Piece Comment

Review of Around the World in Six Years


The first thing you need to hear about this piece is that it's a fantastic story. No joke, this guy's going around the world. However, that's where the piece encounters its first flaw. I find that the producer fails to portray a broad, bird's eye view of the trip early enough in the piece. I only got a sense of the magnitude of Eruç's trip toward the end. I find the description of Eruç's itnerary, which includes rowing from Miami to South America, biking through Nepal, and a quick hike up Mt. Everest to be the most intriguing component of this piece. It's a real hook, but unfortunately the listener isn't hooked until 2 or so minutes in. Otherwise, the production is excellent. Since the producer interviewed Eruç on a street, the ambient sound of cars whizzing past doesn't destract from the tape, but instead enhances it, giving you the sense that Eruç has got a few minutes to stop and chat before he takes of pedalling again. The only other flaw I might point out is that the reading of the script, though it is a very well written script, does not seem as enthusastic as a listener would want the narrator to be in this sort of piece. Lastly, I especially like the last line in which the narrator mentions Eruç will be back in Miami to make the last leg of the trip on a tandem bicycle with his wife sometime in 2010. Overall a clean, precise piece with a great story to tell. A joy to hear. Good luck to Eruç!