to enjoy his speaking voice...it was just jarring to me years ago when I first heard him....was thinking he’d have a much deeper voice given his large/tall frame....
Perhaps Steve and Prince could have changed voices? Prince had a very deep speaking voice. :D
 

Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
53,634
236,697
The High Seas

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
...he does well with his vocal efforts, and I’ve even grown to enjoy his speaking voice...it was just jarring to me years ago when I first heard him....was thinking he’d have a much deeper voice given his large/tall frame....
Me too! I was surprised to hear his voice at first but like you said, you do grow to enjoy it

I think I must be one of those people who are more attuned to sounds or voices than others - if I hear someone with a nasally sounding voice on TV, I have to mute it or change the channel.

Not saying Mr. King has a nasal voice, but you know what I mean. Hearing him speak in person in Toronto was great. I have yet to buy an audio book but perhaps I'll try to get one from the library.
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Does he actually have a Maine accent himself? I'm not entirely sure what a Maine accent sounds like, but it's how Jud Crandall speaks in Pet Sematary, right?
This video is good - if anyone has a strange voice, it's the lady interviewing him!


It's from 2011 and he's talking about 11/22/63
 

mal

content
Jun 23, 2007
4,714
27,243
61
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
I like him. His voice fits nicely to the story; I guess because he wrote it. The wife listens to the book on tapes. The best I ever heard from her side of the bed was John Lithgow reading a story. He acts the parts. Not to get off track though, Steve's voice is smooth as sand and I believe if John Lithgow read one of Steve's books, Steve would win hands down.
 

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
2,201
7,168
The Netherlands
I don't listen to audiobooks much. The problem is for me the voice dominates the whole story too much. I'm too aware I'm listening to a story. When reading you hear all the individual voices of the characters and imagine them all different. When spoken a book becomes only about 10 % for me of the full world it does when I read it. Paper is white, just like a moviescreen, your imagination is the film projector.
That said, some people are good at reading. I was at an interview/reading with fantasywriter Tad Williams last year, and he read a new chapter from a book. He really did put a lot of effort in doing voices of creatures - he stood up when he did them and almost performed them completely.