LONG WALK TO FREEDOM

No one can dismiss the documentary value of a great man’s personal account of events he helped shape. But does it make a good audiobook? On one hand, Mandela’s autobiography is well organized, simple and direct, qualities that make for good listening. On the other hand, there is a tremendous lot of it, including extended passages of dry detail (important for the record, no doubt), which many readers would probably skim. Furthermore, a generally dispassionate tone doesn’t invite interpretive enhancement. Morgan Duncan’s reading is completely satisfactory except for the slight incongruity of hearing an elderly statesman reminisce in a decidedly youthful voice. J.N. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 97]