As if liking books were not enough!
February 6, 2022 5:27 AM Subscribe
Listening to Books by Maggie Gram "I thought about starting this essay by insisting that I listen to audio books for work, so that I could not be mistaken for that other kind of person, that kind of person who listens audio books because it brings her some kind of unsophisticated pleasure. I am not, I wanted you to know, your Aunt Paula. My kitchen is not decorated with rooster towel racks and rooster potholders and rooster trim. I am a very serious person."
This part of the essay resonated for me in particular :
"The possibility of reading while also doing something else produces one of the stranger phenomenological characteristics of audio book reading: you can have a whole set of unrelated and real (if only partially attended) experiences while simultaneously experiencing a book. You live in two worlds at once.
My first audio book was Flo Gibson’s recording of The Mill on the Floss, which, by the way, is one of the very great audio books: the sound is scratchy, but Gibson’s voice is confident and almost conspiratorial, warm and intimate and pleased to be recounting a story she knows you will be glad to have heard.
I listened to it running by the Charles River with earbuds in my ears, and three years later I still associate certain spots along the Charles with scenes from the novel’s Dorlcote Mill.
I also remember exactly where along the Weeks Footbridge Lucy Deane marveled at how beautiful Maggie Tulliver looks in shabby clothes. I think of it whenever I pass that spot, which means I think of it most days."
This part of the essay resonated for me in particular :
"The possibility of reading while also doing something else produces one of the stranger phenomenological characteristics of audio book reading: you can have a whole set of unrelated and real (if only partially attended) experiences while simultaneously experiencing a book. You live in two worlds at once.
My first audio book was Flo Gibson’s recording of The Mill on the Floss, which, by the way, is one of the very great audio books: the sound is scratchy, but Gibson’s voice is confident and almost conspiratorial, warm and intimate and pleased to be recounting a story she knows you will be glad to have heard.
I listened to it running by the Charles River with earbuds in my ears, and three years later I still associate certain spots along the Charles with scenes from the novel’s Dorlcote Mill.
I also remember exactly where along the Weeks Footbridge Lucy Deane marveled at how beautiful Maggie Tulliver looks in shabby clothes. I think of it whenever I pass that spot, which means I think of it most days."
I would like audio books more if they had subtitles.
(No really, I find it harder to concentrate on audiobooks than just reading them myself. I'd rather read a book while listening to music than try to do something else while listening to an audiobook. And I've found I prefer subtitles on when watching TV/movies too; maybe that comes from reading a lot or maybe from watching anime.)
posted by Foosnark at 5:53 AM on February 6, 2022 [13 favorites]
(No really, I find it harder to concentrate on audiobooks than just reading them myself. I'd rather read a book while listening to music than try to do something else while listening to an audiobook. And I've found I prefer subtitles on when watching TV/movies too; maybe that comes from reading a lot or maybe from watching anime.)
posted by Foosnark at 5:53 AM on February 6, 2022 [13 favorites]
Through the magic of audio books, my husband has been transformed from a non-reader to a voracious reader who routinely gets cut off by the monthly checkout limits at the library. He listens while walking the dogs, doing chores, driving. Often finishes shorter books in a day or two. Reading physical books is still my thing, but I love that we can now sometimes read the same book (though our tastes are pretty different so that’s not common).
posted by obfuscation at 6:00 AM on February 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by obfuscation at 6:00 AM on February 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
I thought this was an interesting article because of the context/assumptions. I can accept the fact that there are people who have Opinions About Reading but it's not something I ever come across in my daily life (because those are some seriously pompous assholes and I don't have to talk to them so I don't). Audiobooks are just such a normal thing in my circles it's weird to consider that there are people out there who are fundamentally anti- about it, which is who the article seems aimed at.
Audiobooks generally don't work for me, but on a long solo hike or backpacking trip, I like a solid nonfiction tome, some new subject I can essentially listen to a lecture on. I listened to Coyote America and How Music Works. Like the author, I have strong place-sense associations with them, of quiet trails and tall trees.
posted by curious nu at 6:06 AM on February 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
Audiobooks generally don't work for me, but on a long solo hike or backpacking trip, I like a solid nonfiction tome, some new subject I can essentially listen to a lecture on. I listened to Coyote America and How Music Works. Like the author, I have strong place-sense associations with them, of quiet trails and tall trees.
posted by curious nu at 6:06 AM on February 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
My wife and I fell in love with audiobooks while hiking the Swiss Alps on our honeymoon way back in 2019. We really fucking love them now, and always have a few going. We've even started amassing a list of favorite narrators and follow them to new books / series sometimes. Audiobooks rule!
posted by lazaruslong at 6:16 AM on February 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by lazaruslong at 6:16 AM on February 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
I come across anti-audiobook snobbery fairly often, myself. Some of which I've apparently internalised. I sometimes find myself hesitant to claim that I've read a book if I've listened to it.
I love audiobooks. I find that a good narrator, like Juliet Stevenson reading Emma, can reveal aspects of the book that were hidden to me before.
Listening rather than reading text has some challenges - I find it more difficult to parse character names if I can't see them, especially in Sci Fi and Fantasy.
I often draw or do mosaics when I listen to audiobooks, and I do associate the two experiences. For example so I tend to remember bits of Daniel Deronda and Anihilation when I look at the mosaic in my bathroom.
posted by Zumbador at 6:24 AM on February 6, 2022 [9 favorites]
I love audiobooks. I find that a good narrator, like Juliet Stevenson reading Emma, can reveal aspects of the book that were hidden to me before.
Listening rather than reading text has some challenges - I find it more difficult to parse character names if I can't see them, especially in Sci Fi and Fantasy.
I often draw or do mosaics when I listen to audiobooks, and I do associate the two experiences. For example so I tend to remember bits of Daniel Deronda and Anihilation when I look at the mosaic in my bathroom.
posted by Zumbador at 6:24 AM on February 6, 2022 [9 favorites]
I have never heard of the audio-book stigma before. I personally can't do them, because my mind tends to wander. When I'm after information, I like reading better than listening, because I can better control the pace of processing, skip and skim, reread a line if necessary, etc. When I'm after pleasure, I get more out of reading, because I'm less easily distracted.
I do think I sometimes miss out though. Thomas Bernhard for instance is much better when someone reads it to you. He's the grandmaster of the rant, and it's much more compelling when performed by a good actor.
posted by sohalt at 6:25 AM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I do think I sometimes miss out though. Thomas Bernhard for instance is much better when someone reads it to you. He's the grandmaster of the rant, and it's much more compelling when performed by a good actor.
posted by sohalt at 6:25 AM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
My favorite line of this essay was in the description of why some critics dismiss audiobooks as middlebrow: Reading is that heroic and dignified effort of the raccoon resisting the shiny objects and paying sustained attention to the page.
Recently I really loved Marin Ireland's narration of Beartown, though come to think of it, that's probably exactly the sort of middlebrow book that marks me out as an Aunt Flo with roosters in her kitchen (this seemed like a very weird stereotype I couldn't identify, but Aunt Flo seems fun).
posted by the primroses were over at 6:31 AM on February 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
Recently I really loved Marin Ireland's narration of Beartown, though come to think of it, that's probably exactly the sort of middlebrow book that marks me out as an Aunt Flo with roosters in her kitchen (this seemed like a very weird stereotype I couldn't identify, but Aunt Flo seems fun).
posted by the primroses were over at 6:31 AM on February 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
I've always liked audiobooks but since a small stroke a few years ago I love audiobooks.
For those who enjoy them -- or are new to them, please check out Libro. Lots of great titles at about the same price as Audible, but you're not giving money to Bezos. In addition, they kick back money to independent bookstores and you get to choose which store to support, so your favorite indie shop can benefit from your addiction to audiobooks.
My most listened to audiobook (of the more than 1000 I own) is the two-books-for-one-credit Jesus' Son / Train Dreams by Denis Johnson, read by my favorite narrator, actor Will Patton. I've listened to it more than 20 times now.
Right now I'm listening to Both Sides Now by Peyton Thomas, which is the first YA novel I'm trying. It's written by a recent acquaintance of mine and I gotta say so far it's great!
because when we're discussing the book and there's confusion over how to pronounce a character's name we can ask "how'd the audio book do it?"
This is not always a reliable way of going about it. In the recent, "Slouching Towards Los Angeles - Living and Writing by Joan Didion's Light," a compilation of essays by writers who love Joan Didion's writing, both narrators mispronounce the name of Maria, the protaganist from Play It As It Lays.
This is doubly bad in this case because the essays are supposed to communicate a love of Didion's work. Mispronouncing the name of her most famous fictional character -- over and over again -- made it seem like they knew nothing of Didion's work. That the producer and publisher (who hired the producer) couldn't be bothered to verify this one simple thing before sending it out in the world was shocking to me. It drove me nuts and I returned the audiobook. I assume this is why the audiobook only has two stars as a rating whereas the print version had 4.5.
