Audiobooks

[WICKES]

What are your views on them? Is it just cheating, or a great way to bring literature alive? Personally I couldn't live without them, but I find they work best with lighter novels, particularly Waugh's comic novels (Decline and Fall, Vile Bodies, Sword of Honour trilogy), P G Wodehouse, Kingsley Amis etc or with writers who had a simple prose style like Hemingway.


They are also great for people like Joyce, Chaucer, Shakespeare etc so long as you read them first THEN listen to them. The RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) actor Paul Scofield once did a reading of The Wasteland which I have- no matter how many times I read that poem I wouldn't get as much out of it as I do listening to that recording. The same goes for a magnificent recording I have of Blake's Songs of Innocence and Waugh's Decline and Fall. I could read that novel over and over and I wouldn't enjoy it as much as the audio version.

[Janine]

Hi Wickes, glad to meet you.

I love audiobooks myself! I have some issues with ones that tend to put me to sleep, such as some I have tried, with one droning voiced narrator; however, the ones I have sought after myself and purchased, such as Shakespeare (with many voices or actors) are more to my liking. I have several of those by now, and hope to own more in the future. I also have an audiobook of the D.H.Lawrence novel, "Women in Love", with a really animated narrator, who plays out the various parts in the story, which I have enjoyed emensely; in fact, I plan on listening to it a second time. I was considering another of L's books on audiofile, but listened to a sample and the voice of the narrator has me still a little undecided to spring for the download - however it is cheap - actually, only 99 cents here in the US, so how could I go wrong, right?

I am very lucky to have assess to many audiobooks free, from a site that my library subscribes to - some can only be borrowed for a few weeks, but a great many of them can be burned to CD or saved in an MP3 player. I plan to do both. I did recently burn the CD's for Ayn Rand's "Anthem".

I also love to listen to poetry recited and own a wonderful mix of Shakespeare sonnets on a CD which was produced by the alumni of RADA (many noted actors); I have listened to that innumerable times. It only gets better each time I hear it.

Not long ago, I bought a set of Chekhov short stories on a three CD set, narrated by Kenneth Branagh. It is very good and I have enjoyed very much.

I don't think audiobooks is cheating at all. In fact, I read "Women in Love" twice and then listened to the reading and I was amazed to pick-up on things I did not even recall reading; isn't that strange? I guess 'listening' is a whole different perspective; I think audiobooks can be a great 'tool' in better understanding a text. I know I feel this way entirely with the Shakespeare plays on audiofiles. The plays really come alive and make much better sense, when acted out in one's imagination.

[Virgil]

Wickes, we've had this discussion before. Here's the thread with amny comments on both sides of the issue. I personally enjoy audio books.
http://www.online-literature.com/for...ighlight=audio

[WICKES]

I also have an audiobook of the D.H.Lawrence novel, "Women in Love", with a really animated narrator, who plays out the various parts in the story, which I have enjoyed emensely.

Yes, when the reader has a gift for voices and acts out the different parts it can really bring a book to life. I have an absolutely brilliant recording of Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall read by a Shakespearean actor. He uses different voices for each character and, well, it's extraordinary. I'd NEVER have enjoyed it so much if I'd read it (another guilty pleasure is lying in a hot bath listening to Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter).

I guess the first poets/ literary people were shamans who told stories around campfires for thousands of years, jumping around and waving their arms. Then you had bards, who would recite great chunks of memorised poetry/mythic tales. Literature grew out of an aural tradition- the Illiad and Odyssey were read aloud long before they were written down. Perhaps, dare I say it, humans respond better to literature read aloud than to the written word? I think I do.

[poet]

So happy to discover that there are others who enjoy audio books. They have been a Godsend to me. I don't have the time during the day to sit for long periods and read, and at night I am so tired I fall asleep if I try to read. With an audio book, I can go about my business and still enjoy reading. I use them when I exercise, drive, and even when I take a bath. You are right about a good reader bringing a book to life. I whince when someone looks down or takes a superior attitude towards those of us who use audio. Also, if I really love a book, I buy a hardcopy. To me it is the best of both worlds.

poet

[JBI]

They were I think originally designed for the blind, but have now become a mainstream. I attribute it to the artificial lack of time in people's lives. This way there is an alternative to a quite drive, or music in the car. I guess now though, people use them as their own form of entertainment, instead of as a substitute, and simply sit in a chair and listen.

I read books. It isn't reading, whether that is good or bad, but it isn't reading, it is listening.

[Dobie]

They were I think originally designed for the blind, but have now become a mainstream. I attribute it to the artificial lack of time in people's lives. This way there is an alternative to a quite drive, or music in the car. I guess now though, people use them as their own form of entertainment, instead of as a substitute, and simply sit in a chair and listen.

I read books. It isn't reading, whether that is good or bad, but it isn't reading, it is listening.

I do, and I have always, read as often as possible. You are very fortunate to be someone who can view a lack of time as "artificial". For some of us, it's quite real (I won't bore you with my sob story [for which I really don't have the time]).
I always have a book going, and I always have an audio book going in the car. Sometimes I can orchestrate them so that they're same book, but it's hard to find my place when I switch from one to the other.

