AUDIOBOOKS - yay or nay? // Discussion

Hi Steemians!

If you follow me on Youtube as well you may have noticed that I've recently been getting a lot of flack for my opinions on audiobooks, and I thought I'd expand the conversation to Steemit as well because I'm really interested in hearing different opinions from different people.

Here's what the situation looks like for me:

PROS

1. I think it's great that audiobooks exist at all, especially for visually impaired or dyslexic people, who might not be able to enjoy any of the amazing books out there in the traditional format.

2. Autobiographies are often read by the author him- or herself, which adds an additional layer that can be really special. Some audiobooks (e.g. Yes Please by Amy Poehler) even have actual guest stars to voice their own parts or talk about something that isn't even in the actual book.

3. They're great for on the go. You can be in a car, or walking somewhere, or even doing the dishes and feel productive at the same time because you're listening to a book. Especially useful for people with long commutes or little free time.

CONS

1. For me, the reading and listening experience of books are completely different from one another. When I read a book, I like to feel immersed in the story, maybe imagine myself in the protagonist's place, adding the additional je ne sais quoi that makes reading a book so special. It let's you dive into the world. This doesn't happen to me when I listen to a book instead. The narrator's voice feels distancing and intrusive to me. It's like someone else is barging into the moment that I was trying to have with the book (that sounds cheesy but oh well).

2. When listening, it's much too easy to get distracted. Yes I sometimes drift off mentally when reading a book, but it's super easy to jump back a few lines and just reread them. You can't jump to a certain point as precisely with an audiobook. The risk of being distracted is also much smaller with an actual book, because your eyes and hands are busy as well. I could never just sit and do nothing while listening to an audiobook, which inevitably adds an element of multitasking which leads to me not being as focused on the book as I could be.

3. Reading books isn't simply a transfer of information. There's so many elements to it that can't be recreated by someone simply reading it to you. For example, it's proven that children's vocabulary and spelling skills will improve if they read a lot. Same with grammar, sentence structure, etc. While those last two points could potentially be conveyed in an audiobook as well, spelling certainly can't. Plus, I personally am a very visual person and need to see a word in front of me to remember it, especially when it has a tricky spelling. And I believe even things like grammar are more easily remembered when you actually read them with your eyes.

BOTTOM LINE

At the end of the day, I don't hate audiobooks, but I'm also not a fan. I've recently been listening to some because I got a free Audible trial and I have been enjoying them while walking to university or doing my household chores. But I don't count that as reading. To me, it isn't reading. For me to consider it reading I would have to be much more involved in the process than simply passively absorbing sound.

I find I have less of an issue with nonfiction audiobooks (eg autobiographies), because with those, emphasis is mainly based on conveying information and it feels just like listening to a podcast or a documentary that's on in the background. Nonfiction books don't even try to get you immersed in a story, because it's not a story per se. There will be a narrative, sure, but at the end of the day the point isn't escapism but education.

I feel like I also need to add that I have nothing against people who do consider audiobooks "reading". Everyone's experience is different and some really might feel the exact same way, whether they're listening to an audiobook or reading a physical copy with their eyes. That's just not the case for me and never will be.

On Youtube I mention a lot that I have this pet peeve of people saying they "read a book as an audiobook", or simply "read an audiobook". Sure, it's petty but come on, you can't actually read an audiobook. Maybe it's just me being nitpicky.

Anyways, that's all I have on the topic of audiobooks. What do you guys think? Do you listen to audiobooks regularly, and if so - how does that experience compare to actually reading books?

Happy reading (or listening ;))
xx
ivymuse