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Do you like the newest narrator? How do you think he compares with the other narrators for the series?
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Hey All,
I’m having a hard time adjusting to Jean Brassard. Overall, he’s got a lovely voice, though I find his interpretation of the characters doesn’t quite resonate with me; they don’t align with my perception of the characters, which can be a bit distracting from the story. Hopefully, I’ll get used to it. I didn’t have this problem when Robert Brathurst took over after Ralph Cosham’s passing.
I’d be interested in hearing your take!
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I agree. I’ve only just begun listening, but it’s his narration from the voice of the various characters that seems to fall a bit flat. I miss Ralph Cosham, he is one of my favourites. But Jean’s Quebecois accent is excellent and I appreciate hearing names and places and other French words pronounced perfectly.
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Yep, I agree. Falls flat! I’m not from Quebec and I truly enjoy his accent!
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I so agree, it’s a pleasure to hear the flawless Quebecois accent. I, too, miss Ralph as he was my first introduction to Louise Penny and Three Pines way back with Still Life. We’ll compare notes after we’ve listened further, I’m only a few chapters in. 🙂
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Sounds like a plan.
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I’m only a few chapters in so far. But my first impression is that Brassard’s voice and interpretations are definitely different from Brathurst and Cosham and I’m having to adjust to it. I had the same feeling when listening to Brathurst for the first time because every narrator has their own take on what they think the characters sound like. I’m not sure of Brassard’s Gamache yet, but I’m growing to like his overall narration. This might be in part because I’m Canadian so for me it’s really fun to hear the characters think and talk with Canadian accents for the first time. And his pronunciation of the french is vrai Quebequois, which I love.
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Very different … Brassard’s characterizations feel a bit flat. Totally enjoying his overall narration and his Quebequois accent!
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That’s a totally reasonable critique, overall good narration but some character interpretations may be, as you and Katherine say, a bit flat. I’ve got more listening to do so my opinion may swing back and forth..i’ll reserve the option to change my mind 😀
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agreed!
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I’ve read the book (and absolutely loved it) and am now starting a listen. I was curious to hear what Jean sounded like, as Louise seems so excited. I’m only a couple of chapters in, so I’ll be back with more thoughts soon. So far though, I love hearing the correct pronunciation of all the words and names.
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We received a lovely softcover advanced copy to read, but we will definitely listen to Jean now.
For all audiobook listeners, we’ve added a special section (with permission from Louise) to give you access to pages in the book that aren’t available in the audiobooks. These include the letters of acknowledgement from Louise that we highly recommend reading. They are all listed here: https://www.bookclubfriends.com/author-specific-arti/louise-penny-book-acknowledgements/
(We’ve added the acknowledgements from The Grey Wolf already!) 🙂
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Thank you!
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Thanks! I’m 1/3 way through right now and so very disappointed with the narration. I agree that you can’t tell one character from the next. So it’s hard to know who’s talking sometimes … and I, too, have fallen asleep while listening! That’s a first.
I may have to buy the book.
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Cheryl, we think you might really enjoy the text version of The Grey Wolf, so we’d love to gift a copy to you, if you’d like. We’d just need some details to fulfill the order. Please reach out to us at [email protected] 🙂
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Y’all are the very best people there are! I’m so grateful for your generosity of spirit and kindness. I was fortunate enough to see Louise speak in Boston last night and we got a free copy of the book with our ticket price! I am looking forward to reading it as the narration isn’t working for me and I’m half way through. The story, as always, is compelling and beautifully written.
It was such a fun evening. She is hilarious, down to earth, charming, and wise! I think over 1100 people were in attendance at a gorgeous venue (think opera hall). It was extraordinary seeing hundreds of people walking around the streets of Boston with a copy of The Grey Wolf in their hands!
Be well!
Cheryl
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I have listened to every book in the series twice but I’m struggling to get even to the halfway point with the new narrator. I can’t tell which character is “speaking”, there’s so little variation. The narration has been so uninspiring, I’m finding my mind wandering making me struggle to follow the story. So disappointing after the long wait for The Grey Wolf. Feeling sad!
