L = Listening
Today's blog post is about listening, more specifically listening to audiobooks.
Audiobooks are simply books that have been converted into an auditory narration. They're often preferred by people who don't have time to sit still and would rather utilize those headphones to listen to a good book, rather than use their eyes.
I know there are people who exclusively listen to audiobooks, but I'm not a big audiobook listener. My attention span is a little too short to concentrate on the narration, my ears eventually reducing the voice to white noise. I've only successfully completed 4 audiobooks in my life: World War Z's unabridged audiobook, which was done entirely with voice actors and was a format I loved best. I've listened to Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster, and I've listened to my favorite novel Call of the Wild.
Audiobooks are a bit controversial among diehard readers. Some people maintain the argument that listening to audiobooks is not the same as reading. Audiobook fans maintain the argument that it absolutely qualifies. Oral tradition began long before the written word so I can kind of see why people are arguing. I myself am a flip-flopper on the debate: I simply can't decide whether listening to an audiobook is the same as looking at a hardcopy.
At the end of the day, I just hope everyone enjoys a good story, one way or another.
Do you listen to audiobooks? Do you believe it's the same as reading?
Audiobooks are great for long distance car trips.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who listens to mysteries on her commute to work. she really likes them.
DeleteI don't like audiobooks. For myself. I love them when I'm teaching a book. They're great with the text to follow along with. It helps students. But as for the debate... Whatever works for someone. I have no problems with people who prefer to listen than to read. I prefer to read. But I don't push my preferences on someone else and call that "the only proper way".
ReplyDeletei feel like if it makes you happy, how wrong could it be?
DeleteAudio books are a God send for someone with a reading learning disability. I think it's rather elitist to say there is only one way to enjoy a book. However, to each their own and whatever works. With that being said, I prefer paper books to audio books. However, I have listened to some with excellent narrators that made books come alive in a way that wouldn't have happened from me just reading.
ReplyDeleteNarration is key. the best story in the world could be destroyed by someone with a terrible voice... When I listened to WWZ it was really engaging because the whole thing had been done with voice actors...so i didn't listen to a single voice drone on and on.
Delete