The Illusion of Communication

Inspired by an article in The New York Times (registration required to read the article), I decided to write a little bit about books and different ways to consume them.I would consider myself an avid reader. At least I have been in the past. We have quite the book collection at the house and I can say that I have honestly read the vast majority of the books on the shelves.

However, I will also admit that I did most of my reading prior to 1998. After that I just didn’t have a lot of time on my hands. And since my first child was born … well, let’s just say that it’s hard to find a quiet hour or so to do anything besides the next thing on the to-do list.

Since 2002 (the birth year of my first born), I’ve read the following books:

1. Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino
2. Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman
3. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
4. Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco
5. A couple of business books.

That’s not very impressive for someone who consideres himself an avid reader, even with the cumbersome Foucault’s Pendulum thrown in there. Cosmicomics and Einstein’s Dreams are very short (less than 150 pages) and all except Eco’s work are relatively easy reading (Calvino might be an exception, too).

Basically, I just don’t have the time to read any more. I just can’t find the couple of hours in a day or even in a week to sit peacefully with a book. And when I do, I’m too anxious about the other things that I need to get done around the house.

Enter the audio book.

I’ve been listening to audio books for about three years now (since, June 7, 2004, according to my Audible.com account). I’ve been able to listen during my commute back and forth to work. I’ve been able to listen while painting rooms in the house. I’ve been able to listen while doing yard work. I’ve been able to brush up on my Spanish and listen to special radio shows that I wouldn’t have ordinarily even known about, let alone listened to.

Over the last three years, I’ve listened to about 86 books. This is, quite obviously, a tremendous increase. That’s 86 books in 3 years (not counting Spanish lessons and radio programs) compared to 4 over the course of about 3 years.

Still, listening and reading are not the same. I would prefer to read a book, and there are some books that I refuse to listen to, mostly because I hope that I’ll be able to read them someday. In fact, I was a bit dubious about even listening to books to begin with, as I considered it a “lesser” medium than the written page.

For sure, books in general were not written with the intention of reading them aloud. And just as there are better and worse interpretations of plays, such as Hamlet, the narrartor and the production values of an audio book can make or break even a great book. The Otori Trilogy by Lian Hearn (three books, starting with Across the Nightingale Floor) is a great example of a wonderfully executed audio book. I can’t tell you if the writing was good or not. But the story was excellent, as were the performances of the two readers. I was completely excited about all three books, as my wife will atest. There aren’t enough good things to say about this experience.

However, another book, The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches by Robert Stanek is not living up to expectations. The story received rave reviews from others, but the narrator is quite probably ruining the story for me. I just can’t stand his voice. Hopefully the story will win out and it won’t matter who’s reading it. As of right now, I’m not very excited about this book.

One precious memory that books still evoke is the level of comfort and peace that a page conveys to me. Yet, as I once was connecting books with a particular moment of reading too late into the night (The Fountainhead), or coffee shop (Notes from the Underground) or with a certain period of my life, I have now been able to appreciate audio books in a new, but similar way. Actually, I’ve been able to make connections with audio books in a similar way that music evokes a particular memory for me.

For example, I equate mulching the yard with The Basque History of the World. And that’s not a bad thing. Whenever I’m in the yard, looking at the mulch, I’m thinking about Guernica and how the Basque will likely never get what they want from the Spanish, but why they will most likely be able to survive.

After reading a book, I usually like to write a little something about it. It helps me digest the story and ideas and helps me to keep the book in my head. However, I couldn’t do this with audio books, because I felt that the experience that one would have with the book would vary too greatly, as I wouldn’t be able to simiply write about the words on the paper, but I would have to also talk about the performances, production, etc.

But no more! Audio books have found a new place in my literary life and from henceforth, I will begin to write my reviews of the audio books I come across. Hopefully, I will be able to go back (time permitting, of course) and write up something on the audio books listed above.

After rereading what I just wrote, that’s an awful bold statement coming from a guy who has two kids and barely any spare time ….

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Posted by Matthew under Books |