I’m not a big fan of audiobooks. This is not to say that I don’t enjoy having someone read to me, because I do — I’m even married to a man who reads to me as often as I let him.
What I specifically do not like about a lot of audiobooks is that the narrators don’t just read, they do dramatic readings, complete with funny voices and odd verbal tics and accents that don’t seem to bear much resemblance to how those accents actually sound in real life.
In other words, the narrator gets between me and the story, distracting me with all the vocal pyrotechnics.
Neil Gaiman, however, just reads you a great story which, in the case of Neverwhere, seems particularly well-suited to his straightforward style, because the fantastic beings, disorienting geography, and moments of creepy horror do not require any vocal pyrotechnics to make them any more dramatic and memorable.
Also, I’m pretty certain the accent is real.
Neverwhere is available either on CD or as a digital download from Audible.com.
(HarperAudio, 2007)
