THE CHALLENGES OF AUDIOBOOK NARRATION, PART 10: FORGIVING YOURSELF FOR YOUR EARLIEST WORKS (OF QUESTIONABLE QUALITY)

Another reposting of an entry recently appearing on the Plum Tree Books page on Facebook.

For those who might be interested in seeing how an audiobook narrator’s prosodic abilities can evolve (hopefully improve) over time, you need look (or listen) no further than my most recent epic-length offering on LibriVox. I've mentioned in previous posts the substantial challenges in bringing to life a modern verse (mostly iambic pentameter) version of the classic work, ON THE NATURE OF THINGS, written originally in Latin verse by Lucretius as an extended discourse on Epicurean philosophy for the aesthetes of the Roman Empire.

I was inspired to produce the audiobook (and put it into the public domain via LibriVox) after reading the New York Times bestseller, THE SWERVE, by Stephen Greenblatt, which (in its less-controversial passages) makes the case that Lucretius's work is one of the foundational works of our "modern" world, via the substantial influence it had on most of the superstars of the Enlightenment era (including Newton, Voltaire, Jefferson, and many others).

Here's the thing, though: I started work on my recording of ON THE NATURE OF THINGS before I had gone very far in developing my skills as an audiobook narrator, about half a year before I ever attempted my first professional audiobook work. As such, I am fairly horrified at the sound of the opening sections of the work -- the over-enunciation of consonants, the half-assed dramatization of simple phrases, and a host of other sins of commission and omission.

But at moments when I can forgive myself for my early-on display of ineptitude, I can start to appreciate my full recording of ON THE NATURE OF THINGS as a longitudinal record of my development as an audiobook narrator.

To get a quick idea of what I’m talking about, listen (if you can bear it) to a few lines of one of the first sections that I recorded in Book 1; then listen to one in the middle (perhaps one of the sections of Book 3), and finally to one of the very last sections, in Book 6. I think you'll agree that the differences are striking!

WRITINGS OF EPICURUS & LUCRETIUS

A new, modern English translation of "Letter to Menoeceus" by Epicurus

While I'm a firm believer that all anyone could ever need to know about philosophy can be learned by watching "The Big Lebowski" (the Dude abides!), it's sometimes interesting to go back to the primary sources.  Here is a fresh, modern English translation of one of the VERY few extant writings of Epicurus, a letter in which he proffers some straightforward advice to a young protege on how to live a fulfilling life.

Curiously, Epicurus's own words seem to contradict the common notion that he is an atheist, a lush, and a hedonist.  He simply advises his young friend (1) to think properly "godly" thoughts about God, (2) not to waste time and energy fretting about death, (3) to get a grip on the possibility that "not every pleasure is to be chosen" and "not every pain is always to be shunned", and (4) to consider that a simple life (eschewing excess) is probably the best life.  So, you can see that the same messages are there: you can either read/listen-to this letter from Epicurus, or ("if you're not into the whole 'brevity' thing") you can watch "The Big Lebowski" a few times (properly stocked up on unexpired half-and-half, Kahlua, and vodka).  Either way, the wisdom of the ages is yours!

Thanks to Peter Saint-Andre, for creating this new translation of the "Letter to Menoeceus", and for placing the translation into the public domain!