Oddly, though I like Didion, I had purchased that title because I am a fan of one of the narrators -- Xe Sands, especially for her work on Space Struck.
posted by dobbs at 6:31 AM on February 6, 2022 [9 favorites]
For those who enjoy them -- or are new to them, please check out Libro. Lots of great titles at about the same price as Audible, but you're not giving money to Bezos. In addition, they kick back money to independent bookstores and you get to choose which store to support, so your favorite indie shop can benefit from your addiction to audiobooks.
My most listened to audiobook (of the more than 1000 I own) is the two-books-for-one-credit Jesus' Son / Train Dreams by Denis Johnson, read by my favorite narrator, actor Will Patton. I've listened to it more than 20 times now.
Right now I'm listening to Both Sides Now by Peyton Thomas, which is the first YA novel I'm trying. It's written by a recent acquaintance of mine and I gotta say so far it's great!
because when we're discussing the book and there's confusion over how to pronounce a character's name we can ask "how'd the audio book do it?"
This is not always a reliable way of going about it. In the recent, "Slouching Towards Los Angeles - Living and Writing by Joan Didion's Light," a compilation of essays by writers who love Joan Didion's writing, both narrators mispronounce the name of Maria, the protaganist from Play It As It Lays.
This is doubly bad in this case because the essays are supposed to communicate a love of Didion's work. Mispronouncing the name of her most famous fictional character -- over and over again -- made it seem like they knew nothing of Didion's work. That the producer and publisher (who hired the producer) couldn't be bothered to verify this one simple thing before sending it out in the world was shocking to me. It drove me nuts and I returned the audiobook. I assume this is why the audiobook only has two stars as a rating whereas the print version had 4.5.
Oddly, though I like Didion, I had purchased that title because I am a fan of one of the narrators -- Xe Sands, especially for her work on Space Struck.
posted by dobbs at 6:31 AM on February 6, 2022 [9 favorites]
/glances worriedly at my rooster potholder
posted by saturday_morning at 6:32 AM on February 6, 2022 [21 favorites]
posted by saturday_morning at 6:32 AM on February 6, 2022 [21 favorites]
They call you déclassé, my dearest old rooster,
Conflate you with listening to such as Bert Wooster,
But don’t you go frettin’- I will make a stand,
They’ll pry Chanticleer from my clammy dead hands.
Oh, it will be them and not you who will go,
Ascend to the breakfast-bar, Cocky, and crow.
posted by aesop at 6:47 AM on February 6, 2022 [21 favorites]
Conflate you with listening to such as Bert Wooster,
But don’t you go frettin’- I will make a stand,
They’ll pry Chanticleer from my clammy dead hands.
Oh, it will be them and not you who will go,
Ascend to the breakfast-bar, Cocky, and crow.
posted by aesop at 6:47 AM on February 6, 2022 [21 favorites]
Aunt Paula sounds pretty cool, to be honest. She's not a serious person which can be the best kind of person.
I used to be an audiobook snob until I started listening to them while walking. And they are great! With a good voice actor, they are great! I particularly like ones where the book has a narrator you are supposed to notice. True Grit comes to mind. I have trouble listening to them in situations where I have to focus deeply on something else because I stop listening and lose the plot (drawing, math, or coding are all examples where I have failed). But an hours long hike? Or a long drive? My morning walk? So good.
(Also, worth noting, you can get them from the library. It's easy to try audiobooks.)
posted by surlyben at 6:55 AM on February 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
I used to be an audiobook snob until I started listening to them while walking. And they are great! With a good voice actor, they are great! I particularly like ones where the book has a narrator you are supposed to notice. True Grit comes to mind. I have trouble listening to them in situations where I have to focus deeply on something else because I stop listening and lose the plot (drawing, math, or coding are all examples where I have failed). But an hours long hike? Or a long drive? My morning walk? So good.
(Also, worth noting, you can get them from the library. It's easy to try audiobooks.)
posted by surlyben at 6:55 AM on February 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
I love audiobooks and listen to them on my commute.
By far the best reader for me is Frank Muller.
And William Gaddis' novels The Recognitions and J R read by Nick Sullivan are incredible.
posted by chavenet at 7:05 AM on February 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
By far the best reader for me is Frank Muller.
And William Gaddis' novels The Recognitions and J R read by Nick Sullivan are incredible.
posted by chavenet at 7:05 AM on February 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
I like audiobooks, but I can't listen to one while doing anything other than going for a walk. I'm an avid hiker, but I have zero interest in listening to books and music on any trail more remote than the city or county park. If I'm in nature, I want to hear nature, especially the bear that I might hear before I see. And listening 100% counts as reading the book.
posted by COD at 7:06 AM on February 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by COD at 7:06 AM on February 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
I am dipping my toe in the audio world via podcasts but I do sometimes have trouble attending if I'm also doing anything else. I don't know if I'd be able to follow a book plot.
But I don't know how that's good or bad? Why would info via eyes be better than info via ears?
Anyway, I have two large statues of a hen and a rooster that were my mom's and I love them. Nuts to the haters.
posted by emjaybee at 7:09 AM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
But I don't know how that's good or bad? Why would info via eyes be better than info via ears?
Anyway, I have two large statues of a hen and a rooster that were my mom's and I love them. Nuts to the haters.
posted by emjaybee at 7:09 AM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
I've encountered the anti-audiobook snobbery but mostly from people who don't read much. They seem to think reading is a kind of chore you do to impress, and audiobooks are cheating.
I listen to audiobooks when it's convenient. Sometimes I've got both the audiobook and a paper book (if it's out of copyright from the library for instance) and switched between when I'm walking/running or reading at home. I prefer the visualbook format if it's possible, but if anything I think the cheating goes the other way around: you can skim over the duller bits of a visualbook but if it's an audiobook you have to hear every single word.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 7:15 AM on February 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
I listen to audiobooks when it's convenient. Sometimes I've got both the audiobook and a paper book (if it's out of copyright from the library for instance) and switched between when I'm walking/running or reading at home. I prefer the visualbook format if it's possible, but if anything I think the cheating goes the other way around: you can skim over the duller bits of a visualbook but if it's an audiobook you have to hear every single word.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 7:15 AM on February 6, 2022 [6 favorites]
I tried one audio book a few years ago. This was when I had a certain hour-long commute on a public transportation train. I got the audio book free from some promotion. The book itself was a door-stopper sized genre-fiction sci-fi/fantasy thing that I had never read, but was recommended to me.
About five minutes in, the male-sounding voice actor sounded weird to me. I double checked to make sure I had the reading speed set to normal— and it was. On the commute, I assumed this was some kind of advanced text-to-speech thing. The voice was in the Uncanny Valley. I could hear different inflections on many of the same words, and the made-up sci-fi words sounded like it was from a real person, not a machine. After the commute, I looked up the voice actor, and it was a real person credited with dozens of other book narrations, too.
My guess is that because it's such a long book, they did some kind of digital post-processing on the recording to shorten pauses, clean up stumbles, and steady the general pace of the read. I tried several times to listen, but I found this so distracting that I eventually gave up and switched back to listening to music.
I'd give audiobooks another shot if I had the long commute again. But I wanted to share this experience as it was so off-putting for me.
posted by SoberHighland at 7:24 AM on February 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
About five minutes in, the male-sounding voice actor sounded weird to me. I double checked to make sure I had the reading speed set to normal— and it was. On the commute, I assumed this was some kind of advanced text-to-speech thing. The voice was in the Uncanny Valley. I could hear different inflections on many of the same words, and the made-up sci-fi words sounded like it was from a real person, not a machine. After the commute, I looked up the voice actor, and it was a real person credited with dozens of other book narrations, too.
My guess is that because it's such a long book, they did some kind of digital post-processing on the recording to shorten pauses, clean up stumbles, and steady the general pace of the read. I tried several times to listen, but I found this so distracting that I eventually gave up and switched back to listening to music.
I'd give audiobooks another shot if I had the long commute again. But I wanted to share this experience as it was so off-putting for me.
posted by SoberHighland at 7:24 AM on February 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
In the late 20th century, everyone thought the revolution in reading would be the introduction of the e-book. I even wrote a scholarly article predicting the massive changes it would bring about. But the e-book was a damp squib. The real revolution in reading - the thing that transformed peoples habits, and the way that they consumed literature -- was the audio book. The extent of this change, and the new, permanent category of experience it introduced, is still underrated.
posted by Modest House at 7:27 AM on February 6, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by Modest House at 7:27 AM on February 6, 2022 [12 favorites]
SoberHighland I've had a similar experience, where I couldn't listen to a book as the narrator sounded weirdly robotic. I also checked her profile and as far as I can tell she's a human person.
It was something about the pacing, as if the words were exactly equally spaced. I wonder if it's some kind of audio processing.
posted by Zumbador at 7:29 AM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
It was something about the pacing, as if the words were exactly equally spaced. I wonder if it's some kind of audio processing.
posted by Zumbador at 7:29 AM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have had that exact experience she talks about where now specific areas around where I live will seemingly forever be entwined with particular scenes from audio books. Glad to know it's not just me.
