Disappointing performance

Despite this book being one of my favourite MM Kaye books I was sadly disappointed. Initially I was thrilled to hear an Indian accent in the actor, but how disappointed was I to find out that not only was her pronunciation very strange, but her intonation made the book extremely difficult to follow. Such a shame! And this despite my ear being attuned to indian accented English, having grown up there. Shame, a sad disappointment ....

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3 people found this helpful

Maigret in "Franglais"

Would you want an English person reading Maigret in French? If this woman is an actress, get her an accent coach! American actors such as Joseph Marsden and Alexis Denisof were very convincing as Brits on 'Buffy'. I lost count of the number of words this woman mangled: proviso, accacia, ravines, Grainger, etc. At least someone told her about lorgnette. Three stars because I like the story.

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2 people found this helpful

Great story ruined by the narrator

I like this book - one of the best of the 'Death in' series. Sadly, it has been spoiled by the monotonous reading. There is no differentiation between the many characters, so it is often difficult to work out who is talking.

Like the other reviewers, I also found the mispronunciated words irritating. It wouldn't take much to read and look at the words and make sure the words are spoken correctly.

I'm also not sure why this is read by an Indian narrator. It doesn't work or improve the story-telling. Few of the characters are Indian and I'm sure there would be English actors who could do a better job with all the many parts.

Such a shame.

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Great story spoiled by narration

Would you consider the audio edition of Death in Kashmir to be better than the print version?

I love this book. It has a great story, full of atmosphere and mystery and, even though I know the ending, love to re read it every so often. I was so pleased to find an audio recording but was deeply disappointed by this version due to the poor narration.

What did you like best about this story?

This is a good old-fashioned mystery with a likeable heroine. The beautiful description of the different places adds to the atmosphere, sometimes colourful, sometimes mysterious and sometimes just plain creepy.

How could the performance have been better?

I have heard this book read by Virginia Mackenna and her voice seemed perfect - her very crisp English tones fit the time in which the"Death In ..." books are set. I appreciate that choosing an Indian reader may have been an attempt to add to the atmosphere but the pronunciation, the pace and the emphasis are frequently wrong, most distracting. It is also difficult to follow which character is supposed to be speaking, very confusing even if you are familiar with the story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

If this book were to be available, read by Virginia Mackenna, I would definitely buy it as a replacement copy

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6 people found this helpful

Good book spoilt by poor narration

Monotonous narration, mispronounciations, poor phrasing = disappointing. Does poor justice to a good author - so much so I am tempted to stop listening and return the book.

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4 people found this helpful

Dreadful Narration

This is a very good book, but the narrator really spoils it. All of the punctuation is in the wrong place and emphasis is put on the wrong words and places as well. Maybe it would be better if she'd actually read the book first. Such a shame.

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9 people found this helpful

disappointing

I love this story, its one of my all time favourite books. however the narrator is all wrong . All Indian words sound OK but way to many of the English ones were mispronounced. such a disappointing listening experience.

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Good story but ....

Why on earth did they choose an Indian narrator to read a book about very British colonials. It made it difficult to comprehend a book that was a very good read as a hard back. She was unable to pronounce so many words correctly. It is the second of M M Kayes books that I have downloaded that have been read by totally the wrong person

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5 people found this helpful

Terrible reading of a great story

Stilted, monotonous reading of a good story, riddled with mispronounced words and bad phrasing of sentences. Reader also didn't seem to be able to tell which version of words, spelt the same but pronounced differently depending on context, to use. eg said 'wind' as in wind a clock which didn't make sense as it was in a sentence about 'putting the wind up someone'. Will not listen to another book read by this individual.

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