I haven’t had much experience with long-distance car trips. I grew up relatively near most of my family, and plane trips made those trips even faster.
After a stunningly difficult drive (at least for me) to and from Colorado last year, I decided that car trips just weren’t for me. Unlike Best Friend, I cannot sit in total silence in a car for fifteen hours and not be driven completely insane.
So when it became clear that he and I would be making the twenty-two (!) hour drive to South Carolina last month, I knew that I had to show up prepared.
The Hypothesis
Like with car trips, I have little experience with audio books. The only time I can listen to them is when I’m simply sitting and listening, and I just don’t normally have the time to do that. But when you’re in a car…what else is there to do?
After doing some thinking about what books I’d like to hear on audio, I settled on two.
The Eyre Affair – This book is the first in the Thursday Next series by author Jasper Fforde. Although technically classified as “Sci-fi & Fantasy,” the series is way more than that, encompassing science fiction, fantasy, adventure, mystery, thriller, romance, witty repartee, sophisticated and ludicrous jokes, and puns. It’s an incredibly amazing series, and my love of Thursday Next rivals that of my love of Elizabeth Bennet.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – The fifth book in the famous Narnia series by author C.S. Lewis. I’d never read the book, and the film is set to come out sometime this year; I figured the trip would be a perfect time to learn what all the fuss is about.
The Experiment
I loved–loved–every moment of audio book time. The Eyre Affair was narrated by a fabulously talented woman who made the story come even more alive and seem more real. It was funny and sweet and adventure-filled, and I’m happy to say that Best Friend really enjoyed it. I hope I’ve got a Jasper Fforde convert on my hands!
Dawn Treader was actually a bit of a surprise. I’ve never been the biggest fan of the Narnia series, and so was afraid that I’d find a narration of it to be rather drone-y. But the story was very enjoyable. It actually turned out to be a radio presentation of the story. A separate person played each character, and there was music and sound effects.
The Results
I’ll never turn down hearing or reading a good story, and listening to audio books for the first time gave me perhaps the faintest sense of what it was like listening to stories long ago.
It was lovely to be read to, and to be transported to places and times fantastical and so different from the here and now.
In short, I’m an audio book convert. I can’t wait for the next road trip!
Information
If you’re interested in purchasing either of the audio books (both of which I recommend highly), I’ve listed the particulars below. Happy listening!
- The Eyre Affair (Jasper Fforde) is presented by Audible.com, and is narrated by Susan Duerdan.
- Voyage of the Dawn Treader (C.S. Lewis) is presented by Focus on the Family, and is voiced by a host of talented individuals.
Do you have any experience with long-distance car trips? What do you think of audio books for long trips? If you could narrate any audio book, which would it be and why?
