#audiobooks are not the same

[writerystuff]

A SAD REALIZATION

A local bookstore in my area sponsors a monthly science-fiction/fantasy book club. It's not a real “club”; there is no list of  members, there are no dues, and one doesn’t have to formally join. They post on their website a list of the books to be read in the coming months, and anyone who is interested can come and discuss that month's book.

Last month, the book to be discussed was The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett, so of course I had to attend.

To my great surprise, one of the first people who spoke announced, “I couldn't really understand this one at all--I mean, what was going on in this book? What was it about?”

Another participant announced, “I couldn't understand anything the Feegles were saying, so I just skipped those parts.”

There was also, believe it or not, a lot of confusion about the actual names of some of the characters.

One participant spoke very movingly about how much she loved Granny Aching, who took care of not just the sheep and the chalk and the people but also the ship. Say what?

Then I realized that she was mistaking the way the Feegles pronounce “sheep” for an actual ship.

And that's when it dawned on me that most of them had not read the book—they had listened to the audiobook.

Science tells us that multitasking is a myth: you really can't do two things at once. If you’re focused and concentrating on your audiobook, that's when you put your keys in the refrigerator and pour orange juice into your coffee mug. I'm sure many of the people who came to the discussion had listened to the book while driving, or doing something else equally demanding of concentration.

Since that gathering, I can’t stop thinking about how much they missed.

Did any of them pause the book to look up "carlin" or "brose"? (There's a glossary in several of the books in this series.)

Did any of them think to look up the origin of the word “gonnagle”?

Did any of them catch the Gonnagle's sly reference, when he gives the name of the tune he's going to play, to James II?

Did any of them realize that Rob Anybody was quoting directly from The Fairies by William Allingham?

And did any of them catch the reference to Hamlet, Act II, scene 2, when Roland breaks open the walnut?

I don't think so. And Sir Terry really, really deserves better.

Please READ.

[lazylittledragon]

ok someone please correct me if i'm wrong but am i weird for thinking those 'audiobooks don't count as reading' posts are ableist as fuck????

[hellenhighwater]

okay, settle an argument for me. I'm being told it's weird to listen to an audiobook while simultaneously reading a different book. Do you do this? Like, audiobook in your headphones, unrelated book being read at the same time, not just alternating which you're working on by listening to a chapter, then reading a different chapter.

[obsob]

making and weaving and loving! like we have done for millennia!!

[corpseroadking]

HIS DOG!!!!!!!!

[warlordfelwinter]

man thinking about how hopeless rocky must have been getting. alone at tau ceti. trying and failing over and over to figure something out about astrophage. for forty-six years. and then out of nowhere, another ship. another person. with the same problem.

[macaulaytwins]

girl help I’ve become too emotionally invested in this sad gay book series about bastard lacrosse™️ and the yakuza

[alivehouse]

you arent too stupid to get back into reading. i dont know i feel like i see this sort of weird self depreciating sentiment a lot thats like 'oh social media ruined my attention span too badly for me to read books anymore' or 'i cant read anything other than fanfiction' and i promise thats not true. yes it can be hard to get back into it if you havent read anything in a while but it not impossible and you *can* work your way back up to it if its something you want to do. just pick up something pick up anything and chip away at it. if you cant finish it its fine to put it down and pick up something else. but just try at least give it an honest effort. like not to sound an ad for a public library but its not impossible for you to start reading

edit: t.erfs are not welcome on my blog. try reading something other than uselessly reactionary 2nd wave theory from the 70s?

[ofliterarynature]

So you're a young woman cursed to wander the world alone while pursued by a dark entity...

[lizarddealer]

Nothing quite like listening to the Nona the Ninth audiobook while working in a public ceramics studio, and getting to the Paul chapter. And then you have to just sit there like you’re not listening to the most heart wrenching story ever so you don’t just start sobbing in a room full of strangers

[geryone]

Wish celebrities would stop thinking that its okay for them to put out poetry collections

[bookowo]

Alright gang! Now on 3, 2, 1, aaand..... pjõl! 😁👊

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Outdrawn

f/f contemporary romance

two cartoonist who’ve been rivals since uni, and now have competing webcomics online, have to work together on the relaunch of a cult classic at the comic press they both work at

they both struggle with art-related physical and mental health issues, and complicated families

[c00kietin]

the epithet erased brainrot is kicking in.. .. ..

[once-upon-the-earth]

my spotify absolutely knows whats up because ive been listening to the good omens soundtrack on loop (as one does) and now its recommending me merlin soundtrack songs for every second good omens song i listen to

[killingsboys]

people who are saying 'no' on that "is listening to an audiobook the same as reading?" poll are super annoying and i hate that we have this same discourse every couple of weeks but it's reallyyyyyy interesting to me that so many people are saying that you aren't 'interacting' with the story in the same way because, the inherent ableism of that aside, you absolutely can analyze and think critically about a story even if you don't physically read it. you can listen to a story and think deeply about it and i think you're all very very weird to believe you can't. just because you only half-listen to things doesn't mean the rest of us don't pay attention and think deeply about it.