Great book ruined by bad narration

What did you love best about El Narco?

Interesting, engaging and well-documented history of Mexican narco-trafficking.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I tried hard to overlook the narration, but it was so distracting that I have to say it ruined the experience, and I gave up. The narrator read a journalistic, non-fiction work as if it were a novel, with a breathless, dramatic voice entirely inappropriate to the genre. To make matters worse, he pronounces many of the Mexican place names and words with a Castillian accent (pronouncing "c" as "th"), then, inexplicably, completely mispronounces some of the most important Mexican Spanish words, even by Castillian standards ("Gualalupe" as "gwadaloop"). I hope this book is recorded by a different narrator so I can try it again.

39 people found this helpful

Assassinate the Narrator

What disappointed you about El Narco?

Bad, bad narrator. He reads as if this were poetry, not a serious work of nonfiction. And he's an *annoying* poet, relishing each sentence as if it were a work of art, and pausing dramatically between them so all the beauty has time to sink in.

I don't think I'm going to be able to finish the book. I'm not sure I'll even manage to finish the first chapter.

Would you recommend El Narco to your friends? Why or why not?

No. The narrator ruins it.

Would you be willing to try another one of Paul Thornley’s performances?

I would sooner kill myself.

30 people found this helpful

The narrator make listening a chore

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

It is a good history

Would you be willing to try another one of Paul Thornley???s performances?

Not if he read the same way. He finishes every sentence at a whisper. You can have the volume uncomfortably loud so you can hear the whole sentence, or strain to hear the end of the sentence at normal volume.

12 people found this helpful

Good book, not so good narration.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Narrator difficult to follow..sentences start boldly and end in a whisper. Is he trying to add some drama with this tactic?

What was one of the most memorable moments of El Narco?

The introduction, if I had been able to folllow the narrator.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Difficult to hear because of the modulation changes in his voice. I have listened to many Audible books and never have experienced such poor quality.

What character would you cut from El Narco?

It is hard to say, I quit trying to listen to the book at the end of chapter 2.

11 people found this helpful

A NOBY Nominee

Is there an award like the Razzie for worst audio performance? Maybe a Nails-On-Blackboard award? A NOBY? If so I would like to nominate Mr. Paul Thornley’s performance in this book.

Although he is a professionally trained actor, I can honestly say I’ve heard more vocal variation and feeling from a prerecorded message than he delivers here.
This book may contain the secrets of the universe but I’ll never know --- it was too painful a listen.

One thing that puzzles me. From the time the narration is complete to the time the book is purchased, how many people listen to it for quality? Three? One? None? None would be my guess for this book because no hearing person could listen to it and say “Yep, this one is good to go”

If I were the author and had spent months researching, writing and re-writing a book that actually made it to publishing and THEN had it swept under the rug by dreadful narration, I’d be more than upset.

21 people found this helpful

Narration is...woof

If you are going to narrate a book about Latin America, why pronounce words with a Catalan accent? Thornley speaks like an American college kid that spent 5 months studying abroad in Barcelona and now thinks they are cultured and that everyone pronounces an s, c, or z with a “th”....Thiudad Juareth?...come on man.

4 people found this helpful

excellent overview

This is the book I was looking for when I bought "Murder City" and was disappointed with the lack of factual information.
Just this morning the news reported four reporters have been killed by the Zeta cartel in the last week. This book informs the reader about, what, where, and why, to an amazing degree of detail on this frightening and very current state of chaos south of our border. It is tragic and building up into a huge mess that will affect us all sooner or later.
I found it well written, well read and very interesting.
I highly recommend it.

2 people found this helpful

Another irritating narrator

Generally informative despite the hyperbolic, irritatingly breathless narrator and frequently jarring disjointed construction. Worthwhile though sometimes tedious.

1 person found this helpful

absolutely comprehensive.

if you are looking for the story of the Mexican drug trade, this is it.

it reminded me of the book paddywhacked by TJ English. the business is explained to you, the people, the politics behind everything, how and why the violence is so bad and why there is so much of it. I recommend listening to this book.

The narrator was fine. not the best but not the worst, and it never took me out of the story. I recommend El Narco to anyone wondering about the history of the drug cartels.

1 person found this helpful

Very informative

If you could sum up El Narco in three words, what would they be?

I never knew all this went on.

Who was your favorite character and why?

There wasn't any one main character in this particular book.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narrator could have added some inflection to his reading and I think his pauses were a little bit too long.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

2 people found this helpful