I do believe my retention of audio books is slightly lower than when reading, but they provide somewhat different pleasures. Reading of course requires your own mind to create the sights and sounds the words hint at, and that communing-across-space-and-time with an author that is so much talked about is true. There is an analogous experience to the one above in a kind of tragic reverse for me: When seeing a movie based on a book and a feeling, an almost physical feeling, of the images and sounds that I've created for myself-- the faces of characters, etc. fade away and get replaced by the images on the screen. It's very bittersweet.
But I have something much more important I need to share, and that is that you all must run not walk and get the audio book version of Carlo Rovelli's The Order of Time read by Benedict Cumberbatch because it's freaking Dr. Strange (or Sherlock Holmes, take your pick!) explaining, in gorgeous prose, our current understanding of the physics of space-time. Oh my god, it's just the best.
posted by gwint at 7:33 AM on February 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
I do believe my retention of audio books is slightly lower than when reading, but they provide somewhat different pleasures. Reading of course requires your own mind to create the sights and sounds the words hint at, and that communing-across-space-and-time with an author that is so much talked about is true. There is an analogous experience to the one above in a kind of tragic reverse for me: When seeing a movie based on a book and a feeling, an almost physical feeling, of the images and sounds that I've created for myself-- the faces of characters, etc. fade away and get replaced by the images on the screen. It's very bittersweet.
But I have something much more important I need to share, and that is that you all must run not walk and get the audio book version of Carlo Rovelli's The Order of Time read by Benedict Cumberbatch because it's freaking Dr. Strange (or Sherlock Holmes, take your pick!) explaining, in gorgeous prose, our current understanding of the physics of space-time. Oh my god, it's just the best.
posted by gwint at 7:33 AM on February 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
because when we're discussing the book and there's confusion over how to pronounce a character's name we can ask "how'd the audio book do it?"
This is not always a reliable way of going about it.
True dat! I suspect that readers are paid so little that it's only worth while to do it in a single take. I've been getting through maybe one audiobook a week over the last tuthree years. And some of the proper names are laughably flow-stopping. The little pause for breath before . . climbing Mount Latin: Ceiba pentandra let alone Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. Read by author is a [useful] category on my supplier.
The audio book readers also point out a bonus - sometimes you can turn up the speed slightly and get through a book even faster.
Yes, but with paper-books you can skip whole chunks of prose that are clearly not bringing the plot forward.
And me, I am more likely to fall into a drooling sleep turning pages than listening to someone; ignoring all, the punctuation.
Also, It's not only the blind who have significant blocks to education / edutainment which can be vaulted with audiobooks - dyslexia is a thing.
posted by BobTheScientist at 7:33 AM on February 6, 2022
This is not always a reliable way of going about it.
True dat! I suspect that readers are paid so little that it's only worth while to do it in a single take. I've been getting through maybe one audiobook a week over the last tuthree years. And some of the proper names are laughably flow-stopping. The little pause for breath before . . climbing Mount Latin: Ceiba pentandra let alone Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. Read by author is a [useful] category on my supplier.
The audio book readers also point out a bonus - sometimes you can turn up the speed slightly and get through a book even faster.
Yes, but with paper-books you can skip whole chunks of prose that are clearly not bringing the plot forward.
And me, I am more likely to fall into a drooling sleep turning pages than listening to someone; ignoring all, the punctuation.
Also, It's not only the blind who have significant blocks to education / edutainment which can be vaulted with audiobooks - dyslexia is a thing.
posted by BobTheScientist at 7:33 AM on February 6, 2022
If you have an Echo dot or other Alexa speaker, a Kindle ebook reader, and a library card, you can listen to books for free. Just borrow the book to your Kindle and say, "Alexa, read War and Peace," or whatever. Amazon also has many free Kindle books you can download. I cannot afford to buy audio books so this feature has been a lifesaver during lockdown.
posted by charlesminus at 7:41 AM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by charlesminus at 7:41 AM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
Ought to mention Eddie Izzard's autobiography "Believe Me". She reads her own autobiography, but adds extra material as she does so, it's basically extra comedy, even chats to the sound engineer. It's fantastic!
Apparently the David Goggins autobiography also has extra content but I haven't listened to this one.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 7:41 AM on February 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
Apparently the David Goggins autobiography also has extra content but I haven't listened to this one.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 7:41 AM on February 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
I don't like audio books (but do not fault anyone who does!) because I am not good at sitting there and just listening or immersing myself in the story the way I can with physical (or digital) books. I think reading is one of the few hobbies I have where I am actually totally focused on what I am doing and not tempted to half pay attention to the book and half pay attention to the TV or computer that's right there—when I read, I actually sit down and focus on reading. That's not on the format; it's on me.
posted by synecdoche at 8:00 AM on February 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by synecdoche at 8:00 AM on February 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
I used to only listen to books on long car trips but have started doing so while I paint. It is amazing! I am glad to have so many options these days.
Thanks for sharing this interesting article. I hope the author stops being so worried about what other people think.
posted by rpfields at 8:12 AM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
Thanks for sharing this interesting article. I hope the author stops being so worried about what other people think.
posted by rpfields at 8:12 AM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
Also of possible interest (I could have sworn I first read about this on Metafilter but I can't find the post): The Lectores Who Read to Cuba's Cigar Rollers
posted by gwint at 8:26 AM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by gwint at 8:26 AM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
In the 80s there was a public radio show where the presenter read a book aloud. I can't recall or find the name of the show. Help me out if you remember it. The book narrator was kind of drone-y, but we always put the show on in the bookstore. He made a bestseller of Blue Highways, an excellent book, and popularized audio books quite a bit.
As it turns out, I am hearing-impaired, not diagnosed until I was 40, and listening is a difficult way for me to read. It's more like music, and I enjoy it but don't follow it well, though I may try again if Covid ever ends and I can go on Road Trips.
Literary snobs will disparage anything and anyone; pay no mind. Seriously, impugning spoken narrative is silly and ignores guys like Homer. I loved reading to my kid, good writing is a delight when spoken. My only issue is that I really develop my own imagined voice for characters, and if I hear a book, I'm hearing someone else's imagination of it; sometimes it's just too different.
posted by theora55 at 9:06 AM on February 6, 2022
As it turns out, I am hearing-impaired, not diagnosed until I was 40, and listening is a difficult way for me to read. It's more like music, and I enjoy it but don't follow it well, though I may try again if Covid ever ends and I can go on Road Trips.
Literary snobs will disparage anything and anyone; pay no mind. Seriously, impugning spoken narrative is silly and ignores guys like Homer. I loved reading to my kid, good writing is a delight when spoken. My only issue is that I really develop my own imagined voice for characters, and if I hear a book, I'm hearing someone else's imagination of it; sometimes it's just too different.
posted by theora55 at 9:06 AM on February 6, 2022
This article is ten years old, and my sense is that things have changed a bit in the past ten years. Or maybe it's just that ten years ago, I was hanging out with grad students who disdained the middlebrow, and now I'm hanging out with harried middle-aged people who don't have time for that bullshit. I don't feel particularly judged or self-conscious about listening to audiobooks.
My main issue with audiobooks is that I have ADHD, and I get distracted. When I get distracted while I'm reading something I usually stop reading, but when I'm listening to an audiobook it keeps playing. So then, when I finally snap out of it, I have to figure out how far back I need to go to get to the last place where I was paying attention. It's not the end of the world, but it's a little annoying. Otherwise, I'm all for audiobooks, as long as the narrator is good.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 9:07 AM on February 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
My main issue with audiobooks is that I have ADHD, and I get distracted. When I get distracted while I'm reading something I usually stop reading, but when I'm listening to an audiobook it keeps playing. So then, when I finally snap out of it, I have to figure out how far back I need to go to get to the last place where I was paying attention. It's not the end of the world, but it's a little annoying. Otherwise, I'm all for audiobooks, as long as the narrator is good.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 9:07 AM on February 6, 2022 [7 favorites]
OMG! I tried listening to Martha Wells' All Systems Red. You'd think, in this case, that a robotic voice would be OK. Totally not. It actually sounded like a poor speech synthesizer, rather than the person that Murderbot is, who gets grumpy when stupid humans put themselves in danger by poking at strange things.
posted by SPrintF at 9:14 AM on February 6, 2022
posted by SPrintF at 9:14 AM on February 6, 2022
"exactly the sort of middlebrow book that marks me out as an Aunt Flo with roosters in her kitchen (this seemed like a very weird stereotype I couldn't identify, but Aunt Flo seems fun)."
