John Cormack is an Irish actor who has recorded over 60 titles for RNIB's Talking Book Service.
What are you reading at the moment?
I'm reading The Killing Ground by Jack Higgins - it's full of espionage, Al Qaeda and an ex-IRA hitman called Sean Dillon who now works for the Secret Service.
How long have you been involved with the Talking Book Service and how did you first get involved?
I started in 1991 - I was at a wedding and met Bill de Fries, an American actor, who was doing a lot of audio books at the time. He suggested doing talking books to me so I applied and got accepted.
What's your day job?
I'm an actor - I do a lot of theatre and radio work and whatever else comes along. It's sometimes described as a 'portfolio career' - I have to be pretty versatile!
Tell us about your background
I'm originally from Limerick in Ireland and came to the UK in 1987 to go to drama school and failed to go back. Four years ago I moved from London to the Norfolk countryside with my partner Laura and we now have chickens, lambs and cats. We get accused of being like "The good life"!
How do you choose which books to read?
I don't choose myself. We get a phone call asking whether we would like to read a specific book, and they cast suitable voices for particular books. So I do get a lot of Irish books or books with Irish characters in them, which I don't mind at all.
What sort of preparation do you do?
My way is to read the book for pleasure first of all and then go back to the beginning and start preparing it in detail. That involves assigning characters, marking them up and making sure that I know what each character is going to sound like. I'll mark up the script with what needs to be emphasised, sometimes there's even a song in there somewhere, which I'll need to check out to make sure I sing it right!
What happens when you get to the studio?
In the studio the producer does the technical work as well as the production and they'll advise me if things don't make sense and if I need to re-take bits. Some books, such as Roddy Doyle's, come off the page beautifully, some might be more of a struggle.
What sort of feedback do you get once you've recorded a book?
Funny you should ask that! Before she died, my mother suffered from macular degeneration and used to get talking books at home. Unfortunately, she only ever chose mine so I used to get phone calls in the middle of the night saying things like, "I didn't like the way you read that one," and, "There's a lot of swearing in Roddy Doyle, isn't there?" It was nice for her to have her son's voice in the room with her but I did sometimes wish she would choose other narrators too.
What book would you like to record that you haven't already?
The Irish writer Flann O'Brien wrote some wonderful satirical novels which I am a great fan of so I'd love to have a crack at them.
And finally, which one book would you take to a desert island?
I can't possibly decide on just one but these are my favourites:
-
The cruel sea by Nicholas Montserrat
-
A long long way by Sebastian Barry
-
The Barrytown trilogy by Roddy Doyle
-
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
If you absolutely made me choose then I would have to take
The cruel sea.
Some titles read by John Cormack available from the National Library Service
The killing ground by Jack Higgins (TB 16244)
For intelligence operative Sean Dillon, it is a routine passport check. But the events it will lead to will be as bloody as any he has ever known...
Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor (TB 13758)
In the bitter winter of 1847, from an Ireland torn by injustice and natural disaster, the Star of the Sea sets sail for New York. On board are hundreds of fleeing refugees all braving the Atlantic in search of a new home.
The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro (TB 10548)
Ryder, a musician of international renown, is checking into a hotel in a city in Central Europe. He has the distinct recollection that he is due to perform in the Civic Concert Hall in a few days' time... Contains passages of a sexual nature.
Kara's game by Gordon Stevens (TB 11108)
In Bosnia, the lives of a group of SAS men are saved by a remarkably brave woman named Kara. In return, they spirit her sick son to hospital.
Mustn't grumble by Terry Wogan (TB 15049)
Terry explains how - exactly - he's managed to avoid a hard day's work from childhood to Knighthood. As never before he discusses his life with the BBC, what he really does at the Eurovision every year and where he learnt to breakdance so brilliantly.