I’ve noticed that reading a book and listening to the same book gives me different experiences. When I read it myself, I “see” different things than when I listen to it. I think that’s because when I’m reading, I’m “seeing” what I imagine, but when I listen to one, I’m “seeing” what the narrator “sees”.
When I’m talking about books, I do make the distinction between reading and listening due to that. Audiobooks have been around forever, nobody seems at all confused when I use listen instead of read.
Huge difference - you can’t see how people and place names are spelled, you sometimes can’t properly make out words because of the reader’s strange of local pronunciation. And for neologisms - well just forget it - you’re at the mercy of the reader.
This is what I was going to ask about. (I would say “listened to” BTW.) I’ve never listened to an audiobook and was wondering if the experience could be same, for the same reasons flatlined just gave. And Isamu.
Also, reading a printed book allows me to alter the pace as necessary for comprehension. Sometimes I’ll read and re-read a passage several times, either to get all the nuances, or merely because the prose is so beautiful. Other times, I’ll plow through at full speed because nothing that is either difficult to absorb, or awesome to behold, is going on.
I’ll also sometimes back up a few paragraphs if I find myself confused. Very actives process, not at all passive as in "audibling"at the mercy of the reader. Maybe somebody smarter than I am never needs to do this, but I frequently do.