serralinda73 t1_je7srfn wrote on March 30, 2023 at 12:58 AM

I can't tell from this post if you have ever actually listened to one or not. More than one, preferably, before you make some sort of judgment on the entire format.

As someone who never felt the need to try audiobooks then got a job driving for hours every day...audiobooks are definitely comparable to reading, in that - once you adjust to them (and of course, there will be people who just can't get used to them) - the story goes into your brain, just as it would from a book. I often would listen in the car and then get home and continue reading on paper (or ebook). Once I finished the book, I could not tell you which parts I listened to and which I read with my eyeballs.

Is it a slightly different interpretation? Maybe, but my interpretation of any story, however I receive it, will be different from yours. It can even be different depending on what mood I'm in, how old I am, whether I've seen a movie adaptation first, or heard it talked about.

Was I influenced by the narrator when it comes to inflections or emotions? Maybe. But that doesn't mean the narrator's interpretation was wrong, or that it was different from what I would have come up with myself. And I've even disagreed with the reading of a line or scene - which means I'm still absorbing the story and coming to my own conclusions.

Reading a book is receiving a story (or non-fiction) from the author. Reading fiction is storytelling from one person to another, with a system that allows for many, many people to receive it rather than having to be told face-to-face - the original form of storytelling was verbal.

Listening to a story may be slightly different, but it's no less valid. A person who has listened to a book has every right to discuss the contents/message they found in it with people who read the book with their eyes. There is already a sub for audiobooks - mostly people use it to discuss narrators, versions, delivery methods, etc.

If people want to discuss a book, this sub should welcome them no matter how the contents were uploaded into their brains.

jstnpotthoff OP t1_je87q4h wrote on March 30, 2023 at 2:54 AM

This was a relatively well thought out response. And the last two paragraphs make a compelling argument.

Two points:

I didn't make any judgments on audiobooks. I only stated my opinion that they are different and it's actually quite confusing to me that it was interpreted by multiple people that I was somehow implying they're inferior when I explicitly stated that I wasn't judging people who listen to audiobooks.
This isn't r/stories, and movies also tell the same stories, but nobody suggests that watching movies are the same as reading (although I can imagine there are discussions here about movie adaptations, and that I can see where there could be a place for that softens my opinion even more). The fact that there is an r/audiobooks for the discussion of specifically audiobooks is great. I wish there was a thing like that for....books...that are read with eyes. I would have assumed that should be r/books. (Which is also why I conceded that I would also accept a separate r/booksyoureadwithyoureyes.)

The reason you couldn't tell whether I've listened to audiobooks is because it didn't at all matter with regards to the point I was making. I have listened to a few audiobooks and enjoyed them. At least one of them I did go back and forth between reading and listening while on a road trip. A couple I have both listened to and read separately and it was just a completely different experience both times.

It's unfortunately become clear to me that when people say, "omg you have to read this book. It's awesome. I just finished listening to the audiobook." I have to immediately discard it because many books really are just a lot better in audiobook format. (Which makes how offended everyone got assuming I was somehow belittling audiobooks even more ridiculous.) I just wish it was clearer: "hey, I just listened to a great audiobook and I think everyone should give it a listen" would be a better way to put it. A great audiobook often does not mean a great book and vice versa.

I appreciate the discussion (though your response would have been better received without the first paragraph).