let’s see if this works.
Ha! Yes. I’ve finally got WP to display. Audible is currently working on Foreigner and Chanur.
Cyteen audiobook link—for convenience.
by CJ | Jun 9, 2012 | Journal | 19 comments
19 Comments
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I listened to the sample reading. I am sad to say I don’t care for the reading. As so often happens, the voice does not match the voice in my head. I think primarily, the reader does not put emphasis where I would. It changes the weight of phrases asn so, changes the story somewhat. That may be the issue. I would eventually get used to the sound of her voice.
It is also interesting to read the reviews on Amazon. People either love it or hate it apparently. My own partner dislikes Cyteen. I love it. When I read the negative reviews, I think, ‘Well obviously you need to read something else. Cherryh’s writing is perfect for me.’ They complain about things I think are well done.
I’m never disturbed by this: reading is a two-way street. Sometimes a reader hasn’t enough life experience to ‘get’ a book; sometimes they have life experience but it hits a nerve or upsets a belief system. Since I did upset belief systems left and right in that book, I’m far from surprised.
I loved it. of course I have to make big adjustments when I listen to an audiobook that I already know well as a book, especially for US accents, since my internal voice is UK english. I thought the actress did a fabulous job on all the different voices. I did think that an atypical ungrammatical “let’s don’t” instead of “let’s not” may have slipped in which I certainly don’t remember from reading, but the great thing about listening is that every word enters your head. as a bit of a speed reader I can’t guarantee that happening, especially if it gets exciting!
can’t wait for Chanur and foreigner! 😀
I suppose you could call me a “purist.” I’ve never gotten into audio books, and very likely won’t as long as my eyes work well enough to read. (In most instances when folks would be listening to audio books, I listen to music.) When I’m reading, I just tune everything out except the “movie” my brain is making of the story in my head — which is why I have to be careful when I read — “just a chapter or two before I go to sleep” can all too easily end up as “turning the last page of the book and looking at the clock to see it’s 6 a.m.!” —
some people just don’t want a really interesting scifi book that takes all sorts of possibilities and puts very real people with interior lives into them. oh well!
CJ, did you not say that if a concept in a book disturbs the reader, or upsets the reader, that you have accomplished your purpose in writing that particular event. I found the concept of homosexuality shocking, until I reached my junior year in college (1972) and one of my roommates was gay. I also worked at a restaurant where one of the cooks was gay, and we would joke about it. To this date, there are some people who just can’t wrap their minds around the fact that everyone has the right to be who they are, that we shouldn’t be placing labels on them as if they were “different”, and that everywhere around the world, people just want to live their lives in peace. I resent the government getting too far into peoples’ lives, and I think back to Winston Smith (1984). Big Brother loves you. Yes, as long as you conform to what Big Brother dictates. I haven’t listened to the audiobooks, and I cannot pass judgement on them. I don’t generally use audiobooks, preferring to have the words in my hands and read through my own eyes. To those who enjoy audiobooks, and I have several friends who do, by all means continue to enjoy them. Maybe one day, I’ll put a CD in the player and drive down the road listening to Hermann Hesse, or Harlan Ellison, or Robert A. Heinlein. I think I’d much prefer to listen to your works as read by you or by Jane, rather than some celebrity who probably doesn’t know your style of writing. Oh well….just me…
She reads, however, much as I do. I do intend to shake up my readership, gently. Some are spooked by the azi. Some are spooked by the Justin-Grant relationship (oddly enough, no one complains about Jordan and his partner, though Justin and Jordan ARE genetically identical. Which is my statement about nature and nurture.)
Re audiobooks: they have their best use on very long commutes. Books for when they can serve, and audio when you are trying to hold onto your sanity while the freeway imitates a parking lot or a rig has overturned with a load of honey. The car cd player is a very good place for audio books.
…Interesting, CJ – I never really thought about your books as ones that would disturb people like that… Cause them to think a bit, yes. Lead them to figure out some things, yes… but complain about the subject matter? Evidently I don’t understand people as much as I thought.
I’ve always loved Cyteen… I suppose if someone is going to get upset, they’ll get upset over something related to sex (which Ari flat out says in the book – it’s a strong key), I just don’t really understand why someone would be reading science fiction if they weren’t open to reading about people both alike and unlike to themselves – isn’t that kind of the whole point?
While working as a file clerk, I listened to Radio Reader on NPR. I listened to books I never would have picked up and enjoyed them. I’ll have to sample this. I’ll wait for FOREIGNER to buy my first audio book.
My husband and I used to listen to Just William books in the car while in horrendous traffic jams on the Long Island Expressway, and we just laughed and laughed – almost we wanted the jams to last longer. We also used to have books on disc to play to our girls when they were smaller on long car trips (now they have DSs unfortunately, and their taste in books is no longer the same, or at least we are no longer able to impose our choices on them, but for a while there things were good – we listened to Narnia books and to Farmer Giles of Ham and other lovely things). IMHO, audio books have a great place in life, as do all other forms of communicating a story.
