37 episodes
Classic Breakdown! Classic Breakdown!
-
- Fiction
-
-
5.0 • 13 Ratings
-
An audiobook narrator who just can't focus on the job in hand. His digressions take him further and further off-piste.
Now including the complete and unabridged The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle. Personally, I wouldn't recommend it.
And now we're engaged in a tug of war between Chapters of Dracula by Bram Stoker and 1984 by George Orwell.
gregwagland.substack.com
-
Chapter 11: A Goblin Teasmade weaponised
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gregwagland.substack.com
-
Dracula Chapter 11 The Wolf Escapes
So here is another portion of Dracula read with a singular lack of preparation or skill. As I say, it’s an acquired taste. Members of my own family don’t listen to it, so let that stand as some sort of warning to you.
It’s recorded not on a wax cylinder but using the less than stellar (Stella!!!!) headset mic by audio technica which purports to have a capsule from the 2020 series. Not so sure that it’s entirely suited to recording long form audio even for a podcast.
The sky outside is actually blue so must get out there and do something even less constructive.
Ciao.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gregwagland.substack.com -
Dracula: Chapter 10 - Vamp till ready.
Why do bats suddenly appear
Every time you are near?
Poor old Lucy! Always wanting to leave the windows open and somewhat averse to the garlic baguette that Van Helsing brandishes before her pallid fizzog. She’s arguably, in the words of 1950s magistrates, asking for it, fang-wise. But she’s certainly a fighter and submits to her arduous toilet twice daily, administered by her maid, whose name, of course, is never revealed.
Bram Stoker purists will be relieved to know that Banana Nesquik does not get a mention this week. But just like supermarket home delivery there’s always a disappointing ‘substitution’ in the shape of a Melton Mowbray mini.
I hope this week’s episode will spawn many comments be they harsh or otherwise.
Thanks for listening.
And remember, try to grow your own garlic for wreaths and garlands, as importing them from Holland will make the maps go redder.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gregwagland.substack.com -
Chapter 10: A tentative purchase!
Once again we return to the land of Bram Stoker.
I was tinkering with the Audio Technica headset mic., as if you wanted to know that and then was playing with the Studio One software which is less than user friendly imo. Trying to make a stack or plugin chain that tamed the whole thing. It’s noisy and a bit echoey, and NOT my usual studio or equipment. Time to go back to the functional idiot-proofery of Twisted Wave and Reaper, possibly the Beyerdynamic 201 of the previous episode.
But of Dracula I can say nothing more. Some people have asked that I persist - and sometimes I am filled with enthusiasm. Today, as you might guess, not so much.
Still, off to lunch in an excellent hostelry shortly in good company. Will there be beer? Yes, there will and perhaps the rosbif of olde England.
If you were looking for a funner and contemporary novel that’s heaps better than Dracula have a look on my YouTube channel for the four part recording of The Beetle. The first two chapters are beautifully written.
Best wishes,
Greg
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gregwagland.substack.com -
Dracula pushing boldly towards Chapter 10
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gregwagland.substack.com
-
The Valentine's Day Massacre of Chapter 8 (into 9) Dracula
Well, look: I was in a comfy chair and that's perhaps why this episode is a little lacklustre. There is literally nothing to recommend it. Perhaps making Seward a bit more estuary is enjoyable for me, but makes little sense. You can't really imagine the Westenras having him over to shoot or hunt, but who knows? Lucy does sound like she plays the field a bit in terms of suitors - or did, at any rate before the big bite.
I afraid I got the stomach rumbles during this episode. I've excised some of them with brutal imprecision.
It's a long book. But we seem to be picking up a few more listeners - like a cart during the Black Death. Pushing up towards 3 figures now! Let's hope we can smash that lofty barrier before the aliens invade good and proper.
Please leave whatever comments you see fit on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Every Little Yelps.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gregwagland.substack.com
Customer Reviews
Different and funny
Greg Wagland’s sense of humor infuses the storytelling. His readings (when he gets to it) are enjoyable to listen to. Great voice and interpretation are professional even though he makes unplanned goofs. He feels like a family member to me. Keep the Dracula coming Greg. I’ve not listened to the whole story in a long while. I’m enjoying it. Thanks for practicing on us.
Fresh, funny take on the classic audiobook.
A fresh take on the audiobook recording. The narrator’s inner dialogue exposed and the fourth wall crumbled to the ground. It’s something like if Mystery Science Theatre 3000 became Mystery Science Classic Literature 2020 and John Cleese joined the cast and the transcript was read by the beloved Andy Minter of Librivox.
I laugh out loud in the middle of the night listening to these episodes. My family thinks I’ve gone mad. Now forcing the teenagers to listen as well. They also laugh out loud and enjoy the stories, regardless of how they try to conceal it. One of them just came in to find out which episode we are on in The Lost World.
Found Classic Breakdown after listening to the narrator’s more traditional YouTube channel, Sherlock Holmes Stories Magpie Audio, which is excellent. Best All Around Narrator Award goes to Greg Wagland for that channel—believable, clear voices help the listener distinguish characters, narrator’s neutral is a beautiful smooth British accent, and the interpretation is on point. Sense of humor comes through but not distracting. Anyway. Highly recommend.
Both these podcast recordings and the ones on Sherlock Magpie are soothing with no annoying, jarring music at beginning and end, so if you need a bedtime story to lull you to sleep—they are good for that too.
Give a listen! You’ll enjoy immensely or drift off to sweet sleep. Or both. Either way, a winner.
New favorite way to listen to a book
This is my new favorite way to listen to a book! Not only is the story well read, but his fast on the draw Zeny humor he’s just wonderful so humorous I am laughing out loud all the time! Thank you thank you!