Just what I want
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“The selection of tales is nearly perfect for what is available.
People who have complained need to realize a few things:
1) Mr Harrison has to choose short stories from the public domain. It just so happens that most "classic tales" are already there.
2) Many classic tales are, uh, by definition OLD. Complaining about the narrator's "accent" makes little sense. Mr Harrison has to choose a voice that doesn't sound like it's someone from 2008. Some people have wondered why he sounds British--well, urm, a few centuries ago many Americans were only a few generations removed from England, and most of the authors showcased in this podcast are from nineteenth-century America or else actually from England.
Does Mr Harrison's accent sound phony? I don't know, I never really thought of it as an "accent" but as an effected (and effective) reading voice. I'm an American living in Britain--but like most people I'm not two hundred years old, so I've never heard "accents" from a century or a century and a half ago on either side of the Atlantic. I would imagine that genuine voices of people from those times would inescapably sound "phony" to some listeners today. Moreover, this artificial quality is sort of the point. If I'm listening to Dickens read aloud, it would displease me NOT to hear a Victorian-era voice. If I'm listening to Twain, I want to hear an old American accent much like the one Mr Harrison provides.
Is his reading voice perfect? No, but I think it's very good. Do I think he puts a lot of emotion into certain passages? Yes. Too much emotion? Sometimes I think so, when I'm not particularly into the story. But I don't think he "hams it up" too much. I've never found his voice or accent to be a problem.
Sometimes I want reverence and (slightly reserved) enthusiasm for the classics. Sometimes I want to hear sophistication and excitement for our American literary heritage and the heritage of many European writers from the past centuries. Not only is it escapism--to imagine how these authors lived, how they managed to write--but it is edifying. This podcast gives me that once a week. I love it. It's a shame that there aren't other podcasts like it, completing with it, being inspired by it, trying to outdo it, just as those featured writers from centuries ago were inspired by each other with each tale.
...I don't understand one reviewer's "Frasier Crane" comment. Frasier Crane wasn't British, but I guess anything "smart sounding" must be British, right? I guess "talking smart" is just an intolerable crime to some ears. Maybe when Mr Harrison reads some of these sophisticated or wordy, purple-prose authors (e.g. Poe) he should just not read the words that are there or read them in more of a Homer Simpson voice?
Thank God for this podcast. It's my one hour a week of contemporary entertainment media that is actually smart, enjoyable and literary.”Read full review »
Warwol via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
01/26/08
More reviews of The Classic Tales Podcast
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“Many thanks to BJ for raising the bar on entertainment these days. Not only is this podcast totally fun, I'm amazed that someone is willing to do this for free. The time spent researching stories must be considerable, let alone reading them. BJ is also very openminded to suggestions and...”Read full review »
FTroop818 via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
11/09/07
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“Positively creepy. And not in a good way.”
Explodius Harris via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
10/02/07
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“Throw this on your iPod and take it driving - great way to fill the drive to work with something worth listening too. Well read and well choosen material. Good Job!”
radarboy2010 via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
06/26/07
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