Why Did I Listen To The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon?
The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon is a book that looks to be very tactile. I mean, the physical copy has some pretty neat pencil drawings, newspaper clippings, and some full color pictures. Visually, it looked like such a neat book. However, my time is kind of very limited as is my space. Thus, seeing the audiobook of The Doldrums on Hoopla spurred me to download the audiobook. Plus, it has a very good narrator in Bronson Pinchot.
What’s The Story Here?
Nicholas Gannon’s The Doldrums is about a character named Archer B. Helmsley. Archer lives in his explorer grandparents’ house with his parents. His grandparents are currently missing – lost out in the great wide somewhere. This has lead to Archer’s mom being super overprotective. Archer, however, finds himself yearning for adventure. Archer has these two friends – Adelaide who has a wooden leg and Oliver who is detail oriented. The two come up with this excellent plan to get out of the house and get out of town. Will it work? Guess that remains to be seen.
What Did I Think Of The Doldrums?
To be fair, I did not really retain a whole lot of Nicholas Gannon’s book. I mean, I loved the concept. In addition, I also really enjoyed Adelaide’s character. However, much of this book is forgettable. There is not much about it that stands out from all the other books I have read and listened to. I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did. Yet, I can’t say I do not recommend this book. In fact, I think that it has the potential to do really well with middle grade readers – especially fans of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place.
How’s The Narration?
So, Bronson Pinchot narrated The Doldrums. As expected, he is a relatively decent narrator. His voicing is impeccable. However, I just could not keep my attention on this book or focused. While I love audiobooks, I do think that you miss out if you are not looking at the physical book concurrently. There’s some great art within. I believe that I would have enjoyed this book more had I actually read the physical book instead of listened to it.
Other reviews of The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon:
- Kinderlit – “a book best enjoyed with a cup of tea“
- Scribbles And Wanderlust – “an absolutely stunning debut“
- The Literary Counsellor – “a charming book“
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Me and my son read this together and really liked it. It’s not really ABOUT that much, but maybe it was the atmosphere or the overall feel of the book that we liked?? Anyway, my 9 year-old did really like it.
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