She's a (probably white) Midwestern lady of a certain age, who likes the things she likes and gives zero shits. She likes roosters, because they are colorful, and for whatever reason, easy to buy in kitchen accessories. She chopped all her hair off when she turned 50, and sometimes has it done in fun colors. She's a reliable churchgoer, but she knew where to buy the good weed before the dispensaries came to town. If you put two drinks in her, she'll start telling all the inappropriate family stories. She is not a wine mom. She drinks scotch, or 7 and 7's, or vodka rocks. (She's not going to turn down your wine, but that's not her drink.)
You knew her for 15 years before she mentioned in passing that she has a PhD in ancient history/used to own an arctic expedition company with her ex-husband and has shot a polar bear in self-defense/was a Playboy bunny/has a helicopter license. Her own kids probably do not know these things about her, because she just doesn't mention them unless they come up.
There comes a time in your late teens when Aunt Flo, who possibly dresses like Miss Frizzle and owns 150 collectible roosters, says something in passing, and you go, "Wait a second ... is Aunt Flo cool? Is she ... the coolest person I know?"
If you tell her she's cool, she will just laugh, because she has not cared what anyone thinks in 25 years. She definitely does not care what you think about her taste in books.
Aunt Flo is extremely fun.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:39 AM on February 6, 2022 [40 favorites]
She's a (probably white) Midwestern lady of a certain age, who likes the things she likes and gives zero shits. She likes roosters, because they are colorful, and for whatever reason, easy to buy in kitchen accessories. She chopped all her hair off when she turned 50, and sometimes has it done in fun colors. She's a reliable churchgoer, but she knew where to buy the good weed before the dispensaries came to town. If you put two drinks in her, she'll start telling all the inappropriate family stories. She is not a wine mom. She drinks scotch, or 7 and 7's, or vodka rocks. (She's not going to turn down your wine, but that's not her drink.)
You knew her for 15 years before she mentioned in passing that she has a PhD in ancient history/used to own an arctic expedition company with her ex-husband and has shot a polar bear in self-defense/was a Playboy bunny/has a helicopter license. Her own kids probably do not know these things about her, because she just doesn't mention them unless they come up.
There comes a time in your late teens when Aunt Flo, who possibly dresses like Miss Frizzle and owns 150 collectible roosters, says something in passing, and you go, "Wait a second ... is Aunt Flo cool? Is she ... the coolest person I know?"
If you tell her she's cool, she will just laugh, because she has not cared what anyone thinks in 25 years. She definitely does not care what you think about her taste in books.
Aunt Flo is extremely fun.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:39 AM on February 6, 2022 [40 favorites]
I always preferred reading to listening, because my attention tends to wander more when listening. But my eyesight has gotten to the point where it can be painful to read more than a paragraph of text at a time and audiobooks have been a lifesaver.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:43 AM on February 6, 2022
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:43 AM on February 6, 2022
I listen to audiobooks during my long car commute to work, and I started in 2017 after all my usual podcasts shifted their focus to cataloging all the political norms Trump was breaking. I couldn’t stand to listen to Trump’s voice, so I reluctantly switched to audiobooks.
And holy moly, what an appetite I developed. I tear through them, and it has also increased my print book consumption as well. All I do these days is read. I tend to stick to nonfiction in audiobooks to mimic the podcast experience; my comprehension isn’t great for fiction via audio so I keep beautiful writing for print. The sweet spot for me is books about 10 hours in length, since that’s two weeks of commute.
Best audiobook experiences I’ve had:
1) Hardcore Zen by Brad Warner. He recorded the audiobook himself in a very DIY way so sometimes he stops to tell his cat to get off the keyboard. Plus he chants and plays excerpts from his punk music occasionally. It is so charming and fits the vibe of the book perfectly. Reading would have been too sanitized an experience.
2) Audiobook while in line at Disneyworld. My partner and I synced our start/stop times so we were basically at the same moment. Made waiting in line so much more bearable. Doesn’t matter what you choose, but we did The Library Book by Susan Orlean, who narrated it herself. She did a great job; not all authors make great narrators of their own books.
3) The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. The story follows the medical drama of a Hmong family that immigrated to the US, and the narrator is native Hmong. It was so much better learning accurate pronunciation.
4) I’m currently on my fourth attempt to conquer the Wheel of Time series, since I got caught in the tragedy of reading the series before it ended and then forgetting the details before the next book was released. (And then I quit in frustration before the final book came out.) Not going to lie, Amazon’s sync ability between Audible and Kindle that lets me switch between formats has been a godsend. Listening on 1.4x to a book I’ve already read 3 times gives me hope that maybe this time I can finally defeat the Dark One… keeping my fingers crossed that it’ll get me through the slog of the middle books.
posted by lilac girl at 9:56 AM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
And holy moly, what an appetite I developed. I tear through them, and it has also increased my print book consumption as well. All I do these days is read. I tend to stick to nonfiction in audiobooks to mimic the podcast experience; my comprehension isn’t great for fiction via audio so I keep beautiful writing for print. The sweet spot for me is books about 10 hours in length, since that’s two weeks of commute.
Best audiobook experiences I’ve had:
1) Hardcore Zen by Brad Warner. He recorded the audiobook himself in a very DIY way so sometimes he stops to tell his cat to get off the keyboard. Plus he chants and plays excerpts from his punk music occasionally. It is so charming and fits the vibe of the book perfectly. Reading would have been too sanitized an experience.
2) Audiobook while in line at Disneyworld. My partner and I synced our start/stop times so we were basically at the same moment. Made waiting in line so much more bearable. Doesn’t matter what you choose, but we did The Library Book by Susan Orlean, who narrated it herself. She did a great job; not all authors make great narrators of their own books.
3) The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. The story follows the medical drama of a Hmong family that immigrated to the US, and the narrator is native Hmong. It was so much better learning accurate pronunciation.
4) I’m currently on my fourth attempt to conquer the Wheel of Time series, since I got caught in the tragedy of reading the series before it ended and then forgetting the details before the next book was released. (And then I quit in frustration before the final book came out.) Not going to lie, Amazon’s sync ability between Audible and Kindle that lets me switch between formats has been a godsend. Listening on 1.4x to a book I’ve already read 3 times gives me hope that maybe this time I can finally defeat the Dark One… keeping my fingers crossed that it’ll get me through the slog of the middle books.
posted by lilac girl at 9:56 AM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
I love reading because it requires me abandoning everything else. Even to take notes from what I am reading I must stop reading.
I can't drive and read a book. Or surf the internet and read a book.
It is the mesmerizing feature that is most certainly not a bug for me.
That said I don't look down at audiobooks nor rooster towel racks. Though if you have to attack my aunt to make a point, to me, you have already lost.
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 10:04 AM on February 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
I can't drive and read a book. Or surf the internet and read a book.
It is the mesmerizing feature that is most certainly not a bug for me.
That said I don't look down at audiobooks nor rooster towel racks. Though if you have to attack my aunt to make a point, to me, you have already lost.
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 10:04 AM on February 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
My favorite is audiobooks with a light peppering of sound effects. Nothing too invasive! Like a sea breeze if the scene is on a beach. The cries of the damned, from afar-- again, if you're on the beach.
posted by BlunderingArtist at 10:15 AM on February 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by BlunderingArtist at 10:15 AM on February 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
Audiobooks are super for working at the loom, especially with the dobby mechanism where weaving is purely visual and tactile and rhythmic. I also listen to podcasts but the throughline of longer works is something I very much enjoy.
Susan Orlean and Mary Beard do a good job with their own books. I also really liked Jaqueline Woodson’s Another Brooklyn as an audiobook.
posted by janell at 10:29 AM on February 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
Susan Orlean and Mary Beard do a good job with their own books. I also really liked Jaqueline Woodson’s Another Brooklyn as an audiobook.
posted by janell at 10:29 AM on February 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
Hmmm.... maybe this is the way I'll finally read some highly recommended novels like Americanah.
My reading mode is to skim until I hit a paragraph I want to savor (usually works out to 2 pages a minute), which is workable with long form journalism, historical mysteries, YA fantasy, most non-fiction writing and totally a life-saver with academic journal articles, but is HORRID for a lot of literary prose not to mention poetry.
posted by spamandkimchi at 10:34 AM on February 6, 2022
My reading mode is to skim until I hit a paragraph I want to savor (usually works out to 2 pages a minute), which is workable with long form journalism, historical mysteries, YA fantasy, most non-fiction writing and totally a life-saver with academic journal articles, but is HORRID for a lot of literary prose not to mention poetry.
posted by spamandkimchi at 10:34 AM on February 6, 2022
In some of my circles we talk about eye-reading and ear-reading (audiobooks). It may not be an important distinction, but I like it.
I miss SEEING names when I listen to audiobooks. Actually seeing the word printed seems to lodge it in a different place in my brain. But I also really like audiobooks. So on some books, I actually take a hybrid approach: I listen to the audiobook with the ebook in front of me. (I read ebooks in preference to paper books, and have for decades now.) If you do Kindle/Audible books, you can download the audiobook and the ebook together. Then open the ebook, start the narration of the audiobook, and it will highlight the words as the narrator reads them. For books where I'm having a little trouble keeping my attention focused, this helps a LOT.
