I don't listen to them when I'm home -- I like the physical feel of a book and the visual experience of reading. But I love them for road trips. Our family has listened to some great books on long trips: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" was a particular favorite.
Well, they are not the same thing, so why call one the other. I "read" books. I "listen" to audiobooks. Audio books are performed by another. I am a spectator, so to speak, an audience of one. I am certain different things happen in my brain when I listen to someone read to me, as opposed to reading a text myself. And there is something to be said for the text itself. Why are there so many different typefaces if they don't matter?
I think Stephen King gets a bug up his ass everytime he reads something about Harold Bloom, as if Bloom is the one keeping King's books from serious literary consideration (and not his own defective prose). I tend to agree with Bloom about the "inner ear" here, but that may only be because I concentrate much much better when reading an actual book. My mind tends to drift while listening to audiobooks. I rewind constantly. The physical book helps keep me focused.
I also read better while smoking, so it might be my own personal neuroses at work.
I think you're right, Ed, about King regarding Bloom - though I have to say I sympathize a bit with him. I find Bloom rather a pompous ass myself. I confess that I am very low-tech when it comes to reading. I do it myself - but then I don't drive.
I don't listen to them when I'm home -- I like the physical feel of a book and the visual experience of reading. But I love them for road trips. Our family has listened to some great books on long trips: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" was a particular favorite.
ReplyDeleteWell, they are not the same thing, so why call one the other. I "read" books. I "listen" to audiobooks. Audio books are performed by another. I am a spectator, so to speak, an audience of one. I am certain different things happen in my brain when I listen to someone read to me, as opposed to reading a text myself. And there is something to be said for the text itself. Why are there so many different typefaces if they don't matter?
ReplyDeleteI think Stephen King gets a bug up his ass everytime he reads something about Harold Bloom, as if Bloom is the one keeping King's books from serious literary consideration (and not his own defective prose). I tend to agree with Bloom about the "inner ear" here, but that may only be because I concentrate much much better when reading an actual book. My mind tends to drift while listening to audiobooks. I rewind constantly. The physical book helps keep me focused.
I also read better while smoking, so it might be my own personal neuroses at work.
I think you're right, Ed, about King regarding Bloom - though I have to say I sympathize a bit with him. I find Bloom rather a pompous ass myself. I confess that I am very low-tech when it comes to reading. I do it myself - but then I don't drive.
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ReplyDeleteI love audio books. How else can one read while driving???
ReplyDeleteHow can listening to an audiobook be reading? Is watching Masterpiece Theatre reading?
ReplyDeleteAudiobooks are fine -- sometimes listening to one is preferable to reading the book.
But it's a different animal.
As for Stephen King... I think he's quite a fine writer. I enjoyed his latest a lot.