If you're like me, you have a long memory for the really good things about childhood: pajamas, PB&J, getting and staying dirty, and being read to before bed. I've never tired of falling into the rhythm of a well-told story (except for, you know, when I actually pass out) and I see no reason to stop now that I'm "an adult". Especially when the internet and its vast army of friendly strangers are there to lull you into slumber!
It's way less creepy than I just made it sound. It's
LibriVox, a collaborative project built around the concept of people reading to one another. Its mission is to record audiobooks of all
public domain works in any and every language. Anyone with a voice and a microphone can play a part.
From the few that I am trying out ("
The Machine Stops"
, by E. M. Forster
; "
2 B R 0 2 B" by Vonnegut; selections from
Don Quixote; et al.), what the production quality lacks in terms of "feeling finished" it often makes up for by being simply more interesting than most hyper-polished audio projects - that is, sometimes they are real gems, found for free, that capture a real feel for the text. Sometimes they're not the most spot on. It's that chance that's part of the appeal. I'm considering applying my cartoonishly deep voice towards H.P. Lovecraft or any number of Sherlock Holmes tales which are close to my heart. I'll keep you posted.