I also normally listen to audiobooks at faster speeds. Some narrators are slow enough that my attention wanders. Increasing the speed helps.
And: opinions vary on narrators! I personally LOVE the narration for the Murderbot books. YMMV.
posted by Archer25 at 11:08 AM on February 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
I miss SEEING names when I listen to audiobooks. Actually seeing the word printed seems to lodge it in a different place in my brain. But I also really like audiobooks. So on some books, I actually take a hybrid approach: I listen to the audiobook with the ebook in front of me. (I read ebooks in preference to paper books, and have for decades now.) If you do Kindle/Audible books, you can download the audiobook and the ebook together. Then open the ebook, start the narration of the audiobook, and it will highlight the words as the narrator reads them. For books where I'm having a little trouble keeping my attention focused, this helps a LOT.
I also normally listen to audiobooks at faster speeds. Some narrators are slow enough that my attention wanders. Increasing the speed helps.
And: opinions vary on narrators! I personally LOVE the narration for the Murderbot books. YMMV.
posted by Archer25 at 11:08 AM on February 6, 2022 [5 favorites]
Reading+hearing is an interesting cognitive trick! It’s how my brother and I learned to read, being read to; I’ll give it a taster to see how it feels. Not going to sniff at new old ways.
Lots of study has happened reading+hearing+saying, reciting in company, yes? I bet that lays down some pathways for memorization.
posted by clew at 11:26 AM on February 6, 2022
Lots of study has happened reading+hearing+saying, reciting in company, yes? I bet that lays down some pathways for memorization.
posted by clew at 11:26 AM on February 6, 2022
I wish I liked audiobooks more than I do. I have sixteen books in my iTunes library that have been there for some time, and I've only listened to five of them. I have so much difficulty with not letting my attention drift away from what the narrator is saying at the best of times, and I can't seem to find an activity that is truly compatible with it. I love to combine knitting with watching TV/movies, but I can't seem to knit and listen to an audiobook without getting restless -- knitting is very mindless and automatic for me and I need visuals to absorb the rest of my attention/mind. I've tried combining audiobooks with sewing, but sometimes my sewing projects demand too much of my attention for me to be able to follow the audiobook, and I can't hear the narrator over the noise of the sewing machine. I love to listen to music while I sew because I can pay as much or as little attention to the music as I want or need to. Admittedly, I haven't tried listening to audiobooks while working in the kitchen -- maybe that could work for me. I do seem to prefer listening to audio plays, with a full cast and sound effects, than to just one narrator -- the variations hold my attention better.
Baroness von Sketch has a sketch about audiobook snobbery (you'll only be able to watch the video if you're in Canada, sorry!). As obnoxious and rude as the woman in the video is being (and of course she's reading The Fountainhead), I do have a sneaking sympathy with her viewpoint that listening to an audiobook is not reading. I don't look down on audiobooks at all or think the act of reading a book is in any way superior to the act of listening to one, and would never take it upon myself to correct someone who said they were reading an audiobooks, but it doesn't seem accurate to me to describe the act of listening to an audiobook as reading -- it's a different process/experience.
It amused me to notice that the CBC has had to bar comments from that video -- their other Baroness von Sketch videos have the comments feature turned on, and the "Audio Books" sketch video's page allowed them initially -- I know it did because I remember making a comment myself. It must have proven too controversial a topic.:D
posted by orange swan at 11:47 AM on February 6, 2022
Baroness von Sketch has a sketch about audiobook snobbery (you'll only be able to watch the video if you're in Canada, sorry!). As obnoxious and rude as the woman in the video is being (and of course she's reading The Fountainhead), I do have a sneaking sympathy with her viewpoint that listening to an audiobook is not reading. I don't look down on audiobooks at all or think the act of reading a book is in any way superior to the act of listening to one, and would never take it upon myself to correct someone who said they were reading an audiobooks, but it doesn't seem accurate to me to describe the act of listening to an audiobook as reading -- it's a different process/experience.
It amused me to notice that the CBC has had to bar comments from that video -- their other Baroness von Sketch videos have the comments feature turned on, and the "Audio Books" sketch video's page allowed them initially -- I know it did because I remember making a comment myself. It must have proven too controversial a topic.:D
posted by orange swan at 11:47 AM on February 6, 2022
dobbs: "a compilation of essays by writers who love Joan Didion's writing, both narrators mispronounce the name of Maria, the protaganist from"
I'll bite, having just read Play It As It Lays; how are we supposed to say Maria Wyeth's name, and how do the readers screw it up?
posted by chavenet at 11:57 AM on February 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
I'll bite, having just read Play It As It Lays; how are we supposed to say Maria Wyeth's name, and how do the readers screw it up?
posted by chavenet at 11:57 AM on February 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Hah, just checked the text and there it is, how to pronounce her name: Mar-eye-ah. So I can guess how they were reading it wrong!
posted by chavenet at 12:04 PM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 12:04 PM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
Years ago, I was in the coffee room at work, and the marketing guy on my project was mixing up his coffee, “Hey, I just finished War and Peace!” I looked at him, with total surprise as he didn’t strike me as being much of a reader and that book? “It was thirty tapes!” he continued. “It’s a great book, “ I replied still impressed that he chose that book. So as much as I personally wouldn’t use audio books, I’m glad they’re around so that some more ambitious audio book person can tackle things like War and Peace.
posted by njohnson23 at 12:08 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by njohnson23 at 12:08 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I love audiobooks. Part of me loves the call-back to the pre-radio years, when one person would read to the gathered group. And yes, I love that it allows me to do other hands-working things, like dishwashing, at the same time (tho it’s not compatible with the “I need to problem-solve while I do this thing” tasks. I can only focus on one).
It was the pandemic that made me a life-long advocate of audiobooks. I lived alone,, and it was those audiobooks that kept me mostly keel-in-the-water, and that’s also when I started putting one on when I went to sleep. The same story, told my a trusted “friend”, every night
It is not hyperbole to say that Kevin R. Free and Martha Wells read me through the worst of that isolation by way of MurderBot.
posted by Silvery Fish at 12:12 PM on February 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
It was the pandemic that made me a life-long advocate of audiobooks. I lived alone,, and it was those audiobooks that kept me mostly keel-in-the-water, and that’s also when I started putting one on when I went to sleep. The same story, told my a trusted “friend”, every night
It is not hyperbole to say that Kevin R. Free and Martha Wells read me through the worst of that isolation by way of MurderBot.
posted by Silvery Fish at 12:12 PM on February 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
“Blindness had a moment”? Ugh.
posted by Ideefixe at 12:15 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Ideefixe at 12:15 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Anti-audiobook snobbery is also incredibly ableist. Some people, like my mom, have vision problems and audiobooks are the only way they can read.
posted by goatdog at 12:19 PM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by goatdog at 12:19 PM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
Audio-books are my thing. I can identify words audibly better than visually. I recently 'read' Burial Rites which was inspired by a true story of the final days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in 1829. Many Icelandic names and phrases were used in the book and without the fluent pronunciations provided by the narrator Morven Christie, I would not have been able to follow who was who and what was happening so closely.
posted by Thella at 12:42 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Thella at 12:42 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have a formerly non reading buddy (adhd) that became voracious when he discovered audiobooks. I am closer to the opposite side, I have a hard time listening to audiobooks (adhd), I've discovered that I can enjoy them once several conditions have been met. Has the narrator , or narrators got a sufficiently engaging style or an interesting voice? Am I doing something, but not something that demands all my concentration? Is the subject, or story conducive to being read aloud? If the answer to those is yes, than I most likely can listen. I have also discovered that there are books that I can't read and must instead listen, and vice versa. Poetry is great for listening.
posted by evilDoug at 12:49 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by evilDoug at 12:49 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
“Blindness had a moment”? Ugh.
Ugh is right.
As a sighted person, I recently came to the conclusion that I really enjoy longer, dense nonfiction in audiobook form - they're great to listen to on long walks, while doing manual-but-mindless chores, etc.
Personally, I tend to prefer reading fiction in print.
I'm married to someone who's blind, and who is, like myself, is an avid reader. The range of well-narrated, professionally-produced audiobooks that are now available in downloadable and streamable formats is nothing short of amazing when it's considered in light of what was previously available in audio.
Not very long ago, it used to be like this...
Books on tape:
Standard audio cassette versions were pretty rare, and pricey. Collections for print-disabled patrons maintained by institutions like the Library of Congress NLS, the RNIB, the CNIB, and others were available on four-track cassettes for a great many years. There were a few reasons for this:
Frequently available only as abridged versions, they were very expensive to buy outright, and when available through a public library, suffered from the same problem that music CDs on loan have -- some careless borrower is going to scratch them, and of course they're skip at the part you really want to hear.
tl;dr:
Audiobooks used to take up lots of room, were time-consuming to produce in the pre-digital recording era, and were not terribly portable. Each format had its own problems, and even relatively portable CD players and tape players chewed through batteries, adding yet another cost to the equation.
