Love the book, love the narrator!

I love Georgette Heyer and Alexander Vlahos is brilliant narrating. His take on characters closely matches my own when reading this book.
I would take a chance on a new author if I knew he was narrating it.

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Wonderful story and fantastic narration!

Heyer wrote this story when she was very young and is thus in a slightly different style to the stories she wrote a good 40 years later. That does not in any way mean it isn't as incredible as her other works! 'These Old Shades' is magnificent, the story is so captivating, mysterious, filled of intrigue and adventure. I adored this book and the narration so much! would highly recommend!

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Shocking narration

These Old Shades has been one of my favourite Georgette Heyer books since I was a teenager and I was really looking forward to enjoying it and more of her books in a different format. I have to admit to being horrified by the mangled narration of the story. The narrator did not tell the story, he merely read the words which is not the same thing at all. In addition to other complaints about accents etc which many others have mentioned (with which I wholeheartedly agree) he simply did not seem to understand the story he was reading, the emphasis was often completely wrong, changing the whole meaning of some passages, for instance the ‘I do’ which Leonie says right at the end of the book is read as if it were the response at a marriage ceremony with the emphasis on the do instead of the emphasis being on the I which makes sense of the sentence.Also the manner of speech used throughout the production was very modern the use of ay instead of a, the shortened more staccato style of speech which completely spoilt the flow of the narrative. I could go on but enough to say that the only reason I managed to listen to the whole thing was because the story is so good. I cannot understand why anyone would think this a good enough narration to publish and it makes me very wary about trying any more. Just because someone is a ‘celebrity’ doesn’t’t make them a storyteller! I would also suggest that Georgette Heyer’s novels would be much better suited to female narration.

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Excellent narration

The narrator, Alexander Vlahos brought this complex and challenging piece of narration to life. Highly recommended.

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For me, not the best narrator match

A very entertaining regency romance but the stoccato reading style of the narrator doesn't suit the material. I found myself distracted by the mismatch between the author's description and the narrator's interpretation. In an attempt to differentiate between the voices of separate characters, I felt the narrator ignored the "stage directions" from the author. I don't believe I heard the Duke of Avon drawl once.
However I do admit to being spoiled by listening to other Georgette Heyer titles read by Phyllida Nssh - the perfect choice of narrator for my money.

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An Old Favourite

I bought this new recording of These Old Shades as the previous one narrated by Cornelius Garrett I thought made the Duke of Avon sound twice his age and hard of hearing as he shouted his words! This at least makes him sound his age but the pronunciation of certain words changed as the story progressed, this a bit undermined a perfectly good recording.
I am afraid there is no one to beat Phyllida Nash in her reading of the Georgette Heyer books with Eve Mathesen and Richard Armitage a close second. How I wish they had recorded all the books!

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Brilliant - Georgette Heyer at her best!!!

Brilliant - Georgette Heyer at her best!!! The narrator did a marvellous job of doing all the different accents on this fast moving story from Paris to England and back to France. Really enjoyed it and will listen to it again and again!

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A sparkling plot

a more thoughtful and poignant treatment for this typical Heyer plot 'lost soul saved by the love of a good woman'. Some delightful characters and delicious pre-revolution France atmosphere.

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Brought to life!

I love this book. I've read it in two languages, my mother tongue (a translation), then looked for it in english when I could read the language well enough and now this. I almost know it by heart, and, unlike other listeners, I absolutely loved the narrator. Yes, one or two passages were read in an unexpected way, but overall for me he was a wonderful Duke. He gave life to him, so much so that it was like listening to a play. I often wish there was a movie made of this book, and I would have loved him as the Duke!

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Disappointing narration.

I already own an older version of this, one of my favourite Georgette Heyer's, but hoped and expected the narration of this new version would be better, but sadly, it isn't.
A pleasant voice, but he doesn't do justice to the Duke of Avon. Some rather strange accents and voices for other characters, and rather odd pronunciation of some words, particularly at the beginning. (An editing error, perhaps?) and where is the Duke's drawl? Instead, he speaks so quickly, it changes his character completely. Disappointed rather than excited by this new version. I'll stick with my old copy, I can't listen to this one any longer, I'm afraid.

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3 people found this helpful