Magellan

A Man and his Deed

By: Stefan Zweig

Narrated by: Tyler Boss

With the age of voyages of discovery in the 15th century, the curtain of history slowly came down on the late Middle Ages. Portuguese and Spanish seafarers set out to remeasure the dimensions of the earth. Numerous spices and fruits, which we would hardly be able to do without today, found their way to Europe for the first time. Columbus discovered America in 1492 on his quest for India. Six years later, it was left to Vasco da Gama to travel through the sea route to India sought by Columbus on the eastern route around Africa. Finally, in 1519, the Portuguese Magellan, commissioned by the Spanish crown, attempted the boldest act in the history of seafaring: the first circumnavigation of the world. It was the result of his quest for a western sea route to the riches of Southeast Asia and India. In brilliant language, peppered with historical facts, the writer Stefan Zweig pays tribute to Magellan's seafaring achievements and gives the listener an insight into a time full of dramatic upheavals. While Magellan was fighting the treacherous seas of the oceans, the Reformation was already getting under way in Europe.

This audiobook is based on the translation by Robert Nusbaum (2021) of the original book Magellan – Ein Mann und seine Tat.

©2021 Aureon Verlang GmbH (P)2022 Aureon Verlag GmbH

Good book and odd narration

Like others have said the narration is weird, the emphasis on words often suggests the end of a sentence where it is the middle. Narrator has a pleasant voice however.
Found the story well written and informative and the book was recommended by another sailor! Overall worth the read.

Mispronunciation Anyone

1. I have not ever listened to a book with more mispronunciations. E.G. viceroy as vissaroy; Borneo with the emphasis on the second syllable; verdant with the emphasis on the second syllable. Every couple of minutes a mispronunciation. My 12 yr. old would not have made these mistakes. A very well written book; however, the mispronunciations were constant and very distracting.

2.) Where is the "proofreading" of these narrations. Doesn't management listen to the narration before uploading?

Gripping story

I thought that the narrator was good. He had a pleasant voice, put emphasis in the right places, and was emotionally in tune with the material. Yes, there were occasional mispronunciations, but they did not create confusion or interfere with my enjoyment of the book.

Worst Narrator I’ve ever heard. Book is as average as could be

The book is not good. The author is odd. He constantly makes weird apologies and I mean constantly. It’s unnecessarily long and puts emphasis on some of the most boring parts of the story while neglecting the juicy stuff. He’s poor at driving home the horror and the narrative does not help. And about that narrator. His tone is that of a parent reading a book to his children. This works with “see spot run” but isn’t quite right for “he stabbed him the chest 5 times” with an excited Parkent voice fluctuation. It’s just horrible. I almost stopped listening. It was difficult to get through and really ruined the experience. Additionally it’s probably a good idea to actually learn how to pronounce the words in the book if you take on the job to narrate it. Embarrassing work really.

Great book - odd narration

Zweig is a great writer. And it’s a great story.
Narrator is enthusiastic and obviously tries to animate the reading, perhaps a little too much, but he has very peculiar pronunciation of many words including place names. Almost seems like English is his second language.
Quays = ‘keys’ not ‘kways.’
Viceroy = ‘vice+roy’ not ‘visseroy.’
Panoply = ‘panoply’ not ‘panopoly’
Timorous… Mauritius … Malay …
This may seem petty, and it may not bother others, but i found it a distraction.

Empassioned Biography Short on Objectivity

Full of entertaining material and information but somewhat one sided and heroic in rendition. Sort of Homeristic presentation of a more modern adventure at sea.

most excellent

one of my best listens. well done. i new nothing of this man. such a fascinating person. quite honorable for his time.

poorly narrated

This magnificent book deserves a better performance. It was almost impossible to listen to. Sorry.