TWAIN-L Archives

Mark Twain Forum

TWAIN-L@YORKU.CA

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Kent Rasmussen <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 26 Feb 2018 20:56:42 -0500
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (42 lines)
John, I'm listening to your recording of Henderson's book as I write this.
It sounds very good, and as a long-time audiobook addict I would like to
thank you for taking the trouble to record books. Before you record Paine's
3-volume biography, however, I'd like to suggest that you instead consider
recording one or more of Paine's shorter works, such as A SHORT LIFE OF MARK
TWAIN, THE BOYS' LIFE OF MARK TWAIN, or THE SHIP DWELLERS. I make this
suggestion because Paine's full biography is so long that people would be
far more likely to listen to the shorter works. The long biography contains
about 500,000 words. At a typical reading speed of about 170 words a
minutes, a recording of that work would run about 50 hours. How many people
would consider investing that much time in listening to it? Not many, I
imagine--even if the book is freely accessible on LibriVox. However, if you
were to record one or two of Paine's shorter books and get a favorable
response, then it might make more sense to record the long biography later.

That brings me to a question: I imagine it is possible to listen to LibriVox
books on an iPhone, but HOW does one do that? I listen to books all the time
that I download from audible.com, but I have no idea how load other books
onto my phone. Any tips would be welcome.

I'll conclude with a comment for forum members not familiar with audiobooks.
In contrast to the professionally recorded books sold by Audible.com and
other companies, LibriVox books are produced by a noncommercial service that
makes recordings of public domain books freely available to anyone who wants
to listen to them. Because the books are recorded by amateur volunteers,
their quality varies enormously. Some, frankly are painful to listen to.
John Greenman's recording of Henderson's MARK TWAIN is not in that class. I
don't know John and don't even recall hearing his name before now, but from
what I've listened to from the Henderson book so far, I can confidently say
he reads with a mature, measured voice that makes listening to the book
pleasurable. If I can figure out how to load the book on my iPhone, I'll
certainly listen to all of it. 

Now a slightly embarrassing confession. I see on the LibriVox website that
John has already recorded numerous other works by and about Mark
Twain--including Paine's BOYS' LIFE OF MARK TWAIN. So much for the
suggestion I made at the beginning of this note. Moreover, to complete my
embarrassment, I'll admit that I've just remembered that I already own a
copy of that recording to which I have not yet listened--primarily because
I've got it on a CD and don't know how to load it on my iPhone. This is
another example of how I feel modern technology is passing me by.

ATOM RSS1 RSS2