PC Reading List

In an earlier post, I talked about ebooks and audiobooks as an alternative form of reading. This all ties in with an article I wrote more than a year ago at my other blog site, and am now posting here:

When I first “read�” The Da Vinci Code, I didn’t read it at all. I listened to it on audiobook (on my iPod, downloaded from Audible). I only later read the book when some of my students wanted to do an informal discussion group on it. It was an interesting thing to see how different the experiences with the text were.

A little background here. I was a reluctant user of Audiobooks in the first place. I have always loved the feel of book in hand, eyes moving across the page, and the silent spaces in which my mind could be captured by the story at hand. My dad started listening to audiobooks long before I did, and often said how great it was. I was still reluctant to try, feeling it would not be as engaging, and a sort of “cop-out�” as opposed to “real” reading.

The first time I tried listening to an audiobook was on a long roadtrip with my two best friends. We had all been following the Harry Potter series, and the fourth book was coming out just as we were beginning an 20-hour road trip. We listened to the book together, and were delighted by the experience. It was so much fun. You can listen to a book together in a way that you can’t possibly read together. The three of us still (about five years and two Harry Potter books later) often joke about the way Voldemort hisses “Nagiiiini….�” each time he calls to the massive snake.

So, I developed an appreciation for listening in at least one situation — on a long trip with friends. Oh, and only with the caveat that the book should be “fun,�” and something that would provide for plenty of material for chatting over stops for lunch, etc. And so I signed up for an account at Audible (where audiobooks can be quite affordable), and began listening to books I considered “lightweight.�”

Over time, I listened to heavier stuff too — The Iliad was one of my favorite listens. And I began to realize how valuable listening is for certain sorts of texts, especially poetry and plays. I have since listened to a great deal of Shakespeare’s plays, and a great number of poetry collections too.

But it was my experience with The Da Vinci Code that really surprised me. I didn’t expect to find listening to be in any way a more rigorous form of engaging a text than reading. I still considered it secondary, except perhaps for poetry and plays where the aural aspect of language is so important. But I was surprised. In listening to The Da Vinci Code, I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t skim over Teabing’s lectures, and I couldn’t cheat and look ahead (or back even). It required a different sort of attention, I realized, to hear a book instead of to read it.

I was even more surprised by another discovery when I read the book. In reading, the breakdown I find in the narrative, when Teabing begins his lecture, was covered over. It was something I could skim over quickly, and move on to the more important parts of the narrative. But this was not true when listening. The text was fully exposed, and it moved at a pace not of my choosing. The listening experience is not controlled by the listener, but by the reader and the text. It seems obvious to me now, but I had to experience it to realize it. In this sense, I was a more careful and engaged listener than reader. And that has helped me reevaluate my opinion about the two means of engaging a text.

There’s more than one way to read a book. Of course, there’s the traditional paper and ink in hand… still my favorite way to read. But there are limits to reading in the traditional way. You can’t… or at least shouldn’t… read while doing certain activities. It isn’t a good idea to read while driving or walking, for instance. It’s this limitation of reading that finally got me into listening to audiobooks.

Audiobooks. I wasn’t very in favor of the audiobook experience before I started reading them. But then, upon my dad’s recommendation, I started listening. I found it to be great for commutes, and also for walking or exercising. Eventually, I even found that listening can be a whole new way of thinking about the reading process. As I began getting used to the experience, I also began to find real benefits to it. I finally signed up with Audible.com and had a good subscription program going there for a while. (I’ve stopped that until I finish listening to all I have, then will sign up again. It’s very affordable when done this way.) One of the books I listened to and enjoyed was The Da Vinci Code. When I later read the print version, I found it less enjoyable. The narrator added a great deal to the first reading experience.

Ebooks. I’ve talked some about ebooks here. I’ve just begun enjoying ebooks, and have found some real benefits to using the PDA to carry about the books I am reading. While it still has the same limitations of reading a print copy, reading an ebook is convenient just for the sheer volume of material you can carry with you in one little package. When taking long journeys, I think I am going to be very happy that I’ve acquired the habit of reading ebooks.