Great story+translation, odd production

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

Annoying Narration

I loved the first recording of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone from Salamandra. I was glad to see an audiobook of the second book. I like the narrator, Carlos Ponce, except when he does voices for all of the characters. The dialogue is at times hard to understand and the voices are annoying. I would have preferred a straight reading of the book instead of an attempt to act out the parts. It’s a book, not a play. Not sure I will buy future sequels of Harry Potter done this way.

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5 people found this helpful

Excelente!

100 % recomendado, simplemente no podia para de escucharlo y ademas pa narracion de Carlos es extraordinaria...Bl

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5 people found this helpful

Text has been modified from books

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but in this and the first audiobook (and likely the following audiobooks) a fair amount of the vocabulary has been modified from the original translations to be more... Latin-American-friendly? No vosotros, fewer Spain-only words (which I'm sure some people will rejoice at) but I felt it was only half-heartedly updated, making for an odd dialect blend on occasion. I would much rather the original translation to keep it more coherent.

And of course, as others have already pointed out, it's like Carlos Ponce was trying to finish the book in record speed. Comparatively, the guy reading the French was way more charismatic sounding and had ample spacing between scenes, which would be greatly appreciated in the Spanish.

Overall good, because it's Harry Potter and because I love Spanish, but I was expecting a better quality performance (or was it a production problem?) Anyway, I'm still debating whether I want to invest in the next Spanish Harry Potter, because it sounds like these problems don't get any better. Maybe I'll go with the French, instead.

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1 person found this helpful

Perfect Narration

My mother language is Spanish, and let me tell you something if you're listening this book for learn Spanish, is the best decision.

I've been listening this book while I work, and helped me to stay creative (I'm Graphic Designer). Although, I rather the physical book because the smell and the feeling, is a good option to stimulate the brain. If i could make something better for Audible will be a cheaper option to listen more books, because I think the prices between physical and audible book are close.

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1 person found this helpful

Emocionante.

Nos gustó la narración y la historia. Mis hijas están muy emocionadas con la historia.

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Perfecto

El narrador va a un buen tiempo, su voz es tranquila, pero no aburre, una buenas combinación entre un libro maravilloso y una narración espectacularmente bien echa

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Excelente

Carlos Ponce es un excelente narrador !!! No imagino a nadie mejor que el. Puedo escucharlo todo el día

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Bien

La voz es excelente y la emoción fue muy divertido. Diferentes personajes tienen voces muy diferentes.

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Simplemente excelente!!!

El libro en sí es es una obra de arte, pero el narrador es simplemente increíble. Mos más enhorabuena por tantas horas de placer auditivo.

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