Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time behind the wheel of my car, both for work (My job involves driving around visiting libraries, how cool is that?) and for family obligations (there was a round trip to Maine which included a traffic-filled ride up to Vacationland). I actually kind of enjoy driving with the exception of that trip up to Maine. The problem with spending so much time on the road is that it cuts into my reading time. Audio books are my salvation.
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve “read” Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows, The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington and I am in the midst of Looking for Alaska by John Green. Of course, I’ve “read” all of these books without cracking open a single book. While listening to books will never take the place of actually reading a book (and there are some books that I must read the old fashioned way) having a book to keep me company on my driving is a blessing. I can’t imagine what traveling salesmen did before audio books.
I started wondering, just who this wonderful genius was who came up with the audio book. As it turns out, I cannot track down the name of a lone genius behind the audio book. It’s a collaborative effort that has built over time. There were early poetry recordings that predated radio and television entertainment. In the 1930s the Books for the Blind program came into being, and while this is similar to the commercial audio books of today, the program was limited to those unable to read physical books and recording quality lacked a lot of the production values that make commercial audio books such a pleasure to listen to. Caedmon, who continues to publish audio books, began the first true audio book line in 1952. Not until the cassette tape and later the CD came along would audio books become the friends of road warriors of every stripe.
Of course, these days entire books can be easily downloaded to an MP3 player. I still can’t completely grasp the fascination with digital versions of print books, but digital audio books make perfect sense to me. Technology can be pretty cool sometimes.
By the way, behind the wheel isn’t the only thing audio books are good for. There are whole household projects that I might never have made it through were it not for audio books. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig helped me to redo a kitchen floor. Frost on My Moustache by Tim Moore was my companion through a bathroom makeover, and thanks to listening to Tearing Down the Wall of Sound by Mick Brown while painting a bedroom I will always associate Phil Spector with a certain shade of blue paint.
And as for that whole debate about whether listening to an audio book counts as reading, Stephen King weighs in here. He also lists his top 10 favorite audios, which probably wouldn’t be a bad place to start if you were thinking about trying out an audio book yourself.
What about you? Are you an audio book listener? Why or why not?
My Books
I agree with you and Stephen King. Listening can be an important part of the “reading” experience. As you say, it’s not a substitute for reading. But there are aspects of a story that come across more clearly when spoken. I love reading Dickens aloud. He’s hilarious! Sometimes, in reading silently, that dry wit isn’t as obvious; modern readers aren’t as used to those long sentences. But something about speaking the words brings out the intent behind them. We’re forced, when speaking and/or listening, to think about words differently.
Great point, Christina. I remember in elementary school teachers sometimes reading chapter books aloud to us. We were old enough to read on our own, but there was something special about hearing my teacher read Mr. Popper’s Penguins that made the book magical. Not that I am comparing a children’s book to Dickens, but I agree that books weren’t meant to only be read silently.