Controversial opinion: audio books aren't "reading"

[PussyMalanga]

Am I alone in thinking so? When people say "I read fifty books this year" then reveal that half were ones they'd listened to. No!

@Aubergina

Audiobooks are superior for fiction as your brain uses the spare cognitive capacity to create more intense visualisations

I could not disagree with this more. I find audiobook narrators interpret the story for you using inflection, different voices, etc. so they're feeding the story to the listener in a way that prevents them from fully using their creative visualisation powers. I dislike fiction audiobooks for this reason. It feels very limiting.

Audiobooks are not reading, in my view. But they are fantastic and get me through long hours of mind numbing, repetitive tasks. I am less likely to procrastinate if I know that I can have a good story playing while I get stuff done. I love them - not as much as 'proper' books - but I love them.

Anyway, no, listening to an audiobook is not reading. Reading is the act of using your eyes (or fingers) to interpret text from a page. But you're getting the same information from audiobooks as when you read. We just don't have a good word for it. It sounds weird to say, "Oh yeah, I listened to that book last year."

And they helped make Couch to 5K very enjoyable, so much so that I'm still running regularly with my audiobook playing away in the background.

I think of audio books as like listening to the radio. The equivalent of seeing a film version of a book.
I tried an audio book once when I couldn't read due to vertigo, I just kept drifting off and missing huge chunks.

I find it really weird when I download a book to read on my kindle, it immediately asks me if I want to but the audiobook.

Nothing wrong with audiobooks but I like reading books. It’s not that I think listening to the story is inferior but... it’s the reading thing I like. I’m in charge of the pace and the voices, not the audiobook reader.

I listen to a lot of audio books but don't count it as proper reading, of which I do pitifully little these days.

@nancybotwinbloom I don't dream very often, when I do they are quite vivid but to the best of my memory, I don't visualise anything in them. I know I've had more than one dream where I have had to eat something I really dislike. I remember a recent one where I had to eat baked beans, and another dream I had years ago where I had to eat that cheese with cranberries in it. I could taste the taste of both so strongly and it was with me all of the following day both times and kept making me feel sick. I don't think I 'see' much, if anything, but feelings and taste, yes.

I hate the snobbery of this attitude. I love reading but have absolutely zero time to read as I work very long hours and have young children. My only free time is spent cleaning the house or sleeping. I would love to have the luxury of reading a book but the best I can do is listen whilst I do housework or sometimes whilst I do my job. Listening to a book is barely any different than reading it.

I hate this snobbery too.
You are not better for having read a book rather than listened to it.

I am sight-impaired. Audiobooks are a godsend. They allow me to enjoy books and learn from them. I have to concentrate on them to listen to them. I can do some things while listening but only tasks that require no brainpower.

I think children would benefit from being able to process both mediums effectively, particularly as they get older. Reading is important (for anyone who can) but listening is equally important.

Oh, who gives a shit? Just let people enjoy things without needing to feel superior to them

It really doesn't matter in which way a book is consumed but listening to an audio book is not the same as reading print! Would you say oh I read the radio today?

I do both and enjoy them in different ways 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm shocked to see people are saying this view is ableist too? It's just a fact! I wouldn't criticise
/try and correct anyone for saying they had read something which was actually an audio book!

@AnonymousAuroch

Anyway, no, listening to an audiobook is not reading. Reading is the act of using your eyes (or fingers) to interpret text from a page. But you're getting the same information from audiobooks as when you read. We just don't have a good word for it. It sounds weird to say, "Oh yeah, I listened to that book last year."

@AnonymousAuroch How about something along the lines of “ Ah yes I know that one well” or “Definitely a firm favourite m” “Wasn’t too enamoured by that one” or “Didn’t find it gripping”

I am registered partially sighted. I almost exclusively listen to audiobooks because I struggle to read text.

I have a BA in English Lit and am currently doing an MA. So I've somehow managed to complete a literature degree without reading a single book? Erm..

Of course it's reading. What an ableist opinion op.

Should I be excluded from saying I've read xyz book because I'm disabled?

For those suggesting audiobooks don't count as reading by a semantic definition, the Cambridge Dictionary definition of reading is:

the skill or activity of getting information from books

So that would include audiobokks.

@Summerstorms

Oh, who gives a shit? Just let people enjoy things without needing to feel superior to them

This, you put it so much better than I would have done

@MyopiaUtopia

For those suggesting audiobooks don't count as reading by a semantic definition, the Cambridge Dictionary definition of reading is:

the skill or activity of getting information from books

So that would include audiobokks.

Audio recordings aren't books, though! The narrator is doing the reading... the listener is listening. gasp

It's like saying you read a screenplay because you saw it on stage.

But it's not a matter of snobbery or saying that reading is better than listening. They're just different activities with a very similar outcome. Nothing wrong with audiobooks, it's just not "reading".

No, they're not. I still like them though but I only listen to books I've already read.

My dc like them too, especially dc3(7), who is a reluctant reader, she prefers to do it the opposite way to me. She listens to the audio book then reads it to me, knowing where the story is going seems to help her motivation to keep reading the book.

Bloody hell. What a thread of almighty snobs.
Next reading chick lit is not reading, or reading graphic novels is not reading.

What about books on Kindles / not physical books - are they equally unworthy.

The book is enjoyed, thought about, discussed. Let people get on with it.
Fuck sake - this has enraged me (yes I am having a bad fuck the world covid induced rage )

Nothing snobbish about it. Listening to an audiobook is a passive kind of activity, usually done while also doing something else — driving, housework etc. It’s not that it’s a bad thing, obviously, but in absolutely no sense is it the same as reading the same book yourself. And that’s not even considering how frequently audiobooks are abridged.

Too many people are being touchy about this. Reading and audio are two different ways of experiencing books. But they are not the same. One isn't better than the other.

If I completed a 5k circuit on roller skates or a pogo stick, it would be a bit of a push to claim I had run it. I would have expended my energy and achieved the same goal, but in a different way. All good

I listened to Ben Elton's, very funny book, Identiy Crisis on Audio Book. My enjoyment of it was greatly enhanced by the fact it was the author reading it himself, with his enthusiasm and different voices for individual characters. I don't think it would have been so entertaining just reading it.

@HuckfromScandal

Bloody hell. What a thread of almighty snobs. Next reading chick lit is not reading, or reading graphic novels is not reading. What about books on Kindles / not physical books - are they equally unworthy.

The book is enjoyed, thought about, discussed. Let people get on with it.
Fuck sake - this has enraged me (yes I am having a bad fuck the world covid induced rage )

Completely agree. Made me cross too and I don’t even like audiobooks.

@Destinysdaughter

I listened to Ben Elton's, very funny book, Identiy Crisis on Audio Book. My enjoyment of it was greatly enhanced by the fact it was the author reading it himself, with his enthusiasm and different voices for individual characters. I don't think it would have been so entertaining just reading it.

Yes,I listened to a ross o'carroll kelly book during lock down and it was like going to the theatre. Well. OK. Not quite. But the voices were funny!

I must check out Identity Crisis. I've read a few of his books and really enjoyed them.

I love listening to audio books but I'm just aiming to enjoy my time.

But they are being snobbish about it - the very first post - was disparaging about Audiobooks - and they haven’t really been “read”
It was very much implied that it was the lesser activity!