LibriVox Samples

So how good are the LibriVox readers? We’ll be honest: some are better than others, but what some of us lack in voice modulation skills, we usually make up for in love for the text we are reading. But, remember, we are all volunteers. Before we get to the samples, here is one of the best descriptions, we think, of what’s special about LibriVox (from Institute of the Future of the Book):

As a regular audiobook listener, I was struck by the fact that while most literary audiobooks are read by authors who tend to work hard at conveying a sense of character, the Librivox selections seemed to convey, more than anything, the reader’s passion for the text itself; ie, for the written word. Here at the Institute we’ve been spending a fair amount of time trying to figure out when a book loses it’s book-ness, and I’d argue that while some audiobooks blur the boundary between book and performance, the Librivox books remind us that a book reduced to a stream of digitally produced sound can still be very much a book.

So, judge for yourself. These are random samples (honest … OK randomish):

• Kara reads: A Little Princess, Chapter 5.
• Branko reads: Secret Agent, Chapter 5
• John reads: A Modest Proposal.
• Cori reads: Sonnet 23
• Tuija reads: Helsinkiin, Chapter 3
• Greg reads: Notes from the Underground, Chapter 2
• Grace & Brad read: Twas the Night Before Christmas … (I admit: that one wasn’t random).
• Gord reads: Frankenstein, Chapter 17.
• Acrobatty reads: Northanger Abbey, chapter 14.