Thursday Thought: Audiobooks

Reading books versus listening to them. I've been thinking about this for a little while because I love audio books, I always have, but I do know that not everyone views them in the same way I do. Some people just don't get along with them, so don't bother with them, but others will quite adamantly say that it doesn't count as reading and is worth less.

Obviously listening and reading are two different skills and I don't think they can really be compared. But that doesn't mean that one is better than the other either. If I was blind I wouldn't be able to read so I would have to listen to all of my books, and I don't think anyone would dare tell me that I was missing out. Listening to stories is also the oldest way of communicating stories. Before we learnt how to write things down and preserve them, people told each other stories and simply had to remember them. As children we are read to and then we learn to read to others. Personally, I think that listening to a story connects to a different part of you. Reading is solitary, but being read to or listening to an audio book can be more social. As a kid my mum and I would listen to audio books in the car on the way to school, when we went away on holiday my Dad had to suffer through audio book versions of Animal Ark books until I got my own personal cassette player. Nowadays I listen to audio books as I work or when I'm in the bath. Audio books can be solitary too of course, but I do think that having a story read out loud is already more social than reading to yourself.

Most people seem to argue that you get more out of a book by reading it yourself, and maybe that is true for some but not everyone. Not everyone enjoys the act of reading. My fiancé does not like reading books, he finds it boring. He'd rather be doing something interactive. Although I do also think that he was simply given boring books to read as a kid and not encouraged enough to stick with it. I think that for people like him an audio book can be very appealing. Yes, reading is very important because it teaches us key skills such as spelling, grammar, how to use language and how to think critically, so I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't encourage people to read. Of course we should, but there's also no harm in listening to books too.

I wonder if this reaction is because these people love books and feel that they are somehow threatened, similar to when people argue that TV, film and video games are causing less kids to read, which I think is a bit silly. I do believe that there will always be people wanting to read as long as there are good books to read, but they do need to be accessible and that's why I actually think eBook readers, Kindles etc are a good thing. I also believe that the only way to get kids to read is to set a good example, encourage them and buy them good books.

A few years ago The New York Times did an article about audio books and some of the authors they interviewed expressed that they don't want people to listen to their books, they would prefer them to read them. I honestly don't care if people read or listen to my writing. For all I know you could have someone reading this to you right now. It doesn't matter to me. Who am I to tell you how to enjoy something?

The most important aspect to me when it comes to audio books is how it's read. Some audio books are pretty dire and the reader is terrible boring, whereas others breathe life into the writing and make it a wonderful experience. As I said the other day, I have been listening to audio book version of Terry Pratchett's books which are read by Tony Robinson and they are fantastic, possibly the best audio books I've listened to. Robinson is one of those readers who seem to be enjoying the story too, he also likes to do voices for the characters which would fail for many books but is perfect for Terry Pratchett's writing. I think that a lot of that comes from him also being an actor, but I do wish that all audio book readers were as enthusiastic as him.

I just think it's important for us all to enjoy and experience stories. I love stories and I want to be surrounded by them, whether I am reading them for myself or having them read to me. To say that audio books are not as good as reading for yourself smacks of elitism and that doesn't sit well with me. We are all different and we don't all enjoy the same things.

Page Turners: A Clash of Kings

I am currently reading:

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

From Goodreads:

A comet the color of blood and flame cuts across the sky. Two great leaders--Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon--who hold sway over an age of enforced peace are dead, victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns. Six factions struggle for control of a divided land and the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, preparing to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war. It is a tale in which brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles.

Page Turners: The Demon's Watch

I am currently reading:

The Demon's Watch by Conrad Mason

My copy has the proof cover so I don't get to look at this version which makes me a little sad. It certainly gives the impression that it's going to be an exciting "tale of magic and skulduggery" doesn't it? I'm not very far into it but so far The Demon's Watch has proven to be pretty cool and I can imagine that most small boys, and lots of small girls, would adore it. Within the first few pages we have goblins, ogres, pirates, lots of shady grog swilling characters and a fight. Fantastic! Grubb, the main character, is also instantly likely and I really want him to succeed in everything he does. So I'm looking forward to finding out!

