Imagine listening to an audiobook about French history where the narrator butchers every French name in an exaggerated American accent – to the point where you stop and ask yourself whether this could possibly be a parody or an April Fools joke.
Unfortunately it’s not a parody – and a decently good book on China is completely let down by the shoddy narration. I don’t think the narrator needs to pronounce things perfectly. Just make it so that names aren’t utterly butchered, which is not a high bar.
For a book that aims to explain China to a western audience this is a real shame.