I suspect this varies quite a bit from person to person. Some people’s brains seem to be better at interpreting things they read, other people’s at interpreting things they hear, and some are pretty good at both.
Audiobooks aren’t “cheating” or inferior if you (the listener) are capable of appeciating and enjoying a book that way, as well as you are when reading it with your own eyes.
But I’ll add a couple of caveats.
One is that some audiobooks are abridged, although this was far more common back in the old days when they were pretty much all on tape (or occasionally vinyl). Hearing an abridgement is of course not the same as reading the entire, unabridged work.
The other is that, when listening to an audiobook, your experience of what the author has written is being filtered through the mind of the narrator, who may be putting a different spin or interpretation on things than what you would get reading it for yourself. This is not necessarily a bad thing—and in a few cases is how the writer intended their work to be experienced—but it does mean there’s someone between you and the author (as there would be if you were reading a translation).
I am, and have always been, an avid reader. I took up audio books a few years agjo and now exclusively read books via audio. I take a 60-minute walk each day, and listening to a good book certainly makes the hour pass more quickly. I’ve also taken some long solo road trips in recent years, and audio books are definitely a plus on those trips.
thanks for all the helpful responses. The other day I realised just how many books I have in my To Read list and wondered if I would ever get around to reading them. There just isn’t enough time before bed or in the bathroom.
However, I regularly exercise on a stationary bike, usually watching Netflix. I was wondering whether I should use that time for audiobooks instead. But I had my doubts as mentioned in my OP.
So it seems that in terms of experience, audiobooks could be a good option, at least in some cases. I should add that I also listen to lots of podcasts during my commute, so the audio non-fiction thing definitely works for me.
But I don’t think this thread has discussed much about the cognitive impacts of reading vs listening. How do the two compare in terms of vocabulary acquisition, grammar skills, abstract reasoning etc? I am sure that if my 8th grade daughter asked her teacher if she could substitute the audio version of Les Miserables (unabridged) for the written version, she would receive an resounding no.
Why are you sure? Some teachers are fine with their students “reading” books that way (sometimes for whoever wants to, sometimes just in the case of students who have trouble reading because of something like dyslexia or vision issues).
Is the unabridged Les Miserables really required reading for an eighth grader?
I enjoy both but I’m far more likely these days to listen to an audiobook than sit down and just read a book. Audiobooks allow me to drive, do dishes, chores, etc and read at the same time. Also, I love using them to re-read favorites or even just fall asleep to a well-worn favorite, something I could not do with a book. I find it easier to break into a new author through an audiobook- I’m a terrible skimmer when I read and audiobooks force me not to do that and allow the book a better chance to get into my brain.
In the spring/early summer is a time that I do prefer to read on my Kindle app, because I will sit outside on the patio and hang out with the birds and maybe a glass of wine. That can be very enjoyable but I don’t often enjoy that kind of reading if I’m inside.
Yeah, I did mention that as a reason- lots of driving or flying does lend itself to audiobooks.
I just know a lot of people who flat out don’t actually read, but are totally into audiobooks (and call it reading), and I find it a little bit strange. I mean I’m glad they’re reading, but discussing the book when it’s consumed in different ways like that doesn’t quite line up. What I get is that a lot of the time, they’re sort of having a meta-reaction to the way the narrator reads the parts- the excitement and skill they use to read, and the pacing they use. I get the impression that a lot of the time, who reads it is almost as important as what they’re reading, which is kind of a weird thought as a text reader. And a lot of that tends to change the emphasis- to use a book that I have both read the text and listened to the audiobook, Fellowship of the Ring was very different- reading the text, I found different parts of the text interesting than I did in the audiobook- the latter tended to center rather naturally on the dialogue between characters, while I tended to focus more on the descriptions of things and places and on the events.
It’s more… intimate(?) between me and the author when I’m reading the text, while the audiobook has another (albeit light) layer of interpretation in there and while I don’t think it detracts from the source material, it’s definitely a different experience.
