I think you've picked an excellent exemplar. The story is wonderful, but like you, I had to abandon the podcast and just read the text. I gave up after the fifth section.
I understand when a group of fans want to get together and all contribute something, it's hard to say "no." I don't understand the rationale for dividing the principal viewpoint characters—Rodney and David—among multiple narrators.
On the "instructive" part, though, I think it demonstrates why I adore hearing non-native English speakers narrating. These various voices are unified by a love of my milk-language, a delight so strong it drives them to perform in public. I perceive this as a deep compliment. I share that fascination with English, so it's delight cubed and all good. I had no trouble understanding/parsing any of the readers due to their accents. Yes, there were a handful of mispronunciations, but I make 'em too. Anyone who doesn't have English as a native language is welcome in my fic: if you're nervous, take a listen to these 32 narrators and be reassured.
There's a tech issue I'd love to know more about: how did the compiler/s and narrators maintain the illusion of back-and-forth? There's no way that all the narrators were in the same room, yet I did feel a genuine dialog unfolding (even when I couldn't tell who was talking.) I cannot imagine reading from sides in isolation, and still conveying the lively interplay of a dialog which will only exist on someone's final mix computer. (Maybe this is what actors always do?)
Unlike the file-folder-of-documents structure for Written by the Victors, this particular piece is dialog heavy. One of the reasons I like the fic so well is it shows with its dialog. For an ensemble reading, I think each person in the fic should have one and only one reader, and then the narrative unquoted material is read by one person more.
no subject
I understand when a group of fans want to get together and all contribute something, it's hard to say "no." I don't understand the rationale for dividing the principal viewpoint characters—Rodney and David—among multiple narrators.
On the "instructive" part, though, I think it demonstrates why I adore hearing non-native English speakers narrating. These various voices are unified by a love of my milk-language, a delight so strong it drives them to perform in public. I perceive this as a deep compliment. I share that fascination with English, so it's delight cubed and all good. I had no trouble understanding/parsing any of the readers due to their accents. Yes, there were a handful of mispronunciations, but I make 'em too. Anyone who doesn't have English as a native language is welcome in my fic: if you're nervous, take a listen to these 32 narrators and be reassured.
There's a tech issue I'd love to know more about: how did the compiler/s and narrators maintain the illusion of back-and-forth? There's no way that all the narrators were in the same room, yet I did feel a genuine dialog unfolding (even when I couldn't tell who was talking.) I cannot imagine reading from sides in isolation, and still conveying the lively interplay of a dialog which will only exist on someone's final mix computer. (Maybe this is what actors always do?)
Unlike the file-folder-of-documents structure for Written by the Victors, this particular piece is dialog heavy. One of the reasons I like the fic so well is it shows with its dialog. For an ensemble reading, I think each person in the fic should have one and only one reader, and then the narrative unquoted material is read by one person more.
I'm eager to be told otherwise!