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Yes, me too. I read it very quickly and absolutely loved it and I posted my initial thoughts on the audiobook above. Since my last comment, I’ve gone back and listened to more chapters….and I have fallen asleep twice!! Maybe it’s because this is my second “read”? Maybe it’s because I was a little tired? But I felt like his narration was lacking. Lacking authenticity in emotion? Lacking a better interpretation of the characters and what their voices would sound like? I’m not sure. Sometimes it feels a bit forced and his cadence seems a bit off. Regardless, I am determined to rewind back to earlier chapters that I missed because I fell asleep and give it another try. Hopefully my third comment in this thread will be more positive.
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Agree with you 100%. At 30% in, I still find Brassard’s narration unimpressive. Yup, it feels forced and flat when Brassard voices the characters. So disappointing. I, too, haven fallen asleep and had to rewind and listen to sections over because he’s not captivating me. I am sure a huge fan of the series, so I’m really disappointed.
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I guess I’m an outlier here but I am enjoying his narration. One distinction I make, that maybe my fellow listeners are picking up on, is that he talks slower than your average British book narrator and I think this is overall part of the linguistic differences between Canadian/Quebecois and British English. I watched a fair bit of Quebec cinema and television and listened to Quebecois music growing up and have followed several Quebecois actors and singers, and one thing I notice is that their cadences when speaking English is to talk slower and more deliberately. This might be in part because English is a second language and pronouncing “Rs” and “Gs” are more challenging to roll off the tongue. But also Quebecois French is generally less clipped and fast-spoken than the French you might hear in, say, Paris. The other thing that I think is that overall, the Canadian accent is flatter than British and even American English. It’s not the most musical English out there. Not at all like British, which has so many varieties of accents. Our accents are more subtle. Anyway, I’m liking Brassard’s voices for Isabelle and Jean-Guy and many of the other secondary characters (except for Ruth, I think he needs to work on her). His Gamache took me a little bit of time to warm up to (just because of previous narrators) but by midway through I began to enjoy his interpretation. One thing that I think he conveys well is Gamache’s kindness and warmth.
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Thanks for you message! I’m American, so I’ve learned a lot from your words. At half way through, I’m adjusting to the narration. I think overall he’s fine, but I can’t get on board with his interpretations of Armande, Ruth, Myrna, and Clara. I just got a hard back copy and will read it instead. Take care!
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Cheryl, thank you for your kind response. I read above that you saw Louise in person – how amazing to be in a room with not only her but also a thousand fellow fans. And I’m glad you now have a book version so that you can fully enjoy the story, because that’s what it’s all about!
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Thanks!!!
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I think that if this were my first Gamache book, I would not be interested to read the rest of the series. It is a shame because I know Louise was very excited and has been promoting him quite a bit. And it is so nice to support local. But I don’t think the new narrator does the story justice. And I’m sad about that for everyone, Louise, Louise’s team, Jean, and the listeners.
Because this is not my first time reading/listening to the Three Pines books, I will continue listening. Or maybe find a hardcover to read.
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I just finished the audiobook too. I definitely think Jean Brassard’s narration got better as the book went along and I think he really hit his stride around midway through. From that point forward, and especially during the climax of the book, he was very good, at least for me. As for his interpretations of the characters, I agree with Cheryl that they were a bit of a mixed bag. For me, his female characters were all pretty good and I think there were some good nuances between them. I especially liked Isabelle. The one exception being Ruth. Didn’t like his voice for her. Didn’t get better. As for the men, not as strong. I liked his Jean Guy, didn’t really care too much about the other guys. As for Gamache, initially I didn’t like his interpretation at all. Gamache seemed too soft spoken and flat. But I think Brassard’s interpretation evolved and got stronger and I liked it much better in the later half of the story. But I really think the first few chapters are not strong, and to me Brassard sounded uncomfortable? I wonder if they record it chronologically and he got more comfortable as it went along.