I really enjoy audio books for long drives, but I tend to pick books I wouldn’t normally sit down and READ. I think a big part of the reason is that I like to read books that make you stop and think, and an audio book doesn’t let you go back and re-read a sentence or flip back and check an earlier reference or just pause and ponder. The audio books I pick tend to be simpler mystery types or fluff fantasy. Enough to keep me awake, but not tick me off because I CAN’T go see what exactly that character said last chapter.
Finally. As for the negative reviews – aside from the possible disturbing aspects, this is not an easy read or listen. It requires an investment of intellect – not for everyone but well worth the investment for others.
as for celebrities reading books, mostly they are read by very good working actors, not celebrity film actors! those folks would not want to put in the effort and hours for what cannot be a HUGE amount of money, I am sure. though I do have a copy of All the Pretty Horses read by Brad Pitt (ages ago, on cassette tape!), I am sure he did it for love of the book, and it works very well for me, a non-US speaker.
I like to listen to audio books on very long solo journeys – for instance, driving to Spain from the UK, although sometimes it feels a bit weird having your head in Moscow or Japan, or indeed, Cyteen, while driving through grand Spanish landscapes. but mostly I listen to them while working with my hands, and I do find them addictive. and I prefer books that I can really get my teeth into …
A variant of the celebrity reading is when the author reads. I have tapes of Stephen King reading the first to Gunslinger books and somewhere an LP of Sprague de Camp reading a couple of Conan short stories. Both are at least as good as many a mid-list voice actor, and of course, you get authoritative pronunciation of any made-up wor4ds.
I’d say, thought-provoking rather than disturbing. The azi are somewhat like the people in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. That people (individuals or groups / organizations) will Behave Badly is a given of human nature, as much as other people will Behave Well (sensibly or for the common good). Usually, people are some mix of the dark and light sides.
I’ll have to admit…back when I’d first read Cyteen, I was some distance into it before it dawned on me the nature of Grant’s and Justin’s relationship. “OHH!” Duh. Then I wondered why it took me so long to figure it out, though it was low-key. Maybe it was a litmus test of understanding and self-acceptance then. (I’m gay.) But I’d also say that homosexuality is not the primary theme of the book. It’s in there because people are different and people do not always live by our own culture’s current standards.
There’s so much more in there than that.
My hope is that by 2353 there won’t be a big fuss about relationships so long as everybody in it is happy. (Look at the spacers, who propagate by one night stands, and in which mother, uncles and aunts and cousins and grandparents are the Family. They’re different.) Justin is bothered about Grant’s azi status, in the arrangement: he has a small ethical reserve about that, and Grant is absolutely adamant he doesn’t want to be CIT and that Justin is being an ass to worry about it. Grant is very worried about being CIT: he worries he’s becoming an adrenaline junkie, but he doesn’t want treatment for it, because he wants his instincts to remain sharp where it regards potential threats from CITs…he is NOT a trusting sort, and believes Justin is a bit too ready to forgive…an azi doesn’t forgive anything: but he can forget it if he chooses; and he’s not about to.
well, it IS getting better – in Western Europe, anyway – in our little village, in what is basically a rather redneck part of the UK, overlain with Londoners buying properties for second homes, we have 5 households out of 50 with gay relationships. only one pair is homegrown, I must admit, a couple of young women. but then there are maybe only 5 or so households that are native, anyway! rather reassuring … 😀
thanks for the interesting insight into Grant and Justin … 😀
I would like to say that I very much enjoyed the Cyteen audiobook.
I did have some quibbles with the accents that were pretty overdone at times and now and again it wasn’t clear whether it was Justin or Grant who was the speaker (I’m at the end of the book, about an hour left).
As far as I know, she’s got one of the names wrong. She says Girard instead of Giraud. Has that been changed in later Warner editions?
I will probably get the Chanur books in audio but I will hold off on the Foreigner books. I like them, but I would prefer them to be more stand alone. Three books for one story chunk of an even larger story does get to me a bit. (Hint, hint, would like some more Union/Alliance books, please…)
I listen to audiobooks during my lunch break and just a while before I go to sleep. Having had eye problems for many years, I have started to listen to longer books instead of reading them myself. One downside of listening to audio books is that I don’t “get” the story as deeply as if I read it with my eyes. I forget story elements quite quickly. Another is that I tend to get sleepy. It doesn’t matter if the book is very interesting or exciting.
Thanks.
ericf
Oh, sorry. I shouldn’t make another post so quickly but I just had to mention that this is probably the 8th time I read Cyteen.
I can understand why people have a hard time getting into it as the first 100 pages is pretty much nothing but politics, but there’s so much more to discover once you know the political situation and you’ve been presented to the players on that level.
I love it!
ericf