I’ve recently started listening to audio books for the first time since I used to get books on cassette at the library. I’m qualifying the books as having been read. By me. But I’m not sure if that’s true. Since no actual reading is occurring. That seems like an essential element, you know?
What’s great about an audio book, particularly one read aloud by the right person, is that the tone and inflection of voice helps explain the words I might not understand. There are descriptive passages I typically get bored with in books and skim. With an audio book, I hear it all. For period pieces or novels with unique dialects, the audio helps add context to what’s being said.
What I love about paper books is the tactile nature of it. If you ask me about part of a book, I can usually remember if that part was in the first or second half of the book and if the text was on a right or left page in the book. Touching, holding and smelling the book gives me other senses by which to take in the story.
I’ve listened to hundreds of hours of podcasts on my iPod and iPhone and while I don’t remember all of them, I think most of it sticks. I read 50-80 (paper) books a year and a lot of those are so forgettable that I’m not sure I could tell you about them a week later. (This mostly applies to the chic lit and beach reads.) I’m curious to see how this audio experiment goes. Will it stick?
What do you think? Does listening to an audio book count as a reading a book?
stacymichele
I do count them as books read. In part because it takes SO much longer to listen to an audio book than it does to read the same book myself.
Having said that – when talking about the book I make the same distinction that your brother does, that is was an audio book I listened to.
Juju at Tales of Whimsy.com
While I don’t think it’s the same, listening is a total different experience, I do think it can be just as powerful and that some books seem meant or destined to be listened to. Their eloquence just demands to be spoken aloud.
Kate
It amazing how much the person reading the books makes a difference. I was listening to some Sherlock Holmes books and the reader did all of the accents perfectly. It made the book!