Audiobooks

I love audiobooks. Chiefly because they “save time”. Addicted bookworm that I am, I do “take pleasure in many things else”... at least when I have an audiobook playing while I work. I claim, for instance, that I love gardening, but maybe I wouldn't love it as much as I should if it didn't give me long hours with an engaging book. I walk out to the raspberry patch and am reminded of my disgust with Linton Heathcliff as I listened to Wuthering Heights during a productive raspberry season. I walk across the front lawn towards the swing-set, and I have a feeling it was just there that I raked leaves as I listened to Middlemarchers discuss why beautiful Miss Brooke would marry dried-up old Casaubon. Because of my dual-tasking, stories become intimately connected with certain sights, places and slants of light.

Although I've discovered several favorite classics (and refreshed my mind on old favorites) through audiobooks, my “audio-reading” habits are different from my “printed-reading” habits. I must confess I am less discriminate in my listening, because I have to spend time on the work anyways, and it's not taking away from real reading time. Not to say I'm reading trash. (I won't listen to Twilight, because I want to be able to see all the horrible sentence convolutions.) But I might eschew the long historical novel on Elizabeth I in favor of a biography if it wasn't that the novel is available as an audiobook.

When it comes to classics, I feel a little guilty about “reading” them for the first time as audiobooks. I feel like I shouldn't allow my feelings on important books to be shaped by the narrator's smooth and entertaining delivery; I feel like I should be taking constant notes, rather than becoming gradually accustomed to (for example) the shifting points of view in Bleak House on a long, hot summer day.

But maybe I should really be feeling guilty about the non-classic works I listen to as audiobooks. After all, with a classic I know it's been assessed as enduring and I probably won't need to keep my eyes wide open for poorly written or argued areas. Plus, I'll most likely revisit a classic, while I'm less likely to revisit (and therefore reanalyze my conclusions on) a work of biography or historical/biographical fiction. (Which a lot of the books on my list of over 75 audiobooks to order from the library seem to be.)

Despite my penchant for audiobooks, I'm not big on listening to poetry. Certainly there are some beautiful readings out there, but I like to be able to delve into a poet, rather than just hear a few popular pieces. And while I've been moaning and groaning to myself about how I'd like to fit another reading of Paradise Lost in this year, I simply can't imagine trying to listen to THAT being read. I think my poor puny brain would go numb trying to absorb, analyze and organize all the subtly implied ideas.

I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on audiobooks. Do you consider listening to an audiobook equal to reading a book? Do you list audiobooks on the Books Read list? Do you think there are advantages to listening over reading? Or do you think that the listener is too easily distracted or influenced? What are some of your favorite audiobooks? Those are some questions I'd be interested in exploring, but any thoughts on the subject are welcome at any time.