Wrong choice of narrator

I’ve never read this classic and since this audiobook is included in my membership and only 3 hours long I thought it would be a good introduction to the story to decide if I wanted to read the full novel. Unfortunately the narrator’s delivery is so flat and uninspiring that I was glad when it was over and I could move onto the next book.

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Not for me.

For clarity, I only listened to an hour of this before I had to stop. The story didn't grip me and unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it. Sadly the narration felt bland and didn't engage. The character voices were better but it still didn't work for me. There was drama in the voices but not in the narration. Overall, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

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2 people found this helpful

Absolutely Perfect

I loved this edition of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde! The narrator, the brilliant Paapa Easiedu, stayed completely true to Stevenson's story, and narrated it not like a story, but as though he were watching the tale of morality and duality unfold in real time

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It’s a classic

This story is written brilliantly but the language is hard to follow sometimes. Overall lovely time

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It was ok

I wasn’t as drawn to go back to this as quick as other books I’ve listened to!

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Powerful and disturbing

The unnerving classic, read with powerful restraint and beauty by one of the best stage actors of his generation. An absolute treat.

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Excellent story but narration spoiled it for me

I knew the rough story but had neither read it fully or listened to it in its entirety. The story is fascinating but in this instance the narrator was far too halting for my liking. At times there was a slight stop after every word in a sentence which detracted from the delivery most annoyingly. The narration for me spoiled the story.

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Well, I've read it now.

I wonder if, had I not known of the story before, and its twist, would I have enjoyed it more? I'll never know. I can imagine that if not knowing it would have been suspenseful and shocking.

On another note, why is it that the darker side of humanity is so much more appealing?

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A little disappointed

It would be fair to say I was a bit disappointed by this book. It's one of the stories that you think you know but when you actually get to read (of listen in this case to it) it turns out not to be quite what you expected. Large amounts of the story are told in retrospect either someone telling what happened or in the form of written documents being read out. This type of book generally doesn't lend itself to being fast pace or with a lot of suspense. Again with the activities of Mr Hyde I was expecting a number of violent episodes being ascribed to him which when investigated led back to the 'innocent' Dr Jekyll.
There was in fact only really one such occurrence and not much of an investigation, leaving me feeling somewhat short changed in the story overall from what I was expecting, always admitting that it was probably my expectations that were wrong in the first place.

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Wonderful Story, Almost Wonderful Performance

The narrator unfortunately lacked the ability to pronounce every word correctly, but good all the same. I would just warn you ahead of time that you will likely be drawn out of the story at points. Fantastic in almost every way, I just wish that when narrators find themselves unsure as to how to pronounce something they would look it uo rather than just taking a random stab in the dark.

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2 people found this helpful