Fabulous voice work. (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Audio CD))

Member Name: leighsady

Product:	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Audio CD)
Date:	27/01/09 (136 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Best for times when you really want to read that book but can't. Jim Dale does an impressive job.

Disadvantages: The cost, probably.

This is the audio CD edition of the 6th book of the Harry Potter series. This is a great set for those who are too busy to read, have their hands full or can't read to their children. Jim Dale is the reader for the whole series. I think it's mainly the american market that have the Jim Dale versions although I think he is british with a native accent (Stephen Fry also reads for the audio book series, though the UK bookshops seem to have mainly the Stephen Fry versions).

At first I was a little sceptical when I first heard his voice. Dale has a typical Received Pronunciation accent - one that wouldn't sound out of place on the BBC News but for narrating Harry Potter, it seemed to clash a bit on first hearing the first few seconds. However, within five minutes through the book I was very impressed. There are, some, twenty characters or more in this book and Jim Dale voices each character, both male and female, so efficiently and fluidly that at times I thought it would have been impossible for someone to switch voices so quickly with such accuracy. He voices each character with uncanny resemblance to the real life screen actors from the film. The most impressive imitation is probably Professor McGonagall. Listening to this audio set is extremely inspiring for any actor who is particularly interested in imitation voice work. Out of the whole series, this is probably the book with the best voice performances as many of the character from books 1 through to 5 appear in here too.

I don't usually use audio books that much unless it's a book that I really want to read but I'm too busy with other things like decorating the house, so this allows me to continue painting at the same time as listening to the book! Another great thing about listening to the audio version is that it opens up a new dimension to the world that you've created solely through the medium of its words. It's like seeing the book and its character from a different point of view, or more accurately, the way how the author wants you to see it. With this audio set, I felt that it was very true to the book, the character's voices were very similar to how I had imagined. That could actually be said of the film as I really felt the films' portrayal of the characters were almost exactly as they are in the book and in turn Jim Dale mimics the voices of the characters with such precision, it's almost scary!

The CD set costs about £37.99 and I was able to borrow this from a friend but it's available to rent from the library and also can be bought from places like Amazon. However, the version read by Jim Dale seems to be on limited demand as many shops tend to do the version where Stephen Fry reads. I have yet to listen to the Stephen Fry version, but it would be interesting to hear the difference. If you do choose the edition read by Jim Dale, like me, you will be impressed!


Thanks for reading. xx


©Leighsa 2009

Summary: A theatrical feast for the ears.