 |
|
Story time: The novel Canh Dong Bat Tan by Nguyen Ngoc Tu, is now available as an audio book. — VNS Photo Van Dat |
HCM CITY — For the first time in Viet Nam, 26 audio books featuring popular local and foreign titles have been released by a local publisher in HCM City yesterday.
An initiative of Phuong Nam Books, the publications target both children and adults who can now listen to their favourite stories and essays read out for them in their cars, homes and other places.
More importantly, the books will be of considerable help to people who are blind or suffer from other forms of impaired vision.
The titles include the world famous Chicken Soup books by Jack Canfield, works by Italian writer Edmondo de Amicis as well as famous novels and short stories by Tran Thuy Mai, Do Hong Ngoc, Nguyen Ngoc Tu, Pham Thi Ngoc Lien, Luu Thi Luong, Di Li and other Vietnamese authors.
Among the most popular works that have been converted into audio books are Pho Dan Ba Khong Chong (Spinster Street), Canh Dong Bat Tan (Endless Field), Anh Den Dem (Night Light), Bui Duong (Road Dust), Nguoi Dan Ba Bi An (The Mysterious Woman), and Gio Heo May Da Ve (The Autumn Wind Comes).
About 40 musicians, singers and people with sonorous, emotional voices were invited to produce the audio books.
The company plans more audio books for children featuring fairy tales by Grimm, Andersen and Saint Exypery as well as works by To Hoai and Phung Quan.
It has also announced that the copyright for all its audio books will be given to the Audio Books Library two months after they are released. The library will then deliver the books to benefit the sight-impaired community nationwide, covering at least 84 schools and organisations.
Nguyen Huong Duong, director of the library, said that her library needs 30,000 tapes each year to fulfill the needs of blind children, but it only receives 1,000 titles and tapes at present.
Nguyen Thanh Thuy, director of Phuong Nam Books, and the main person behind the audio books production, also said that the company was negotiating with mobile phone service providers VinaPhone, Mobiphone, and Viettel to carry the audiobooks to a wider audience.
She also hopes the books will be popularised on the radio soon.
Meanwhile, the company has launched a contest to find people with attractive voices and talent to work on audio books that it plans to launch in the future. — VNS