Note: I originally posted this in a previous blog about 10 years ago, in February or March of 2014.
I’ll admit it. Since 1999, most of the books I’ve “read” I haven’t actually read. That’s not to say I’m lying when someone brings up a particular title and I say, “Oh, I’ve read that” without elaborating. I really do feel like I’ve read the book, but I am still a little sheepish with admitting it, even as my consumption of narrated versions of both fiction and nonfiction continues to grow.
And increasingly I’m not alone.
In her recent op-ed in the New York Times (“Audiobooks and the Return of Storytelling”), T.M. Luhrmann describes the skyrocketing growth in sales of audiobooks over the last few years. That makes sense, doesn’t it? Technology combined with services like Audible has made it incredibly easy to wirelessly download a whole library of audiobooks to your phone. Responding to increasing sales, publishers are offering more and more titles every year. According to Luhrmann, “That year [2012], 13,255 titles came out as audiobooks, compared with 4,602 in 2009.”
If, like me, you were already sold on audiobooks back in the bad old days when you had to feed bulky cassettes into a tape player, and this only after physically (gasp!) visiting a library or bookstore, then you’ll agree with me that we’ve entered a golden age of the format. Having gone from cassette tapes to CDs to MP3 files uploaded via wire, to wireless download straight to an app on my phone, I can’t imagine how audiobooks could be made any more convenient. What’s next? Uploading books directly into your brain a la “The Matrix”?
Like many Americans, I have what I would call a long commute to work: 40 minutes one way or 1 hour, 20 minutes back and forth. And that’s under ideal circumstances. Some days I’m certain that the only thing standing between me and a bad case of road rage is the book I’m listening to. And thanks to audiobooks, I can dedicate more than 6.5 hours of my work week to books. Since 1999, that’s amounted to around 260 titles (I have a list). Most of these I wouldn’t have read otherwise.
Without audiobooks I wouldn’t have become acquainted with Katniss Everdeen, Harry Potter or Kinsey Millhone. The science fiction novels I’ve enjoyed these past 15 years have been almost entirely in audio format as well. I’ve listened to several Pulitzer, Man Booker and National Book award-winning novels I’m sure I would have never gotten around to otherwise.
Being a slow-ish reader who always feels pressed for time has added to my appreciation—my love—of the format. And in addition to driving, I regularly cook, wash dishes, iron shirts, among other chores while enjoying books ranging from Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections” to Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. I’ve also dabbled in nonfiction, history mostly.
But is it fair to say that I’ve “read” these books? I certainly know the plots and the main characters, but what about the finer points? What might I be missing?
Luhrmann describes the difference this way:
“I find that when I listen to a story, instead of reading it on a page, my memory of the book does change. I remember more of the action and less of the language, although sometimes when I listen a sentence will drop into my mind and shock me into attention in a way that is less common when I read.”
Personally, I know I’m a pretty attentive audiobooks listener, which is a little scary considering how often I’m in my car. Fortunately most of my daily commute is on an interstate and can be pretty mindless. The point is that I don’t think I miss much I would otherwise get if I were reading printed text.
And for the record, I don’t bother with abridged versions. That really seems like cheating and seems to completely drain the surprise from a mystery, by the way. Abridgments seem to be the exception instead of the rule nowadays anyway.
I also don’t challenge myself too much. No Proust, no Shakespeare, no Faulkner and no Joyce. I tried a couple times, Proust I think, but I felt like I was missing too much and was spending a painful amount of time rewinding to catch what I missed. I also find books loaded with long passages of description don’t work well. I need something that holds my attention with dramatic action or at least beautiful language that moves along without being too dense.
I even will try to take notes, although that usually has to wait until I get home or at least am at a traffic light. I do savor the printed word more, which why I still love reading printed books when I can.
So, I do concede that reading a book is a deeper experience for me than listening to one, with more time built in for mulling over images or ideas and jotting notes. But I don’t think I’m cheating anyone, least of all myself, by claiming I’ve read a book when I’ve only listened to it. The experience is still pretty deep.
And I can wash my car at the same time.
The Swansonian 