Please check Italian pronunciation!

This excellent story was ruined for me by mispronunciation of even simple Italian words










Once again the reading of an excellent story by Donna Leon was ruined for me by mispronunciation of even simple Italian words and names. Can you urge the publishers to have these recordings checked if they really cannot find a narrator with basic knowledge of Italian's very simple rules? For example, 'chi' is ALWAYS pronounced with a hard c as in 'key', not as in 'cheers'. Wrong stresses in well known place names are irritating and show lack of care, but to mispronounce the common name Chiara is inexcusable.
Such a shame.

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Great story

As always, the story laid out before us by Donna Leon, is both interesting and visually very descriptive, in a believable way. As A reader that has been to Venice 5 times starting in 1980, but not been since 2008, it is almost as if I am being updated, and that is much fun.
On the other hand, being an Italian speaker, I find the interpreter’s mistaken Spanish pronounciation of a main character’s name, and that of several locations, very disturbing and disappointing.

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1 person found this helpful

As well written as usual

It's unusual for commissario Brunetti to personally meet the main subject in a case before it becomes a case, but listening to this story it quickly becomes clear how much difference this makes. A well written story again, I was only - as I've been so often with these Itailian crime stories - somewhat unsatisfied with the final outcome ... but maybe that actually makes the story all the more realistic.

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Shardlake or Commissario Brunetti?

I enjoyed Steven Crossley's reading of C. J. Sansom's Matthew Shardlake novels.

Hiowever, his reading of Wilful Behaviour grates.

It is not his godawful Italian pronunciation (my wife is from Venice by the way), it is just that I keep hearing Matthew Shardlake, Jack Barak, Ellen Fettiplace and others.

I kept expecting to hear Vianello (Barak) refer to people he didn't like as "arseholes" which of course Vianello would never do.

Very off-putting!

Crossly seemingly has a box of voices which he uses whatever the book.

Stick to Shardlake Mr. Crosskey!

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Good story, poor performance

I like the Brunetti series because I love Venice and I like to read about the city. This is a good story, looking back to corruption in WW2. Unfortunately, the performer doesn’t have good Italian pronunciation; Guido’s daughter Chiara Is mispronounced “Chee-Ara” instead of “Kee-ara” and San Zaccaria, a well known area, is also mispronounced, among many others.

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3 people found this helpful

Story superb, unfortunately the reader cannot pronounce Italian names

It's a pity that the pronunciation - e.g. Chiara within English "ch" - distracts from the excellent writing

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2 people found this helpful

Crossley gets it right

I really liked Crossley's performance.
All voices spoke as though they were English with individual accents of class and nature, except when they were not Italian and they spoke English as though it were their second language with their own national accent coming through.
Good story, rather complex, but enjoyable.
I would like the Brunetti family to adopt me - they eat so well!

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Predictable good fun by Leon

Would you listen to Wilful Behaviour again? Why?

Maybe, depends when. A trick is clever really only once. In particular when it comes to crime novels.

What other book might you compare Wilful Behaviour to, and why?

The other Commissario Brunetti novels are somewhat similar, but rather entertaining. Predictable good fun!

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Signorina Elettra's moments on the computer are always fun.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No, not really

Any additional comments?

Great narrator, unfortunately a certain grasp of Italian might have been useful. 'Tshiara' was particularly painful.

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3 people found this helpful

Shame about the Italian (and German) accents….

Good story, but narration needs coaching. Shame as so much of the book contains Italian.

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Poor narration detracted from the book

I didn’t enjoy the narration of this book at all and wonder if Steven Crossley has read any other Brunetti books as he seems to have no feeling for the regular characters in his interpretation of their voices. I really feel too that the editor, at least, should have given him an indication (phonetically, on the text perhaps?) of the Italian pronunciation of the names of people and places mentioned. I told myself I was being picky that (among LOTS of other mispronunciations) he always referred to Chiara as ‘Chee-ara’, but it was the final straw when, in Chapter 17, he called La Fenice ‘the Fen-eece’ and, shortly afterwards, mispronounced the ENGLISH word ‘irrelevant’ as ‘irreVeLant’! I stopped listening and read the book instead! A poor delivery and sloppy editing.

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