I must warn you, we're going to pass through, well, a sort of gateway thing. It may disturb you. It scares the willies out of me. 
Bill will read Dracula!
Loading ...Silksoundbooks and Bill Nighy launch
The website for Silksoundbooks is now officially open and you can buy
The Dupin Mysteries By Edgar Allan Poe read by Bill Nighy (recorded while being in New York doing The Vertical Hour!).
Bill Nighy is one of the share holders of Silksoundbooks and also ambassador for the project. The website contains a long list of classic books read by your favourite British actors.
The Observer has an article about Silksoundbooks:
“Nighy, seen recently in the Pirates of the Caribbean films and Notes on a Scandal, was the first actor to join the venture. He spent a day in New York recording The Dupin Mysteries by Edgar Allan Poe. ‘I love books and the idea of reading them out loud,’ he told The Observer. ‘I passionately support the idea of recording great books at a very cheap price. The idea that you can download a major novel and have it read to you in the car is sweet. It introduces literature in an entertaining way, and the idea that these wonderful books are being spread across the world thrills me.’
Nighy, who plans to read his favourite book, Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford, said that the acting challenge was considerable. ‘It’s quite hard reading a book, as you have to do all the voices. I have been told I do women quite well. ‘I read War and Peace once – I only had two days to get the hang of all those names. I also read one where the narrator was a Native American who went to North Korea, then Siberia with lots of Russian tribes, then Japan – I thought, “God almighty, why me?”‘ The actor – who owns an iPod, but not a computer – said that he believes in the ethos of the new venture and added: ‘There is an actors’ company atmosphere, and I like the idea of being a shareholder. I’ve never had shares in anything before.’”
Read the rest of the article on the Guardian website.
Downloading The Dupin Mysteries is relatively fast, the file with the 3 chapters is about 100 Mb. The quality of the recordings is suberb, and the price is reasonable: £7.95 for more than 3 and a half hours of a silk-sounding Bill Nighy in your ears. What are you waiting for?
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Just downloaded The Dupin Mysteries and my ears are quite happy! I have only listened to Murders in the Rue Morgue so far, but I fear I shall be up for a while this evening listening to Bill read me a story! Well worth the price and so very well read. Thank you Bill!
Yes those are brilliant stories, Billiantly performed :)
Frankly, I think we’ve heard enough of Bill Nighy. He’s become puffed up after his New York stint. He’s no longer on the most-sought-after list, looking at the rejections he’s gotten (Shameless, Harry Potter). It appears he’s taken the Tom Cruise project in desparation and we’ll see if that even gets going. Actors resort to doing audiobooks and radio plays when there’s nothing else left for them to do, or in other words, no other work offers. The fact that he instigated this Silk Sound Books project, tells me he had to think of something to keep in the limelight. If no one else will offer him a job, he at least has the clout to make his own, to keep himself in the public eye. I used to like Bill Nighy, the old Bill Nighy who was a humble and courteous gentleman, but fame puffed him up to the point he’s over-used and fallen.
Everybody has a right to their own opinion. I am just wondering if you are talking about the right Bill Nighy here …
And if you’ve heard enough of him, what are you doing on a website about the man?
Bill Nighy reading Edgar Allan Poe sounds wonderful. I think Bill’s voice would compliment Edgar’s stories perfectly. Again, once I get my iTunes up and running, that will be my first download!
Sarah – You don’t need iTunes to listen to them. I noticed just recently they’ve changed their site and you can download different versions that play in windows media player and other players.
(I got Dupin mysteries ages ago, just went back to see if he’s done anything more yet) (yes Dupin is worth a download by the way!)