Sam V
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Harry Potter y el cáliz de fuego (Harry Potter 4)
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Carlos Ponce
- Length: 22 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,206
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,026
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1,030
En Hogwarts se realizará el Torneo de los Tres Magos. Solo los magos que tienen más de diecisiete años pueden ingresar, pero eso no impide que Harry sueñe con ganar la competencia. Luego, en la festividad de Halloween, cuando el Cáliz de Fuego hace su selección, Harry se sorprende al descubrir que su nombre es uno de los que elige la copa mágica. Se enfrentará a tareas que desafían a la muerte, dragones y magos oscuros, pero con la ayuda de sus mejores amigos, Ron y Hermione, ¡podría lograrlo y salir con vida!
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4 out of 5 stars
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Favorite HP book + just-ok production
- By Sam V on 06-24-19
- Harry Potter y el cáliz de fuego (Harry Potter 4)
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Carlos Ponce
Favorite HP book + just-ok production
Reviewed: 06-24-19
This review is essentially the same as my reviews for the other Carlos Ponce audiobooks currently available.
The story is wonderful. GoF (CdF?) is my favorite book in the series (4, 6, 3, 1, 2, 7, 5 don't @ me). If you're buying this audiobook you've probably read the whole series before, so you don't need to be convinced that this book is any good, but honestly: this is Rowling working to her absolute strengths as an author. For the first time, the school-year-whodunit format of the first three books is expanded with forays into world-building and broader societal themes that don't fall apart at the slightest inspection. The plotting is honestly amazing--multiple mysteries intersecting over hundreds and hundreds of pages (or 22 hours, for the audiobook, I guess). The characters are arguably at their best. Hermione is Lawful Good without being a scold, and gets an authentic relationship arc with Krum and handling Ron's jealousy. Ron kind of sucks, because he kind of sucks in every book, but his complex over growing up poor+overlooked is well developed in the text. Harry's discovery and subsequent total mishandling of his feelings for Cho are extremely relatable. Draco Malfoy...isn't totally insufferable. (Malfoy/Crabbe/Goyle are realistic schoolyard bullies for 11 year olds, but why Harry/Ron continue to get riled with their same antics as 4th/5th-years is beyond me) One downside: this is the third book in a row where Bad Things Happen To That Big Oaf Hagrid Just To Move The Plot Along, but at least it explores wizard society while doing so.
Anyway...
I'm approaching these audiobooks as a native English speaker and learner of Spanish. As a learning aid, I 100% recommend these audiobooks--the narration+accent is clear and comprehensible. I did the same when learning German (using the absolutely amazing Rufus Beck audiobooks from Audible) and got great results.
I've marked the performance down for a couple of reasons. First, Carlos Ponce does a great job with character voices, and puts good energy into his delivery, but tends to deliver almost all dialogue the same. I mean, if there's one thing J.K. Rowling is known for as an author, it's adverbs--every single piece of dialogue comes with instructions, so to speak. But whether Filch "screamed" or Hermione "whispered" or Dumbledore said "calmly", Ponce delivers them all roughly the same.
My second problem might not lie with Ponce, but with the production: the text is barely given any time to breathe. Scene changes within chapters (something happens, then we transition to our heroes discussing it in the Common Room or whatever) receive absolutely no pause/signaling, which can be really jarring. Momentous or climactic events are not read or edited dramatically, but almost rushed through. In this book, that's...basically every challenge, plus the graveyard showdown. This might be on Ponce as the narrator, but (along with the same-y dialogue) it feels like a lack of production/preparation--like they handed Ponce the book and had him do it all in roughly one take, without allowing him to get a feel for the rhythm of the text.
This stuff might sound like nit-picking, but it's at the core of what separates good oral story-telling from great oral story-telling. Without the text in front of us, we are reliant on the narrator to give us a sense of when tension is rising or falling, and where the narrative climax falls. This isn't just for entertainment, but to actually make sense of the events as they happen. The Pottermore/Rufus Beck German editions of these books do a phenomenal job of this.
Overall, while I enjoyed this audiobook, I hope (but doubt) that the editing+delivery are improved for books 5/6/7.
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9 people found this helpful
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Harry Potter y el prisionero de Azkaban (Harry Potter 3)
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Carlos Ponce
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,318
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,127
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1,121
Cuando el autobús noctámbulo aparece en medio de la oscuridad y se detiene frente a Harry Potter, marca el inicio de otro año fuera de lo común para el joven mago. Sirius Black, asesino en serie y seguidor de Lord Voldemort, está prófugo y los rumores dicen que viene por Harry. En su primera clase de adivinación, la profesora Trelawney ve un presagio de muerte en las hojas de té de Harry... Pero quizás lo más aterrador de todo es que los Dementores patrullan los terrenos de la escuela, con su beso que succiona el alma...
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5 out of 5 stars
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Mejor que el narrador en Inglés
- By PReyes on 04-24-19
Great story+translation, mediocre production
Reviewed: 06-24-19
This review is essentially the same as my reviews for the other Carlos Ponce audiobooks currently available.
The story is wonderful. I have PoA among my top 3 favorites from the series (4, 6, 3, 1, 2, 7, 5 don't @ me)
I'm approaching these audiobooks as a native English speaker and learner of Spanish. As a learning aid, I 100% recommend these audiobooks--the narration+accent is clear and comprehensible. I did the same when learning German (using the absolutely amazing Rufus Beck audiobooks from Audible) and got great results.
