Martians – I did it! Wolverine next?

Anyone who has been reading this blog regularly may be aware that audiobooks and I don’t go together that well. I have listened to parts of Richard Armitage’s audiobooks and, even though I love his voice, I just can’t enjoy them and so have given up on them. It’s not Richard’s fault, it’s audiobooks in general. I don’t enjoy the reader making up all sorts of voices that often don’t quite gel with what I have in my head; I prefer to read the books myself, with my own tone in my head. I like to skip through bits if necessary or linger on bits that touch me or make me think, all at my own pace. Even as a child, I didn’t that much enjoy being read to, I have always wanted to read myself and savour a story in my own way. So, I prefer reading the books myself or seeing movies of them (sometimes) as opposed to only hearing them.

Cut to Richard and all that audiowork he’s been doing of late. I am skipping the Wanderlust audiobook and The Tattooist of Auschwitz as well. I’m definitely going to read The Tattooist, something I’d like to read anyhow whether Richard was involved or not, but I don’t think I’ll be able to bear the audiobook (for reasons mentioned above, especially with regards to this topic). However, two other audio projects of Richard’s have piqued my interest and I think the reason may be that they are audioplays rather than audiobooks. Richard only has to stick to voicing one character, which I prefer, and there is a bigger cast involved, which makes for greater diversity when listening.

So, I attempted the first audioplay, The Martian Invasion of Earth, which I finished this week. I listened to the first half while folding laundry and the second half during my commute to and from work yesterday. To actually stick to audiowork like this for more than 10 minutes is unique for me!

Verdict: I really enjoyed it! I love the Jeff Wayne rock musical War of the Worlds and thought I’d be comparing this to that all the time. To my surprise, I didn’t! I got caught up in this tale all on its own merit. I loved Richard as Herbert and I also loved Lucy Briggs-Owen as his wife Amy. They played off each other so well! The other characters in this were really good as well and I could see the story come to life in my mind’s eye. In fact, by the end it almost felt like I had seen this as a movie. Actually, come to think of it, I would quite enjoy seeing this as movie, with the same cast in it. 🙂

Despite this positive experience, I don’t think I’ll be listening to many more audioplays, I still prefer the visual form of film or reading. If it has Richard in it, however, I will give audioplays a go! So, next on the list is Wolverine, which I am curious about anyhow because I have previously enjoyed Hugh Jackman in the role of that tortured soul.

The first 2 episodes have been aired and I understand from Servetus’s blog (with spoilers!) and Perry’s blog (without spoilers) here and here, that it takes a while for Richard to appear in the episodes (and he only has 1 line in the first one). In gearing up to signing up to Stitcher and listening for myself, I came across this on my Twitter timeline this morning, where Richard speaks about recording Wolverine.

I find this little video absolutely wonderful! The way he speaks about the project, the gesturing, the concentration, the dedication and professionalism just shine through. And he looks good, too! I think I like this quiet, concentrated image best…

… but then there’s also this…

… and the talking with his hands…

… and these…

… and this little gem that someone on Twitter made a gif of!

Source of GIF

If I weren’t already curious about this, I am now! Richard Armitage audioplays – I’m there!