Great story+translation, odd production

This review is essentially the same as my reviews for the other Carlos Ponce audiobooks currently available.
The story is great, of course. Chamber of Secrets is one of the weaker books in the series but it's still a ton of fun.

I'm approaching these audiobooks as a native English speaker and learner of Spanish. As a learning aid, I 100% recommend these audiobooks--the narration+accent is clear and comprehensible. I did the same when learning German (using the absolutely amazing Rufus Beck audiobooks from Audible) and got great results.

I've marked the performance down for a couple of reasons. First, Carlos Ponce does a great job with character voices, and puts good energy into his delivery, but tends to deliver almost all dialogue the same. I mean, if there's one thing J.K. Rowling is known for as an author, it's adverbs--every single piece of dialogue comes with instructions, so to speak. But whether Filch "screamed" or Hermione "whispered" or Dumbledore said "calmly", Ponce delivers them all roughly the same.

My second problem might not lie with Ponce, but with the production: the text is barely given any time to breathe. Scene changes within chapters (something happens, then we transition to our heroes discussing it in the Common Room or whatever) receive absolutely no pause/signaling, which can be really jarring. Momentous or climactic events are not read or edited dramatically, but almost rushed through. The entire scene in the Chamber of Secrets is very confusing for this reason. This might be on Ponce as the narrator, but (along with the same-y dialogue) it feels like a lack of production/preparation--like they handed Ponce the book and had him do it all in roughly one take, without allowing him to get a feel for the rhythm of the text.

This stuff might sound like nit-picking, but it's at the core of what separates good oral story-telling from great oral story-telling. Without the text in front of us, we are reliant on the narrator to give us a sense of when tension is rising or falling, and where the narrative climax falls. This isn't just for entertainment, but to actually make sense of the events as they happen. The Pottermore/Rufus Beck German editions of these books do a phenomenal job of this.

Overall, while I enjoyed this audiobook, it could have been a lot better. +1 for a Dobby voice that won't make you throw your heapdhones out the window.

15 people found this helpful

Excelente!

100 % recomendado, simplemente no podia para de escucharlo y ademas pa narracion de Carlos es extraordinaria...Bl

5 people found this helpful

Perfect Narration

My mother language is Spanish, and let me tell you something if you're listening this book for learn Spanish, is the best decision.

I've been listening this book while I work, and helped me to stay creative (I'm Graphic Designer). Although, I rather the physical book because the smell and the feeling, is a good option to stimulate the brain. If i could make something better for Audible will be a cheaper option to listen more books, because I think the prices between physical and audible book are close.

1 person found this helpful

Emocionante.

Nos gustó la narración y la historia. Mis hijas están muy emocionadas con la historia.

1 person found this helpful

Perfecto

El narrador va a un buen tiempo, su voz es tranquila, pero no aburre, una buenas combinación entre un libro maravilloso y una narración espectacularmente bien echa

1 person found this helpful

me sangran los oídos con el narrador

no se puede leer peor una historia del narrador tiene 4 voces y la va haciendo aleatoriamente. y además en Latino con acento inglés? horroroso.

La camara cecreta😍

Me encanto los escuchare todos estoy muy intrigada selos recomiendo al 100% una perfecta narracion

Unbearable voice for the female characters

I tried to listen to these but the narrator's voice for the female characters was unbearable.

Fenomenal narracion!

El mejor narrador en español para uno de los mejores libros de ficcion. Vale la pena obtener esta version!

Excelente

Me encanta la voz de Carlos Ponce leyendo este libro. Además tiene un rango de voces tan impresionante que te hace sentir como si hubiera un montón de personas narrando el libro.