I spent a number of years working as an audiobook narrator. In this comment, I talk about some of the time-consuming pain-in-ass manual processes involved in analog audiobook production.
With all of that in mind, the availability of audiobooks is a net good for a whole pile of reasons, even if they aren't your jam:
And, finally, for the record: claims that reading via audiobooks "is not reading" are deeply ignorant and ableist, full stop.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:02 PM on February 6, 2022 [18 favorites]
Ugh is right.
As a sighted person, I recently came to the conclusion that I really enjoy longer, dense nonfiction in audiobook form - they're great to listen to on long walks, while doing manual-but-mindless chores, etc.
Personally, I tend to prefer reading fiction in print.
I'm married to someone who's blind, and who is, like myself, is an avid reader. The range of well-narrated, professionally-produced audiobooks that are now available in downloadable and streamable formats is nothing short of amazing when it's considered in light of what was previously available in audio.
Not very long ago, it used to be like this...
Books on tape:
Standard audio cassette versions were pretty rare, and pricey. Collections for print-disabled patrons maintained by institutions like the Library of Congress NLS, the RNIB, the CNIB, and others were available on four-track cassettes for a great many years. There were a few reasons for this:
- Here in Canada, there's an exemption in the Copyright Act that allows for alternative-format reproduction of published work for people who are print disabled without having to pay royalties, etc. Historically, this has allowed public institutions or charitable organizations to produce them without having to bear that extra cost. This exemption also requires that these be produced in "a format specially designed to meet the needs of the person with a perceptual disability." Other jurisdictions have similar exemptions - see also: the Marrakesh Treaty.
- Four-track tapes (which are the size of a standard audio cassette, but require a player capable of switching between the tracks) meant fewer tapes total. However, my husband's Riverside Shakespeare, unabridged, constituted well over 30 four-track tapes. I know because I tripped over that box in his bedroom, when we first started dating, on more than one occasion. So yeah, njohnson's coworker wasn't joking about the number of tapes involved for War and Peace.
Frequently available only as abridged versions, they were very expensive to buy outright, and when available through a public library, suffered from the same problem that music CDs on loan have -- some careless borrower is going to scratch them, and of course they're skip at the part you really want to hear.
tl;dr:
Audiobooks used to take up lots of room, were time-consuming to produce in the pre-digital recording era, and were not terribly portable. Each format had its own problems, and even relatively portable CD players and tape players chewed through batteries, adding yet another cost to the equation.
I spent a number of years working as an audiobook narrator. In this comment, I talk about some of the time-consuming pain-in-ass manual processes involved in analog audiobook production.
With all of that in mind, the availability of audiobooks is a net good for a whole pile of reasons, even if they aren't your jam:
- A small library's worth of audiobooks can now go in someone's pocket.
- Jumping around within a digital audiobook is ridiculously easy relative to older formats. Moreso with audiobooks that have a structured/marked-up format like DAISY and others.
- Public libraries carry an every-widening range of digital audiobooks that are free to borrow without setting foot outside if you don't want to.
- The purchase price has come down substantially for audiobooks that you can't find in the library when compared to what those used to cost on CD or tape.
- The number of titles commercially available in audio is mindblowing by the standards of 20 or even 10 years ago.
- Accessibility issues aside, people who find that they just plain enjoy books (or certain types of books in audio) have lots of options these days.
And, finally, for the record: claims that reading via audiobooks "is not reading" are deeply ignorant and ableist, full stop.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:02 PM on February 6, 2022 [18 favorites]
My favorite is audiobooks with a light peppering of sound effects. Nothing too invasive! Like a sea breeze if the scene is on a beach. The cries of the damned, from afar-- again, if you're on the beach.
Yeah! Sometimes audiobooks, through their production/narration/casting, elevate a book in a way that's specific to the medium.
It's been around for quite some time (probably going on 20 years?), and I'm just gonna leave it here: my all-time favourite celebrity narration is James Earl Jones reading the New Testament of the King James Bible. The runtime is over 17 hours.
There's a sample on Audible, and it sounds as you might imagine it to sound.
And some audiobooks lend themselves to multi-voiced readings. World War Z worked pretty well in that way.
George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo is a bit of an extravaganza as far as such things go:
The 166-person full cast features award-winning actors and musicians, as well as a number of Saunders’ family, friends, and members of his publishing team, including, in order of their appearance:
Nick Offerman as Hans Vollman
David Sedaris as Roger Bevins III
Carrie Brownstein as Isabelle Perkins
George Saunders as The Reverend Everly Thomas
Miranda July as Mrs. Elizabeth Crawford
Lena Dunham as Elise Traynor
Ben Stiller as Jack Manders
Julianne Moore as Jane Ellis
Susan Sarandon as Mrs. Abigail Blass
Bradley Whitford as Lt. Cecil Stone
Bill Hader as Eddie Baron
Megan Mullally as Betsy Baron
Rainn Wilson as Percival “Dash” Collier
Jeff Tweedy as Captain William Prince
Kat Dennings as Miss Tamara Doolittle
Jeffrey Tambor as Professor Edmund Bloomer
Mike O’Brien as Lawrence T. Decroix
Keegan-Michael Key as Elson Farwell
Don Cheadle as Thomas Havens
Patrick Wilson as Stanley “Perfesser” Lippert
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:10 PM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
Yeah! Sometimes audiobooks, through their production/narration/casting, elevate a book in a way that's specific to the medium.
It's been around for quite some time (probably going on 20 years?), and I'm just gonna leave it here: my all-time favourite celebrity narration is James Earl Jones reading the New Testament of the King James Bible. The runtime is over 17 hours.
There's a sample on Audible, and it sounds as you might imagine it to sound.
And some audiobooks lend themselves to multi-voiced readings. World War Z worked pretty well in that way.
George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo is a bit of an extravaganza as far as such things go:
The 166-person full cast features award-winning actors and musicians, as well as a number of Saunders’ family, friends, and members of his publishing team, including, in order of their appearance:
Nick Offerman as Hans Vollman
David Sedaris as Roger Bevins III
Carrie Brownstein as Isabelle Perkins
George Saunders as The Reverend Everly Thomas
Miranda July as Mrs. Elizabeth Crawford
Lena Dunham as Elise Traynor
Ben Stiller as Jack Manders
Julianne Moore as Jane Ellis
Susan Sarandon as Mrs. Abigail Blass
Bradley Whitford as Lt. Cecil Stone
Bill Hader as Eddie Baron
Megan Mullally as Betsy Baron
Rainn Wilson as Percival “Dash” Collier
Jeff Tweedy as Captain William Prince
Kat Dennings as Miss Tamara Doolittle
Jeffrey Tambor as Professor Edmund Bloomer
Mike O’Brien as Lawrence T. Decroix
Keegan-Michael Key as Elson Farwell
Don Cheadle as Thomas Havens
Patrick Wilson as Stanley “Perfesser” Lippert
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:10 PM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
I also have trouble focusing on audiobooks. I listen to podcasts when I'm out walking or taking the train, but with an audiobook I too easily lose the plot by being distracted by my surroundings. And that happens with non-fiction, too. Basically anything scripted and my mind kind of tunes out. But the podcasts I listen to are people talking spontaneously, not scripted. That gets my full attention.
posted by zardoz at 1:30 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by zardoz at 1:30 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I am not an audiobook person, but I'm not sure if it's because it's not a good format for me, or because I have three VERY LOUD children. I had to give up podcasts when my oldest was two because I just couldn't stand to listen anymore by the time he went to bed. I had really liked longform podcasts for commuting, etc., but who commutes anymore? I also read a lot faster than I listen. But probably in the not-too-distant future, I'll give it a try again during those times when I'm doing chores or walking.
I do think it's very weird when people say it's not "reading" a book and get all superior about it. (Just watched that dust-up in my personal social group a couple weeks ago and it was maddening.) Do they say they went and "saw" a Shakespeare play? Because Shakespeare's contemporaries said they "heard" a play, and only the very uncouth said they "saw" it. Nitpicking over specific words and complaining about how other people choose to consume media is ... so weird.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:34 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I do think it's very weird when people say it's not "reading" a book and get all superior about it. (Just watched that dust-up in my personal social group a couple weeks ago and it was maddening.) Do they say they went and "saw" a Shakespeare play? Because Shakespeare's contemporaries said they "heard" a play, and only the very uncouth said they "saw" it. Nitpicking over specific words and complaining about how other people choose to consume media is ... so weird.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:34 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Some authors still disdain audio books, too, although the extra income is hard to turn down. (Audio book sales account for somewhere between 5 and 10 percent of the total book publishing market, and authors stand to make real money from them.)
This is interesting, I think I've heard elsewhere that audiobooks are considered more of a cost center. They're not factored into book production costs by default, no?
