The female voice.. .

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EMTP513

Well-Known Member
Oct 31, 2012
503
1,923
I am a new Stephen King fan. When I was younger I tried reading his books but, according to my superstitious christian parents, the author might as well have been Satan himself and so I never got very far before feeling too guilty (and creeped out) and putting them down. All grown up now, I am no longer subject to those beliefs, but I don't have time to read anymore, accept for children's bedtime stories. So, I listen to audio books while I perform mindless tasks. I have become utterly hooked on several of Stephen King's books this way. I just finished this one. It was mostly fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I got thinking about what I didn't enjoy about it though and found a common thread with issues I took with other Stephen King audio books. Its the women. I suspect that if I were reading them myself, I wouldn't have this problem.

His narrators are really great. I love their work, I really do. But, they are men pretending to be women. Most of the time, this isn't really an issue. However, when the character fills a romantic role in the story, these men in vocal drag create a disgust factor that makes the love stories hard to believe.

Am I right? Is it just an issue with the audio versions? I wish they'd get a female to read those lines. Keep the trend of narrators for the rest of it all. But when a woman is supposed to be lovely and fallen in love with, I think its important she have a beautiful voice. At least a female one. Just a thought.

My mom said he was "a fad and won't be around 10 years from now." She said that in 1981, when I was a teenager and trying to sneak around reading the books, which she always knew about. Just like she knew my 16 y.o sister was kissing a boy goodnight after her first date, bc my mom was watching them from the window. Hiding behind the curtain and peeking out, trying to be surreptitious about it.
 

opundo

Active Member
Sep 25, 2011
38
87
Derry, Maine
I am a new Stephen King fan. When I was younger I tried reading his books but, according to my superstitious christian parents, the author might as well have been Satan himself and so I never got very far before feeling too guilty (and creeped out) and putting them down. All grown up now, I am no longer subject to those beliefs, but I don't have time to read anymore, accept for children's bedtime stories. So, I listen to audio books while I perform mindless tasks. I have become utterly hooked on several of Stephen King's books this way. I just finished this one. It was mostly fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I got thinking about what I didn't enjoy about it though and found a common thread with issues I took with other Stephen King audio books. Its the women. I suspect that if I were reading them myself, I wouldn't have this problem.

His narrators are really great. I love their work, I really do. But, they are men pretending to be women. Most of the time, this isn't really an issue. However, when the character fills a romantic role in the story, these men in vocal drag create a disgust factor that makes the love stories hard to believe.

Am I right? Is it just an issue with the audio versions? I wish they'd get a female to read those lines. Keep the trend of narrators for the rest of it all. But when a woman is supposed to be lovely and fallen in love with, I think its important she have a beautiful voice. At least a female one. Just a thought.
It would enhance the audio books if there was a female doing the female character's voices.
 

Anduan Pirate Princess

Well-Known Member
Oct 13, 2015
768
5,977
41
Rhode Island
I totally agree with this! I listened to the audiobook last month, and it was one of the best I have ever "read" (listened to?). But, YES, Craig Wasson reading Sadie's lines with that high, southern accent just grated on my nerves. It actually did somewhat detract from my attempts to fully picture her in my mind as a character. Now, I know it's not a play, so they can't have all these different people reading lines for different roles, so I'm not sure what the solution is. But I'm glad to know it wasn't just me. :m_suspicious:
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
I totally agree with this! I listened to the audiobook last month, and it was one of the best I have ever "read" (listened to?). But, YES, Craig Wasson reading Sadie's lines with that high, southern accent just grated on my nerves. It actually did somewhat detract from my attempts to fully picture her in my mind as a character. Now, I know it's not a play, so they can't have all these different people reading lines for different roles, so I'm not sure what the solution is. But I'm glad to know it wasn't just me. :m_suspicious:
Well - looks like you just answered the question I asked in the Newbies thread! :friendly_wink: - I would definitely get distracted by a male reading a female voice in a high falsetto - makes me think of the Monty Python troupe dressed up as women - would take away the seriousness of whatever was being read. :no_pig:
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
...try listening to them whilst imagining the narrator dressed like this...
ap7604010327_custom-1dc6608d7b44a66fabd10b104f255bb0afd58ade-s900-c85.jpg
 

Pucker

We all have it coming, kid
May 9, 2010
2,906
6,242
62
This thread gave me another one of those deja vu moments I get in here all the time.

There was a post -- I'm almost certain it was in the old dawn, in the before time (the long, long ago) -- about an audiobook that was narrated by Yeardley Smith (I don't remember which story).

If you don't know, Yeardley Smith is the voice of young Lisa Simpson, and this particular member simply could not get down with hearing the story as told by the girl whom Ned Flanders once described as "Springfield's answer to a question nobody asked."
 

Owenk

Well-Known Member
Nov 13, 2014
351
2,060
62
I am a new Stephen King fan. When I was younger I tried reading his books but, according to my superstitious christian parents, the author might as well have been Satan himself and so I never got very far before feeling too guilty (and creeped out) and putting them down. All grown up now, I am no longer subject to those beliefs, but I don't have time to read anymore, accept for children's bedtime stories. So, I listen to audio books while I perform mindless tasks. I have become utterly hooked on several of Stephen King's books this way. I just finished this one. It was mostly fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I got thinking about what I didn't enjoy about it though and found a common thread with issues I took with other Stephen King audio books. Its the women. I suspect that if I were reading them myself, I wouldn't have this problem.

His narrators are really great. I love their work, I really do. But, they are men pretending to be women. Most of the time, this isn't really an issue. However, when the character fills a romantic role in the story, these men in vocal drag create a disgust factor that makes the love stories hard to believe.

Am I right? Is it just an issue with the audio versions? I wish they'd get a female to read those lines. Keep the trend of narrators for the rest of it all. But when a woman is supposed to be lovely and fallen in love with, I think its important she have a beautiful voice. At least a female one. Just a thought.

I have to say I listen to a lot of audiobooks and I think the narrators which they get to read King's books are generally excellent at their craft. I did notice this yesterday listening to one, but it was more in a kind of "hmmmm why isn;t that jarring with me, because I guess they're doing a great job at it."

Mind that might be the kiss of death I probably notice all the time now.

I'm not sure a female person interjecting the female lines in an audiobook would work for me I like a single vocie albeit an occassionally modulated one.
 
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Anduan Pirate Princess

Well-Known Member
Oct 13, 2015
768
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Rhode Island
I am nearly done listening to Doctor Sleep, and the narrator on that one does a perfect, perfect job. He focuses more on the inflection and tone rather than gender, and it is not distracting at all, IMO. It's Will Patton, by the way.
I'm not sure a female person interjecting the female lines in an audiobook would work for me I like a single vocie albeit an occassionally modulated one.
I agree; I think it would be way too distracting.
 
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Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
I listen to doctors and residents through my headset all day at work. If I am lucky I get a good one, with a well modulated voice. The worst ones are the ones who rush through the transcription without any pauses.

There is one female doctor who dictates (or drones) in a monotone without changing her voice at all.

It makes you appreciate it more when you get a good one. (and it is nice if they say thank you at the end, rather than just abruptly stopping).