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I like his narration quite a bit. I’ve read all and listened to most of the books, but perhaps as I haven’t listened to another narrator recently, I wasn’t put off by the change. I appreciate the Quebecois accent and feel it lends more to the regional nature of the story. I appreciated cassiet’s linguistic description of the various differences.
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Love her books, miss Ralph, terribly but new narrator just doesn’t have it. I’ve always been amused by the pronunciation of Montreal, this narrator pronounces like it is spelled. I’m going back to an older Ralph Cosham narration to check!
Just not a fan. Traded my audiobook in for a hard copy. First time ever!
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Yes, I loved reading it and have tried several times now to do my second read via audiobook. But I can’t manage to get into it. I’m tempted to just go back and read it again for the second time instead.
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I did not listen to the whole book — I listen when I’m driving or cooking and other mindless chores like that. Otherwise, when I have the time, I will read. Mostly I enjoyed his narration. But I also did not particularly care for the voices of the characters. Especially Armand, it was too gruff sounding. I didn’t hate it and when I do my re-read I will listen again.
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I am a new member here and a first time poster. I’m nearing the end of my second time listening to Grey Wolf. Normally while listening to any book, pod cast, whatever, I am multi tasking. House work, yard work sewing etc. I could not do anything else while listening to this book first time through. I lost count of the times I had to back track several sentences because I didnt understand. Most of the time it was names of places and people that I had to listen to a few times to understand. The female character, forgive me Ive forgotten her name, who slurred her words- I didnt hear her voice as slurring. I heard it more as a stammer or stutter. First time through I thought it was Ruth, and had to back track a few times before I knew it was someone else every time his voice changed to that slur. I’m not real happy about his choice of voices for different characters. I’m sure I’ll get used to it. I’m finding listening through this second time I understand him much better and have only had to go back a few times to catch what he’s saying. I still cant multi task easily, and have to pay close attention, but hopefully that will change with future books.
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You are not the only one having had to rewind, Vicki. It took me a bit of time to adjust to his voice because it’s so different from Brathurst’s and Cosham’s but also because I needed to keep track of all the people and the what, where, when. There was a lot going on so I did need to concentrate more than previous books. So no washing the dishes while listening for me. 😀 But I felt he got stronger in the second half of the book and I enjoyed it much more.
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Well, I’m in a minority here, but I actually very much enjoyed Jean Brassard’s narration. I love hearing the names and places and French phrases being spoken authentically. I thought he struggled a bit in the beginning to get a voice for Armand, and it seemed particularly harsh to my ears, but as the book progressed, either I got used to it or he softened that tone; eventually I started liking it, and the story began to flow. I like his interpretation of Jean-Guy even more than Mr. Bathhurst’s, because that version always sounded so very British to me, and while Armand supposedly has an English accent when he speaks English, I always envisioned JG as sounding very francophone Quebecois. I always think of Reine-Marie, Annie, Isabelle, Daniel, Olivier, and Gabri as being more authentic as well. As I listened to this narrative, I felt myself melting into the atmosphere of Quebec, if that makes sense. And I seldom questioned which of the characters was speaking, whereas I often had difficulty with that in Mr. Bathhurst’s narratives in particular, especially in his earliest efforts. Nobody ever really knows what another person is hearing, so what is clear to one person may not be the same for others, but this was my experience.
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I am in the appaent minority who think that Jean Brassard is brilliant. First of all, he is the ONLY narrator who has pronounced Annie’s name correctly. He’s the first (perhaps other than Adam Sims) who doesn’t read Jean-Guy as a Cockney (I hated, hated, hated how he was read). I found Brassard lively and engaging, and it felt so true to the books and where they come from to have a Quebecois accent. Robert Bathurst used to put me to sleep (seriously! I couldn’t dare drive while listening to him).