I've marked the performance down for a couple of reasons. First, Carlos Ponce does a great job with character voices, and puts good energy into his delivery, but tends to deliver almost all dialogue the same. I mean, if there's one thing J.K. Rowling is known for as an author, it's adverbs--every single piece of dialogue comes with instructions, so to speak. But whether Filch "screamed" or Hermione "whispered" or Dumbledore said "calmly", Ponce delivers them all roughly the same.
My second problem might not lie with Ponce, but with the production: the text is barely given any time to breathe. Scene changes within chapters (something happens, then we transition to our heroes discussing it in the Common Room or whatever) receive absolutely no pause/signaling, which can be really jarring. Momentous or climactic events are not read or edited dramatically, but almost rushed through. Much of the last 90 minutes of the book (Dementor attack/Time Turner rescue) can be hard to follow because big moments and powerful lines aren't allowed time to land. This might be on Ponce as the narrator, but (along with the same-y dialogue) it feels like a lack of production/preparation--like they handed Ponce the book and had him do it all in roughly one take, without allowing him to get a feel for the rhythm of the text.
This stuff might sound like nit-picking, but it's at the core of what separates good oral story-telling from great oral story-telling. Without the text in front of us, we are reliant on the narrator to give us a sense of when tension is rising or falling, and where the narrative climax falls. This isn't just for entertainment, but to actually make sense of the events as they happen. The Pottermore/Rufus Beck German editions of these books do a phenomenal job of this.
Overall, while I enjoyed this audiobook, it could have been a lot better.
Also, tiniest nitpick, but Ponce makes Sirius sound like a goblin in this book. Weird.
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2 people found this helpful
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Harry Potter y la cámara secreta (Harry Potter 2)
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Carlos Ponce
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,575
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,347
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1,339
El verano de Harry Potter incluyó el peor cumpleaños de todos los tiempos, las inquietantes advertencias de un elfo doméstico llamado Dobby, ¡y el rescate de las garras de los Dursley gracias a su amigo Ron Weasley en un automóvil volador mágico! En este segundo año, de vuelta en el Colegio Hogwarts de Magia y Hechicería, Harry escucha unos extraños ecos de susurros en los pasillos vacíos, y es así como los ataques empiezan. Algunos estudiantes aparecerán convertidos en piedra... Las siniestras predicciones de Dobby parecen hacerse realidad.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Great story+translation, odd production
- By Sam V on 06-24-19
- Harry Potter y la cámara secreta (Harry Potter 2)
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Carlos Ponce
Great story+translation, odd production
Reviewed: 06-24-19
This review is essentially the same as my reviews for the other Carlos Ponce audiobooks currently available.
The story is great, of course. Chamber of Secrets is one of the weaker books in the series but it's still a ton of fun.
I'm approaching these audiobooks as a native English speaker and learner of Spanish. As a learning aid, I 100% recommend these audiobooks--the narration+accent is clear and comprehensible. I did the same when learning German (using the absolutely amazing Rufus Beck audiobooks from Audible) and got great results.
I've marked the performance down for a couple of reasons. First, Carlos Ponce does a great job with character voices, and puts good energy into his delivery, but tends to deliver almost all dialogue the same. I mean, if there's one thing J.K. Rowling is known for as an author, it's adverbs--every single piece of dialogue comes with instructions, so to speak. But whether Filch "screamed" or Hermione "whispered" or Dumbledore said "calmly", Ponce delivers them all roughly the same.
My second problem might not lie with Ponce, but with the production: the text is barely given any time to breathe. Scene changes within chapters (something happens, then we transition to our heroes discussing it in the Common Room or whatever) receive absolutely no pause/signaling, which can be really jarring. Momentous or climactic events are not read or edited dramatically, but almost rushed through. The entire scene in the Chamber of Secrets is very confusing for this reason. This might be on Ponce as the narrator, but (along with the same-y dialogue) it feels like a lack of production/preparation--like they handed Ponce the book and had him do it all in roughly one take, without allowing him to get a feel for the rhythm of the text.
This stuff might sound like nit-picking, but it's at the core of what separates good oral story-telling from great oral story-telling. Without the text in front of us, we are reliant on the narrator to give us a sense of when tension is rising or falling, and where the narrative climax falls. This isn't just for entertainment, but to actually make sense of the events as they happen. The Pottermore/Rufus Beck German editions of these books do a phenomenal job of this.
Overall, while I enjoyed this audiobook, it could have been a lot better. +1 for a Dobby voice that won't make you throw your heapdhones out the window.
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17 people found this helpful
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Die Gefährten
- Der Herr der Ringe 1
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Achim Höppner
- Length: 22 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 132
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 122
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Story5 out of 5 stars 123
Neun Gefährten machen sich auf eine gefährliche Reise, um die Zukunft Mittelerdes zu retten. Allen voran der Hobbit Frodo, auserwählt, den einen Ring ins Land Mordor zu tragen und ihn zu vernichten. Doch die dunklen Mächte wollen die Herrschaft über Mittelerde erlangen, und ein erbitterter Kampf beginnt.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Voice
- By Sam V on 11-06-17
- Die Gefährten
- Der Herr der Ringe 1
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Achim Höppner
Great Voice
Reviewed: 11-06-17
Wonderful narration, good pacing and wonderful voice. LOTR just sounds better in German. On to the Two Towers!
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6 people found this helpful