The Book Pirate’s Musings on… Audiobooks
The Book Pirate’s Musings on…
Audiobooks
I have recently found myself in a weird place: Klamath Falls, Ore. According to Wikipedia KF has a population on 20,720 and was originally called Linkville. It’s really boring here. When I first arrived I went looking for a used bookstore that according to Google was along Main street. The only thing I found when I located the address was a giant sign in the window that read “For Lease”. I took this 5 1/2 hour drive down from Portland to visit my family. Since a drive that long could be considered “5 1/2 hours of doing nothing” I opted for the audiobook route that most people take on road trips.
I remember when I was younger driving down to southern California with my parents and siblings and packed inside a minivan. This was back in the day when cassette tapes were still pretty nifty. To make the 8 hour drive go by faster, and to prevent an all out backseat battle between us kids, we listened to audiobooks. At the time my reading selections mainly focused on Goosebumps or Choose Your Own Adventure books, so it was a rare treat that I would get exposed to adult novels. One in particular that stood out was Peter Benchley’s The Beast or maybe just Beast . Basically it was about a giant squid that ate people or something. Benchley seemed to have been stuck in a writing rut and wrote solely about animals eating people. He also wrote Jaws .
During my 5 1/2 hour drive down to KF, I decided to listen to Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency . The only other Adams’ books that I have read are the required Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series which I am still waiting to be turned in to a college credit class. I think now that I have transitioned from 8 year old in the back seat wish I had a GameBoy to a 23 year old driving while trying not to fall asleep, something about the allure of an audiobook has changed. I have become a more avid reader in those short 15 years. When I read I am actively looking at sentence structure, noting the word usage, and the gaps in between paragraphs. Needless to say, the audiobook loses something in the transition from paper to cassette (or in my most resent case, iPod).
However, I have listened to Augusten Burroughs’ Possible Side Effects (before reading the book) and Magical Thinking (after reading the book). I enjoyed both of these very much mainly because they were read by the author and didn’t deal with the constant switch from character to character. Burroughs’ books felt more like someone was telling me a story instead of being read one which I think is a pretty important aspect of audiobooks. With audiobooks you can’t easily go back a few sentences and reread something you may have missed. It’s important to listen carefully to the words being spoken to you. Because of this, I have concluded that audiobooks are horrible is you are the driver but pretty damn okay if you are the passenger.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:13 am
I think who reads the book makes a huge difference, as you mentioned. I've only listened to one audiobook, “I am American (and so can you)” by Steven Colbert. The lucky plus to this was that it was read by him on the audiobook version as well. If it had been read by someone else I definitely wouldn't have enjoyed it as much.
My parents also tried the audiobook thing on a roadtrip with us. Unfortunately they chose “The Book of Mormon” as their selection.
One last thing, you should try “Last Chance to See” by Douglas Adams. It's nonfiction, but still entertaining. It's sort of a mix between a travel book and commentary on endangered species.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I listened to about half of I am American on audiobook as well. It seemed like it would make a fine audiobook. However, I think I made the mistake of trying to listen to it in long sittings. With that type of book I think you should listen to it in short bursts or else it feels like a less relevant, extended version of his show.
Last Chance To See is a book i've been meaning to pick up.
June 30th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
I think who reads the book makes a huge difference, as you mentioned. I've only listened to one audiobook, “I am American (and so can you)” by Steven Colbert. The lucky plus to this was that it was read by him on the audiobook version as well. If it had been read by someone else I definitely wouldn't have enjoyed it as much.
My parents also tried the audiobook thing on a roadtrip with us. Unfortunately they chose “The Book of Mormon” as their selection.
One last thing, you should try “Last Chance to See” by Douglas Adams. It's nonfiction, but still entertaining. It's sort of a mix between a travel book and commentary on endangered species.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
I listened to about half of I am American on audiobook as well. It seemed like it would make a fine audiobook. However, I think I made the mistake of trying to listen to it in long sittings. With that type of book I think you should listen to it in short bursts or else it feels like a less relevant, extended version of his show.
Last Chance To See is a book i've been meaning to pick up.
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