I've loved audiobooks since I was a wee thing, the author's perspective strikes me not just as ableist but also... just generally unappreciative of storytelling/listening as a communal activity, especially as it relates to kids. I listened to audiobooks with my parents growing up, because books that are respectfully written for children are also often interesting, or at least tolerable, to adults. And as an adult now, I enjoy putting together a jigsaw puzzle with a friend and a good audiobook. It's good to chew on a story with others, regardless of medium.
Right now I'm listening to Xiran Jay Zhao's Iron Widow, which is a banger. I'm really grateful for this audio experience because the way the names are written down and the way the names are spoken are, woof, different. Yizhi is said as something I would write as Ee-zh', the ' standing for the breath coming out after the vocal chords have stopped, similar to the end of cat. If I were reading it on the page, I'd be stumbling over it every time. I suspect if I ever get around to The Three Body Problem, I'll also get an audiobook for the same reason. I just don't have the right phonemes / understanding of accent to make reading Chinese names make sense, longform. The ears shall have it.
If you're in the market to be absolutely delighted by an audiobook experience, btw, can't recommend anything more highly than Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, as read by the author. Even if mythology isn't your cup of tea, it's splendid.
posted by snerson at 1:42 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
This is interesting, I think I've heard elsewhere that audiobooks are considered more of a cost center. They're not factored into book production costs by default, no?
I've loved audiobooks since I was a wee thing, the author's perspective strikes me not just as ableist but also... just generally unappreciative of storytelling/listening as a communal activity, especially as it relates to kids. I listened to audiobooks with my parents growing up, because books that are respectfully written for children are also often interesting, or at least tolerable, to adults. And as an adult now, I enjoy putting together a jigsaw puzzle with a friend and a good audiobook. It's good to chew on a story with others, regardless of medium.
Right now I'm listening to Xiran Jay Zhao's Iron Widow, which is a banger. I'm really grateful for this audio experience because the way the names are written down and the way the names are spoken are, woof, different. Yizhi is said as something I would write as Ee-zh', the ' standing for the breath coming out after the vocal chords have stopped, similar to the end of cat. If I were reading it on the page, I'd be stumbling over it every time. I suspect if I ever get around to The Three Body Problem, I'll also get an audiobook for the same reason. I just don't have the right phonemes / understanding of accent to make reading Chinese names make sense, longform. The ears shall have it.
If you're in the market to be absolutely delighted by an audiobook experience, btw, can't recommend anything more highly than Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, as read by the author. Even if mythology isn't your cup of tea, it's splendid.
posted by snerson at 1:42 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I had an old set (I mean 30+ years) of NPR's production of The Lord of the Rings. It was riveting. There is, I think, a disconnect between tales meant to be told, and those you read. I don't know how better to explain this, but with some writers you enjoy their passion, and with others, you just follow along.
posted by SPrintF at 1:58 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by SPrintF at 1:58 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
theora55: In the 80s there was a public radio show where the presenter read a book aloud. I can't recall or find the name of the show. Help me out if you remember it.
Chapter a Day?
posted by Billy Rubin at 2:02 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Chapter a Day?
posted by Billy Rubin at 2:02 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I love audiobooks for a long drive, but don't have the patience to absorb them elsewhere (although I'm fine with spoken-word from the Internet or the radio, for long stretches, while puttering about the house). However, I have encountered a couple situations where audiobooks don't work. One is where the author introduces chapters with a small quote or passage from somewhere else, signified in the text with wider margins and perhaps a different font. But the listener of an audiobook doesn't know these are different, unless something clever's done (like maybe a different reader for these parts, which are known as vignettes, or 'interchapters' in Ernest Hemingway's In Our Time). Second is the inclusion of computer code, which Andy Weir did in one part of The Martian. Oy was that painful to listen to, and impossible for me (a computer programmer) to visualize. Even if it had been delivered by a robot voice -- please, no code.
posted by Rash at 2:08 PM on February 6, 2022
posted by Rash at 2:08 PM on February 6, 2022
I started putting one on when I went to sleep. The same story, told my a trusted “friend”, every night
I do this too - I always have a familiar book on quietly while I'm sleeping, it helps me stop thinking and fretting enough to relax and get to sleep, and if I wake up during the night I have something to focus on other than whatever my mind is worrying about that day, and I get back to sleep. It's made the difference between having terrible insomnia and being well rested. totally changed my life.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 2:33 PM on February 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
I do this too - I always have a familiar book on quietly while I'm sleeping, it helps me stop thinking and fretting enough to relax and get to sleep, and if I wake up during the night I have something to focus on other than whatever my mind is worrying about that day, and I get back to sleep. It's made the difference between having terrible insomnia and being well rested. totally changed my life.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 2:33 PM on February 6, 2022 [4 favorites]
Every weekday at 2pm I get to do my favorite job at the library. I start up OBS and read another 30 minutes of whatever classic book we’re working through, into our FB livestream.
As it happens I emigrated a few years ago amid a bunch of other life changes, but I miss my family a lot. And my parents have watched and listened to every single one of the hundreds of episodes I’ve done since covid happened. My dad in particular can’t get enough. It’s great.
posted by aesop at 2:51 PM on February 6, 2022 [12 favorites]
As it happens I emigrated a few years ago amid a bunch of other life changes, but I miss my family a lot. And my parents have watched and listened to every single one of the hundreds of episodes I’ve done since covid happened. My dad in particular can’t get enough. It’s great.
posted by aesop at 2:51 PM on February 6, 2022 [12 favorites]
Special shout-out to the guy who read David Haskell's The Forest Unseen, for the large number of jaw-dropping mispronunciations. I still enjoyed it.
With Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch series, the narrator on book 1 is different from books 2 and 3. The pronunciation of "Anaander Mianaai" changes so hard that it took me awhile to be assured that book 2 was picking up right where book 1 left off. From my brief web search, the later reader was closer to Leckie's intent, although I'm not sure she preferred everybody's military rank to change from "lieutenant" to "left tenant".
posted by polecat at 3:06 PM on February 6, 2022
With Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch series, the narrator on book 1 is different from books 2 and 3. The pronunciation of "Anaander Mianaai" changes so hard that it took me awhile to be assured that book 2 was picking up right where book 1 left off. From my brief web search, the later reader was closer to Leckie's intent, although I'm not sure she preferred everybody's military rank to change from "lieutenant" to "left tenant".
posted by polecat at 3:06 PM on February 6, 2022
I have definitely heard the anti-audiobook debates in my circles about whether listening to an audiobook really counts as reading. There seems to be a train of thought that reading should take effort, and listening isn't considered to be as effortful as reading with one's eyes. I think we can see in this thread that for some people, listening is actually more difficult and takes more effort than reading with one's eyes! I do find that my attention span for audiobooks waxes and wanes, depending on how much I've been practicing my listening skills. If I haven't listened to any books in a while, it can take me a while to get back in the groove. I think of it like a muscle that gets out of shape.
I love audiobooks and consume quite a few from my library's digital service. Some suit the medium more than others; occasionally I will start a book on audio and then switch over to reading with my eyes (usually on my e-reader, which is another thing people have plenty of opinions about, but my poor eyesight is thankful I've got a way to turn any book into large print...). If I don't like the narrator, I just can't tolerate an audiobook. Sometimes I switch back and forth depending on my mood. I also often speed up my audiobooks; I feel like narrators are told to read slowly or something, because it is very, very rare that the book "sounds right" to me at normal speed. I vary between speeding it up 1.05x to, on one memorable occasion, nearly 1.5x.
My favourite recent audiobooks have been Louise Erdrich's The Sentence, Bernardine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other, and Madeline Miller's Circe. I think they were great in part because 1) they are all really, really good books 2) in each case the material deliberately lend itself to oral storytelling and 3) the narrators were so well suited to the material.
Louise Erdrich actually narrates The Sentence herself, and I was surprised how much I loved it, because normally I dislike audiobooks narrated by their own authors. Narration is a talent more akin to acting, and being a good author doesn't mean you're a good actor. But Erdrich's narration was magical.
If you're looking for a good audiobook, I highly recommend any of those three.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:10 PM on February 6, 2022
I love audiobooks and consume quite a few from my library's digital service. Some suit the medium more than others; occasionally I will start a book on audio and then switch over to reading with my eyes (usually on my e-reader, which is another thing people have plenty of opinions about, but my poor eyesight is thankful I've got a way to turn any book into large print...). If I don't like the narrator, I just can't tolerate an audiobook. Sometimes I switch back and forth depending on my mood. I also often speed up my audiobooks; I feel like narrators are told to read slowly or something, because it is very, very rare that the book "sounds right" to me at normal speed. I vary between speeding it up 1.05x to, on one memorable occasion, nearly 1.5x.
My favourite recent audiobooks have been Louise Erdrich's The Sentence, Bernardine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other, and Madeline Miller's Circe. I think they were great in part because 1) they are all really, really good books 2) in each case the material deliberately lend itself to oral storytelling and 3) the narrators were so well suited to the material.
