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Are Audio books real books?
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So I loved LoTR and was very taken by Christopher Lee's dedication to reading the trilogy once every year.
Now ICBA to do that but I love Feist's Magician so for the past 15 years I have re-read it once a year but already after having Dune ticked off on Audible I decided to listen to Magician as well.
So does this count as "reading it".
Also to throw another spanner in the works I am a Kindle Convert and have had my 3rd gen one for past 10 years that has the clickly buttons on the side and a keyboard rather than a touch screen. |
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"Yes. It's not reading though, it's listening if you're being pedantic. I think listening is a different experience to reading. "
Pedantry aside would you take someone else's opinion of a classic less if they say they had listened to it rather than read it.
Do you give it the same dedication and attention to it if you were physically reading it compared to having it on while doing a long car journey?
Just want to get opinions and debate going. |
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"Yes. It's not reading though, it's listening if you're being pedantic. I think listening is a different experience to reading.
Pedantry aside would you take someone else's opinion of a classic less if they say they had listened to it rather than read it.
Do you give it the same dedication and attention to it if you were physically reading it compared to having it on while doing a long car journey?
Just want to get opinions and debate going."
true because whether you read or listened you would have an opinion on the words written - so paddington would still be wearing the hat and having tea with Mrs Bird whether you heard or listened to the story .
Children listen to stories and it encourages them to read for themselves - its a continuation of the experience of the written word. |
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I love audiobooks and listen to many. It is a different experience from reading. I find my mind is freer to imagine the descriptions but i learm more words reading -one of the wonders of reading on a Kindle is the ease of looking up definitions of words i had never come across before. In the end do what you enjoy most and dont worry about whether it's the same as reading. They are both valuable.
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I have some books on dvd and I enjoy listening to them.
A good narrator can turn something you would get bogged down in if trying to read yourself, into a thoroughly enjoyable listen.
I believe you take just as much, if not more, from a listen as a read.
I’m not a good reader, but I can listen with the best of ‘em.  |
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My mind drifts into my own thoughts more easily while listening than it would if I was reading. With a book I'd just stop reading but with an audiobook I'll find I've missed a whole section while in my own thoughts. |
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By *alcon77Man 25 weeks ago
under the sun & the moon |
"Yes, it’s an adjustment at first but can be great for long drives. I’ve found some books still need to be physically held and read though. "
Yes I agree, they are great if you're driving for few hours. It's interesting if the author is reading it.
Autobiographies work well.
Stephen fry & gene wilder come to mind, they both read their own autobiographies. |
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"Yes. It's not reading though, it's listening if you're being pedantic. I think listening is a different experience to reading.
Pedantry aside would you take someone else's opinion of a classic less if they say they had listened to it rather than read it.
Do you give it the same dedication and attention to it if you were physically reading it compared to having it on while doing a long car journey?
Just want to get opinions and debate going."
I would give more credence to their opinion than if they said they'd seen the film.
I wouldn't listen to a book if I was driving, I know I'd miss large swathes of it. I prefer to listen when I know I won't be interrupted. However if I really enjoy a book I like to mark passages and put post it notes at certain points. There are good and bad points to both methods of experiencing a book I think |
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By (user no longer on site) 25 weeks ago
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Recently started using audio books and really like them...still like reading but I am up and down with it. It's the narrative the journey via someone else's imagination or their experience...all are good. |
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I think an audiobook is pretty close to a real book, I enjoy the opportunity to listen in places where I couldn’t read (like car journeys). Perhaps the biggest difference is that the pace is fixed, whereas reading means you can pause or re-read parts.
I’m also a Kindle fan, having all those books in one place is brilliant, plus it’s lighter so easier to read in bed.
