On Audiobooks and Snobbery

Sometimes, you’ll see squabbles on the Socials where someone grumps that audiobooks ‘aren’t reading’. I have little time for snobbery, of any type, and audiobooks are perfectly legit (of course they are), as are genre books, graphic novels, comics, children’s books, whatever you choose. Reading is good. It teaches you empathy and fuels your imagination, we know this.

But, why pick an audiobook over its print sibling? Other than those lovely Audible credits?

First, because you’ll take in every word. Sometimes we all get lazy, and our eyes skim printed pages. We don’t mean to, it just sort of happens. An audiobook will lead you, ensuring that you take in every word, just as the author intended. Whether you tweak it to 1.5 speed or not, every last word, phrase and paragraph is carefully pronounced by the narrator, and poured into your waiting ears.

Second, because audiobooks leave your eyes and hands free to do something else. Paint figures, for example, or do the garden, or the housework, or whatever other mundane task you’ve been putting off. They add a sprinkle of magic to your day, and they’ll make that task fly by.

Third, audiobooks are great travel companions. On a noisy and overcrowded bus, train or Tube (or a noisy and overcrowded anywhere else, to be fair), they’ll keep the hordes at bay, giving you a safe little island of your own. On a longer journey, they’ll allow you to stare out of the window and sip your tea, watching the fields roll by.

Fourth: audio books are great for increased atmospherics and scene setting. If you’ll forgive me tooting my own, hearing Sister Augusta’s hymnals brings she and her squad a whole new level of life, passion and legitimacy, making their faith and zeal so powerful. I’ve heard their hymns in my head, of course, but hearing them sung back to me is truly magical.

Audiobooks can have drawbacks. I have a particular memory of stumbling across a graphic, spit-and-rasp sex scene, while on a packed commuter train, and just not knowing where to look. And sometimes, as with any other book, you’ll get distracted and your attention will wander. You’ll find yourself coming back to the narrative in the middle of a sentence and not knowing quite what you missed. And, as you can’t just flick back the page, you’ll have to either skip it completely, or muck about trying to locate where you were.

Plus, the enjoyment of any audiobook can really depend on the skill and versatility of the narrator/s. Good ones can bring the story to life, each and every situation and character and leaving you riveted. On occasion, sadly, they can do the exact opposite. Which is a shame.

The biggest thing, though?

For me, audiobooks are important to my writing. I tend to write (and edit) aloud, always have done, and I read my work the to kitchen when it’s done, listening to the cadence and the way the words go together. And audiobooks can really help with that, in the same way that studying print makes you a better author, as you learn how to structure those sentences and paragraphs for yourself.

At the end of the day (or the story), you read to make yourself a better writer. You read about what you know, you read what you don’t, so you can gain a better understanding. You read in the format your prefer, you read in other formats, because those also expand how you think. You read for research, you read for pleasure and your break from our current hellscape. You read for the sheer joy of reading.

And you can tell the snobs to Do One, because isn’t that what matters?

Reading: R F Kuang’s Yellowface, on audiobook, and I can’t recommend it enough. If you’re a writer, or a publicist, or involved in any way with the publishing/book industry or Social Media, you will see yourself, and your surroundings, in this book. It’s sharp as a claw, dealing with some very complex political and racial issues, and it draws blood in the best way.

Watching: Just finished Gravity Falls and my GODS that was AMAZING. If you haven’t seen it, I can’t recommend it highly enough and do check out my son’s fan-trailer, here.

Playing: Still haven’t restarted Baldur’s Gate (though I really want to) as I have too much to do, but we’re finally hitting the end of our D&D campaign in Sigil, and on the Infinite Staircase. What next for my intrepid Githzerai monk? Only time and dice will tell…