You'll never get bored!

I'm a devoted fan of non-fiction (both audiobooks and paper editions). This is a classic that is beautifully-written and full of interesting stories, keen and insightful observations, vivid and excellent descriptions. The narrator, Barnaby Edwards, is especially commendable. Unlike many other narrators who read non-fiction like boring newsreaders, Barnaby narrates the The Voyage of the Beagle exactly the way it should be narrated! Listening to his narration, you feel he is not reading but rather telling you the story face-to-face. I think he will do an equally great job if he reads (he really should!) The Origin of Species and other classics by the same author. Thank you, Barnaby, for having done such a great job!

25 people found this helpful

A rip roaring historical tale that enthrals

What did you like best about this story?

This really brings Darwin alive. Through his own words, we discover that he's not an ancient Victorian coot in a beard, but was an intelligent and adventurous young man who recounts his scientific and real adventures in a cool and calm manner, interspacing interesting accounts of life in South America with cool descriptions of the fauna and flora he encountered.

What does Barnaby Edwards bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

He brings it.... alive

19 people found this helpful

Highly, highly recommended!

If you could sum up The Voyage of the Beagle in three words, what would they be?

Mindblowing, gripping, exciting

Who was your favorite character and why?

The young Charles Darwin really comes to life - his vast knowledge of the natural world, his kind heart, the earnestness of his enquiry, and above all his curiosity and radical open-mindedness towards the world. If you want to learn about the scientific method, you could do worse than learn from Darwin.

What does Barnaby Edwards bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Barnaby Edwards’ reading is excellent. He really does justice to the elegance of the language, as well as to Darwin’s strong and varied emotions. He is also completely unfazed by Darwin’s liberal sprinklings of Spanish, French, German and Latin.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Darwin’s delight in exploration is infectious, and the book is intellectually very stimulating. There are many sad moments (accounts of slavery, famines, destitute miners, the aftermath of earthquakes and tsunamis). There are also many laughs: Darwin attempting to ride a Galapagos tortoise comes to mind.

Any additional comments?

The book is a scientific account of the places Darwin visited in a five year journey around the world, mainly in the southern hemisphere: Tierra del Fuego, Chile, the Falkland Islands, Uruguay, Brazil, the Galapagos Islands, Australia, Mauritius and many more. It vividly describes what it meant to take a journey by ship in the 1830s. Expect adventures: Storms at sea, cannibals, Indians attacking, the rescue of shipwrecked sailors. You will hear the intriguing story of Jemmy Button and two other natives of Tierra del Fuego, who had been abducted by Captain Fitzroy on the first voyage of the Beagle, and are now returned to their families. Among other things, Darwin samples tortoise urine (‘only slightly bitter’), learns to hunt with a lasso, and how to make fire with a friction-stick!

8 people found this helpful

Round the world with Darwin

Great story, really well told, strikingly modern and extraordinarily familiar to a reader from Britain and Ireland. Loved the fact that he references everything to names of friends or acquaintances or scientific correspondants. His reflections on others humans was priceless and he won't win any friends in well in most of the countries he visited which I suspect just didn't match up to "what one was use to old boy". When you consider the social context in which he lived the fate of his friend Fitzroy, the speculative nature of his ideas, the real weight of many of the counter notions of the time and the steady work of the naturalist undertaken by him on the back of the Beagle voyage the years between these and later more seminal writings is easily understood. Most of all I loved the open honesty and integrity of the story telling. Truth is its own security. Well done Sir!

7 people found this helpful

Bedtime tales of the voyages of Charles Darwin.

One chapter an evening before bed. Great listening and better value than Samuel Pepys perhaps?

4 people found this helpful

It's not just the book it's the narration

Both the book and its author well deserve their 5 stars, it's one of the finest and most important works written in English - and a rollicking good yarn too! If you don't know it yet then you must, no excuses.

What makes this version really stand out though is the brilliance of the narration by Barnaby Edwards. Mr Edwards manages to conveys all the wit and enthusiasm of the young Darwin as he colourfully speaks of the new world he is discovering and of the many ideas bubbling up in his fertile brain. It's never boring and is an exciting listen from beginning to end. I hope to come across this narrator again because from Bates to Wallace with much more Darwin in between, there is a lot of material out there which is crying out to be read by him.

3 people found this helpful

Transports you back in time

This wonderful account transports you back in time allowing you to believe you are actually there with Darwin. You share his joy, his utter horror and disgust at the different things he comes across. His intelligence and acute powers of observation captures a depiction of how life was for the many different inhabitants of The Southern Hemisphere The visual images come through vividly and sharp. And, his continual detailed references to local flora and fauna with their complicated scientific classifications reminds the listener that he is there on a job of discovery not a holiday and indeed he fulfilled his mission perfectly.. The only point that stopped me scoring it 5star was the reader's constant inexplicable habit of placing undue stress on the syllables of some words and on some whole words as well which was quite distracting.
Entertaining. Educational. And Captivating.

3 people found this helpful

One Planet

Astounding! It seems as if Charles Darwin watched all episodes of David Attenborough's 'Life on Earth' and then translated into the written word. Who Knew?
If this doesn't convince you that the planet needs to be saved, then nothing will.

2 people found this helpful

A naturalists delight

For anyone with an interest in Darwin's theories and discovering more about the man himself this audio book is essential listening. Not only is his undoubted knowledge and intellect revealed but also his sense of adventure and the risks he had to take to gather the knowledge that supported his great work The Origin of the Species. The reading is measured and clear and if a little slow at times this is required by the amount of detail contained in the narrative.
However, if the listener wants a sea -borne adventure story with little interest in the flora, fauna and geological minutiae this isn't the book for you.

1 person found this helpful

Fantastic

Wasn't sure what to expect here.

it is superbly written and the science is outstanding.

The fortelling of evolution by the man who discovered it was a treat to listen too.

1 person found this helpful