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Kathu, you’re not alone. I really liked this narration. And yes, it irked me too that Jean-Guy sounded so British, when I could never imagine him sounding that way. I did enjoy the other narrators over all and applaud the job they did, but they were never quite what I heard in my head with certain characters. I actually tried to get hold of the Adam Sims versions, to see if he fit my imagination better, but was unable to do so (for some reason, they wouldn’t sell me that version, even on Audible). I found Jean Brassard a real treat, and would love to hear more!
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I’ve read the book and listened to the audio version, and I think there’s value in experiencing both. When listening, I sometimes miss Louise’s beautifully written descriptions that I notice more readily in print. And when reading, I sometimes miss an interesting bit of dialogue that I catch more easily when listening to the audiobook. Overall, I enjoyed Jean Brassard’s narration. It took me a couple of chapters to get used to his speech cadences, but after three or four chapters, I became accustomed to his voice. As some members have mentioned already, I especially appreciated hearing the Quebecois French pronounced correctly.
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I read The Grey Wolf on line and plunged through it actually since I could not put it down. I had. Also had the audiobook on hold, thankfully, so was able to listen to it and gather more data the second time around. The new narrator added depth to the book but, for those unfamiliar with the Accent I think it would be difficult. Also, the characters blended into one another with very little personality of their own in his narration. To be honest, I must preferred the last narrator by far. He gave each character their own individuality though sometimes subtle.
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Brassard’s narration got a lot better towards the latter half of the book, or maybe I tuned in better. I totally understand what others have said about losing track sometimes. I can’t decide whether this was because of his voice or the fact that there were so many places and people to keep track of in this book. I noticed there were a lot of names beginning with L – Lauzon, Langois, Lavigne – and I had trouble distinguishing between them. And there were also a lot of monks (brothers, freres) to keep track of so that sometimes confused me. I did go back and relistened to it and enjoyed it much more the second time around.
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Ralph Cosham’s narration will always have a special place in my heart because his voice introduced me to Armand and Three Pines. I was sad when he passed. Robert Bathurst’s narration was good. I can’t comment on Adam Sims having never heard his narration. And now we have Jean Brassard. I think his interpretations for some of the different characters were a bit hit and miss, but overall I think he did a great job, considering he must have known there would be big expectations from LP fans. I think he conveyed the warmth, respect, and camaraderie of Armand and his friends. And as a few people have mentioned, “his” Jean-Guy is very good.
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I didn’t love it or hate it. It felt a bit like breaking in a new pair of shoes where I wasn’t initially comfortable in them at all, but after several times out they got better. I thought his voice for Gamache was very soft (almost hushed) at the start and I struggled to hear him but thankfully it got much better. Maybe on the next outing I will be much more comfortable.
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Also, I want to add that there is a commentary on the audiobook narrator that I think everyone here should read. About Louise’s choice and the risks involved in that choice. It’s an excellent post, just published on the home page.
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I really wanted to love this new narrator but the narration fell very flat for me. Some of the conversations felt too simplistic without appropriate emphasis. If he continues as narrator I probably won’t listen again but will instead read the hard copy.
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I did something last November that I’ve never done before for any of the books in this series: one hour in, I returned it to the library and got on the (then very long) waiting list for a hardcopy.
I love listening to audiobooks, especially where accents are involved. In this case, however, I was so very disappointed in the new narrator. Gamache sounded like an old, frail, tired man at first. At the end of the hour, he just sounded like almost everyone else. I kept thinking it would get better, but it just got worse.
I was finally warming up to Ruth’s character a bit, but her new voice was also a deal breaker. I feel like the narrator has never read or listened to any of the previous books or has any understanding of how her character has evolved.
Aren’t there any real actors out there who can properly voice these characters with the correct accent?
I finally got a hardcopy but reading it in print doesn’t give me nearly the same thrill as listening to a good narrator. I am so disappointed.
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Thank you, friend! I’m digging in today. It’s a beautiful fall day, blue skies, crisp air. The adironadak chair is beckoning me with a mug of hot spiced apple cider, a big puffy coat, and my book!
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