Deathly Hallows: Finished

Well, I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was very well written and was a terrific read. The ending was great and she really tied everything up. That said, I am very sad that the series has ended, and hope that some day she/somebody will do more books about the wizarding world in general (especially Hogwarts!).

Time to listen to the audiobook!

I’m actually comparing Jim Dale vs. Stephen Fry on this by listening to the first chapter of both versions.
I prefer the UK version of the books because they have the UK phrases/words that are dumbed down for the US releases, so I tend to listen to the Stephen Fry (UK) version. Jo also says her children like Stephen Fry’s version.

However, I have listened to a couple of the books in Jim Dale versions, and they are also very well done; He’s actually won awards for them. The only issue besides it being the US text is that some say Dale over-acts the characters, taking out some room for imagination, and getting a little hokey. So, if you’re trying to decide which version to listen to, it comes down which of the following are more important:

  1. Do you prefer the UK (Fry), or US (Dale) version of the text?
  2. Do you want the whole book acted out in a grandiose way (Dale), or would you rather the book read to you with a more mature yet equally dynamically ranged tone (Fry)? [Keep in mind they both use unique voices for each character so that shouldn't affect your decision.]

They both have their merits, and I’ll admit I’ve listened to PS and CoS in both Fry and Dale versions, and as I said, both were very good, but I have grown acustomed to Stephen Fry’s style and as such prefer to listen to the UK audiobook.

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