#This is not solely an American issue- so many Scottish or northern English books where they are narrated by a southerner | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-busy-ghost · 2 years

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Accents are always a difficult thing to manage in audiobook production but I seriously have to question the sense of the person who got a ‘full cast’ of American actors to narrate a novel set in England, especially since the main narrator has a perfectly English accent so it doesn’t match up.

Most of the cast aren’t too bad- the girls in particular are believable- but some of the younger voices sound like they’re dubbing a Japanese anime and one man in particular, supposed to be an Englishman (I think), unfortunately just reminds me of Kermit the Frog

#If I could see their faces it would be a different matter #But the voices in isolation sound like cartoon characters to me #I'm desperately trying to suspend my disbelief and pretend that the family has spent some formative time in America #But the few English accents just keep intruding and ruining that illusion #So I will just have to accept that this is now the Muppets Vicar of Wakefield #Which actually might be quite a good idea?#This is not solely an American issue- so many Scottish or northern English books where they are narrated by a southerner #And sometimes gender comes into it- though not always #While some people can imitate other genders very well #Most don't sound quite right and there's nothing that spoils a romantic scene quicker #Than a young woman trying to do a deep and sexy northern gentleman's voice or a middle-aged man going all squeaky to imitate the heroine #At least it's humourous #I fully intend to reread most of these books in physical copy at some point anyway so at least it's giving me a laugh in the morning #But honestly I would much rather hear one English male narrator trying to do all the parts than hear a bunch of incongruous accents #Also though why don't they even try? When did we stop expecting actors to attempt different accents?#Scottish actors have to do it every day #reading log

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