I’ve never listened

This content has been archived. It may no longer be accurate or relevant.

I’ve never listened to an audiobook before, and I have to say it’s a totally different experience. When you read a book, the story definitely takes place in your head. When you listen, it seems to happen in a little cloud all around it, like a fuzzy knit cap pulled down over your eyes.

Robin Sloan

3 thoughts on “I’ve never listened”

  1. I’ve had good and bad experiences, but it really depends on the narrator and subject matter. I listened to the Count of Monte Cristo, and it was like listening to beautiful poetry. I currently listening to a fantasy novel by an author known for his thick tomes and haven’t had as much luck, mostly because of the odd names of characters and the plethora of vocabulary terms for otherwise mundane things and everyday items. Just jumbles on the narrators tongue and into my ears, making me lose track of the action that goes along with it.

    • If someone is a good narrator, any new vocabulary terms are easy to understand, and the names seem natural. Seldom does a good narrator get defeated by a difficult author.

      OTOH, a bad or ignorant narrator (as many famous young actors turn out to be) cannot read much of anything in an understandable way.

      So unfortunately, it would seem that the audiobook company did not pick a narrator who understood the material.

Comments are closed.