Harry Potter Audiobooks - Stephen Fry or Jim Dale?

[Wire_n_Wood]

Fry's other ventures and/or intellect don't really have to do anything with his work on the HP audiobooks. He's great, but that's not why someone would listen to him narrating.

I've listened to all the books, narrated by both Jim Dale and Stephen Fry. While I started with Dale and was pleased, I found out that I prefer Fry's version all the way.

First of all, Dale has a weird, monotonous "melody" in the way he narrates. He reads without emphasising any of the words, which is very important when narrating stories. So every sentence feels exactly the same. If these were theatrical monologues, the audience wouldn't be very satisfied. Try listening to it without really paying attention to the words (for instance, if you are doing something else) and you'll see.

Then he sounds like his mouth is parched. I mean, there are times where I was like "ok, stop and drink some water!".

He's great at making voices, I give him that. But the way he reads the passages of the characters sometimes sound like he is trying too much. It's not natural. Like "nobody talks like that!". The good thing about the books is that Rowling is very specific and descriptive about the tones, moods, attitudes and psychological states of the characters, almost every time someone speaks. And I think Dale sometimes doesn't quite nail it.

Fry has a much more gripping narrative. He knows on which words to place the emphasis and he also changes the speed with which he reads, bringing the text to life. In addition, he is British therefore has an advantage over others when it comes to lending his way of talking to british characters. He really follows Rowling's "instructions" when it comes to "acting out" character dialogue. And he is not bad at colouring characters either. More subtle than Dale, but I feel this makes it all the more brilliant.