From Amazon:

'We're the Demon's Watch, son. Protectors of Port Fayt. Scourge of all sea scum. Don't tell me you've never heard of us?'
Half-goblin boy Joseph Grubb lives in Fayt, a bustling trading port where elves, trolls, fairies and humans live side by side. Fed up of working at the Legless Mermaid tavern, Grubb dreams of escape - until a whirlwind encounter with a smuggler plunges him into Fayt's criminal underworld. There he meets the Demon's Watch and learns of their mission to save the port from a mysterious and deadly threat. Can Grubb and his new allies uncover the dark plot in time, or will they end up as fish food in Harry's Shark Pit?

Page Turners: 0.4

I am currently reading:

0.4 by Mike Lancaster

From Amazon:

It's a brave new world. 'My name is Kyle Straker. And I don't exist anymore.' So begins the story of Kyle Straker, recorded on to old audio tapes. You might think these tapes are a hoax. But perhaps they contain the history of a past world...If what the tapes say are true, it means that everything we think we know is a lie. And if everything we know is a lie does that mean that we are, too?

Feature Friday: Video Games Are More Creative Than Reading

"Video games are more creative than reading" [source]

Katamari Damacy is definitely creative!

Or at least so say award-winning playwright Lucy Prebble and this has caused more than a few people to be aghast by such a notion. But why? Prebble believes that video games are more creative because you are more involved in them than you are with books or watching films. She also believes that gaming is an artform, just like theatre.

I can understand that view because in some ways you are passive when reading because you're not controlling the characters or the stories whereas with games you are, some more than others. However at the same time when you are reading you have to imagine the world and characters, whereas with games that is all done for you. One thing they both have in common is that you need to remember what's happened before you paused or put the book down so that you can continue onwards and you also have to invest in the story and characters so that you can get something out of it.

I've heard some people claim that books are obviously better because you get an emotional response from them, where as you don't with games. That's just silly. I can think of more games that have made me laugh than books. I can also think of more films that have made me cry than books. But that doesn't make one better than the other. I still love books because they are a solitary thing whereas games and films are more of a shared experience.

Lucy Prebble from: The Guardian

I doubt that Prebble meant to upset anyone with her comments. She's a writer herself so she obviously loves the written word, but she also loves games and there is nothing wrong with that.

I do agree with one comment she made. I do think that a lot of parents fear that if their kids get into video games then they'll become pasty little fatties who grunt very so often when they want more crisps or coke and only talk online to their fellow gamers. But seriously, that's just ridiculous and if you're even a semi-decent parent you don't have anything to fear. Just tell them to turn it off and shove them out the front door every so often to go play in the park. It's not like reading a book can make you lose weight either, you're still sitting around and not talking to anyone, yet we would rather our kids read.

You can have both. I adore books and I adore video games too. We own all the current generation consoles as well as a lot of older and retro consoles too. We have hundreds of games. I watch TV a lot, films a lot and play a game for a few hours every day or so. But I also read every night before I go to bed. I also go outside and I'm certainly not a pasty little fatty...although I am pretty pale.

This is one of those cases where you really can have it all. Games are fun and creative outlets and they can be social too, books are fun and creative, films are fun and creative. At the end of the day it's about how you use these things. If you're just staring blankly at the screen and going through the motions like a robot then no, it's not good. But the same can happen if you're reading a really boring book, you won't take anything in.

I love that Prebble has such positive things to say about video games, we need more people to stand up and reassure parents that their kids will be fine if they play games, as long as they're still good parents. My only issue is that by saying such a thing you are potentially pushing kids away from books and that's not a good thing. We all need to read more, stories are a huge part of our culture and history, there are so many ways to experience them so why not try and find as many ways to do that as possible? 

The Great Gatsby, also a NES game!

ENJOY ALL THE STORIES!