Accents / Audiobooks

[Simon]

No: HPFGUIDX 10594

Note that in all this about audio books I am talking fairly hypothetically.
I am commenting more about audio books in general rather than about the
Harry Potter books specifically. I have only heard PS, obviously read by
Stephen Fry, in audio format.

B.K. wrote: "I listened to Fry on Boxing Day over the Internet and I think
Jim Dale did a much better job creating distinct individual voices for each
and every character including tones, accents, and mannerisms."

Ah, but is that what people want from an audio book? I, for one, do not. I
want the book to be read to me in a fairly simple, and probably quite plain,
manner so that it is the words that speak to me, and that I listen to.
Otherwise it gets to the stage of taking too much notice in how the person
is doing the different parts and not enough on what is actually being said.

Also if we want every character to be different then surely it is an audio
play that we require (and they have been produced for other series - I
believe Pullman's His Dark Materials is one such series). If we do want an
audio play the surely it would be better to be done with many actors doing
the different parts, rather than one man, no matter how good he is, doing
all the parts.

I enjoyed the Stephen Fry reading of PS and spent my Boxing Day lounging
around listening to it (and watching the Bond film that was on - Goldfinger
I believe). It was good enough to convince me that I may want to buy the
audio books, but alas I have no money to do so.


Jim wrote: "I read some time ago in a posting that Stephen Fry did Hagrid in
a "Dorset accent." Is that similar to a Cornish accent?"

Dai wrote: "The first time I read PS (seems like along time ago, even if it
only was in July) I immediately pictured of Coltrane as Hagrid with his
scottish accent (that's how his speech read in my mind) and so was dead
chuffed when they announced Coltrane would be doing the honours in the film.

Also, in the Stephen Fry reading (which I thought was excellent, even if I
didn't agree on Hagrids voice) I thought Fry gave Hagrid more of a Somerset
accent than a Devonian/Cornish one; the stereotypical farmer (with 'is
combine 'arvester, ooo arrrr)."

A Dorset accent is basically a weaker version of the Somerset accent.
Meaning that it should be easier to understand! One of the main features of
the Dorset accent seems to be the almost total avoidance of the letter 't'.
So you get things like track'er (=tractor) and war'er (=water). I have
always imagined Hagrid as being from somewhere in this sort of area - more
likely to be Somerset than Dorset as his accent is quite thick..


Simon
--
Dominus Illuminatio Mea ...
"The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom shall I fear?"
-Psalm 27