I think part of it is me. I can’t stand video reviews of things. Even when they’re organized, they’re still pretty much shambolic messes that you have to wade through to get to the meat of it. I also really dislike podcasts- same thing. Unless it’s something interactive with interviews and guests, it can almost always be done more concisely and more coherently in an article or essay. And I can read that faster and retain it better in the bargain.
For me audiobooks have a very limited place, and that’s on long car drives- upwards of four hours or so, where we can play a book and listen while the miles tick away. My wife generally finds them to be sleep-inducing, so we don’t often do it, except on summer road trips, etc…
Surely it would depend on what is being taught. If you want the kids to learn to read better, of course you wouldn’t allow an audiobook (at least, not all by itself - maybe as a follow-along thing, though?)
But if you’re teaching the book itself - it’s themes, story structure, what have you, there’s less of an issue. And then there’s the specific example of a famous book in French. The audiobook might even be better, by teaching proper pronunciation for a student learning both written and spoken French.
Hmmm… I have no difficulty with my imagination being stimulated by audio vs. written text. I can’t imagine that a majority of humans would, otherwise oral storytelling traditions would have been somewhat pointless.
One thing that does vary from person to person is that some people hear the words in their head while reading silently to themselves but others don’t (and some people do only sometimes)—see the old SDMB thread “Do you hear words in your head when you read?” for anecdotal evidence and discussion.
That may or may not be relevant to this thread, but I can’t help wondering if there’s a correlation between whether a person hears the words in their head when they read and how much they appreciate audiobooks. And, if there is, what sort of causation is involved.
There are few instances where a teacher is just “teaching a book.” They’re teaching a long list of skills utilizing that book.
Some skills acquisition is compatible with audiobooks, some isn’t. It’s going to come down to what the teacher is trying to accomplish at a given point in the year.
And I cannot be the only kid who anxiously awaited my turn on the record player or tape deck to listen to books in elementary school. This isn’t a new thing.
Interesting thought. I’m definitely in the ‘not hearing words when I read’ category.
And I don’t think I’ve ever used audiobooks.
I’m a fast reader, also I tend to editorialise while reading… if a paragraph is obviously filler ‘purple prose’, I skip as soon as that becomes obvious. (Too many of those and the book goes into the DNF bin, of course).
But on the other hand, I often think things like: hang on, two chapters ago they said this but now??
So I like to be able to flip the pages of an actual book.
That’s me as well. Should we start a support group?
If anyone’s thinking “I like the idea, but when would I find time to listen?”, how well do you multi-task? I get bored just doing just one thing (like housework, or a repetitive task), so listening to a book speeds things up.
Here’s my list. Anyone have others?
• Working out - I bribe myself with “okay, if I stop by the gym, I’ll get to hear who shot who in the what…”
• Biking. Not in heavy traffic, but we have long, wide bike paths. The most common note that I leave for my wife is “Out on bike!”
• Housework as well as yardwork. I even have noise-cancelling headphones for vacuuming and mowing.
• And driving, of course. But I purposely add drive time to my day: My wife knows I’d love to go on any errand she needs.
Mom’s out of gin? I’ll drop some by… and she lives two hours away!
And…
• Falling asleep. And BACK asleep.
My biggest impediment to sleep is thinking about my problems. Can’t do that with a book going. Low volume of course, with a calming British narrator, and not so exciting that I stay awake for it… my brain knows I’m just going to rewind in the morning, so I won’t miss anything.
Orville_mogul, do you enjoy reading? The wording of your OP seems to indicate that you think the inherent value in reading is primarily its ability to enhance your brain’s capabilities.
This is me. I drive a lot, so listen to a lot of audiobooks.
The good thing about listening is it’s usually the actual author. For example, Butler to the World, about London being the epicenter of funneling money, is narrated by the British author. I liked listening to his voice and it added something extra, and since he wrote it, he knew what to emphasize and how best to articulate each sentence.
With that said, when the narration is bad, even if it’s just an amateur mic, it’s fucking horrible. Or if you read a book with recipes, addresses, charts, etc. they just read all that shit word for word with no context and it’s awful to listen to. It’s not meant to be read aloud, it’s meant to be looked at.