The Wind Through the Keyhole discussion

So, I haven't been back to the Dark Tower series in years, but when this came out I put it on my list of things to read when I got caught up.

The opportunity came when I had a long road trip and I decided to listen to the book on tape. I was surprised to see that King did his own audio recording of it.

I don't often listen to books on tape, but I did listen to a of chunk Lisey's Story on a similar road trip before reading the rest.

My question is--better to have the author read it or an actor? I think there are benefits to both. The actor who read Lisey's Story was awesome, and outright creeped me out at times! King, I thought, did a fine job, and I found myself lost in the story the same way though clearly he didn't have the chops of an audio actor. It was nice, however, to hear his impression of the characters.

Whether you loved or hated the book--I thought it was a nice story overall, whether or not it fit the sequence perfectly--what would you choose? Author or actor?

Kyan

Typically the trained voice of an actor is better. Keep in mind that the ratio of time spent recording and editing to the length of the professional quality finished product is about fifty to one. An author would be better served spending their time writing.

I would much rather hear it read by an actor. I don't remember exactly what parts, but I can remember thinking "An actor would have done a better job right there"

I think that, in general, an actor who has spent years training his voice to control it would be better. His voice would not intrude upon the story by standing apart from it which might happen with a nonprofessional like the free audiobooks narrated by volunteers. It's hit or miss with those. But having said that, I believe that an author knows his work best, so he knows which words to emphasize when his characters speak to make his intent with them known. And a writer knows how to place the inflection with the right amount of emotion or lack thereof, and dozens of other little things that make the work unique to him. A lot must get lost in the translation when an actor reads the author's work, or even when a reader simply reads it silently to himself. The only writer I've listened to reading his own work is Neil Gaiman, and I think he did a great job of it. He has a wonderful voice that can lull you to sleep if you're not careful.

Donna wrote: "I think that, in general, an actor who has spent years training his voice to control it would be better. His voice would not intrude upon the story by standing apart from it which might happen with..."

I agree about the unique inflection/emphasis from the author. In that way, I suppose an audio book can be as individual as a play or screenplay depending on the director and actors. Haven't listened to many, but it was fun to have King read me his story.

I like King's narrative "voice" which shines through each of his books in print. I'll have to try an audiobook by him one of these days to see if his actual voice measures up to the imagined voice of his in my mind.

I agree with everyone here about this. I think actors do a better job by far and generally authors just shouldn't read their own books IMO, but I thought in this particular case King did a good job. I remember really enjoying this.