Some books are a sensual experience to touch, but for lots of novels a Kindle is fine. |
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I love to read. I can totally hammer a good book, and love the experience. My eldest grandson has autism, I doubt he'll ever be able to sit with a book. But he loves his kindle and does so, so much on it. His interaction on games/songs/films/basic reading is awesome (he's 4). Technology is definitely the way forward for some, and we're really lucky it's there. |
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"I love to read. I can totally hammer a good book, and love the experience. My eldest grandson has autism, I doubt he'll ever be able to sit with a book. But he loves his kindle and does so, so much on it. His interaction on games/songs/films/basic reading is awesome (he's 4). Technology is definitely the way forward for some, and we're really lucky it's there. "
My older brother is Dyslexic, when it wasn't really a thing. He has books that he'll puddle his way through,such as Star Wars. But audio opened a whole new world for him. I think there's something to be said for folk actually reading a book/novel, but for those that's it not accessible too, then audio is awesome. Nobody would tell someone with sight issues that they'd 'missed out', because they'd listened to a book vs being unable to read it. |
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I love audio books - i rarely have time to sit and read.... They keep me company when I'm walking, driving, cleaning or shopping etc. I can totally loose myself in them.
It's a different experience to reading for sure, but its still the book - you can still layer your interpretation and experience and i don't think it diminishes the enjoyment of discovery at all. |
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Nothing can replace a book.
I have audible for when im out or ironing etc but..... ( there are loads of buts )
1. I seldom like the narrators voice
2. No ONE reads a book right through without stopping like they do on Audible. We read , go back to re read for understanding. We read quickly , we read slowly, we look up word meanings etc . Audible can't do that.
3. We give our book characters the voices and looks WE imagine for them. NOT the voices imagined through an audible narrator.
4. I get slightly irritated if the narrator pronounces a word differently to my dialect.
5. You can't pass audible over n say to someone 'read that bit' so audible isn't as sociable.
6. There's no flicky noise on audible and I can't finger audible like a finger a book ... or smell it. Audible just doesn't arouse the senses like a book.
There's loads more but I cba |
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Horses for courses.
To repeat the sentiment...nothing compares to reading a book. Should go without saying really.
At the same time nothing compares to someone reading you a story.
Audiobooks are great for hearing a story that you might never get round to reading. A great way to take in other worlds while you do mundane tasks, work/walk/ironing etc.
You can also immerse yourself in an environment to enhance the experience. For example you could go for a nice long walk in the woods and listen to the old Brothers Grimm fairy tales/a Midsummer Night's Dream/Robin Hood or the chilling tales of Baba Yaga.
I recently discovered the joy of listening to ghost stories while out doing the nightly dog walks. |
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Book sniffers always make me 
I still enjoy reading a big coffee table book, recipe books etc.
But regular disposable paperbacks just seem like a lot of effort. They're uncomfortable to hold. Irritating when you lose your page and sooner or later have to be got rid of. And the only smells I've ever noticed are mildew and damp. |
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By *atchmoMan 25 weeks ago
Upminster |
"So I loved LoTR and was very taken by Christopher Lee's dedication to reading the trilogy once every year.
Now ICBA to do that but I love Feist's Magician so for the past 15 years I have re-read it once a year but already after having Dune ticked off on Audible I decided to listen to Magician as well.
So does this count as "reading it".
Also to throw another spanner in the works I am a Kindle Convert and have had my 3rd gen one for past 10 years that has the clickly buttons on the side and a keyboard rather than a touch screen."
Wow, a Raymond Feist fan. I read Magician and the sequels in uni. Absolutely loved them. I have them queued up for a re-read. |
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By (user no longer on site) 25 weeks ago
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I love me some audiobooks, but depending on the narrator.
Abridged or unabridged, I listened to the Harry Potter series narrated by Jim Dale and listened again with Stephen Fry and loved both. I actually associated their nuances and inflections with the characters than the film or even my own interpretation. |
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"Book sniffers always make me
I still enjoy reading a big coffee table book, recipe books etc.
But regular disposable paperbacks just seem like a lot of effort. They're uncomfortable to hold. Irritating when you lose your page and sooner or later have to be got rid of. And the only smells I've ever noticed are mildew and damp."
About twenty years ago there was a rumour at the University of Sydney that certain books in the stacks had smells that could get you high. |
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