[Virgil]

I do, and I have always, read as often as possible. You are very fortunate to be someone who can view a lack of time as "artificial". For some of us, it's quite real (I won't bore you with my sob story [for which I really don't have the time]).
I always have a book going, and I always have an audio book going in the car. Sometimes I can orchestrate them so that they're same book, but it's hard to find my place when I switch from one to the other.

Dobie, if you go to the link in pasted in post #3 where this was discussed in the past and you look for my comments you'll see I really enjoy readng along with the audio book. So I'm actually doing both, listening to the audio voice and using my eyes to read too. I think it heightens the whole reading experience.

[JBI]

I didn't say it was bad, I merely said it was not reading. Either way though, those voices read between 20-25 pages per hour, depending on your rate, that can be quite slow, as that is the speed it would take to say something slowly, meaning if you can read out loud, you automatically can read something faster.

[Dark Muse]

I think they are good for people who might not have the time to read, but I myself do not think I could ever listen to a book on tape/CD. It would not be the same for me, becasue I like acutally reading.

[Janine]

They were I think originally designed for the blind, but have now become a mainstream. I attribute it to the artificial lack of time in people's lives. This way there is an alternative to a quite drive, or music in the car. I guess now though, people use them as their own form of entertainment, instead of as a substitute, and simply sit in a chair and listen.

I read books. It isn't reading, whether that is good or bad, but it isn't reading, it is listening.

Considering my eyes get dry and my eyesight blurry, the books on CD or MP3 files, come in real handy sometimes. Once our electric went out due to a storm and so we had nothing to do; so I whipped out the players and headphones. I listened that night to Chekhov - the 3CD set I bought. It makes sense they were originally designed for the blind, because in my own case, they really give my poor dry tired eyes a break sometimes. I am one to sit and actually concentrate on the reading and I don't read any faster really so it hardly matters to me either way. Only thing about listening in bed prior to sleep is that many times I fall sound asleep and forget where I left off. They can be a sure cure for insomnia!

[kasie]

I don't dislike audio books but I try to check that they are unabridged versions - the first audio book I tried was Tess of the Durbervilles and I was waiting for a favourite scene only to be disappointed that it wasn't there. I learned to check after that. I used them when I was driving to work, a rather boring drive when you've done it every day for sixteen years.

I am not yet among those who are blind or partially sighted (I learned when I worked with them they do not like being referred to as 'the blind' as though they are a separate species) but I am short sighted and find my eyes getting dry and tired towards the end of the day and then I enjoy an audio book. I have to admit to being in two minds about them - like Janine, I find I often pick up on something listening that I had missed in reading but I also find myself irritated if the reader gives the passage an inflection that gives the passage a meaning that I feel isn't there in the original text. Also as JBI says, they are slower than my reading pace. At the moment I am fortunate enough to be able to read text but if and when the time comes that I can't, I shall turn to audio books with relief.

[wessexgirl]

I'm a fan of audio books, but it doesn't take away my reading pleasure. The problem is that I don't have the time to sit and read for hours, so I use them when I'm doing some mundane chores. I do have to concentrate, as it is easy to miss something if you're not. But I tend to use them while doing household stuff, that is just boring, things you don't have to think about but just do automatically. I would also say to check that they're unabridged versions.

I have a lot of poetry ones, as I love to hear a good reader narrating them. I think they are a great supplement to reading, and I have started buying more for work. I am a school librarian, and have been promoting them to the students, for lots of reasons. We have some VI pupils, but there are also the ones who either don't like, or have a problem with, reading. They can be a great aid to get them into books. As Virgil said, you can read along with the CD/tape, which helps them. I have bought a number of Shakespeare plays too, as I think it really helps the students to hear them read. It makes sense of the plays, and they get to hear the language, diction etc. how it should be said. Of course, I can listen to them too, and do if I'm working when the students aren't in!

[J.D.]

Dobie, if you go to the link in pasted in post #3 where this was discussed in the past and you look for my comments you'll see I really enjoy readng along with the audio book. So I'm actually doing both, listening to the audio voice and using my eyes to read too. I think it heightens the whole reading experience.

This is what I do, too, Virgil. I especially like to do it with poetry, as if I'm attending a reading. I have no talent for "hearing" the correct emphasis in my head when reading poetry silently--though I can do so quite well when reading prose silently--so I like to hear how the reader chooses to place the emphasis in the poem.

On the other hand, perhaps because I've always been so concerned with sentence construction while reading, if I'm listening to prose and I'm in the car or someplace where I can't follow along, I actually see the words in my head, punctuation and all, as the reader reads them. Isn't that odd?

[Annamariah]

When I was a kid and got ill, my mother always went to library and brought back some audio books for me. Listening to them was a great way to spend the long days when all I could do was to lie in my bed, but other than that I've never been one to listen books instead of reading them. I think listening to books is terribly slow. When you're ill it's of course nice, especially if reading gives you a headache, and perhaps during long car journeys.