Louise Erdrich actually narrates The Sentence herself, and I was surprised how much I loved it, because normally I dislike audiobooks narrated by their own authors. Narration is a talent more akin to acting, and being a good author doesn't mean you're a good actor. But Erdrich's narration was magical.
If you're looking for a good audiobook, I highly recommend any of those three.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:10 PM on February 6, 2022
I tried to get into audio books because one of my favorite series of books (the Rivers of London books) is narrated by someone who is pretty much universally loved by the fanbase. But I've found that despite my love of podcasts, I can't follow along with an audiobook. I don't mind if I miss a quick quip or comment, but straight narration past anything more than a short story doesn't work for me at all.
posted by PussKillian at 5:22 PM on February 6, 2022
posted by PussKillian at 5:22 PM on February 6, 2022
I'll bite, having just read Play It As It Lays; how are we supposed to say Maria Wyeth's name, and how do the readers screw it up?
Her given name is pronounced the way Mariah Carey's is. I believe Maria states this on the first or second page of the book, which makes the mispronunciation even more galling. The narrators both pronounce it like Maria Sharapova.
posted by dobbs at 5:24 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Her given name is pronounced the way Mariah Carey's is. I believe Maria states this on the first or second page of the book, which makes the mispronunciation even more galling. The narrators both pronounce it like Maria Sharapova.
posted by dobbs at 5:24 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Audiobooks are what is letting me get back into reading fiction again after ten years away. Sometimes I can't do text as well as I used to anymore for, yeah, attention issues; sometimes I can't do audio either for the same reason. Having both available to me via the magic of text to speak, ebooks, and audiobooks depending on where my brain is has been something I experience as a really important thing.
And yes, I've been devouring the Murderbot audiobooks with great joy. I'm very excited to hear about this Libro thing; I also prefer not to give my book money to Amazon where possible and have been buying mine via Kobo. But Kobo has such a fucking awful app interface if you need to pause unexpectedly and for some reason its audiobooks don't appear as a regular track in my phone. I love Libby but the wait times are often awful. I've been thinking about trying to figure out how to rip DRM from my audiobooks and listen to them on a podcast reader or something, but if Libro has done that work for me I would be terribly pleased.
posted by sciatrix at 7:30 PM on February 6, 2022
And yes, I've been devouring the Murderbot audiobooks with great joy. I'm very excited to hear about this Libro thing; I also prefer not to give my book money to Amazon where possible and have been buying mine via Kobo. But Kobo has such a fucking awful app interface if you need to pause unexpectedly and for some reason its audiobooks don't appear as a regular track in my phone. I love Libby but the wait times are often awful. I've been thinking about trying to figure out how to rip DRM from my audiobooks and listen to them on a podcast reader or something, but if Libro has done that work for me I would be terribly pleased.
posted by sciatrix at 7:30 PM on February 6, 2022
AAAAH LIBRO.FM DOES DRM FREE AUDIOBOOKS SOLD SOLD SOLD
posted by sciatrix at 7:32 PM on February 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by sciatrix at 7:32 PM on February 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
I start up OBS and read another 30 minutes of whatever classic book we’re working through...
Just out of curiosity, what does OBS stand for? Google has all kinds of suggestions, but none of them seem to make sense in this context.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:43 PM on February 6, 2022
Just out of curiosity, what does OBS stand for? Google has all kinds of suggestions, but none of them seem to make sense in this context.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:43 PM on February 6, 2022
what does OBS stand for?
OBS Studio - it's software used for streaming.
posted by scorbet at 1:51 AM on February 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
OBS Studio - it's software used for streaming.
posted by scorbet at 1:51 AM on February 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
I can't follow along with an audiobook.
Yes this is my problem. Or more accurately, going back when I miss something. So easy with the printed page; however, with audio equipment, sometimes not much of an issue, but with other hardware/systems, so difficult! I go back too far, listen again, yes, I remember that part, then maybe miss what I missed, again! More back and forth, jeez -- just give me the hard copy.
posted by Rash at 9:45 AM on February 7, 2022
Yes this is my problem. Or more accurately, going back when I miss something. So easy with the printed page; however, with audio equipment, sometimes not much of an issue, but with other hardware/systems, so difficult! I go back too far, listen again, yes, I remember that part, then maybe miss what I missed, again! More back and forth, jeez -- just give me the hard copy.
posted by Rash at 9:45 AM on February 7, 2022
it helps me stop thinking and fretting enough to relax and get to sleep, and if I wake up during the night I have something to focus on other than whatever my mind is worrying about that day
Same for me (though I did find out the hard way that sometimes the audiobook makes its way into my dreams, and wouldn't really recommend listening to Richard III in this situation...)
The only (other) problem with this is that my mind now associates audiobooks with going to sleep, so I can only actively listen to them if I'm doing something else, or going for a walk or something. Otherwise I'm likely to drift off.
posted by scorbet at 10:17 AM on February 7, 2022
Same for me (though I did find out the hard way that sometimes the audiobook makes its way into my dreams, and wouldn't really recommend listening to Richard III in this situation...)
The only (other) problem with this is that my mind now associates audiobooks with going to sleep, so I can only actively listen to them if I'm doing something else, or going for a walk or something. Otherwise I'm likely to drift off.
posted by scorbet at 10:17 AM on February 7, 2022
The last audiobook I listened to was The Raven Tower a couple years back, and I really enjoyed it despite most of my reading being ebooks or print. I wish I liked them more, but I agree with a few commenters above: so many narrators sound too uncanny-valley, too robotic. Maybe it's the books I've tried, and I've just been unlucky, but thank goodness for audio previews and library loans. Vibing with the narrator's voice is essential before I commit to dozens of hours, especially with a purchase involved.
I still remember getting through the unabridged LoTR during college when I worked in the theater costume shop, and I'm not sure I would have managed it otherwise. Many, many buttons were attached to Rob Inglis' dulcet voice.
posted by lesser weasel at 8:20 PM on February 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
I still remember getting through the unabridged LoTR during college when I worked in the theater costume shop, and I'm not sure I would have managed it otherwise. Many, many buttons were attached to Rob Inglis' dulcet voice.
posted by lesser weasel at 8:20 PM on February 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
I also find it hard to pay enough attention to audio-only, whether it's podcasts, radio plays or audiobooks: I keep finding I've been listening to my inner voice instead. And anything with multiple voices is particularly hard, because unless they've all got really distinctive accents, I struggle to work out who's speaking.
However, they are incredibly useful for keeping me from going insane when doing tasks that involve eyes and hands but not brain. I did a lot of reshelving, and some furniture assembly, while listening to series after series of McLevy on BBC Sounds, and now I can't sit at my desk or choose a book without hearing the protagonist bantering with Jean Brash.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 4:00 AM on February 8, 2022
However, they are incredibly useful for keeping me from going insane when doing tasks that involve eyes and hands but not brain. I did a lot of reshelving, and some furniture assembly, while listening to series after series of McLevy on BBC Sounds, and now I can't sit at my desk or choose a book without hearing the protagonist bantering with Jean Brash.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 4:00 AM on February 8, 2022
But for the audiobook, I don't think I could have gone through George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo.
I'm also always very impressed by authors who narrate their own books well, such as:
Elizabeth Gilbert ("City of Girls")
Ruth Ozeki ("A Tale for the Time Being")
John le Carre ("The Pigeon Tunnel")
Bill Bryson ("The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid")
Peter Hessler, though it pains me to say so, did no favors for his "The Buried" by narrating the audiobook himself.
posted by of strange foe at 7:40 PM on February 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm also always very impressed by authors who narrate their own books well, such as:
Elizabeth Gilbert ("City of Girls")
Ruth Ozeki ("A Tale for the Time Being")
John le Carre ("The Pigeon Tunnel")
Bill Bryson ("The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid")
Peter Hessler, though it pains me to say so, did no favors for his "The Buried" by narrating the audiobook himself.
posted by of strange foe at 7:40 PM on February 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
Narration is a talent more akin to acting, and being a good author doesn't mean you're a good actor.
This is true, and it makes sense that it often does not work out well, but for whatever reason I have been on a run of great audiobooks read by their authors (Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass; Elif Batuman, The Idiot). Conversely, Kristin du Mez' Jesus and John Wayne was so hard to listen to I wondered if the narrator actively hated the book.
posted by mustard seeds at 12:24 AM on February 11, 2022
This is true, and it makes sense that it often does not work out well, but for whatever reason I have been on a run of great audiobooks read by their authors (Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass; Elif Batuman, The Idiot). Conversely, Kristin du Mez' Jesus and John Wayne was so hard to listen to I wondered if the narrator actively hated the book.
posted by mustard seeds at 12:24 AM on February 11, 2022
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The audio book readers also point out a bonus - sometimes you can turn up the speed slightly and get through a book even faster.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:47 AM on February 6, 2022 [5 favorites]