09-15-2018, 01:56 AM | #1 | ||
The Couch Potato
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Ages old debate of reading vs. listening to books
I was reading this interesting article on the ages old debate of reading vs. listening to books.
Are Audiobooks As Good For You As Reading? Here’s What Experts Say I found two of the arguments particularly fascinating, in support of the two different schools of thoughts, which are worth consideration and debate. Quote:
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09-15-2018, 02:11 AM | #2 |
Evangelist
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I have not heard of this age-old debate. To me it seems the formats are too different for comparison.
An audiobook may be good when looking at a page/screen is unfeasible, e.g. while driving, but otherwise I consider page/screen far better, because you can re-read and flip back and forth comfily. Namely, I mostly read for research, so I often have to even flip back and forth between different files/books. Fiction may be fine in audio format, but I have my doubts how good the people are who do the voicing. An automatic text-to-speech is usually crappy. A paid actor may be less than enchanted about the task and this will necessarily be reflected in the voice. An entire radio-theatre like performance may be the best option. Then occasionally the end-user is forced to a specific role. People whose eyes are worn out must explore audio options. Those hard of hearing must keep leafing. |
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09-15-2018, 07:40 AM | #3 | |
Wizard
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Absent any of those cautions, read. |
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09-15-2018, 09:20 AM | #4 |
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09-15-2018, 09:41 AM | #5 |
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09-15-2018, 09:42 AM | #6 | |
o saeclum infacetum
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I think it's obvious you've rushed to judgment without ever trying an audiobook. They may well not be for you. You'll never know, though, if you dismiss them out of hand because you've decided in advance they can't be good. |
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09-15-2018, 11:12 AM | #7 | |
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It so happens that I have tried audiobooks. I would never ever pay for something that might be a machine-read text-to-speech mp3. These are the worst type of audiobooks that potential customers should be aware of. And it so happens that I mostly do non-fiction, hardly ever fiction. I am highly sensitive to when the narrator does not understand what he is reading. Non-fiction is all about intellectual understanding, just like fiction is about emotional emphasis. Neither is simply about correct pronunciation. Too bad if the narrator misses the point in either case. For fiction, radio drama is the best possible audio format, in my opinion. If those were on sale, I would perhaps pay for them, but I tend to find them for free on radio station websites. |
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09-15-2018, 12:57 PM | #8 | |
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09-15-2018, 01:03 PM | #9 |
monkey on the fringe
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For me, audiobooks over ebooks any day.
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09-15-2018, 01:33 PM | #10 |
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I just can't get on with audiobooks. I don't think that I'm wired to appreciate auditory simulation. I've tried audiobooks, but I find my mind wandering and suddenly realise I just missed half a chapter. I seem to be able to concentrate far better (i.e. at all) when reading.
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09-15-2018, 02:00 PM | #11 | |
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09-15-2018, 02:29 PM | #12 |
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For me, audiobooks really depend on the narrator. Some, I will listen to the first few paragraphs and immediately determine that I simply cannot listen to the entire book. FWIW, in my case, most audiobooks fall into the "I can't listen to the entire book" category. I find it horribly annoying when the narrator tries to create uniquely different voices for each character. They typically fail badly at that. What they usually end up with is a bunch of annoying sounding morons as characters.
An example of a good narrator IMHO, who also happens to be the books author, is Bill Bryson. I loved his reading of his own book, "In a Sunburned Country". I want to go back someday and listen to his reading of "A Walk in the Woods". But since I've already read the book (wonderful!), and seen the movie (just OK), the audiobook is a bit down towards the end of my list. Probably I will read/listen to some of his other books before circling back to listen to Woods. |
09-15-2018, 02:45 PM | #13 |
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Some narrators do it excellently. The narrator of the "Amelia Peabody" series of Egyptological mysteries does a wonderful job with character voices, and it really enhances the listening experience.
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09-15-2018, 03:17 PM | #14 |
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Audio books don't stop with life's interruptions, while e-books (and dead tree) ones wait for your eyeball to return.
I find trying to rewind to the proper place... well, Trying |
09-15-2018, 03:20 PM | #15 |
Well trained by Cats
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If it was not for the narrators 'voices', TTS would be making the BPH bean counters ecstatic
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