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I'm not sure that it's fair to say that audiobooks are like books passed on orally like those of Homer. Those must have constantly changed and evolved over time. Even written books did that before the printing press. Dr. Bart Ehrman's book "Misquoting Jesus" is all about how that happened in the New Testament. As it was being copied by hand before the printing press more and more things were added and changed.
If that happens with books copied by hand on paper it certainly happens with books passed on orally.
Audiobooks, however, are the book pretty much as it was written. They do take out a lot of the "he said" and "she said", etc. because they're clumsy when read aloud and voice changes can do that better. But that's a natural change. They rarely change or omit or add anything substantial, except in the case of abridged books, which I don't really count.
And just like a printed book, an audiobook is fixed. You can pass it on through generations and it won't change.
I think the question of whether ebooks and audiobooks are really books is too silly to take seriously. Of course the presentation and the format might have some effect but so does the size and paper and cover of a printed book. They're books.
I think I might make an exception for that when there's more than one reader, each reading a different character. I've listened to a few of those and somehow they don't feel like a book to me. I'm not sure I'd argue that they're not but I'm not sure I'd argue that they are either.
Barry
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