No, señor!

Have you ever been offended by how an audiobook was read? I was not,
until John Bolen and Tantor Media came along with their violation of
Jules Verne's "800 Leagues on the Amazon." I have listened to many a
bad reading by incompetent readers. But Mr. Bolen is not an
incompetent reader. He is worse: He is ignorant. I cannot imagine how
else one would fall for the idea to read EACH AND EVERY line of dialog
in a phony Spanish dialect?! A dialect would have been appropriate if
the characters of the novel would speak different languages, but
apparently they do not, though the story begins in Peru and ends in
Brazil (obviously Verne did not care much). There are no foreigners,
like the typical Frenchman, in this story, unlike most of Vernes
books.

If you have read Verne, you will know that his figures speak in a
noble, well mannered fashion. In Boles reading they all sound like
Mexican bandidos in a cheap Western. Excerpt for the women. They sound
like Mexican bandidos in drag. None of the passion, dignity or anguish
expressed by the characters withstands such a treatment. It is one great
parody.

It is a shame, as this is actually a fine Verne novel. It starts out
as a typical Verne travelling adventure, including all the geographical
and biological trivia that Verne likes to educate his reader with. But
in the second part it becomes a very dense and convincing race against
the clock.

Unfortunately there is no way to rate the book and the reading
independently. The book would get 4 out of 5 stars, then. But the
reading deserves not a single star. Avoid this audiobook!

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