"Reading" Audiobooks

[marydell]

I know there are a lot of avid readers on my flist and I'm curious to know how you view audio books.

[Poll #1354148]

I generally say "I did the audio thingy of it" and then mumble some embarrassed justification about how busy I am. I have this deeply-embedded feeling that audio books don't count, which I am trying to conquer, since I have a lot more time for listening than for reading. Also because I don't like to be a prig, although I lean strongly in a priggish direction.

Comments

[aedifica]

I don't think less of having heard a book instead of listened to it, but it is a very different experience for me. I like audiobooks for when I'm knitting or sewing--that way I get story coming into my brain but my eyes are free to pay attention to the craft. :-)

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I don't do audiobooks and slightly envy those who can, because I an so visually oriented that I don't retain prose I only encounter through my ears. (Music is different, and seems to engage a different part of the brain.)

Some of this is probably innate, but I suspect I trained myself into the intensity of the effect, because the only way I coped with most of junior high was to tune out the teachers, read fiction surreptitiously under my desk, and learn the material by doing the assigned homework.

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I didn't take the poll because I don't listen to audio books*, but I really don't see a difference. You're still getting the story either way.



*Not only is it an effort to absorb stuff aurally, but then I'd be forced into the pace of the reader rather than be able to read at my pace, which is why as soon as I learned how to read on my own, I never ever wanted anyone to read to me. I just don't like being read to, never have.

[readinggeek451]

Not only is it an effort to absorb stuff aurally, but then I'd be forced into the pace of the reader rather than be able to read at my pace, which is why as soon as I learned how to read on my own, I never ever wanted anyone to read to me. I just don't like being read to, never have.

Are you sure you're not me?

[prettymuchpeggy.livejournal.com]

Books I read for fun I prefer audio books as long as they are unabridged. I retain more from hearing than reading.

When reading for a bookclub, self-study or a class, I do read a hard copy of the book...because sighting reference is easier when you can turn to the page.

[unhappytriad.livejournal.com]

I'm really interested in the memory thing, as I have had both experiences. I have to really strain hard to remember the NOAA weather radio data; somehow the robot voice just doesn't make the transfer from working memory to short-term unless I mentally repeat it to myself.

OTOH, when trying to memorize dialogue for a play, I learn it a lot faster by hearing than by reading. Though I have quite good retention of ordinary information, e.g. textbooks, via reading.

I used to listen to audiobooks a lot during an evening commute to out-of-town classes. I miss them.

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

Do podcasts of short stories count?

I'd do more audiobooks if I had time; of course they "count."

[readinggeek451]

I don't like audiobooks, because they're way too slow. When I talk about the one I did consume on a train (when I found out I hated them), I say "I listened to it." If I used them on a regular basis, I think I would say, "I haven't read that, but I listened to the audiobook."

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

I always say I listened to it. Audiobooks are becoming more and more important to me as my visions slowly fades out.

[lydy.livejournal.com]

I tend to say, "I read it, well, listened to it." To me, it's as real as reading it with my eyes, but I know that other people don't agree. I use audiobooks with handwork. Handwork by itself is too boring, and audiobooks by themselves are too slow. But mixing the two is ideal. I only read unabridged audiobooks. Well, there is one exception to that, but I didn't realize it was abridged until after I read it.

"Something I'll put in comments."

[asyouknow-bob.livejournal.com]

I very rarely listen to audiobooks, and usually my observation is something like "I listened to it, and that saved me from having to read it."

(Even more rarely, I'll listen to a book I've actually read, and now that I think about it, I guess listening can count as a RE-reading.)

[moondancerdrake.livejournal.com]

As a writer I'm staring at a screen all day long. Audiobook are a nice break, and because I'm an auditory reader (and dylexcic to boot)I retain as much for an audio book if not more than a print book. In fact on a long trip an audio book keeps me forcussed on the road, so myc mind doesn't wander, so it's a valuble survival technique.

[tacithydra.livejournal.com]

I feel like, as long they're not abridged, they totally count. The information has gotten into my brain, and the source of the information is the text of a book. Whether I read it or listened to it doesn't factor in so much for me.

Of course if it's abridge I totally feel like it doesn't count. ;) But I'm one of those people who refuses to skip the boring parts in books - if a person is the sort to skip the boring chapters, I feel like even an abridged audiobook should 'count'.

[lizlikestoread.livejournal.com]

I do LOTS of audio books, primarily while I'm exercising. I've "read" tons of books I probably would not have tried, if not for them. (I've listened to whole series, which I was introduced to by a wonderful librarian. I drive a little more than I used to, upon occasion, and audiobooks are good for that, too. But I have to rave about something new -- at least to me. I recently "read" Resonance (http://www.ajscudiere.com/) by AJ Scudiere. This was way more than an audiobook -- it was more like an audio movie! Movies are a big change from audiobooks -- quite the step up. The author has free movie tracks on her site, so you could take a listen for yourself.

Audiobooks are a very different experience, and I highly recommend them.

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

I've been an avid reader since early childhood and only lost my ability to read books in recent years, so I will say "read" out of habit, "listen", or "read - well, listened, it was the audiobook" (minus the "it still counts" thing as I don't feel it's a soft option!). I resisted audiobooks for a while because I'm a visual thinker with Auditory Processing Disorder and didn't think I'd get on with them, but to my surprise I get on with them rather well. Though I have to do something visual at the same time (http://elettaria.livejournal.com/71309.html) to keep my concentration, preferably quilting. I have a subscription to the RNIB's audiobook library which is great. I'd prefer reading visually if I could, if nothing else it takes half the time and I'm used to that quicker gratification, plus audiobooks aren't good for curling up reading in bed together with your beloved.